a welcome home.

Jonathan isn't just my cousin.  He's more of the little brother my parents would never give me for Christmas.  You see, while my aunt and uncle were at work during the day, Jonathan was the little brother I got to tease and play with.  We made snowmen together, using my mini teacher easel I "taught" him math and how to write his name, and we watched every Disney movie together.  You could say we had a pretty posh childhood.  As we got older our families still went camping together (where Jonathan learned to become a pyromaniac), we saw each other every Sunday at Grandma's house, and we planned lots of cousin get togethers.  After I married T, Jonathan and Tyler got into guitar-playing together and Jonathan taught Tyler some tips and tricks about wood-working.  

When Jonathan left on his mission we were so proud, but we missed him and his hilarious personality terribly.  Over the past two years, we'd refer to many of Jonathan "isms" and laugh over some of the emails he sent home.  The day Jonathan got back from his mission a couple of weeks ago was a happy one.  T and I were so excited for Rylee to meet her "Uncle" Jonathan for the first time at the airport.

We all made signs the Sunday before he came home and waited with anticipation to see him come down the escalator at the airport.  We were the crazy family at the airport screaming and yelling when  he finally came in sight.  After many hugs, we handed Rylee over to Jonathan (who ended up holding her until we all loaded into our cars.  She was happy has a clam being in his arms).  

 ^ ^ Rylee and Grandpa waiting for Jonathan ^ ^

^ ^ Rylee's sign for Jonathan ^ ^

 ^ ^ Karen was so excited and moved too fast for us to get a good picture! ^ ^

^ ^ Uncle Mike and Elder Hoffman ^ ^

 

^ ^ So excited he's home! ^ ^

 ^ ^ Such a good-looking missionary ^ ^

^ ^ That half grin just kills us.  It's like she knows how much we're wrapped around her little finger. ^ ^

Welcome home, Jonathan!

a testimony.

Today I finished reading the Book of Mormon!  Tyler and I set a goal in February to finish reading it individually before Rylee Girl came.  Tyler finished it a month ago.  I was in 3rd Nephi a week before she was born.  The plan was to finish reading it with my feet up on the couch while eating my little heart out in those last days I had off work before she was born.  

But the little miss had a different plan and came five days earlier than expected!  So I've slowly been pushing through the last bit over the past few months.  I had a goal to really read it this time around.  No skimming over the "Nephi begat so and so and he begat so and so..." and to only read when I was awake and alert.  That in itself was not working in my favor with a new baby!  

I can honestly say that in this reading, I gained more and learned more from the Book of Mormon than I ever have.  Reading it in just shy of 7 months is one of the fastest increments I've ever read it in.  The stories seemed to flow better since I didn't just read one chapter at a time or read by topics that I was studying.

I learned something about myself too.  I learned that even though I may not be able to understand deep doctrine or be able to expound on even the most basic principles, I can feel in my heart the truthfulness of what I read.  That one of my gifts of the spirit that Moroni talks about is to know the truthfulness of the gospel and to let it fill my entire body.  That after it fills my entire body and has nowhere else to go, it start pouring out in the form of tears. Even though I may not say great words over a pulpit or write an inspiring book that thousands will read, I have the power and gift to feel the spirit testify to me that the Church of Jesus Christ is true.  It is real and true and here on the earth today.  

Not only did I finish the Book of Mormon, but before I closed it, I did what Moroni exhorts us to do in Moroni 10:3-5.  After reading the words in the Book of Mormon and pondering over them, I knelt next to my favorite red chair I brought home from my classroom.  Then I asked my Heavenly Father with a sincere heart, with real intent, and faith in Christ, if it was true and to reconfirm my testimony of the Book of Mormon.  

And He did.  And because He knows me and what way the spirit impacts me the most, He sent a confirmation throughout my entire body that said that it's still true.  It will never change.  Then in the loving way that only a parent can, He added on more blessings to reconfirm that many of my past sins have been forgiven.  To not dwell on things that have been forgiven and by Him, forgotten.  To let those things help me and strengthen me.

To those who might read this, now or even future generations, I want you to know that I have a testimony.  I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has been restored to the earth today!  That a 14-year-old boy saw God the Father and Jesus Christ in a grove of trees and was led by them to restore the church to its fulness today.  That there is a living prophet, Thomas S. Monson who guides and directs us.  And I know, I KNOW that the Book of Mormon is true.  I've read it.  I've prayed about it.  And without a shred of doubt, I know it's true!

