In loving memory of an amazing man who many around the world had the blessing of calling Prophet-- President Gordon B. Hinckley. He passed away on Sunday and his funeral will be held this Saturday February 2nd 2008. He will be missed and never forgotten.


Prophetic Passing

I imagine he's running to Marjorie now,
Yes, running, not waving his cane.
I see him embracing his father and mother
While they keep repeating his name.

I see him now meeting his forebears,
Brother Brigham and Joseph are there.
Sweet reunion of prophets, united by service
That only such noble men share.

I see him embraced by the Savior
While Father says, "Good and well done.
So faithful in stalwart endurance, I welcome
My noble, most excellent son."

I then hear the ripples of laughter
As he says the reception's just fine,
But he hopes that he'll get an assignment or two
Since there's no need to waste any time.

I can hear his clear voice in the stillness
At the close of this sweet Sabbath day,
Have faith and move forward — there's work to be done.
President Hinckley would want it that way.

Anna M. Molgard
January 27, 2008

I found this on You-Tube and thought it was lovely.


Excerpt from one of my favorite talks by President Hinckley:


" I could wish nothing better for each of you, my dear young friends, than love--the companionship of one dearer than any friend; someone to be deliriously excited over and to be happy with; someone to stir within you the very best that is there; someone to grow more appreciative of, more tender toward, more grateful for, more a part of as one year becomes another and life moves toward eternity. May the Lord answer your prayers with love, the kind that will always express itself in concern not for self but for your beloved companion."

President Hinckley has inspired in me a greater desire to love more perfectly and deeply. The love that he so readily demonstrated for his wife, for his "neighbor" and most importantly for his Savior inspired me and left an imprint on my heart.

-MPL

Do not attempt this at home, we are professionals

So you know you have the "full-time-at-home-mom" (new title I borrowed from my friend John Williams) job down when you are able to fit in a zoo outing (one hour before it closes) into an already jam-packed day. This past Friday Anabelle and I started off the day with breakfast from Einstein bagels and orange juice. After breakfast we took Nathan to work since it was raining and he couldn't bike. After dropping him off we headed to Target to buy laundry detergent and some other things. We stopped by the grocery store to stock-up on more snacks and headed to the park. At the park we met up with Anabelle's favorite little playmate the "Ya-Ya" (aka Amilia Wignall) After about an hour of chasing Anabelle and Yaya all over the laundry room (next to the park where she was suppose to be playing)we headed home for lunch. Anabelle had a great nap while I added more books to my Good Reads list (yes, I am addicted). At about 2pm Emmy Hansen called and invited us to the zoo. Originally we were going to head out as soon as the kids woke up (Gabe was napping too) which was about 2:30 pm. Anabelle and I headed to Emmy's around that time and...about an hour later we headed out to the zoo (Long story short: Murphy's Law hit again. Emmy couldn't find her keys which meant we couldn't get Gabe's seat out to put in my car, nor lock her apartment's front door). So, one hour before the zoo was due to close Emmy, Gabe, Anabelle and I were pulling into the zoo's parking lot. We ran across the parking lot pushing our strollers with one hand while searching our diaper bags for our membership cards with the other. We whipped out our ID cards two minutes before the gates closed (they stop letting people in at 4:00pm) and barely scrammed past the employee at the entrance. As I said, "Don not attempt this at home, we are professionals!!!"
-MPL



Getting two excited toddlers to both stand still, smile, and look at the camera at the same time was almost impossible.



Gabe and Anabelle loved the petting zoo, but Anabelle's enthusiasm wore off fast once she realized that although some of the animals were smaller than she is they could climb higher than she could. Listen closely and you'll hear her say "scary" towards the end of this video.




As much fun as it was to see all the animals, I think one of the highlights of the day for Anabelle involved sitting on top of an elephant in a Merry-go-round (that wasn't going around because we didn't have any change) while I tried every bribe in the book to get her to step down so we could go home and start dinner.
I must admit that I might have traumatized poor Anabelle by telling her that the ride didn't work because it needed a coin and we didn't have any, this morning she saw these pictures of the merry-go-round and she kept shaking her head while repeating "no money, no money."

When not to trust your husband

Maria appreciates it when I get up with Anabelle and let her sleep in... however, sometimes I think that's a bad idea, especially when you combine a dumpster-find rocking horse (found the night before), a little girl with crazy ideas (like that it would be fun to put the dumpster-find horse in her crib), and a push-over dad. Needless to say, Maria didn't get to sleep in much that morning.

Advice to New Parents

The photos that are responsible for the one above (both from 2006)
My advice to new parents: Never show old pictures on your computer to small children... If you do, you'll promptly run into 2 problems. First, anytime we turn on our computer, we immediately hear "Bababelle pictures!" and are thus constrained to drop whatever we intended on doing, so that we can show her pictures (however, if you have two monitors on your computer like I do...). The second problem is that no matter how much you tell them they don't fit in _______ anymore, or that they're now too big for something, they will insist on reenacting the photos and then will cry when they can't. So my advice... never let them know about the little screen on the camera, or that you can see pictures on the computer.

Mexico

Maria and Anabelle went to Mexico with Maria's family during the holidays... Anabelle's favorite parts were getting braids in her hair (which she managed to take out in no time at all on the drive home), and riding a horse...

Christmas Day Tradition

Since we moved to San Diego we have started a new Christmas Day tradition of thaking a family picture at the beach. This year we went to La Jolla Cove. The tide had receded pretty far back and the tide pools were amazing. Anabelle loved splashing in them despite the coolness of the water.

Strike a pose

You would think that they planned the white shirts and jeans, but they didn't. I guess it was just that kind of day.
(Jessie, Sergio, Maria and Mom Oliva)

Christmas Day with the Olivas

It was wonderful to have Maria's family join us at La Jolla Cove for our annual Christmas Day Picture. The weather was perfect!