Trying Something New

For Christmas 2013, I wanted to give my grandpa a really personal gift. I follow a lot of artists on Instagram and I decided to give him a watercolor of the Los Angeles Temple. That's where he and my grandma were sealed to each other and their children. To make it even more personal, I decided to do the painting myself. It didn't seem like it would be too difficult to do. I looked at a lot of pictures of the temple and then I got out my engineering paper and did a sketch of the temple. The hardest part for me was to draw on a completely blank paper.

I did a few tests before I painted to make sure it would turn out. I ended up using a brown Sharpie for all of the details.

This past Christmas, I decided to do a couple of more paintings. I was originally going to give each set of parents a painting of the Oakland Temple since that is where they were married. As I thought more about it, I realized that my mom didn't have any pictures or paintings of the Idaho Falls Temple. Before moving to California, her dad helped with the construction of the temple. I went through the same steps as I did for the LA Temple for both temples.

Apparently I didn't take pictures of the progression of the Oakland Temple, but at least I one of the finished painting!

Jonathan's mom seriously thought I bought the painting. I couldn't have asked for a better compliment than that!

I'm still trying to be brave enough to do one of the Sacramento Temple. Arches are really intimidating!

We Are Still At It!

Jonathan and I have been diligent in taking our family to the temple this year. I truly feel my ancestors with me each time I take them to the temple.

Jonathan doesn't feel it as much as I do, so I thought that he should take some of his own ancestors to the temple. Back in January, I was poking around Jonathan's family tree and found three family members that needed their temple work done.

I am blessed to have a job that allows me to pretty much do whatever I want when I'm in between calls. Back in February, I was feeling like I was starting to run low on family to take to the temple. So for a few days, I went searching through my family tree. I was able to find almost 800 ordinances that needed to be done for my family. It was crazy!

The three couples on the bottom right corner got to go on Amy and Mike's grown up vacation to Hawaii.

At the end of March, our bishop challenged everyone in the ward to find one ancestor and take them to the temple. After we take them, their name will be added to the family tree on our ward's bulletin board. Jonathan and I looked and each other and almost laughed out loud because of all of the family members we've taken to the temple so far this year. I'm certain that we could fill the entire bulletin board with just our family.

It has been such a wonderful experience to find and take our family to the temple! Don't worry, there are still plenty more for us to take!

Imagine a Mother

With another Mother's day coming, I have a lot on my mind along with a heavy heart. This is a post that sums up everything I would like to say, but can't find the words on my own. Thankfully, someone else can be so eloquent. 

Imagine a mother caressing her bulging belly, nine months pregnant and glowing from water retention and maternal anticipation as she speaks softly to her unborn child and gently encourages him to join her in the world.

Imagine a mother nervously hugging her daughter goodbye on the first day of kindergarten. Her daughter holds her close out of fear that her mother will let go as the mother holds her daughter close and fears the same.

Imagine a mother teaching her son how to ride a bike for the first time. The training wheels off. The wind in his hair and the smile on both of their faces as they revel in the shared pride they feel for his first sense of true adventure and independence.

Imagine a mother watching with joy as her daughter walks down the aisle, linked in arms with her father, as she approaches the man that will never truly be “good enough” for her sweet girl…as a mother always hopes her daughter would always stay “daddy’s little girl” forever.

Imagine a mother wiping away tears of fear of the unknown and pride in her solider as her grown son embraces her with his strong, courageous, camouflaged arms as he prepares to board a plan to serve overseas.

Now, imagine that same mother awoken from sleep one night to a phone call, the police at the door, or to the eerie sound of screaming silence from the nursery.

Imagine a mother who hears…

“I’m sorry ‘mam, there was an accident, he didn’t make it…”

“I’m sorry ‘mam, there was nothing we could do. She wasn’t breathing when we went to wake her…”

“I’m sorry ‘mam, there were no survivors, his service to our country will be remembered…”

“I’m sorry ‘mam, there is no heartbeat. There will be no baby.”

Imagine a mother whose child’s life stops there and her life is lost amongst the fog left behind by the grim words that the unknowing messengers of death brought to her door.

Imagine a mother left imagining what life would have been like with her child now gone too soon.

Imagine this mother and realize that she is no figment of imagination.

She is your neighbor. She is your mother. She is your therapist, your maid, your gas station clerk, your nurse, your friend, your sister, she is you.

And remember, although she lives in fear of being only a figment of a mother.

She is just as real as moms with living children.

For she is still a mother.

She is the bereaved mother.

Created in an instant but remains for a lifetime.

This is the link to the original article.

Motherhood is different for everyone. Just because a women doesn't have her arms filled with children, doesn't mean her heart is not.

