Memorial Day

This Memorial Day, Jonathan and I visited the cemeteries where some of our ancestors are buried. I remembered how whenever we would take flowers to my grandpa's grave, my mom would come prepared to clean off the grave marker and pick any weeds that were growing. I followed her example. I felt a little silly walking through the cemeteries with a roll of paper towels and water to clean with when most everyone else had flowers, but I was glad that I came prepared.

Our first stop was in Bountiful. We saw the markers for, Cyril Call, Anson Call, and Anson Vasco Call.

Not surprising, we ran into some very distant cousins of Jonathan's. She told us the story about how Anson Call met one of his wives. (Yes, he practiced polygamy and followed the correct process for having additional wives.) One of the handcart companies left to cross the plains a little late in the year. They ended up getting stranded in the snow before they got to Utah. Anson was on of the men that was sent to rescue them. Margaretta was so tired that she just wanted to lay down and sleep. He bundled her up and put her the back of his wagon. She was also very hungry because she ended up eating the feed for the animals. Mmm old, slightly rotten potatoes! Anson pulled her back out of the wagon and with the help of one of the other rescuers, they had her walk back and forth between the two of them so she would live.

We were also reminded that Jonathan's great-great-great-great grandpa served in the war of 1812. We will be sure to remember him on Veteran's Day from now on!

At the Salt Lake City Cemetery, we were able to find more of my ancestors. First we stopped off at James Davis' marker since I knew we could find it again. Someone already came by his marker and placed an American flag by his marker.

The next one we searched for was for William and Ellen (or Hellen) Bellamy. Thanks to the map of the cemetery, they were very easy to find! William Bellamy's marker was starting to be covered by grass, so Jonathan grabbed some tools from the car to dig out the roots and dirt.

 As I was researching, I found out that their daughter Sarah Ellen Bellamy married Joseph Machen on the ship as they were emigrating to America from England. I also found out the Ellen's maiden name is Redfern which is my great-grandpa's middle name.

It took a little bit longer, but we were also able to find John and Lurena Nebeker. We could tell that we were in the right area because there were quite a few other Nebekers around them! Now I just get to figure out how we are all related.

We also visited a few other markers before we left.

Hyrum Smith's memorial

President Heber J. Grant

President David O. McKay

President Gordon B. Hinckely

And my dad's favorite, Porter Rockwell!

Then we headed out to Magna to visit where Jonathan's great-grandma and great-aunt are buried. We were not prepared for how dusty this cemetery was, but we still did our best to clean their markers. This visit was much more emotional for Jonathan. He knew both of them and attended their funerals. 

I am so glad that we were able to take the time to visit our ancestors and to remember them.

We Are A Happy Family!

Moving to Utah has not been the easiest. This is the furthest I've lived away from family, but that isn't the real reason why it is difficult.

I love our ward, but it's basically a married student ward. There are two young men and no young women in the ward. Many of the people that move in that have only been married for a few weeks and just about every month there is at least one baby born. It's not uncommon for Fast and Testimony meeting to turn into pregnancy announcement/ now that we have a baby we are a "real" family meeting. I perfectly understand the excitement, but that's not a testimony. I had a testimony about the importance of families and having children long before I even met Jonathan. Last summer, we were called to serve in the nursery. The children are from 18 months to 3 years old and we usually have at least 6 kids every week. I get down on the floor and I play and interact with some of the funniest people in our ward. I absolutely love it! In our ward, couples without kids tend to be called into nursery. It really gets to me when people talk about nursery as a form of birth control. That's not the purpose of being in nursery at all. It's about helping these wonderful children learn basic principles of the gospel and how to interact with those around them. There is a lot of happy screaming and the occasional physical confrontation in class, but there are also times when a child says "I'm sorry" without being told to or notices that someone hasn't had a turn and make sure they have a turn. We are laying the foundation for these children. This is the first organized class they are part of and certainly no where near the last one.

Jonathan and I have been married for just over four years now and we are a "real" family. Sure our family isn't growing (if anything it's getting smaller because Jonathan's losing weight). A family is not dependent on the number of people, it's doing things together and making your own family traditions. I know some people thought it was weird that we were "alone" for Thanksgiving and Christmas this past year. I don't see it that way at all. Jonathan is my family and I am Jonathan's family. We spent the holidays with our family. When I was growing up, there were some years that we spent holidays with extended family and others where we stayed home as the six of us. Either way, I was still spending time with family. We are constantly make decisions and sacrifices for our family.

I can't express how happy it makes me to have a family of my own. Sure it doesn't look the way I envisioned it, but I love spending each and every day with my sweet Jonathan.

S-P-R-I-N-G

My nephew, Tyler, read this amazing poem he wrote about spring for his class on St. Patrick's Day.

Seems like flowers are starting to bloom...
Perhaps I need to buy spring clothes,
Ready to sneez, I know I am,
It seems like there are pop corn trees everywhere!
No more stopping my allergies now,
Get ready for spring!

By Tyler

My mom said it was so funny because he read it with so much expression.

To say I miss this kid, is an understatement.

Our Mini Valentines

This winter has been so mild that we decided to head up to Idaho for the weekend.

Ruby has grown up so much in the past three months. She is such a sweet and happy baby.

We gave Clara her late birthday present. Since it was Elsa's crown, she needed to put on her dress.

Idaho has seriously beautiful sunsets!

After the big kids went to bed, Annie and Chris ran some errands while we cuddled with sleepy Ruby.

Before Church, the boys did some important reading about Lego Star Wars.

After Church, Clara needed to put on another princess dress to twirl around.

Ruby loves playing with Uncle Jonathan.

