general conference

This past weekend was the Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I always enjoy being able to listen to the Prophet and Apostles give us counsel, and this year was no different. Watching conference was a little harder this year with Baby R, although she did manage to nap at convenient times for us. I always feel as if the speakers are talking directly to me because many of the comments are exactly what I need to hear.

I took notes from a couple of my favorite talks. If you want to listen to them yourself, or read them (they will be available tomorrow), click here.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said:
"Honor the Savior's declaration to 'be of good cheer.' Indeed it seems to me we may be more guilty of breaking that commandment than almost any other... Life has its problems and there are negative things to face, but please accept one of Elder Holland's maxims for living, 'No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse.' Our words, like our deeds, should be filled with faith and hope and charity, the three great Christian imperatives so desperately needed in the world today."

Elder Henry B. Eyring said:
"For those who are discouraged by their circumstances and are therefore tempted to feel they cannot serve the Lord this day, I make you two promises: Hard as things seem today, they will be better in the next day if you choose to serve the Lord this day with your whole heart. Your circumstances may not be improved in all the ways which you desire, but you will have been given new strengths to carry your burdens and new confidence that when your burdens become too heavy the Lord, whom you have served, will carry what you cannot... The other promise I make to you is that by choosing to serve Him this day, you will feel His love and grow to love Him more."

Those were just a few of the many inspired words spoken this weekend by our Lord's servants. They have helped me to recommit to serving others, and in so doing I will be serving the Lord. I want to be an example to Baby R. She may be too young to remember what she has seen me do, but I have no doubt that she will remember the feeling of the Holy Spirit as we serve others. It is amazing how the words of these inspired men do not make us feel guilty, but rather they help us to have a desire to be better.

I think the counsel from President Gordon B. Hinckley is as important today as it was 12 years ago, "The time has come for us to stand a little taller... It is a time to do what is right regardless of the consequences that might follow. It is a time to be found keeping the commandments. It is a season to reach out with kindness and love to those in distress and to those who are wandering in darkness and pain. It is a time to be considerate and good, decent and courteous toward one another in all of our relationships. In other words, to become more Christlike."

That is my goal.

pretty in the park

We went to the park with Allison and the girls on tuesday. It was beautiful outside!

i love my family

Nick, Allison, and the girls had the family over for dinner and Family Home Evening. It was nice to spend some time together (especially since they will be moving in August) and the kids enjoyed playing.

Nick shared a wonderful story of one of our ancestors, Thomas Mayhew Jr. He lived in Martha's Vineyard in the 1600s and was a missionary to the Native Americans. The history was written by Henry Franklin Norton, and you can read it here. If you don't have time to read it all then you can scroll down a little to the heading, THOMAS MAYHEW, JR., FIRST MISSIONARY. I love learning about what fascinating people our ancestors were - we owe them a lot for preparing the way for us to come to earth!

These pictures show Baby R with her cousin Karyna (9 months) and Nayeli (almost 3). You can also see Nick's pal Cameron chilling in the background. He was supposed to be ready to catch the girls in case one of them pushed the other one over. Luckily that didn't happen - the girls only touched each other's faces and shirts.

newborn screening

I found out today from our CF nurse that Michigan has finally passed the Newborn Screening Law for Cystic Fibrosis! I, for one, think that is wonderful news! Knowing from birth that a person has Cystic Fibrosis can greatly improve their quality of life, and may add years to their life too! You can read the article here.

I doubt that I would have had any idea how important it is to do this screening if Baby R had not been diagnosed with CF. Our family has no history (that we know of) of any person having CF, so we thought that it was not possible for Baby R to have the disease. Little did we know that Papa R and I were both carriers, and members of our families must have been carrying it for generations.

Here are a few interesting facts about CF:

• 1 in every 30 Caucasian-Americans is a symptomless carrier of CF
  
• There are more than 10 million carriers in the United States
  
• 1 in every 400 marriages involves 2 carriers
• More than 30,000 people in the U.S. have CF
• CF is one of the most common genetic disorders of Caucasians
• There is evidence that CF existed as early as 1595

For more information visit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

playing piano!

I like listening to daddy play the piano for me, and sometimes he lets me play too!

playtime with grandma

Grandma loves taking my picture almost as much as she loves playing with me!

ahhh... the birds

Anyone else hear the birds chirping this morning? I know it was "officially" spring on tuesday, but with the exception of the freakishly warm day a week ago monday, it hasn't really felt like spring. Especially when we woke up to snow on monday, was it? Well I for one was excited to wake up this morning to a thunderstorm. I couldn't really tell it was raining, but through our blinds I saw lightning, and for some reason it made me happy. Baby R and I had fun on the balcony watching the rain pour and listening to it pound on the roof over our heads. She was mesmerized! How fun it is to see baby's reactions to new things - maybe that is why I got excited this morning during the storm. Anyways, I am now sitting in my quiet apartment with the sliding door open, feeling the breeze come in and listening to the birds chirp. Baby R fell asleep for her morning nap a little bit ago. But in the midst of her dozing off she woke up suddenly when geese flew by honking. She looked for the noise, discovered it, and contentedly fell back asleep. I love watching her discover new things!

Oh, and did I mention it was 62 degrees at 7:30 a.m.? Warmer than it is now...