What we Believe

I have been blessed with growing up in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints my entire life. I cannot express or describe the amount of blessings I have received from being a member. But one of the most amazing blessings I will share was meeting my now husband Chance in High School, and introducing him to the gospel, and also having the opportunity to watch him grow in the gospel, develop a love of its teachings, gaining a testimony, and showing that love and dedication to the church by being baptized. He was baptized when he was 17 years old, and has one of the strongest testimonies of the gospel that I have ever heard.He went on a 2 year mission for our church to Montana, and developed such a love for those people, and an even deeper love and understanding of the church and all that it encompasses.We were engaged and got married a short time after he got home. Chance is such a strength and example to me of how LDS members should be living their lives, and he does this each day by his example and love for those around him and by living the gospel to its fullest. We feel truly blessed to members of the church and to have a belief in God and his son Jesus Christ, and for their love that they have for each one of us.

Click on these links to learn more about our church and what Chance and I believe in.

We Belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Who we are

Weekend with Family

My sister Kaysha, who is also expecting a little boy due March 26th, had her baby shower this weekend, and I was able to go! Sadly Chance had to work and do school stuff, so I made the long 3 hour trek down to Ava by myself, I always miss him when we are not together, but I  was looking forward to the weekend. I got to ava on Thrusday, and chatted with the fam for a while, that night I went to my neice Kristas 2nd grade concert. Friday we went up to Springfield, and shopped for the baby shower, and shopped for the babies :). Saturday we got everything ready for the shower, and the shower was that night. So many people came and supported my sister, it was really neat, and she recieved lots of really great stuff for the baby. We played games, ate food, and enjoyed all the company of those who came, it was a really fun night. Sunday, we all went to church ,and ate dinner with the Missionaries later that night, I then went over to my in-laws house and visited with them that night. Monday I chatted a little with my momma and sister, and packed up to head back home. My husband missed me, and I sort of missed him ;). It was a packed weekend, but so much fun, its always a little sad to leave, but always great to come home. I just love my families, and the time that I get to spend with them is just so much fun, and memories are always made.

Memory Game

Guess her belly size game

And so the Assembling begins...

Chance and I have been blessed with such great families, and support systems. Our families are so excited for our little boy to make his way into this world, as are we. They have been so kind and have asked us what we want for our little guy. Chances parents offered to get us a crib! We were so excited, that we jumped right on that. I researched all types of baby cribs, along with all of the new safety warnings and things that go along with anything that deals with babies these days. I found a really great deal on a Delta crib, and it arrived Thursday night! I had Chance put it together that night, and he said, "and so it begins, putting things together for our kids" :).We love it, and it is fun because it matches our bed in our room, they are both the Sleigh Bed design. I will post pictures later of the bedding and everything put together once I get a mattress. We love getting all of these fun baby things, now all we need is our little baby!

Jambalaya

In honor of Mardi Gras, I decided to go crazy and make a whole Cajun dish. I found a jambalaya recipe with rave reviews and decided, what the heck I will give it a try. I have never had this dish before and neither has Chance. We were brave soles, the recipe had sausage, chicken, and shrimp in it, all of which we love, so we thought this would be a treat for sure. Well the preparation and total cook time took about 2 hours, not exactly what I wanted to be doing for 2 hours, but I thought surely this yummy looking dish would be worth it. Needless to say when the jambalaya was done and we sat down to eat our feast, I didn't hear any  "yums" or "honey this is so good", and I was about feeling the same way Chance was. Dont get me wrong, it was not horrible, Chance and I learned that night that we are not Cajun food type people, and wont be needing to head down to Louisiana any time soon, sorry Bourbon Street Jambalaya, we were not very impressed....

Church Callings

Since Chance and I have moved into our ward we have felt VERY welcomed by everyone, we LOVE our ward so much, and love having friends to do things with! We had been in the ward for about 3 months until one evening we got a call asking if Chance and I could meet with the bishop. Well we knew that we wouldn't be able to fly under the radar forever...bring on the calling! We were made ward missionaries! It has been so much fun, going to meet investigators with the Elders, and sitting in on lessons. But my very favorite part has been watching Chance teach lessons to the investigators, he is such a loving spiritual person, and gets right to your heart. Every time he gives a lesson or bears his testimony to the investigators he definitely has me convinced that the church is true, not that I didn't already know that it was, but you can just feel the spirit penetrating from him, its pretty amazing. I always knew he was a great missionary, it it just so neat to be able to see it in action!

