Were You Inspired?

I will be the first to proudly state that I did not nor will I ever vote for Barack Obama. That said, I was inspired by his inaugural speech. I appreciate his ideas about remembering our forefathers. What I hope is that he will remember our forefathers, the Constitution they created, and the values they fought to preserve. As I've said before, I pray that he has a successful presidency, simply because I believe the American people can be better than we have been in 2008. I hope that he can create a better country for my children than where we are right now. I am hopeful and I believe that our country is still destined for great things.

If you didn't catch the speech, you can watch it here (I didn't see it until about an hour ago).

Lazy

So, I was really good about taking lots of pictures (with lots of help from Ronell, Elli, and my sisters) this Christmas break. I was not so good about getting them all uploaded. Sometimes I think it's a pain to scroll down to see a gazillion photos (but I still do it because I love all your families), so I thought I'd cheat a little and just post the scrapbook page I made for Christmas break. Here, in one attempt, is our Christmas break. We had a blast with all the preparations for Christmas, sledding in the mountains of snow we got this year (I do believe this is the most it's snowed since I've lived here--and that's more than 10 years!), playing with family, going to Midway, and playing some more in the snow! So, here it is.

P365 Week 1

So here are my photos from week one of "project 365". I cheated and used one of Elli's pictures because I loved it and it was perfect for that day. I've decided that using pictures that are meaningful to me from other people counts, too.

The Plan isn't easy sometimes

Yesterday was a bittersweet day. We went to Tiff Norton's wedding at Mt. Timpanogos temple. It was beautiful and very obvious that Tiff and her new husband, David, were definitely meant for each other. It was a perfect wedding. I love going to temple weddings. They make me want to rededicate myself to my husband and my family. It was so wonderful to be reminded that the Lord has a perfect plan and we really can experience immeasureable joy when we make and keep our covenants.

However, when we got home from the luncheon my sister-in-law, Elli called me and let me know that our little nephew, Keegan Jay Watson, passed away around 1 pm. Keegan was born on Monday, Dec. 29th via C-section and was immediately sent to the the NICU at UVRMC in Provo. He was diagnosed with hydrops, which is basically fluid build-up in the sacs around his organs. Because he so much fluid, his organs weren't functioning properly. He was life flighted to Primary Children's Hospital that night and they've kept him heavily sedated and medicated since then. He was on a ventilator and they've been draining fluid from his severly swollen abdomen since he was flown in. Because they didn't know the cause of the hydrops, the doctors have been running tests on Keegan and his mom, Katy, all week. Saturday morning, Keegan's doctors found two newly-formed blood clots in his brain. They unhooked him from the ventilator and all his medications, gave him some morphine, and for the first and last time, Jason and Katy got to hold their son. He died in their arms. He was only five days old.

As we sat with our combined families at the Petersen home last night, I thought about what I'm supposed to learn from this experience. First, I was grateful for the plan of salvation that ensures that Keegan will get to grow up and have all the blessings of a full life. Second, I am grateful for my busy but healthy family. Third, I am grateful that the Atonement covers our sorrows and heartaches, as well as our sins. It helps me to know that no one has to suffer alone. As this new year begins, I've thought about what I need to do to have the Spirit more present in our home and in our lives. I've decided that I need to live my life with no regrets, especially when it comes to living the gospel and raising our family. I think my scripture motto for this year is appropriate. "...Choose you this day whom ye will serve... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" Joshua 24:15.

(my SIL, Elli, took the above pictures. Thanks for sharing, Elli!)

http://www.prayersforkeegan.blogspot.com/

FYI

I just wanted everyone to know that I did take lots of pictures of Christmas and all the holiday fun. They will be up soon, probably tonight. For now, I wanted to tell you about something that I'm trying this year that I'm hoping will force me to take more pictures and keep a better record of our lives. It's called project 365 and you take a picture every day. Read about it here. The original idea just has you taking pictures of random things in your life but I think I'm going to do it with pictures of my family and meaningful things in my life. I'm going plug them into a two-page digital scrapbook spread every week and I'll post those weekly (I will still post other things, too). In addition, one of my goals for this year (I don't like the word resolutions) is to write in my journal every day. I started doing it in November and I hope I can continue the habit. Most of my entries aren't very lonbg, just a paragraph or so. I'm hoping that I can make the time to record the memories of our family a little more thoroughly.