Life's a Dance

I have yet to write about my experience going to the Calgary Temple open house a few weeks ago.  First off.. it was amazing!  Mom, Aunt Danielle, Shantel Hofer and I headed up Friday afternoon and it was quite the adventure trying to figure out the best way to get to the temple.  We made it without getting lost and found that the temple is placed in quite a unique place.  It is placed in the middle of a neighborhood with houses all around the temple grounds, but it is placed high and when it's dark out, you can see the lights of the city below.

We drove up and there was a long line outside the church building.  The line moved fairly fast thankfully because it wasn't the warmest day outside.  Once we got inside we waited to be ushered into a classroom where we got to watch a 10 minute video on the church history in southern Alberta.  Shantel really liked the video as she said she had always wondered why the church was so big in southern Alberta.  After the video we were led outside and then into the temple.  As we walked inside with our white slippers, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of peace and love for the beautiful structure I was entering.  It was a VERY busy tour with it being the second last day to go to the open house and sadly we weren't able to take as much time as we would've liked in each room we were taken through.  It was understandable how quickly they were trying to move us through, but still wish we could've taken more time especially having my good friend, Shantel, who just got baptized over a year ago and has had some struggles in the past few months.  Shantel and I had to sneak into the bridal room because our group was supposed to skip that room and just see the men's dressing room.  I'm soooo glad we went in there though!  Shantel loved it and it was one of her favorite rooms.  I could not believe the detail, grace, and beauty this one room held.  It had a beautiful chandelier hanging from the room and it took me back to my own wedding day with my mom helping me get ready to go out and greet the family as Kristen Sheen rather than Hill.  Every room had a unique beauty and the detail that went into each room was absolutely breathtaking.  I can't wait to go back and take Dustin there!  None of us wanted to leave as the tour ended, but Shantel, mom and I shared a great desire to return as soon as possible!

I feel so blessed to have had this unique opportunity to be able to go and share the experience with three women that I love!  It will always be a special memory in my life.

Pregnancy has been great.  My appointments have been going good and everything is looking good as far as I know :)  I feel like my belly gets bigger every week and can't believe there is only 7 weeks left!  I was having some sharp pains in my lower abdomen last week and they felt like cists as I have a history of them, so I asked my doctor about that in my appointment yesterday and she said she wouldn't worry too much about it unless it becomes more constant and stronger.  She said I may have some scar tissue from past cists or it may just be my muscles stretching, so I'm not gonna worry :)  It's so amazing to feel and see the changes your body goes through to have a baby.  I feel like I have come to accept most of the changes and focus on being healthy for the baby and I'll face the rest of it after the baby come and is healthy :)

I had the opportunity to be a sub-mommy for Lynz' kids for 5 days as she got to go to Atlanta to visit her hubby.  He's in school down there till December and sadly can't take much time off to come home and visit, so Dust and I surprised them with a ticket for Lynz to go there.  I slept in Raymond for the 5 nights and it was nice to spend some time at home with the family.  The boys and I had a blast!  We played with playdoh, went on walks, watched movies, played games, wrestled, and went to the U of L basketball games.  My mom, dad, Dust, and Cars were very helpful during different parts of the 5 days and it was nice to have others around.  I loved every minute I got to hold and sooth little Jeter and I must say, I am feeling a lot more confident about bringing my own baby home after having Jeter to take care of for a few days.  Mom was a lifesaver!  She took the nights with the baby and I got to sleep soundly... what a great granny she is! 

These boys are soooo fun to be around and were such great little helpers with anything I needed.  They play so well together which makes my job as the babysitter much easier.  I loved hearing them have little conversations with each other while laughing and joking.  I had to walk away when the wrestling started because sometimes it gets a little rough, but these tough boys just keep going and didn't hurt each other during the process.  They LOVE wrestling haha.

 Here Beckam at stay and play practicing his car seat placement in the stroller haha... so cute!  He eventually gave up and threw the car seat with the baby on the floor... so Lynz maybe don't let him be in charge of that any time soon :)

 The boys sat down to watch some Harry Potter with Cars and they were sooooo into it haha

I'm so glad that we were able to do this for Lynz and Dust and that they were able to take advantage of the situation and have some quality alone time together!  Lynz has been such a trooper being a single mom at home with 3 kids and I gained a lot of respect for what she does in my babysitting endeavor.  She's such a great mom and her love for her boys is so apparent in everything she does for them!  I've been home with Dust for 2 days and am kind of missing having the lil guys around all the time :)  It was kind of nice to be the one they wanted to cuddle with when they woke up from their naps or got little bonks.

Dust had these flowers waiting for me when I got home with a note saying that he knows I'm gonna be a great mom from watching how I am with Jeter and that he's proud of me for being a good sub mommy with Lynz' boys.  I walked in, saw the flowers, read the note, started bawling (pregnancy emotions obviously) and gave him a GREAT BIG hug!!! I have the best hubby!  So grateful for his love and support in everything I do.