Turkey's Blessing

Sunday, Jan. 17th, was Turkey's blessing. It was an AMAZING day! I love baby blessings because it's sort of like the baby christening ceremony in other religions, but different in that a priesthood holder has the opportunity to give a baby individual blessings from a loving Heavenly Father. And usually the priesthood holder is the baby's father, and the dad gets to express what's in his heart for the baby. Hubs did an awesome job. He was so excited and nervous to give Turkey a blessing. He even bought a new suit and shaved off his beard. I didn't even recognize when he first came down the hall because it had been over three years since I had seen him without a beard. He looks good either way, but it was cute how hard he tries to do good things for Turkey. He is such a good daddy! I felt such love and joy during the blessing. AND I wasn't an emotional wreck like I thought I would be...just trickling streams of tears not raging rivers! Baby blessings used to be so hard when I was struggling to have a baby. I would always think about what a blessing babies are and I would imagine Hubs up there doing the blessing and I would think about what a good father he would be and then I would sit there and bawl. As I sat there during the blessing, I couldn't help but think of what a miracle this baby is in my life and how blessed I am. It was also very surreal and hard to believe that it was my baby at the center of that circle of men. Speaking of circle...we had 21 guys up there in Turkey's circle. Wow! And we didn't even have everyone that we wanted to have up there! But it was such a wonderful show of support for us. Everyone is just so excited right alongside us! And I know that Turkey is going to always be surrounded by good role models just like he was that Sunday afternoon, most especially his daddy.


For his blessing outfit, Turkey wore a family blessing dress that was worn by his great-grandpa who has the same name (not Turkey but his real name!). His great-grandpa was blessed in the dress in 1896. At first I wasn't sure Hubs would go for the idea. He is very macho man, and I didn't think he would like the idea of his son wearing a dress, but he was the one who brought up the idea first and was really excited. Wearing a family heirloom made the experience all that more special. Though it had me as a nervous wreck because I was so afraid that it would be my kid that would have a blow out or puke all over it. I put it on Turkey the last minute before we left for church and took it off as soon as I could when we got home. It was such a beautiful dress though. Turkey also wore the bonnet that his dad wore when we was blessed. It was a day of traditions!
After the church service, we headed to our house for a luncheon. I had decided I wanted ham and cheesy potatoes (a.k.a. funeral potatoes). Saturday night at 11:00 p.m. I was making four casserole dishes of cheesy potatoes. As I was throwing them together to bake the next day, I thought, "I was born for this! Bring it!" because I was remembering when I was a tween, my mom was relief society president and at that time they had a swarm of funerals that my mom ended up being in charge of. She would always call home and say, "I need two more funeral potatoes stat!" And I would whip them up and take them down to the church. Now I know that those days were just training for my big moment of hosting my very own Mormom affair! Anyway, when I walked into my house on Sunday, it was jam-packed. People were shoulder to shoulder! At first, people told me that the basement was full too. But when I went downstairs there was maybe one small family down there and my dad sprawled out on the couch watching football (according to my dad, a little kid was playing with the T.V. and turned on the football). My dad was like, "shhhhhh...don't tell anyone!" But I did tell and once some people move downstairs it wasn't as crowded. We were definitely filled to capacity though. We figure we had a little over sixty people over. Once again, there wasn't everyone that we had hoped to see but it was a good crowd!
Hub's sister and her family were able to come from Washington, lots of people (friends and family) came from G-ville...we had people from all over the place and from different chapters of our lives. It was just so neat to Hubs and me to see all the love and support that we have. I couldn't do all of this without my family and friends. That morning Hubs' mom came over and watched Turkey so that I could get ready and actually make it to church on time. And at the luncheon it was cute to see my mom, Hubs' mom, and my sister-in-law taking charge and making sure the food got out and everything was taken care of. Of course, Turkey was the star of the show. It is so good to know that he will always have this fan club and this safety net of friends and family in whatever he does. Overall, it was such a beautiful, special day!

America's Next Top Model

I'm a model; you know that I am, and I do my little turn on the catwalk...I think those are the words but then again, I'm notorious for singing along to the radio with completely made-up lyrics. It runs in the family. J sings "standing outside the barn" instead of "standing outside the fire" and "that little cow's lovin'" instead of "that little gal's lovin'." My favorite is my dad's lyrics to a SheDaisy song: "crappin' on cotton when you really gotta go..." Try to figure out which song that belongs to!
Anyway, here's some super cute pics of my super cute baby. I decided to play photographer the other day, and Turkey humored me...for a little bit anyway! Also, be warned: Turkey is barely over a month old, and I've already taken over 300 pictures! Obsessed? Maybe just a little!

Our model today has golden, baby-fine hair, blue-gray eyes (for now), and is two feet tall (almost). He enjoys drinking milk, moonlit nights, and drooling...


This guy that Hubs works with gave us these cute Yankee duds. Once the team sees these pics, I know they'll be calling to hire Turkey for their next ad campaign!Ready for a cold winter day! Grandma J bought the cute winter hat. In the second picture, Turkey is doing his Godfather pose.




