May Happenings

May went by in a blur, mostly because we were still recovering from Jonathan's graduation festivities.

Amy R. sent my birthday present with tons of confetti in the box.

Yes there is still confetti in our apartment to mix with the confetti I made for Jonathan's graduation party.

My dad accidentally left his Book of Mormon in the car he rented during his trip. This is the one he used on his mission and is overflowing with insight and notes. Thankfully, the car rental place had his precious book and we were able to pick it up for him. Jonathan took pictures of it, so I can fill my own Book of Mormon with his notes.

Those are not rain drops on my windshield. 

It snowed.

In the middle of May.

I still am not okay with that.

Some local graffiti in our apartment complex. In Utah, we sensor our language and use chalk so it can easily be washed away. (Even though it is still there.)

The peonies were blooming and gorgeous! I took this picture on my mom's birthday and never sent it to her. She loves peonies, but can't grow them in hot California. So, here's you're really late birthday flower Mom!

Spiritual Enlightenment: The Healing Ointment of Forgiveness

School's Out Forever (or at least for now)

After taking a nice long break, I've decided it's time to get back into blogging!

I went to see Jonathan present his Senior project. His professors and classmates all loved his version on the Weasley's clock from Harry Potter. When he finished his presentation and opened it up for questions, one of the first ones was when can they buy it.

I was sneaky and took a few pictures of him.

Two short weeks later, Jonathan officially graduated!

On Saturday, we had a party with lots of family.

After all of the festivities, Jonathan decided that for his first week of no homework to have a Harry Potter marathon. Each night when I got home from work, we watched a Harry Potter movie. It was fun, but also nerve-wracking because we were both convinced he should be doing homework instead of hanging out with me. Now that it's been almost two months, we are loving our evenings together!



Spiritual Enlightenment: To the Boys and to the Men - Jonathan remembers this talk when he was a boy. I am grateful that he listened and followed through with the counsel given. I have no doubt that he was able to finish school and get to where he is today because of his obedience. Together, we are now following the counsel given to the men. I know we will be equally blessed for following that counsel.

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.

Pioneer Day

Growing up in California, pioneer day wasn't very important. I remember only one activity as a kid. Now that we're in Utah, I'm realizing that it's still a big deal. Jonathan even has the day off!

My mom was ready to celebrate Pioneer Day in California!

Its gotten me to think about my own pioneer heritage. I feel so blessed to have ancestors that gave up on all that they had to follow the prophet to a new land that no one had ever seen. I feel strength from them as I face my own challenges and know that I am just as strong as they were.

I'm doubly blessed because along with having pioneers that crossed the plains, I have modern pioneer heritage as well! My grandma and grandpa Patterson left behind their old family traditions and took on a brand new way of life. The blessings from their decision are still flowing and helping their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren be better.

Pioneer day is for everyone. Sure we mostly talk about the pioneers that crossed the plains, but everyone has a pioneer story that is filled with the same kind of faith and perseverance that the pioneers in the 1800s had.

Three

Last week we celebrated our third anniversary. It's wild to think that we've been married for 3 whole years now. To celebrate, we made plans to go up to Salt Lake for dinner and then do a session in the temple. Things didn't quite turn out that way.

This was our view during dinner.

We were caught in some traffic and were a little late to our dinner in the Joseph Smith Memorial building. That made us miss the last session of the day at the temple. Instead we sat outside (it was only kind of cold weird for Utah in February) and talked.

We agreed that this past year has been the hardest one of our marriage, but it brought us closer together than we were before it. Looking back, if everything had gone perfectly according to our plans, we would have missed out on so many opportunities and chances to see what we could do together. I am so grateful that I have such an amazing husband at my side who is always there for me when life gets to be too much for me to handle. He loves me unconditionally and is such an amazing example to me. I am so blessed to have him and am so grateful that I get to keep him for eternity because we were sealed in the temple 3 years ago.

Thanksgiving Tradition

My favorite part of Thanksgiving day is going shooting. I'm usually the only girl, so I get to spend some quality time with my dad and brothers. This year my oldest nephew got to come along with us. We had 4 generations of Pattersons.

Our usual place was packed with people, so we found another area which was better because it was Ry's first time.

Ry got to shoot the .22

All of the adults got to shoot my grandpa's new 1911. Back when he was in the Air Force, he traded a trailer for a 1911 that had a .22 barrel along with a .45 barrel. He wasn't too sure about the origins of the gun and so he sold it, but kept the .22 barrel for it. Last year, he got another 1911 and this was our first time shooting it.

It took Chris and Grandpa some time to figure out how to switch barrels.

My favorite gun of the day was our old bolt action .22. My great-great grandpa bought this gun from a catalog and he killed a hawk with his first shot. It is still a good shot.

This Day

I am grateful to spend today with my sweet husband and family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Another Baby Girl!

My fourth niece is here! Little baby Charlotte came just 3 days after our 2nd anniversary. (She's the reason why I took a short break from blogging.) Since today is her mother's birthday, I thought I would go ahead and share some of my pictures of her.

Garrett loves "Baby Sister". He only occasionally acknowledges that
her name is Charlotte and not Baby Sister.

Baby Sister gave him a new Dinoco McQueen!

Already smiling in her dreams!

So happy she's here!

Not to sure about being out.

A very happy grandpa.

I love seeing Jonathan with our nieces and nephews. I know he'll be such a good dad!

(No, that was not a pregnancy announcement.)

Garrett helped make a sign to welcome the addition to the family.

We all love baby Charlotte!

Lover's Month

When I was growing up, I don't ever remember really caring about Valentine's Day (especially when there were no more class parties and candy Valentines). Now I love the entire month of February! Not only for Valentine's Day, but also for our anniversary. I don't feel silly for leaving up all of my decorations for the entire month.

Jonathan and I take turns being in charge of celebrating Valentine's Day and our anniversary. This year he was in charge of Valentine's Day and can I just say that he made the best meal ever! He decided to cook dinner for us and I just figured it would be a really simple recipe. I was totally wrong! He found a recipe for Chicken Paillard with Cherry Sauce & Parsley Rice. I was really skeptical at first, but it was sweet and tart and delicious. (I LOVE tart!)

There was even enough for lunch the next day!

Here is the craft that I was hinting at in this post. I have been seeing so many cute embroidered crafts on Pinterest, I just had to try it for myself.

They didn't turn out perfectly, but it's a start!

A little something special thing that I tried to do for Jonathan was give him a cute little Valentine each day leading up to Valentine's Day. I was a slacker and only gave him about 5 or 6, but that means I can give him the other ones throughout the year.

For our anniversary we went out to dinner to Piatti. Holy cow do I love that place! It was a lot fancier than what Jonathan was expecting, but he really enjoyed it. (To give you an idea of how fancy it was on a scale of Ruth's Chris to McDonald's it ranked around PF Chang's.) While dinner was so good, we were both really excited about dessert. 

A little over two years ago, Jonathan and I went to the Imax theater with his brother Taylor and his wife Kenzie. Afterward I introduced them to Rick's Diner. All they serve are delectable desserts. (It's part of our tradition when we go to the ballet as well.) 

This is only a small portion of one of the two cases of desserts!

 Jonathan had a hard time picking out his dessert, but he finally settled on Death by Chocolate. I am pleased to report that in spite of the name, Jonathan is still alive!

Isn't that cake beautiful!

Jonathan's Death by Chocolate and my White Chocolate Mousse Raspberry Tart!

Jonathan's laughing at me because this is my 5th time trying to get a good picture!

 I love February (even though it seems like it went by really quick!) I love that I have 2 special days to celebrate my love for my sweet Mr. Nelson!