{Technically this little girl read it all the way through too... She listened to me read most of it out loud to her.  This look she's giving and those little hands are saying "There's good stuff in this book, guys.  Read it!"}

weekend in a nutshell. sorta.

This weekend was packed full of events and activities we had planned.  I think we were home (and awake) for about 3 hours total.  

We spent our Friday night with a lot of good friends in our ward and neighborhood at Danie and Dustin's Goodbye Bash.  Definitely tasty and fun, but I was ornery about the why we were partying.  Let's just say poor T has listened to me complain about the Romrell's moving for the better part of the month of March.  Danie and I talked and have decided I'm in Stage 2 of the Grief Process-Anger.  I think I'll always just be in Stage 2 over the whole situation.  

Because I'm far from accepting the whole situation (seeing how I couldn't stop crying during sacrament meeting either on Sunday while they gave their talks)...  Pretty sure I would've been crying even if I wasn't pregnant.

But really, we had a blast Friday night just talking and being with friends.  You can guarantee we'll be in California visiting with Baby Girl.  Plus, an added bonus is we'll get to go to the beach!

Early Saturday morning took us to the Provo Temple to be with Tacie as she received her endowment before she leaves on her mission in a couple of months.  She goes into the MTC a couple of weeks after Baby Girl is due.  Which means Baby Girl better get here on time!

Tacie is like the little sister I always wanted and my parents would never give me.  She's not just a cousin, she's always been more of a sister.  She's going to rock in Canada on her mission.  

The temple was a beautiful experience- as always.  T and I got some pretty strong answers to some questions we've had for a while.  And for the first time, I had to rent a temple dress.  Because this belly of mine was definitely not going to let me fit into my regular one.  My one concern at the temple?  That I'd have to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the session.  

Suffice it to say, I made it through the session without any interruptions.

Of course we had to take some pictures of the day.  These people are pretty important to me.

Really important.  

Sisters picture!  We're the coolest sisters around.  For sure. 

Grandpa and Grandma Billings along with the padres.  They're kinda the best.

It's not often I get a picture with the Daddy.  And he's a pretty special guy.  Definitely in the top 2 of my favorite men.  I'll let you guess who fills the #1 spot...

My mom is pretty great too.  She's been a great support during this whole pregnancy and has gotten me excited to become a mother.  If she can do it, then so can I!  And if not, she's only 3 blocks away...

Brain and Toad were there too, of course.

And this man of mine was most certainly there with us.  Going to the temple always increases my love for T.  Seeing him dressed in white and holding his hand gives me a small glimpse into the eternities.  I want eternity with him and our little family.  I think Baby Girl was pretty excited to be in the House of the Lord with us.  She was moving and grooving the entire time.  I'm grateful for and love the covenants that I've made with my Heavenly Father so that I can be with my family forever.  Keeping my temple covenants are top priority to me.  Without them, I won't have my family. 

Who wouldn't want to be with T forever?  I married a spiritual giant and one handsome hunk.    

He's my forever.

Saturday night was Girl's night for the Relief Society Broadcast.  It was a pretty powerful session.  I got quite a bit out of it and I loved that they intermingled some video media.  The songs were what really got me.  Even though they were simple songs that I've heard over and over in my life, they hit me powerfully.  

Especially when they got to the 3rd verse of "I am a Child of God" and the congregation was supposed to join in.  The whole parents kind and dear kind of got me (which made my mama sitting next to me start crying).  Pretty sure I need to learn how to be a little more kind and a little more dear before Baby Girl gets here.  A lot of my thoughts lately are on Baby Girl.  So are a lot of our decisions.  She's already becoming quite the focus in our little family already.

Sunday was spent eating cereal with our Home Teachers before church (they kinda rock), going to our 3-hour block, home/visiting teaching, eating my birthday meatballs and chocolate "butt" (Bundt) cake the mama made for me, and heading up to the Kussee's to see Papa Kris' new bug and to hold Baby Dylin.

It was a pretty fun and satisfying weekend.  We're happy with how it went!

30 weeks.

We're down to 10 weeks until this baby girl comes (give or take a couple of weeks)!  

That's kinda soon.  

T and I picked up Baby Girl's first piece of furniture yesterday.  It's the most adorable little dresser that we plan on using as a changing station too.  I'm a little excited.  And the fact that it was a decent price on KSL makes it even better.

We'll also paint the crib this weekend and make an IKEA run for a few other items we've had our eyes on to complete the nursery.  We still plan on keeping it super simple and clean.  We're all about not cluttering up a space before this little girl gets here to do it herself!