Well one calling isn't enough in the LDS church of course, unless you are lucky enough to be my husband, if not...then you are bound to receive more callings. A couple weeks ago I was called to meet once again with one of the Bishop bric members. Now I have to tell you I have enjoyed so much being able to go to Sunday School and Relief Society, now that I have friends to sit by and chat with, its really fun, so I have to admit, I may have not had the best of attitude when I knew that I would be getting a new calling. I didn't want to miss out on Relief Society! So I thought of all the callings that hadn't been filled and I thought for sure I would be in Young Womens, which would be pretty fun, if that were to happen. So the meeting came and I was quite nervous of course, because you never know what is coming, and of course they sit and talk forever with you, and I am just thinking, just give it to me straight here, what am I called too?!? Well to much shock, I got called as the Ward Music Chorister and Director! Wow! I was actually quite excited about this, now I can stay in all my meetings! Which also made me feel bad since I did do some complaining, and Debby Downying. I have now lead the music in Sacrament for 2 weeks so far, and I really like it. It is a good calling for me because I am a huge baby when it comes to standing/speaking/doing anything in front of a large group of people, so this calling will help me overcome some fears as well. I may not be a great singer, but I love the hymns, and the beautiful music that the church provides,it is so inspiring and uplifting and I am so grateful to have this opportunity to be apart of the spirit in which the hymns add to the Sacrament each week.

Baby Pic update, this is an awful picture, but hey I am almost 22 weeks!

Baby Boy

Wow, yesterday was one of the most amazing days of both mine and Chances lives, and one that I will never forget. We had the wonderful blessing to see our baby via ultrasound for the second time! The first time it looked like a little blob, but this was AMAZING! There is an actual baby floating around in my uterus! My mom, sister Camille, and my mother-in-law came down to share this special day with Chance and I. We had to wait ALL day...or it felt that way, the appointment was at 3 o'clock. When the time finally came to head to the hospital, I was so nervous, mostly because I want everything to be ok, with the baby, and wanted everything to be developing as it should be. We had a nice lady who did the ultrasound. She put the blue goopy stuff on my belly, and it was so warm, and instantly there was my baby! My baby! Wow it really hit me, it looked so cute, with its little feet moving around and kicking. My favorite part was when it looked right at us, and opened its mouth and smiled! It was so neat! The ultrasound lady checked EVERYTHING, she was very thorough, and everything looked great! At the end she asked if there was anything else I wanted to see, and I said no I think you showed us everything, and at precisely the same moment, my mom and mother-in-law said together, no we want to know the sex! It hadn't even crossed my mind, I guess I was just so thrilled that everything looked great that, I was content with that. But yes I did want to know, so she checked the "area" and it was.....a baby BOY! I was so excited and a little shocked I thought it was going to be a girl, and so did a lot of other people, but I am just so thrilled to be a mother to a baby boy, and if hes anything like his daddy, we as parents will be quite lucky. After the ultrasound we waited for over an hour to meet with my doctor,Chance was way over his limit for waiting patiently by then, and I was getting very hungry! Once we finally got to meet with her we literally talked for like 3 minutes and we were done, figures haha. After we were all done, we ate at Olive Garden...Yummy! I just feel so happy and cannot believe that I am going to be a mom! I am so excited to see my baby boy and get to hold him in my arms.

His cute little profile

Little feet

His hand above his stomach

His face looking right at you with his mouth open, hes a happy kid!

It is a boy :)

His chubby little arm and hand

Both his hands above him

His leg all stretched out, he is on his tippy toes, doing push ups :)

P.S. A VERY special thanks to my family who came up to spend the day with us, we love you all so much and appreciate EVERYTHING that you do for Chance, Me, and Baby. We love you!

Its a LOVE story...

So this is going to be a longer post...but I thought I would share "our" love story, in a summarized version. It all started with a girl seeing a very handsome boy in a geography class sitting with a large group of friends. Girl really liked boy, but didn't know how to really talk to boys or know what to say to him. He was smart, popular,funny, and he was the running back of the football team, which girl found very attractive. This boy and girl danced around each other for quite sometime until a friendship began to grow. Now this boy was not like the other boys in high school, he was mature, respectful, and nice to everyone. As girl began to like this boy more, boy asked girl out...well this is what the girl was waiting for!! Why then did she hesitate...ya well, there was a slight problem, as much as this girl liked this boy,girl had a life long goal of marrying and only dating someone whom was a member of her church. Needless to say a short relationship did not last long, well boy was not happy about that, and did not talk to girl for some time. But the silence did not last forever, as I said before boy was very mature, and didn't want bad feelings.