The Adventures of California Patt and Oregon Nelson

My dad had a mild (but could have been so much worse) medical emergency at the end of April. I wasn't handling it very well, so I decided to do something similar to what we've been doing for our niece's and nephew's birthdays. My dad is Mr. Mountain Man. Back in the 90's, he had the nickname Mountain Man Bill. There was another man who had the same nickname, but no one liked him and his friends convinced my dad to choose another nickname. He followed the example of Indiana Jones and chose Kentucky Pat.

For those who don't know my dad, he served his mission in Kentucky.
For those who do know my dad, you can't forget he served his mission in Kentucky.
As I was trying to think of what we should do, I remembered all of this and it was obvious that we needed to go with an Indiana Jones theme. I am California Patt  since that is the only state I've really spent much time in. (I like spelling Patt with two ts and my dad sticks with one t.) Jonathan served his mission in both Washington state and Oregon and he chose to be Oregon Nelson. With our names picked out, we were ready to start shooting!

We took the pictures on the trail to the Y. Luckily, we didn't have to do too much hiking to find the perfect spots to get the pictures we wanted. Since this story was longer than the ones we've done previously, we broke it up into multiple videos.

Since there are so many switch backs on the trail, I thought it would be funny to have the boulder launch off the side of the mountain. To make it even funnier, we took pictures of it rolling around places in Provo that my parents remember from when they lived there.

I enjoyed making these because it enabled me to focus on making my dad laugh rather than worry about how he was doing. Honestly, he's doing great and he feels like nothing happened, but it still shook me up.

Bountiful Temple

Back in September, Jonathan and I went up to the Boutiful temple. I say up because the roads going to the temple were reminiscent of driving in San Francisco. We will not be visiting that temple in the winter. Any way, this temple is very similar to the Mount Timpanogos temple. The biggest differences to me are the spire and the color schemes inside of the temple. This temple has a lot more yellows whereas Timpanogos has various shades of light purple. I was really drawn to the stain glass windows. I would love to have a home with stain glass windows. They are just so beautiful!

I enjoy each and every temple we visit. They are each special in their own way, but the teachings are identical in each and every one.

Padawan Seth

Jonathan and I are still having too much fun making birthday pictures for our nieces and nephews. Seth loves Star Wars, so we decided to make it look like droids invaded UVU.

I love how Jonathan has gotten so excited with each birthday shoot. He came up with most of the ideas for this one. He's tapping in to all of the hours he spent pretending he was a jedi as a kid.

What makes me the happiest is hearing the reaction of the birthday kid. Seth was convinced that we were really taking on droids and wished he could battle them with us. We have fun making these, but the real reason is we want to make sure that our nieces and nephews know that we love them no matter how far away we live.

My Birthday

Apparently, I had been dreaming of a white birthday because it snowed for most of the day.

Since my birthday was in the middle of the week, I decided to take myself out for lunch. The snow was still falling, but instead of snowflakes it was clumps of snow.

This year, I didn't want a cake and instead got ice cream and donuts. I also thought I had birthday candles, but all I could find was a candle stick. 

Lucky for me, my birthday celebration usually lasts for days. The following weekend, Jonathan and I spent the entire day together. For Saturday's adventure, we went up to Brigham City to go to the temple there. Before we could go to the temple, I needed some Mexican food!

The exterior is similar to pioneer temples, but very minimalist. The interior is simply gorgeous!

We got to the temple really early and the workers were so concerned about us waiting for so long. One of the sisters decided to give me a little tour so I could see the Bride's Room. I don't have the words to describe how beautiful it is! I love the Bride's Room at Sacramento, but this one was amazing! Jonathan and I both agree that this is our favorite temple in Utah.

On Sunday after church, we headed up Squaw Peak Road. The views were amazing!

Personally, I loved the view of the mountains.

Over all, it was a very good birthday!

Scripture Study

I'm doing something a little different for my personal scripture study. I am going by topic rather than reading straight through a book of scripture. It is exactly what I need! I found this gem while reading about Rebekah and Isaac.

"...and she became his wife and he loved her..."

Genesis 25:67

I immediately thought of my sweet Jonathan after I read this verse. It only took a few weeks of dating for him to know he loved me, while I on the other hand, took much longer to realize that I really did love him. Thankfully, he patiently gave me the time I needed. Our story is not one of love at first sight. Our love is much deeper. Our love is deliberate.

Spring Storm

One evening last spring, a rain storm rolled in and engulfed the mountains. Jonathan and I drove to the other side of Utah Lake to get a better view of the clouds.

Usually there are mountains all the way down the other side of the lake.

It was amazing seeing a huge wall of clouds.

The colors in the clouds were amazing as the sun was setting.

How It All Started

I want to share how all of this family history work started for me. Honestly, it starts in my childhood. My grandma had a microfiche reader in one of the bedrooms in her home. She would extract the information from various documents like census records and passenger lists. Apparently she was really good with the French records. I remember going over to her house and playing with it. I wish I had asked her to show me how to use it and what she was doing, but I had a feeling that it was something that I shouldn't be playing with and I didn't want to get in trouble!