  

Baby Girl is definitely growing bigger everyday and is back to sitting on her mama's bladder during the day.  It's not unusual anymore to see me walking down the hall to the faculty bathrooms for the 4th or 5th time during the day.  

A colleague of mine mentioned the other day that I've been a pretty laid back pregnant lady without any complaints.  It made me smile.  The only one who really hears about those complaints is poor Tyler (who also gets the brunt of the emotional and hormonal side of this pregnancy).  But I really don't have much to complain about to anyone.  I'd love some more sleep (but who wouldn't?  It's daylight savings!) and there are certain pregnancy problems I'd rather not deal with.  I tell T all the time how blessed I feel that we've been throughout this pregnancy though.  I haven't had to miss work (unless you count getting the 24-hour flu last week where I felt more miserable than I have during this entire pregnancy), I've been healthy despite the fact that eating healthy and exercising get a little hard, and I've had enough energy to stay up with 26 eight-year-olds.  I honestly forget I'm pregnant sometimes until I look down and see this belly of mine.

Not too shabby.

We've been attempting to get a list together for a baby registry.  The one thing we're still figuring out is what stroller/carseat to get.  We've got our eyes on a couple, we just need to choose which one for sure that we want and which will fit our lifestyle the best.  

Plans for our future careers are still up in the air and which is both terrifying and exciting!  We both have a few different opportunities and avenues we could go in the future and it's definitely a faith-promoting experience to rely on the Lord and see where He takes us.

T and I have also made the goal to read the entire Book of Mormon on our own before Baby Girl gets here.  He's been doing awesome on his goal and I'm working my way on catching back up to him!  We're determined to finish it and meet our goal.  It's going happen.

On a sidenote: We spent about an hour with a couple of friends last night who found out they are moving next month.  We have mixed feelings.  It's great news for them, but we're going to miss them quite a bit.  It's one of those friendships that you think you've finally figured the whole friendship thing out and then they've gotta move.  To another state, no less.  I may or may not have cried (what's new these days?).  Sometimes I just really hate change, especially when it comes to good people leaving your life.  Especially when those people have really great taste and buy you your favorite pair of mint jeans and has the same taste in books.

Thank goodness for social media and modern technology.  At least it won't seem like they've fallen off of the face of the earth...

we went to conference. 2 weeks ago...

Why yes.  We did attend General Conference in October.  It was a perfect conference Sunday and we happened to make it just in the nick of time before they gave our seats away.

We always plan more than enough time to get to SLC, find a parking spot, and be seated 30 minutes before start time.  Or so we always think.  Parking always gets a little tricky.  

But we made it.  That's all that mattered.

And like I said, it was a perfect day.

We got to go with some of our good friends in our ward, Danie and Dustin.  The Toad and Brain went with us too, but we failed to get pictures with them due to the fact that they went ahead of us while we found parking so they could save seats.

Danie and Dustin are pretty rockin'.  Danie bought me my mint pants and has my same fettish for reading books, books, and more books.

Conference was incredible this October.  I felt like every talk was geared toward me no matter what.  It was a conference T and I tried our best to prepare for and ready ourselves to be in tune with the spirit.  In fact, my notes towards the end got super sloppy.  We all know what that means.  That means it's starting to get good and the personal revelation you're receiving is out of control.

It's a good feeling.

I'll never fail to be amazed to be in the same room as the Prophet of God.  To hear apostles testify of the truthfulness of the gospel and bear testimony of a living Savior.  It inspires me.  It uplifts me.  And most importantly, my spirit is fed and my testimony grows.

I love conference!

a fun filled weekend.

Last weekend started and ended in a blur.  Our ward campout started Friday night and we rushed up to Jeremiah Johnson's Day Camp where it was being held.  Before heading up, T surprised me with beautiful flowers lying on the passenger seat of the Explorer when I hopped in.

They're gorgeous.

Along with a beautiful bouquet he handed me an intricately folded note.  Like the ones everyone always passed around in high school.  The ones where you giggled and laughed whether the note was from one of your girlfriends or guy friends.

I can tell you this, I definitely giggled like a school girl when T handed me this note.

And yes, my husband is a romantic and writes his letters in cursive so I can pretend we live way back when in the days that people actually wrote hand-written letters.  It's his time that he sacrifices for me when he writes these notes rather than typing them or saying his thoughts out loud.

Sigh.  I got a good one, ladies.

After a quick kiss (maybe a little longer) we filled up a water vase at home and put my beautiful flowers in my favorite tin vase, we headed up to the Ward Campout/BBQ.

