Cody Miner

1. Where did you meet? First at a Youth Conference, but didn't get to know each other at all until we met again at EFY in 2005.

2. How long did you date before you got married? Well... We dated about 2 weeks before his mission, then we wrote through his first year, but then I wrote him off. We got back together & got engaged about 2 months after he got home & got married about 2 1/2 months after that.

3. How long have you been married? Almost 8 months now!

4. What is your favorite feature of his? Well, it's hard to pick, but I guess probably his gorgeous blue eyes.

5. What is your favorite quality of his? I love how sweet he always is & how he is always making sure others are happy. (Especially me & baby Wiggles.)

6. Does he have a nick name for you? Um... I guess as far as nick names go, he has adopted "Kia"

7. What is his favorite color? Blue

8. What is his favorite food? Cheesy Enchiladas with Green sauce, which I've never even had, so I have NO clue how to make it! Poor boy.

9. What is his favorite sport? Football, I guess. He played in High School.

10. When was your first kiss? I believe it was the 9th of December '05 in the parking lot of Old Chicago after he read me an awesome poem he had written.

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Cuddle. That's pretty much the best thing ever.

12. Do you have children? One on the way! It's so fun!

13. Does he have a hidden talent? Um... I don't think any of his talents are really hidden... He can sing... & he's an amazing artist! I love when he draws!

14. How old is he? 22

15. Who said I love you first? I'm pretty sure he did.

16. What is his favorite type of music? Mo Tab! Haha! JUST kidding! (He hates choir music!) He likes country, but anymore he likes a lot of different stuff.

17. What do you admire most about him? That's hard. I admire him in SO many ways! I guess how strong he is spiritually. He's immovable in his testimony & I love that! Also how he pretty much never gets mad. He's SO patient! Basically I just love him for who he is.

18. Do you think he will read this? Oh, probably not. The only time he reads this thing is when I'm posting an update & he looks over my shoulder.

Basically, I love Cody more than anything! He's taught me so much & just completely changed my life! He's my biggest fan & my biggest hero & I'm SO grateful to have him for all Eternity.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, this weekend has been fun. Cody & I decided to spend Thanksgiving with his family & Christmas with mine this year, then next year we'll flip it around. So, Alana's Brothers & Sisters all came up from Arkansas & Oklahoma & we've been hanging out with them all weekend. We had a great Thanksgiving & of course, lots of great food! We had another appointment with Dr. Pucket on Wednesday. Everything is going great! At our last appointment, she told me I had gained a little extra weight & just to be careful with carbs & sweets. As of wed. I had only gained 4 lbs which is apparently perfect! Heart rate sounded perfect & everything seems to be great! Baby Wiggles has been just as active as ever & kicking all over the place! There have been a few times now where it will kick so hard that you can see my whole belly move & pop out! It's fun. Cody felt several good kicks last night, so he was beyond ecstatic! My belly is now nice & round & my belly button is rapidly disappearing the last week or so... In fact, it's almost flat now. It will soon be an outie. Meanwhile, I've discovered a love for the "Secret Fit" belly panel in maternity clothes. Heavenly! In fact, I think I might continue wearing them after the baby comes if they still fit. We'll see. Cody & I decided to go check the Motherhood Maternity outlet yesterday & see what the sales were like. I did get a skirt that is very cute & a pair of jeans. I didn't really realize how much I missed having jeans to wear, until I put these on this morning. There's just something special about denim. Anyway, so that's what's been going on around here. Everything has been wonderful & we're loving life! I hope things are going just as well for all of you. We love you all!

Ok, So, here are a couple preggo belly pictures! Just for fun.

Halloween was fun! Cody & I dressed up as Pirates & went to the church halloween party & did the Trunk-or-Treat. We forgot to take a picture of our trunk all decorated, which made me sad, cuz it looked so cool! But we won the award for best-decorated trunk! So that was fun. We didn't even know they were going to be having a contest, so it was cool. Our trunk was all piratey, complete with a treasure chest full of candy! Which, if you ask any little kid, (or me) is the best kind of treasure anyway! We had a blast with it! Cody was a little sad cuz his mom told him before we left that he didn't look very mean or fierce, but he felt better when a 3 year old at the trunk or treat told him he should take his costume off cuz he was scary. Hehe! It was way cute! So, here are a few pictures of us all dressed up. I had a scar on my cheek, but you can't really tell in any of these. Oh well.

