Happy Birthday Son! And Daughter!

Technically, my babies do not actually turn one until July 6th, however, since we are moving to Tucson, AZ on Friday, we figured a little early celebration wouldn't hurt us one little bit. These aren't going to be in any kind of order, but I figure my descriptions out of order will be just as good.

 This is a picture on our porch of Cordy bear. She is 11 months old and we love her to pieces. My sister gave us these adorbs hair clips. They are easy to put in and Bruce just loves pulling them right out again. Probably because they are so beautiful.

 Bruce is such a sweetheart. If I put him on the front porch step, he will sit and kick his little legs. He waves from the step and waits for me. It melts my heart every time.

 Our friend Holly is so fun. She visits us. We eat treats and watch movies together. We also do crafts.

 The Ruiz's are some of our favorite people. They are such a caring bunch and thoughtful to boot. They were also kind enough to host the babies' one year celebration and our going away party. I was in charge of decorating and realized finally why party planning committees usually exist. Well played streamers and balloons. Well played.

 The Applins are super fun as well. We love to see them and play with them, but since we don't leave the house as often anymore, we didn't get to hang out with them as much as we would have liked. Charles worked with Brad though, and really enjoyed his time at Tapestry Solutions, learning valuable skills like nerf battles and other such top secret shenanigans.

 Flor and Heidi are more friends we didn't hang out with as much as we would have liked. However, luckily we did see them at girl's nights at Kiwi's house. They would also complement me on my cooking and make me feel really good about myself. Everyone needs friends like that.

 Our favorite pharmacist, just hanging out with Mark and remembering good times.

 Isabelle is such a fun and inclusive person. I am so glad we have such good friends here in San Luis Obispo.

Our friends the Krafts also came to celebrate with us. We love their sweet faces too and are so lucky to know such rock stars.

Really, I did want to invite everyone I know here in SLO to the party, but didn't want to overrun the Ruiz's house. It was a fun, laid-back celebration and we got to visit for a while. Mostly though, we just made sure the kids didn't get into anything they shouldn't and ate cake. Well, some of us ate cake.

 Cordy didn't eat her cake, she just crumpled it into nothingness with her hands. If you've seen the 5 Instagram videos, you'd see it took them a while to understand what was expected of them. Bruce actually never really got into it. He carefully picked off cereal pieces and ate a tiny bit of frosting. He actually preferred the watermelon we gave him to snack on. Secretly, it pleased me very much to see how they resisted the idea of making a mess. I guess that shows what a food control freak I am with these babies. We live in a carpeted enclosed space though, so I do it to keep our apartment sanitary.

 The beginning shot, before Cordelia played smash and Bruce delicately enjoyed his snack.

 Our friend Kim, who lovingly did our laundry for ages and taught us all sorts of great lessons about marriage and families. What a great teacher and friend!

 Our Costco cake specially ordered. I wrote "Can you do a spaceship please?" That's all the direction they got and I was insanely pleased with the result. Thanks Costco! It looked (and tasted) great!

 Our friends the Longs! We love them and their pizza nights. We also love their friendship and massages. Karol is also an Usborne book consultant. If you're looking for books, she's your lady.

 These are the moon cakes I made for the babies. I used this recipe for the cake and made cream cheese with yogurt frosting. I also added about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar to make it semi-palatable. Apparently they weren't as good as they look. I did substitute baby food for the dates and coconut oil for the coconut. Honestly, I tried Bruce's again today and threw it away. I am comfortable with the idea that I didn't load my babies up with sugar on their birthday though.

Cordelia mutilating hers with a couple nibbles in between and Bruce taking a piece of cereal here and there for munching was fine by me. I don't know if we caught it very well on camera, but Bruce did tentatively try and put his whole mouth on the cake. He reconsidered this methodology, and ended up taking very careful assessments of that cake.

 Here are my three sweet babies before bedtime. Look at those sweet smiles.

And finally, this is a picture of Cordelia with her bangs in her face. This is what I see every morning first thing- a big smile and hair in her eyes. Bruce is also usually in the background, semi-patiently grabbing our toes and telling us to wake up.

This was taken today. Charles spider-cocooned himself and the babies didn't even notice he was on the ground. Maybe I'll try this one day when I want to suffocate myself during a Sunday nap.