We got there just in the nick of time for sloppy joes and a variation of salads.  We chowed down and our awesome little neighbor came and ate beside us.  We convinced him to eat his sloppy joe in five bites.  We're going to be the worst parents ever.  But at least our kids will hopefully eat all of their food.

Even if they can't digest it...

We also ate with the Mama and my Dad.  I think between the four of us, we tried all of the desserts that were laid out.

Yum.

Jana made a cheesecake for the dessert contest.  Apparently it was deliciously good.  However, T and I will never actually know how good because it was all gone by the time we got over to the desserts.

She got a little nervous when they were handing out awards...

Psh.  What was she worried about?  Obviously she would win.  Good thing we're friends, because we love eating over at Jana and Dustin's.  

That's not the only reason we're friends though.  I promise.

Jana and Dustin have the cutest little boy who's pretty good-natured when I tease him and pull his cheeks.

Oh my.  He's darling.

T even caught a picture of me with one of my childhood heroes, brother Lindgren.  I've given him a hug nearly every Sunday since I was little.  He's always let me know what he thinks of me and has always pointed out some of my better qualities.  He's a pretty great guy.

Maybe not the best picture of our foursome, but alas, we finally got a picture altogether.  We've been attempting a group picture for ages.  So yes.  We do actually have friends in the ward.

We decided not to stay the night at the campout and went over to another of our friends houses for movie night.  Definitely a full and fun night!

Then Nae called us up and said she had an extra ticket to a play at Hale Center Theatre.  Of course we said YES!  

We had a fun night with just the three of us.  We highly recommend the play.  Completely comedic and hilarious.  

We don't get together often enough these days.  So a good play with good friends was completely what was needed after a long week of work.

Thanks, Nae!

All in all, a successful weekend.  We definitely stayed up later than we have since we were dating, but it was more than worth it!

Happy days.

one of my best friends got married today.

Peter and I aren't just cousins.  We're friends.  Every time our families visited each other during the summer or during Thanksgiving, we were the ones who were inseparable.  We played in my grandparents clubhouse together, climbed trees, road 4-wheelers, spent endless hours jumping on trampolines, walked to the duck pond and threw stale bread at the ducks, and spent endless nights watching Disney reruns snuggled in sleeping bags in each other's basements.

He was always the cousin I looked forward to visiting.  Even though we only got to see each other about twice a year, he was always one of my favorites.  

Most of the pictures I have from past Thanksgivings have Pete in them.  Always.  If I didn't get to sit by Peter at the Thanksgiving table, I threw a fit.  Hence the reason why we always sat by each other.  By the pumpkin pie and yams of course.  Thanksgiving was always a holiday to look forward to because of this kid.  

And today, that so called kid got married.  The sealing was beautiful.  And giving him a hug completely teared me up.  Sheesh.  I sure do love this guy.

{Heidi and Peter-sealed for eternity!}

 {J and T.  Sealed for time and all eternity.  3 1/2 years and still going strong!}

 {J and Daddy.  Another hunk that I love and adore.}

 {Hot mama and J.  This woman has done a lot and been through a lot the past couple of weeks.  Heck.  She's done a lot in her life!  She's pretty remarkable.}

{Ben, Grandma, and the Toad.  Did I mention how good it was to see cousins who we love and miss?!}

{Pete and J}

Boy do I love my Peter!  He's always been my Peter, but I know Heidi is going to take great care of him and we look forward to game nights and fun in the future with the two of them!  

And so, Peter, congratulations from the bottom of my heart.  I'm so proud of you.

I love ya, kid.

cleaning day

Today was a good day.  I found a bunch of deals out grocery shopping and stocked up on some much needed food, bathroom, and kitchen things I've been putting off buying.

Included in those great finds were .99 cent strawberries!  I've been waiting for a great deal on strawberries so I could make freezer jam.  My last attempt at freezer jam was a big flop.  Too much sugar, not enough fruit (and the fact that I tried it with peaches).  T's mom, Mama Becky, was super helpful in helping me figure out which pectin to get and giving me a little more confidence in attempting it again.  Strawberries were much easier to work with and they turned out perfectly.  

Finally.  It only took me a year to get down the art of freezer jam. 

The whole strawberry mashing was the best part.  Heavenly smell and super fun to mash with a potato masher.

I had to put some fabric over a few of the jar lids.  We'd used the jars to can some other things in before and had written on the top.  It would've bugged me to have "chicken breast" written on the jar lids when there's strawberry jam in them.

And the OCD kicks in again...

