It has been a lot of fun revisiting some of my old posts.  (At least it was fun for me! lol)  I wanted my final "best of" post to contain my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ because its, in the end, the absolute most important part of who I am.  It defines me, it guides me, it brings me the greatest joy. 

Thanks for taking this walk down memory lane with me... here's to another 1,500 posts! :)

I have often wondered what I would have done in the days of Christ or even in the days of Joseph Smith.  I have often wondered if I would have believed and followed them.  I have wondered if I would have had the faith to cross the plains as a pioneer, willing to leave my home and possibly all the people I knew and loved to follow a new religion. 

Sometimes I encounter people who constantly question.  They need to KNOW.  They need proof.  They need to hear it from "the horse's mouth".  They believe, or at least claim to believe, yet they bring up things and sometimes even search for things that create doubt in their own minds and sometimes in others.  I often feel uncomfortable when I am associating with people like that.

In Sunday School, I, along with the other YW leaders are taking Teacher Development classes.  We just began last week and I believe they will last all summer.  As I have been reading the assignment, I came across a section about testimony.  Something in it, but I can't quite pinpoint an exact quote, filled me with an understanding.  Something I've always wondered but never knew.

I am a believer.  My heart just believes.  I do not walk blindly, following others just because they say so or it sounds good.  I can and do think for myself.  But something in me recognizes the truth when I hear it.  In my patriarchal blessing, I am told this.  That I recognize the truth when I read or hear it.  But I never fully understood just how important that is.  It's a gift, you could say.  And I don't say that to boast or brag.  In the Doctrine and Covenants, we are told that we all have gifts, and they aren't all the same. 

I am well aware that I lack many talents.  I often think to myself that I have not "mastered" any talent really.  I remember a teacher referring to himself as, "A jack of all trades, master of none".  I relate to that.  I like many things, am okay at most, maybe even good at a few, but I am not proficient in any way, in any of those things. But  I am reminded of another man I knew who was a quadriplegic.  His body was broken and it was a great trial to him and his family.  However, one day he told his father, "I am grateful that my trial is physical and not spiritual.  When I am resurrected, I will be made whole again.  If it were my testimony that was broken instead of my body, I think that would be a much more difficult trial to endure."

If I could have only one gift, I would want it to be a spiritual gift like this.  To believe.  To recognize truth.  To know without needing to KNOW.  The testimony that I have is a great one.  It has carried me through trials that I don't think I could have endured without it.  And because of my testimony, I know I can continue to endure.  It really doesn't matter what happens to or around me, so long as I have that faith.  Faith that there is a Heavenly Father who loves me and knows what is best for me.  If He says this is where I should be, then I know it is so.  If He says this is the path I should take, then I know it is so.  I know that He leads and guides The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  And when I hear the prophet speak, I know he is speaking for the Lord.  I know that whatever he says, it will be what the Lord wants me to hear.  I can still pray for a confirmation, but the truth is that everytime I have read or heard the prophet's words, the spirit HAS confirmed it to me IMMEDIATELY.  I have not needed to research it myself or to take time to really consider what has been said.  I can do those things to develop more of an understanding of the matter, but I do not need to do them in order to receive a testimony that it is true.  Because I have already received that testimony.

I truly believe that if I had lived in the days of Christ, I would have been one of His followers.  I truly believe that if I had lived in the 1800's when Joseph Smith restored the Gospel, I would have accepted it and followed him and the other saints.  I truly believe that if I had lived in those days that I would have joined the saints and left my home in order to find a place where I could worship without persecution and play an active role in the building of the kingdom.  I also believe that none of those things would have been easy.  But I truly believe, as I also believe now, that any sacrifice I would have had to make would be worth it.

Today, more than anything else, I am grateful for my believing heart.  And I thank the Lord for such a great gift.

My girls... I just love them so much!!!  Being their mom is the best thing I've done.  I guess you could say that they are "the best of" me. :)

These were the blogs I posted on their birthdays this year... 

Today is Acadia's 10th birthday!  I can hardly believe it!  I remember being ten, I remember turning ten and my mom feeling the same way I feel now.  I couldn't understand.  What was the big deal?  But now I get it. 

Acadia is my Mini Me.  She is so helpful and loving!  She is smart, talented, and beautiful.  She's such a good girl, through and through.  I really feel spoiled that she is our daughter.

We love you, Cadi!  Happy Birthday!!!

Today my baby turns three!  I can hardly believe it!

Aurora keeps me so busy; she keeps all of us on our toes.  But she is one of the best things to happen to our family.  Aurora is nothing more than a miracle and no one will ever know just what that means to me and to us as a family.  We adore her.  She has brought out the best in all of us.  Acadia has become a wonderful, loving, patient big sister.  Ryan's heart melts everytime Rori laughs and says "Daddy".  And me... well, she brought me healing that nothing else could.  I often say that her cuteness is her saving grace, but the truth is, to a certain degree, she is my saving grace.

Acadia is my "Mini Me" and Aurora is more of a miniature Ryan in little girl form; she's my "Baby Blue". 

Happy Birthday Aurora!  We love you!!!

I saw this on the Yahoo main page this evening:

When 6-year-old Elena Desserich was diagnosed with brain cancer, she began hiding hundreds of little love notes around the house for her parents to find after she was gone. Here’s the story:

 

Just before her sixth birthday, Elena Desserich was diagnosed with brain cancer and given 135 days to live. She lived 255 days, passing away in 2007. After her death, Elena’s parents, Brooke and Keith, found hundreds of notes from Elena hidden around the house — in between CD cases, between bookshelves, in dresser drawers, in backpacks….