One of our very first pictures together

So boy and girl began talking again. Well, boy asked girl about her standards, and why she wouldn't date him, and girl told him a little about her church and how important it is to her. After this talk something unexpected happened, boy asked girl why she never invited him to her church then..Duh! Why didn't girl do that? So girl did invite this boy and he came, but said that he probably wont come back again...but he did! Well no one knows why, but everything happens for a reason, and girl started liking a different boy, and started dating him. Yes, girl is crazy, well the boy continued to go to church and started taking missionary lessons, which were held at the girls house, unfortunately girl didnt attend hardly any of these because girl had cheerleading practice, and didn't really like boy at that time, why, well, you will see. So eventually girl stopped dating that other boy, because really all along she liked this boy so much. Boy eventually joined the church and was so amazing and strong, girl was so proud of him. And to this day girl knows why she was dating the other boy at that time..so boy could focus on the gospel and not get baptized for the wrong reasons..yes it is amazing how things work out, and girl could not be more happy. To try and make a very long story short, girl and boy dated the last 2 years of high school.

Homecoming! On my birthday! Yes, Chance looks studly

Chance had to dress up for "fool for a day". As you can see I dressed him as a nerd, suits him dont ya think ;)

He wrapped boxes inside of boxes for my Christmas present one year, and when I FINALLY opened the last one...nothing was in it. "Oh Yeah, he says, I forgot that I put it in my pocket" tricky, tricky.

Our Senior Prom '08

Graduation '08

Halloween '08

And after graduation, boy had a decision to make, was he going to go on a mission? Well like I said before this boy is amazing and has such a strong testimony, that he knew that he was going to go on a mission for the church, he was worried about how to tell his parents, but they are wonderful people and supported him through everything, he is very lucky to have such kind, loving and understanding parents. As boy prepared to go on his mission to Montana, girl got a little apprehensive..what would happen to the relationship? Would girl wait for boy, or date and maybe meet someone else?

Chance with his parents at the airport before he left on his mission

With me and my parents at the airport

See you in 2 Years!

Some people he taught while on his mission

Some of his good friends that were in his mission

 Well boy went on his mission, and girl went to school in Utah. Boy and girl wrote a lot the first year. Girl came home from Utah and went to school in Missouri, and hadn't really been on any dates, but learned a lot from school in Utah, educationally and socially. Well the second year of boys mission, they didn't write so much...girl wondered where things were going. As boys mission came to a close, he asked girl to be at the airport when he got home. So girl obliged to that, and went with her family, and his family, to anxiously await for his arrival. Of course boy was the LAST one off the plane, and girls heart was pounding out of her chest. At last we saw him! And he looked good :). Girls sister was the hug "ice breaker" boy gave everyone a hug, including girl!! It was slightly awkward at the airport, but not too bad, boy talked to girl and asked girl to ride home with them after he got released by the stake president from his mission. Girl could not believe her ears, and she did not want to pass this opportunity up, so she did ride home with boy, and boy wanted girl to sit next to him! Girl was so excited and it was so easy to talk to boy, not awkward at all, it may have helped that his parents were there too. Well the next morning, before 7 a.m. girl got a call from boy, and he said he was on his way over, well girl started having a panic attack, she had just woken up and girl did not want boy seeing her looking like a wild banshee. So girl quickly got ready, just in time. Girl spent the whole day with boy, talking about his awesome mission, and how much he has grown, yes girl was drooling, she REALLY liked this boy so much! Over the next week boy and girl spent everyday together talking and catching up, and yes even about marriage! Well the next week was a whirlwind of emotions and adventures. Boy and girl went shopping for rings 4 days after he got home! And 3 days, and a couple of amazing dates later, boy proposed to girl in the back of their high school, while listening to their song "God Blessed the Broken Road", boy had a sweet poem for girl to read and after girl was done reading the poem boy was down on one knee with the ring! Girl was so happy she said yes!

The night we got engaged

One of our engagement pics

At temple square in Salt Lake City, a fewdays before my sister got married, and yes, they got married 10 days before Chance and I!

 Now if you do your math right, boy and girl got engaged 1 week after boy got home, yes crazy, but it felt so right. Needless to say, boy and girl got married about a month and a half later. It was the best day of their lives, everything was perfect, and boy and girl love each other so much and couldn't wait to spend forever together.

I love this pic, I think because its kandid

Well, girl and boy have now been married a little over one amazing year filled with fun, adventure and so much love. Boy makes girl laugh each day and tells her every day how much he loves and appreciates her, girl feels like the luckiest girl in the whole world. Now boy and girl are expecting a baby, and they couldn't be more happy to share their love with this sweet baby. Boy and girl are so excited for the rest of their lives together, and are so happy for the leaps of faith they have taken and how far they have come, and are ready for wherever life takes them!