My little angel!

This is Turkey's 'bama outfit. Nanny bought it for him and sent it from Alabama. I love the little horsie feet!
Ten little fingers and ten little toes--let him be loved wherever he goes!


This kid has so many funny expressions! So much personality already!

"Here's lookin' at you, kid!"


Trying to re-create a scene from E.T.:
"Whatchyou lookin' at?"
This picture just cracks me up for some reason. One of these three is not like the others...
Just monkeyin' around!


I hope they call me on a mission when I have grown a foot or two (or three)...


Alright...enough with the pictures already!

A note to my Relief Society Sisters:

January 3, 2010
Dear Relief Society Sisters,
I need to begin this letter with a confession. After a little under two decades in Relief Society, I had never really gained a testimony or thorough understanding of what Relief Society is all about. I had always heard the Relief Society motto, ‘Charity never faileth,’ but being head-strong, independent, and often prideful, I never understood how that applied to me. I even served as Relief Society president in college and still missed the big picture. I’ve always missed the forest for the trees—until I met you wonderful sisters.
I came into this ward as a shy and awkward newlywed, and you patiently and sweetly helped me along (even when I acted like I didn’t need any help). As I have interacted with you over the past six years, I have learned the true meaning of ‘charity never faileth’. Let me give three specific examples, out of many, of how you have blessed my life and taught me charity.
When I first got married, I moved into the house that my husband already owned. I loved my new home-except for the oven. The oven was ancient (possibly the first one ever made!) and would always leave half of the meal raw while burning the other half. As a new bride wanting to impress my husband with my cooking skills, it was highly frustrating! But it would have to do until we could save up to buy a new one. Then one Sunday, a dear sister came up to me after church and asked, “How’s your oven?” I was surprised by her out-of-the-blue question, but answered truthfully, “awful!” She then explained that she had an extra oven and had been praying about whom to give it to, and my name kept coming to mind. A week later I was cooking dinner in my brand-new oven and no longer had any excuses for burning the meal! Because of this humble sister and her generous gift, I learned that the Lord is mindful of each of us and that He does answer prayers. This sister will never know how much she blessed my life and how grateful I am to her!
The next example was also when I was relatively new to the ward. I didn’t know very many people and was struggling with feelings of loneliness, inadequacy, and low self-esteem. I was starting to feel like now that I was married, I didn’t have any friends outside of my home and wondered why anyone would really want to be my friend anyway. It may not seem like it, but I can be extremely shy and going out of my comfort zone to meet new people can be really difficult for me. Well, one Saturday, I pushed myself to go to a stake Relief Society program and luncheon by myself. The program was wonderful, and I really felt the Spirit. But as we filed into the cultural hall for lunch, I felt those same anxieties from grade school: Whom will I sit by? What should I do? Where should I go? I sat at a far table and decided to save some seats for a few people I had recognized from the ward. But they came in and sat down without us seeing each other. Since I was sitting near the kitchen, I was the first to be served. I found myself in an awkward situation: Do I stay at this table and eat alone? Do I take my plate and sit by others even though they haven’t been served? Do I leave the food to be wasted and move to another table? And if so, where do I move? All the tables were looking full. It may sound like a silly and trivial situation now, but I remember sitting at that table with Satan nudging me and saying, “See! You have no friends! You’re unimportant. You’re a nothing!” Just as I was about to get up and leave altogether, three sisters from the ward came and sat down at my table. They introduced themselves and probably wondered about their choice of seating, because immediately I began to cry. Eventually, I pulled myself together, and we had a lovely time getting to know each other. From these kind sisters, I learned that I am loved by my Heavenly Father and that I am special and important to Him. These sisters will never know the difference their simple act has made in my life. They probably don’t even remember it! But I do!
The last example is not necessarily a specific experience but an accumulation of experiences. As most of you know, my husband and I have had many struggles to have a baby. It took us five years to get our miracle. During those five years, there have been many words of encouragement and hugs just when I needed them. Sometimes it was a lesson or talk that touched my heart and comforted me. Sometimes a visiting teacher was there with a patient, listening ear and a shoulder to cry on. Sometimes a sister would pull me aside and say, “I’ve been there. Hang in there!” And sometimes, on those really hard days, I would find myself enveloped in the arms of some in-tune, loving sister. Thank you for the love, support, and strength you gave to me during those times!
We have also been greatly touched and amazed by the kindness and generosity shown to us as we’ve welcomed our little boy into the world. From extraordinary visiting teachers who went the extra mile to throw me a baby shower to all the gifts, cards, treats, and congratulations, your goodness has overwhelmingly filled our hearts and added to this new joy in our lives. Thank you so much! My baby is so lucky and blessed to come into a ward full of loving grandmas and aunts for him. You truly are my sisters and family to me!
To conclude this lengthy epistle, I just want to thank you for all that you’ve done for me and continue to do for me. Thank you for your service, for your examples, and for your testimonies. Thank for teaching me what Relief Society is all about and that charity never faileth. You are all truly angels of the Lord!