"It just felt like a little hug from her, like she was telling us she was looking over us"

Elena left hundreds of notes like these:

See more of Elena’s notes

Elena’s parents, Brooke and Keith Desserich, have now published these notes in a book called Notes Left Behind to fund a non-profit organization The Cure Starts Now dedicated to fighting pediatric brain cancer.

Link to story (book excerpt) over at Today | The Love Notes | Official Website

Aurora recognizes most (if not all) of the letters of the alphabet and is starting to learn how to write them, too.  She can also count to 10.  I took these pics of her yesterday while she wrote random letters:

These next couple of weeks are among my most stressful of the entire year and I'm really starting to feel it... so this is especially applicable right now!

You Should Play Some Music

Part of what's stressing you out is that you can't stop thinking about your problems. Whenever you try to relax, you can't stop your mind from racing. The best thing you can do is crowd out your thoughts. And there's no easier way to do this than by cranking some music. Dancing is optional but highly recommended. Give yourself a break from your stress and really let loose. Or put on some of your old favorite music (happy music only though!). Sit back and remember what it was like not to be so overwhelmed.

Okay, I'm stealing this quick little meme from April Mommy:

If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, please post a comment with a COMPLETELY MADE UP AND FICTIONAL memory of you and me. It can be anything you want BUT IT HAS TO BE FAKE.  And keep it "clean" please, lol.

I know I get readers... so I better get some comments with some fun, made up memories!

And here are the comments:

I'm a little slow getting to this post, mostly because there really isn't a whole lot to say.  We had a fun Halloween, but it was pretty much your typical Halloween night. 

The girls and I went trick-or-treating with our friends.  The weather was great!  There was a full moon and it looked nice and spooky with the clouds drifting by.  After trick-or-treating, we came back to the house to watch a movie and to help Ryan pass out candy.  Our girls both scored big-time in the candy department.  All-in-all, it was a very fun night! :)

Today is Election Day, so I thought it would be fun to revisit the "election" we held at our house exactly one year ago.  And yes, I'm cheating a little; I'm going to put more than one post up here today.  But they go together; it's the original post, then the two follow up posts I made the next day.

Originally posted: November 3, 2008

I am so excited for our FHE tonight and I want to share it with you so you can copy it if you want.  (In all fairness, it isn't my original idea.  I have stolen it from... somewhere - I can't remember where I saw it!)  It may be too late for you to do it tonight, but it would be fun to do tomorrow, too. :)

We are going to have an election!  Our first ever Roser Family Dinner Election.  I have prepared a "Voters' Pamphlet" for each person in our family, listing the candidates for main dish, side dish, and vegetable dish.  Each "candidate" has a description and a statement to help the voter better understand what a vote for that item would mean.  After reviewing our pamphlets, we will hold our primary election tonight.  Complete with voter ballots.  The top two candidates in each category will then be placed on a new ballot for our dinner election tomorrow.  In the morning, before leaving for work or school, we will all vote on the candidates.  During the day, I will tally the votes and my family will learn what dishes have won our election when we have our elected dinner tomorrow night. 

I am seriously, so excited about this!  lol

We have been learning the Articles of Faith this year and tonight we will also discuss the Twelfth Article of Faith, "We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law."  We'll talk briefly about what this means and start learning to memorize it.  In fact, we'll probably start the FHE with the 12th Article of Faith and do the election part afterwards.

With the elections tomorrow, I think it will be fun to have an election of our own that Cadi can participate in.  Maybe it will become a new tradition for our family; we'll see how well the family likes it. ;)

"I voted today - twice!" 

Originally posted: November 4, 2008

This morning, after dropping Acadia off at school and before hitting the gym, Rori and stopped by one of the ballot drop boxes to turn in our vote. (I had Ryan's ballot to drop off, too.)  I even got my "I voted" sticker.  :)

But before that even, Ryan, Acadia, and I each voted in our family election today. 

I had a couple of requests to share the candidates and their statements, so I decided to scan in and post the pamphlet that I made for our dinner election.  The front looked like this:

The inside had these candidates (copy and pasting really messed with the spacing and settings a bit, but you at least get the idea):

So, after the Primaries last night, our candidates were narrowed down to these:

Main Dish Candidates: Mom's Meatballs and Zesty Grilled Chops
Side Dish Candidates: Scalloped Potatoes and Rice
Vegetable Candidates: Corn on the Cob and Green Beans & Onions

The votes are in and tonight we will find out the results! :)

"The Results are In!" 

Originally posted: November 4, 2008

No, not those results yet.  I'm talking about the winners of today's Dinner Election.  And those winners are...

We had Zesty Grilled Chops, rice, and corn on the cob.  It was very delicious and we all loved the chops!  In fact, we rated it 4.5 out of 5 possible stars and plan on adding it to our favorites. :)

Cadi: Hey look, Rori has a little bum crack!
Rori:  I don't have bum crack, I have baby crack!

There is a reason why we have girls: so Ryan would have little fingers to wrap himself around.  He adores them and they adore him.  This post is just one example of how patient, loving, and positive Ryan is... 

Originally posted: March 9, 2006

(What makes a great dad?)

When he comes home at night after a long day of work and finds some pictures that have been colored scattered in the entrance to the family room along with the colored pencils used to color these pictures...  he looks down and says, "Are those Cadi's?  Wow - she did AWESOME!"  No comment about how she left them out right in the walkway, just how great of a job she did with the detailed coloring in the picture. 

THAT, my friends, is what makes a great dad!