Back into the Swing of Things-Kind of...

I was able to go to the temple for the first time in months, since having Joelle. My parents were planning on babysitting that night for my nephews so they went to the temple earlier in the day. When plans changed for my nephews they were open to babysit still and offered to watch our kids so we could attend ward temple night. I said no at first, but then thought it might work out, so Chase and I went. It was the first ward temple night I think I've ever attended. It was really neat. We met in a seperate room downstairs with 10 total ward members. As we sat there waiting, a temple worker stepped into the room and sat down behind the podium. The whole time I was thinking he looked very familiar. I thought maybe he was in our ward, but that wasn't it. Then a guy in our ward addressed him as "president". I looked closer and thought maybe he was an authority. When our little meeting began he stepped up to the podium and it was then that I could read his name tag. It was Merrill J Bateman and he was now the Provo Temple President. He shared some neat stories with us and it was a special meeting. Then we went up to the session. It was really neat to have a special quiet moment like that to feel the spirit, seperate from the actual session. It was funny, because later after the temple session, Chase and I went to go get something to eat. We were sitting there and I said, "So, that was Merrill J Bateman." Chase said, "Really?, I see it now, but I didn't recognize him with all white hair." It was funny because I thought Chase knew who he was from the beginning and would have been the one to say something to me. It was a fun and special night.

Today, was also my first "real" Sunday back at church. I had been to sacrament meeting for Joelle's baby blessing and for my cousin Danielle's fairwell, but that was it. I didn't get to bed until after 3:00 am last night and then Chase and I both overslept and the next thing I know Chase is nudging me awake at 8:15 this morning(church starts at 9:00 am). So, we both frantically get up and start pulling kids out of bed and dressing and feeding as fast as possible. The baby and myself didn't get a bath, so we were hygenically challenged for the day(deodorant and perfume work wonders-I hope), but we were able to walk in right when the bishop was starting the meeting. I was able to stay awake for most of the meetings, but dozed a little. Joelle was pretty good for all 3 hours, she didn't start to get really fussy until almost the end.

It was nice to go back to church again, especially since Emery now loves nursery. I don't know what changed, but she has missed probably 2 months of church because of illness and me keeping her home so she wouldn't bring home any germs from the nursery for the baby. Before, she never wanted to go and would cry when we dropped her off. She always had fun, once she calmed down, but when I'd ask her what she did in nursery her response would always be, "I cried!" . The 2 sacrament meetings that we went to she actually asked to go to nursery and got really upset that she wasn't going. So, I guess the trick was to say she couldn't go and then she wanted to. Also, Emery had some outbursts today in sacrament meeting. The first was when she saw my dad step up to the podium and yelled "Grandpa!" . The second was when Chase got up to say the closing prayer and she shouted, "There's Dad, he didn't go to the bathroom, he's right there!". Anyway, it was great to get back to church, even though it was hard and I was very sleep deprived. I think I probably got the most from the lessons, I think I have a hard time with testimony meetings sometimes, especially when I haven't gotten any sleep the night before. It was a good day so far and Emery kept it humorous for us! Have a great Sunday everyone and a fabulous week!