FAMILY

   3/11/2021

  Today I am feeling very grateful for my family. Our family had my parents (the kids Noble grandparents and their cousin Daphanee) stay at our home for a Saturday night over the weekend. It was nice to spend some time catching up with them. Being a Saturday night, the older kids all had plans later that evening. Bre was working doing eye lashes on a client, Jarom worked out at the gym, Spencer and Ellie had dates...(a typical weekend night for the older kids.) Matt and I ended up going out to Mexican for dinner with my parents as the younger girls Brooke and Saydee were gearing up for a sleepover with their cousin Daphanee in their bedroom, so by the time everyone had settled down and called it a night it was almost curfew time (midnight). Matt and Josh decided to turn on a late movie in our room. As I sat in one of the sitting chairs upstairs in the hall way to relax for a min, the older kids had ended up congregating around me on the hall floor shortly before Spencer the last one who rolled in came home. After he arrived home, he came upstairs as he was drinking a large McDonalds drink and said, "I've got to use the bathroom so bad, my balder is so full!" He headed into his bed room and proceeds to go into to the bathroom that is connected to his room. When all of the sudden from the hall we hear, "Oh sorry grandma." My parents were sleeping over in the bonus room upstairs and the closest bathroom is Josh and Spencer's "Jack and Jill bathroom" that they share. Spencer had walked in on his grandma as she was using the bathroom. I'm not sure who was more embarrassed Spencer or his grandma; but I told him it's okay we are all family. And we are pretty close and open in our family :) After Spencer headed to his sister's bathroom to use theirs, he came to hang out in the hallway with all of us (being after midnight, we were all just lounging and relaxing after a long day. We were just chatting and enjoying each other's company.) It reminded how grateful I am for my kids and the closeness and openness we all share and how blessed I am to have all seven of the kids home right now. It made me realize that here shortly as the older kids are all growing that eventually we won't all be together in person (with missions, school, marriages etc. with them growing up.) We've experienced that already when Jarom was gone on his mission to Argentina for two years. There are times like that evening and many more like family Sunday dinners, FHE nights, the holidays and such that I just want to savor, to lock those special family times up in a safe to keep and cherish forever- just the happiness and joy of the reality of togetherness from the love that my family shares. It makes me truly grateful for forever eternal families through the blessings of the temple. The knowledge that we know that through our temple sealing that we can be together forever with our families beyond just this mortal life here on earth. We can savor and have the memories and even better the reality of eternal love and togetherness with our families through our Heavenly Father's plan of happiness and the blessings of the temple. 

       When Matt and I had a chance to get away for a little over nighter , just the two of us over the holidays. That night we watched a documentary on a series of near death experiences where many people had actually died, flat lined, their heart had stopped for a time and they had miraculously came back (unknown to modern medicine how they had came back and let alone survived but after time had made full recoveries with out any major brain damage and such.) None of these people were members of the church, many prior to their experience weren't religious at all nor did they believe in any life before or after death, however; the common factors in the majority of these experiences was the beauty, joy and indescribable happiness (free from any pains) that these people felt during this time. Then the fact that they were all initially welcomed in from loved ones who had passed. Some of the people recognized their loved ones (being a parent or grandparent who had previously passed) but there were others that didn't recognize the people who were welcoming them but they knew and could feel the love from their spirits and they were able to conclude that they were their ancestors. In all of these near death experiences, they had all seemed to be told that it wasn't there time that there was still more work for them to do on earth  and they needed to go back but because of the happiness and joy that they felt they didn't want to go back. Watching this documentary hit me and it made me realize the importance of us learning about our ancestors and our family members who have passed, getting to know about them and their lives and their stories so when we are reunited with them we will know them. 

    Before Covid-19 hit and disruptive our world, we had a temple date set that was cancelled to do more family names with baptisms for the dead with the kids. It's so crazy that now it's been over a year that we haven't been able to reschedule our temple date which makes us SO anxious to go back! Well, good news- we just got word that it turns out that the temple baptistries are opening back up slowly to phase in small groups, families and youth groups and then limited use recommend holders. Taking an active part in the work of salvation and attending the temple for our ancestors brings us joy, it's something that has been missed during this time and it's been a wake up call that we shouldn't take our temple blessings of attending the Holy House of The Lord for granted. There are plenty of other areas of temple and family history work that we can be involved in outside of the temple but the happiness that physically attending the temple brings is irreplaceable! I am so happy and grateful to be a member of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ's true church, for The Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ and to have the knowledge of This True Gospel. I am forever grateful for the GIFT of ETERNAL FAMILLIES!