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When I was in high school, my mom had all of the binders of family history work my grandma did on our family. There would be times when I would grab a binder and just go back through the generations that came before me.

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I've known for a long time that I need to get into doing my family history work, but I had no idea where or how to start. Being the procrastinator I am, I did nothing to figure it out. It was a Relief Society activity when I was still in the Single's Ward that finally got me in the right direction.

These are two of my friends that were in the

Relief Society presidency with me. I still remember that

we were talking about me and Jonathan because after

we were released we didn't see each other every week.

Dana and Leshelle were needing an update with how things were.

FYI things were looking pretty serious, but still no ring.

One part of the activity was learning how to index. That doesn't sound too impressive, but it is the 21st century version of what my grandma had been doing all those years ago. Indexing is a key to being able to search documents with ease. I quickly became addicted to doing it. This was the first solid step for me because I had to get a Family Search account.

I continued to index sporadically for the next few years. During this time my dad and his brother started going on summer adventures finding our living family members to try to piece together our family history. They've gone to quite a few states and the picture continues to get clearer with each trip they take.

This is the area my great-grandparents grew up.

In 2013, we moved back into Roseville Stake. That year, our Stake President challenged everyone to take an ancestor to the temple. I didn't know what I was doing or if I was doing it correctly. I found some family members and just let them sit in my reserved list. I was worried I did something wrong. Last March, I got back onto Family Search and started fresh. I was going to figure out how to take my family to the temple no matter what. I got the first group ready last summer and the rest is history!

This is the current group we are taking to the temple.

I am finding and taking my ancestors to the temple because of the example of my own family and the counsel of my church leaders. It has been such a blessing in my life. The blessing of going to the temple increase when we find and bring our family with us.

Take Me Back

I don't know about you, but I am ready to go back to the California coast.

Utah is definitely lacking in the ocean department.

More Birthdays!

We are really having fun making birthday pictures for the kids. For the princess pictures, I make a felt crown for me to wear in the picture and then it is the present for the birthday girl.

Rapunzel's crown for Mercedes.

Jonathan's computer skills are improving with each project we do.

One of my favorites so far has been our version of 101 Dalmatians. Charlotte is so in love with dogs that I knew that this would be perfect for her! I still plan on making her a crown because they are so much fun to make.

This has been such a fun and creative way for Jonathan and I to show all of our nieces and nephews that we still love them even when we aren't around them.

He Lives!

Since today is Good Friday, I would like to share portions of The Living Christ. It is the written testimony of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"He was the Great Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Messiah of the New. Under the direction of His Father, He was the creator of the earth. 'All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made' (John 1:3)."

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 "Though sinless, He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. He 'went about doing good' (Acts 10:38), yet was despised for it. His gospel was a message of peace and goodwill. He entreated all to follow His example. He walked the roads of Palestine, healing the sick, causing the blind to see, and raising the dead. He taught the truths of eternity, the reality of our premortal existence, the purpose of our life on earth, and the potential for the sons and daughters of God in the life to come."

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"He instituted the sacrament as a reminder of His great atoning sacrifice. He was arrested and condemned on spurious charges, convicted to satisfy a mob, and sentenced to die on Calvary’s cross. He gave His life to atone for the sins of all mankind. His was a great vicarious gift in behalf of all who would ever live upon the earth."

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"We solemnly testify that His life, which is central to all human history, neither began in Bethlehem nor concluded on Calvary. He was the Firstborn of the Father, the Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world."

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"He rose from the grave to 'become the firstfruits of them that slept' (1 Corinthians 15:20). As Risen Lord, He visited among those He had loved in life. He also ministered among His 'other sheep' (John 10:16) in ancient America."

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"In the modern world, He and His Father appeared to the boy Joseph Smith, ushering in the long-promised 'dispensation of the fulness of times' (Ephesians 1:10)."

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"Of the Living Christ, the Prophet Joseph wrote: 'His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying: "I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father" ' (D&C 110:3–4). Of Him the Prophet also declared: 'And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father— That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God' (D&C 76:22–24)."

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"We testify that He will someday return to earth. 'And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together' (Isaiah 40:5). He will rule as King of Kings and reign as Lord of Lords, and every knee shall bend and every tongue shall speak in worship before Him. Each of us will stand to be judged of Him according to our works and the desires of our hearts."

I know that Christ was with our Heavenly Father before the earth was created. He was born of Mary. He suffered in the garden of Gethsemane for my sins and weaknesses as well as yours. He allowed himself to be killed. He died. Three days later, He rose from the tomb. He truly lives! He loves each and everyone of us. That is why He did all that was required of Him. He wants us to be happy and He knows that true and lasting happiness comes from following God's plan.