Seth thought it would be a good idea to climb on us when we were relaxing on the couch. He just ended up getting squished.

After we got home from Idaho, we hung up all the Valentines we brought home and even got more from California.

It was so nice having so many Valentines this year!

Remembering Rosella Machen

Our last day in California was the day of Grandma's funeral. It was wonderful hearing so many different stories about her throughout her life.

When she was only 11 years old, she was the ward organist. Then when she was 14, she was the Stake organist. It's clear that it's through her that I get my musical talent.

In 1984, my grandma and grandpa served a mission together in Tahiti. That's why there are so many shell necklaces on the table. This is her journal during their mission. The first entry was on the day my sister Amy was born. A mission is the only thing that would have kept them from being at the hospital on the day their first granddaughter was born.

Back in the 1950s, my grandpa was having serious health problems to the point where he couldn't work. It turned out one of his kidneys was dead and the other was days away from the same fate. During that time, my grandma cared for their 3 young children, take care of the house, and work. No one's really sure how she was able to take on so many responsibilities all at once, but she did it all without complaint.

My grandma's favorite color was blue. When my mom and Aunt Andrea were having to go through and make all of the decisions, my aunt insisted that they go with the blue coffin because that's what Grandma would have chosen.

It was so nice to be all gathered together as a family.

Tyler and Garrett were very curious. Tyler was concerned with how it would work when grandma and grandpa are resurrected since they are under the ground. We did our best to tell answer his question, but fully admitted that we really don't know how it will work, but that we do know that it will work. It took some time, but he was satisfied.

When Garrett first heard that Grandma Machen had died, he really wanted to see her bones. He was a little confused to find out that she would still have her skin and hair.

Meanwhile, Charlotte was busy collecting all of the tissues she could find. She would hand them to my cousin Megan and then take them all back.

It was a good day. Though, I think Grandma would have been embarrassed to have so many stories about her being shared. She wasn't one to stand in the spotlight if she could help it. I love her so much and am so grateful that I was able to have such a righteous example in my life. A scripture that keeps coming to mind when I think about my grandma is Matthew 25:21 "...Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." She most certainly has been a pillar of faith to many people and she is still continuing to help her family from the other side of the veil.

Because Of Him

Last week, I went to the temple for the first time since my grandma died. It hit me really hard that she really is gone. My heart ached for her even though I know she is happy and with so much family. I prayed that she would stay with me while I was in the temple and after that a peaceful feeling washed over me. My grandma spent many, many years as a temple worker, so it's not surprising to me that I would feel her there. This experience reaffirmed my faith that death is not the end. I will be reunited with her once more. This video helps explain where that faith that I have comes from.

Christ lived and suffered that we may all be worthy to come back to the presence of God. He broke the bands of death so that every single person who has ever lived may live again. I know that His love for us is what carried Him through His hardest times and we can turn to His love to carry us through our darkest times. We are never truly alone.

California

I headed back to California over Labor Day weekend for my grandma's funeral. This trip was very different from what I thought my first trip back to California would be like. However it, was still great and, most importantly, filled with a lot of family time. Chris and I flew out together and made it to California so much faster than if we had driven!

On our first flight, we had internet so of course I watched some US Open!

The farms are look pretty good considering the drought situation.

We headed over to Andy and Amy's house for dinner. There was an outrageous amount of good food! We were also celebrating my dad's birthday (a day late) all together.

The kids were ready to pounce for the cake!

After Andy's, my mom and I headed over to Amy and Mike's so Garrett could show off his archery skills. When we first got there, both Garrett and Charlotte were in the bathtub. Garrett was being a bit of a punk to Charlotte, so I kept telling him to stop it and he just laughed at me. Charlotte could not figure out what was going on at all. She wasn't too sure about both Chris and me during this trip. As soon as Garrett got some clothes on, he pulled out his bow and arrow. There's a  suction cup at the end of the arrows and he shoots at the sliding glass. It was impressive seeing his skills of hitting the door and not Charlotte!

Charlotte the Super Girl and Garrett Hood

Then we drove to Target and I could not figure out how to get there at all. I even started to get a headache from trying to remember how to get there. Apparently, I'm acclimating to Utah more than I realized!

On Sunday and Monday, we just spent a lot of time together as a family. I was able to pop in to the Nelson's and see all of the changes that have been happening around the house. On Monday, we spent most of the day with my mom's sister's family. It was so wonderful to spend so much time with family. That was one of grandma's most prized possessions and it was wonderful that we could all be together talking and laughing.

A Special Day

Today is a very special day for our little family. It marked one year since we found out we were pregnant. I still vividly remember that day. It was a quiet, Sunday morning. Jonathan was still half asleep and then I tackled him with the positive pregnancy test in hand. He immediately was wide awake and grinning from ear to ear.

What a difference a year makes.

I am so grateful that Jonathan and I were sealed in the temple. One day, we will be reunited with our angel baby. Until then, we will continue to be grateful for the time we shared.

via

This helped give me some much needed perspective this year.

Idaho in the Summer

Summer time is always fun, but spending time in Idaho makes it even better! I love how hot there is the low 90's and then the breeze kicks in and makes it even nicer. On our first day together, Jonathan had school so I picked my parents up from the airport in the morning and Jonathan followed a few hours later.

Andy's family got there the night before us and we were all ready to have some fun. First up was a water balloon fight.

Next up was baseball.

We would take breaks to watch the airplanes take off.

Then we had two on two soccer. I played on Ryan's team for awhile and then tagged in Andy.

During the soccer game, Jonathan finally made it and was greeted by two very happy nieces.

We used our fireworks on the 3rd since we were going to see an incredible firework show by the Snake River the next day.

We had a great start to our time in Idaho and it only got better!