Poor Tacie got her wisdom teeth out today.  We went and got her a Jamba.  This girl is exactly as the picture below says.  "Never a Dull Moment" with Tacie.  She even smiles and laughs after getting wisdom teeth out.  She's rockin'.

I also found this gem today.  Misty and I got to take Tacie's senior pictures last Spring and this was a random moment.  Candid shot.  Probably my favorite picture of us.  Ever.

I also went a little cleaning crazy today and washed all of our rugs, the shower curtain, cleaned the sinks, mirrors, swept and mopped the floor, and dusted every nook and cranny of the house.  I use the excuse of getting our carpets cleaned on Saturday to make me feel better when cleaning the entire house.

I may have also cleaned the baseboards.

We also learned how to Index tonight at an activity put on by the High Priests in our ward.  It was actually pretty addicting.  I think it'll be something I'll be able to pull up and work on during my lunch time once school starts.

Pretty awesome day.

sunday pondering.

Once upon a time I made a video for T for Father's Day.  After all, he is the future father of our children, so he had a right to a great Father's Day too (he even got a tie!).

He does special things for me on Mother's Day too.  We're quirky and cute like that.  It's good practice for when the day comes that we do actually have kids and need to remember important days.

Here's to my husband, best friend, and lover.

{Excuse the not so great quality video.  Blogger doesn't let me upload the HD version.  This will have to do for the blogger world.}

I also got to go to a pretty fabulous Relief Society fireside a couple of weeks ago.  It got me thinking a lot.  I've done a lot pondering and praying on love and my home.  I even focused on Moroni 7:45 for my personal scripture study for a few days and changed the word "charity" to "love."

I think it's made me a better wife and all around person.

And T deserves the best I have to offer him and give him.

Happy sunday.

summer servin'

During the school year it's hard to help out with a lot of the church service opportunities.  So when summer comes around we usually jump at the opportunities to serve when we can and make up for the busy school year.

This week has been full of fun service opportunities and we're so grateful for those who let us serve!  

A close family friend passed away this week and I was so grateful that I have time to help with making food for the funeral and having time to help with the funeral itself.

Blessing.

{Cookies}

We also got to feed the missionaries this week!  What a blessing to have the missionaries in our home.  They're pretty terrific guys.  They're worth the struggle of moving the kitchen table out into the living so we can actually fit 4 people around it (because heaven knows our kitchen barely fits the two of us eating at the table!).

T is our Ward Mission Leader and is beginning to have a great relationship with the missionaries.  They all have a lot in common and it was fun sharing our love of homemade pizza with them.

They also talked music for a little while with T.  Among the many T played, he also played them the only song I know on the guitar-"Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam."  Classic.

One thing I absolutely love about the missionaries?

They always leave us with a scripture and a prayer.  Our home is better because of them.  We're better because of them.

Have a problem or question?  Ask the missionaries!  They can help you!  (Elder Oaks)

{T, Elder Laws, and Elder Johnson}

And for the first time ever, I got all of my class birthday monsters completed before the school year starts!  Hopefully three extra will be enough in case of move-ins/move-outs because I busted these out in three days this year.

Thanks to my mama who sewed the outside edges this year.  There was no way I was hand-sewing all of them again.  What was I thinking the past 2 years to hand sew all of these?!

{25 stuffed monsters}

Summer is still treating us well.  Except for the fact that T is super congested and tired and has been for the past couple of days.  Poor guy.  We're stuffing him full of Vitamin C.

And the weather!  The rainy weather has been a dream.  Our house is delightfully cool and wonderful.

We love summer.

a fixed problem.

This week I've had a problem I've been trying to solve.

It wasn't until tonight that I realized I was going about it all the wrong way.  I was searching around on internet sites and wondering how others had gotten past the same problem.  I was being incredibly selfish in how I was going about it all.  I wanted to do it my way and figure it out on my own.

Tonight, I had an AHA! moment.  A moment where it was as if Heavenly Father finally just took a board and whacked me over the head.  The answer happened to be right in front of my face and would have saved a whole lot of time too.

Where was my answer?  It was where all answers are.  In the scriptures.  The Book of Mormon to be exact.

The saddest part of this experience?  That I even taught a lesson last week on how to better succeed in life and one of the ways was to search the scriptures diligently.  Obviously, I'm eating my own words. 

And you know what?  I don't mind.

Here's to a Heavenly Father who knows our needs, loves us, and forgives us of our mistakes.

 And because every post needs a good picture...

{A sunset provided by a kind and loving Heavenly Father}

I'm one lucky Daughter of God.