Nearer my God to thee- A talk given by me in church 6/24/18

How have my life experiences brought me closer to Jesus Christ?

Modification of a Ground Based Atomic Oxygen Simulation Apparatus to Accommodate Three Dimensional Specimens. Charles' talk- if he'd been assigned.

When hard things happen in my life, I get mad. I think, "Why in the heck are these bad things happening to me? Am I being punished for past sins. Did I skip milking our goat Yaruba too often or was it my bad attitude as a teenager?" After thinking such things for a time and stewing over my bad luck, I eventually part the weeds of doubt and look over a pond of love and inspiration.

I am often in difficult straits, and after my initial anger, finally realize how much our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ actually love me. This love is manifested to me in three ways 1. By dispelling my fears 2. By guiding me through acute pain and sadness 3. By manifold demonstrations of love

I. God's love for me manifested by-1. Dispelling my fears

A. Topical Guide- Fear can have two meanings: (1) to fear God is to feel reverence and awe for him and to obey his commandments; (2) to fear man, mortal dangers, pain, and evil is to be afraid of such things and to dread them.

B. "Fear rarely has the power to change our hearts, and it will never transform us into people who love what is right and who want to obey Heavenly Father.

People who are fearful may say and do the right things, but they do not feel the right things. They often feel helpless and resentful, even angry. Over time these feelings lead to mistrust, defiance, even rebellion…

(God) wants us to reach out and take firm hold of the iron rod, confront our fears, and bravely step forward and upward along the strait and narrow path. He wants this for us because He loves us and because this is the way to happiness." Dieter F. Uchtdorf; Perfect Love Casteth out Fear; April 2017

C. Germany age 25

1. Danielle- What now?

a.  Reasons not to: 18 months is a long time, talk to strangers, no flirting with boys, a lot of money

b. Pray about mission- resounding assurance answer was yes

2. Train to Florence Italy- fears magnified

a. Saw Drew in the train station, testimony of His care

D. Testimony- I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know our fears and the direct line to   dispelling those fears

II.  God's love for me manifested by- 2. Tender Guidance through personal times of acute pain and sadness

A. Revelation 21:4- And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

B. "There are few of us, if any, who don’t walk the refiner’s fire of adversity and despair, sometimes known to others but for many quietly hidden and privately endured. Most of the heartache, pain, and suffering we would not choose today. But we did choose.

We chose when we could see the complete plan. We chose when we had a clear vision of the Savior’s rescue of us. And if our faith and understanding were as clear today as it was when we first made that choice, I believe we would choose again.

Therefore, perhaps the challenge is to have the kind of faith during the hard times that we exercised when we first chose." Richard C. Edgley; For thy Good; April 2002

C. Most painful times of my life: Single life. Childlessness- Why? Foster Care. IVF 5x. Weeping.

D. Testimony- I know we experience specific, difficult things so we can learn specific, difficult lessons

III. God's love for me manifested by- 3. Manifold Demonstrations of love

A. 1 John 4:19- We love him, because he first loved us

B. " One of the strongest connections we have with our premortal life is how much our Father and Jesus loved us and how much we loved Them. Even though a veil was drawn over our memory, whenever we sense true love, it awakens a longing that cannot be denied.

Responding to true love is part of our very being. We innately desire to reconnect here with the love we felt there. Only as we feel God’s love and fill our hearts with His love can we be truly happy.

God’s love fills the immensity of space; therefore, there is no shortage of love in the universe, only in our willingness to do what is needed to feel it. To do this, Jesus explained we must “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, … soul, … strength, and … mind; and thy neighbor as thyself” (Luke 10:27)." John H. Groberg; The Power of God's Love; October 2004

C.  Specific acts of love shown to me: Meals brought, sorting piles of baby clothes, babysitting, midnight visits, work offered, laundry, visits from friends, giant stacks of movies loaned, baby holding, baby gifts, hugs, sweet words of encouragement, help with moving, money for expensive IVF treatments, and loads of other manifestations of love

Excerpt from Charles' acknowledgements- " (I would like to acknowledge) Merilee, for supporting me since my community college years, for blessing our home with two children, and for being what has made everything worth it."

D. Testimony- We receive so much love from everywhere, it is sometimes overlooked, but I know the Lord loves each and every one of us. Through these manifestations of God's love in my life, I see how my experiences bring me closer to Him and his son Jesus Christ.