"Preggo The Pirate"

"Captain Cody"

Every good Pirate captain has a monkey! We named the monkey Jack.

And... What I know you've all been waiting for... We had our appointment with Dr. Puckett on Thursday & got our ultrasound! It was so fun! The baby is actually looking like a little person in there now! It was so fun to see! Again, the baby was all over the place! Randy, the lady who did the ultrasound said we had a very active baby. So, since we won't know till March if it's Robert or Lorelai, we've temporarily named the baby Wiggles! Randy said Wiggles is a beautiful & perfect baby! Current weight is about 14 oz. She didn't tell us the length, but said it's in the 51 percentile, so I guess that's good. She also told us the heartbeat was 140 beats per minute, & said that's perfect! We were excited! Still are! Anyway, here are the new pictures. Enjoy them, we do! The black hole in the middle is the stomach. The splotchy spot kind of above it is the heart & the smaller black spot by where the leg goes up is the bladder.

I love how you can see the cute little nose!

Yes, we've got a thumb sucker! Hehe!

And my personal favorite... FEET!!! In case you can't see it on this one, I put it on here again with the right toes circled & left foot outlined.

I love it!!!

Anyway, that's all for now. I hope you guys enjoy this latest blog. I sure have!

Well, it's been a while since my last blog. Things are going great! The baby is growing fast & getting wiggly! Around the end of week 16 I felt the baby move for the first time! It was so exciting! Since then, I felt it progressively more often & it's gotten stronger & more noticeable with each day. I've actually been feeling it quite a bit lately. It's way fun! Much to Cody's disappointment, he hasn't been able to feel it yet. The few times the baby has moved or kicked more than once in a short period of time, Cody's been gone or sleeping or something. He keeps putting his hand on my belly every time I tell him I felt it & asking the baby to "Do it again, please." It's so cute. I finally gave up last week & went & bought a pair of Maternity pants, as none of mine really fit around my stomach anymore. Holy cow, they are SO stinkin' comfortable! A little expensive, but comfortable! We have our next appointment on Thursday & we'll get our big fancy ultrasound. With this one, they will actually be able to tell if it's a boy or girl, but we're not going to find out. Sorry guys, we want to be surprised! But anyway, I'm sure I'll have more news at that point. But for now, I've got to go help Cody's mom fix up her costume for the school halloween festival this week. Love you all!

Now-a-days

Well, we had another appointment on thursday. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat. That was cool. Everything's going well & progressing the way it should be. I'd gained 5 lbs since our last appointment 4 weeks earlier. At this point, they look for about a lb a week, so we're pretty much right on track. The morning sickness stuff is pretty much gone. I still have days sometimes when I just kinda feel a little crappy & have to be careful of what I eat, but for the most part, it doesn't really go past just feeling yuck anymore. Sure, every once in a while I still find myself running to the toilet or sink, but it's not often at all anymore! It also helps that now, when I get nauseated, I can take a little pill & it goes away! So, that helps. Gladly though, I don't have to take them very often. General Conference was this past weekend. It was awesome! I really enjoyed it! Of course, I always enjoy the chance to listen to the Prophet & apostles, but this one seemed especially good. This weekend, Cody & I are heading down to Louisville, KY for the TEAM National Leadership convention. It will be another awesome weekend. We'll get to listen to several big leaders on the TEAM, as well as the co-founders, Orrin Woodward & Chris Brady. It's gonna be a blast! Pretty much, everything's been going great! Life is grand! We're happy & excited about life & having a baby... There's plenty to be happy about, so we are! Anyway, speaking of the baby... I need to get food, so I'm gone! I'll update again soon. Love you all!

Imagery

I'm with you, Monique... This looked kind of fun, so I'm stealing it! Mwahaha! Google each of the following things and post the first image that comes up... First Name: Keira *The first image had body parts hanging out that I didn't want on here, so I put the second one. Middle Name: Marie *Um... That's kinda creepy.

Last Name: Miner

Age: 20

Place I'd like to visit: Russia

Favorite place to vacation: Boston

Collge Major: Music Therapy

Place you grew up: Moberly, MO

*I have no clue what this is.

First Job: Scholastic Call Center

*This has nothing to do with the Scholastic call center, but whatever.

Favorite Treat: Fruit Snacks!

*It's even the right brand! Heck yes!

Favorite Food: Chocolate

Favorite Color: Lavender

A place I've gone to today: Kitchen

What I'm having for dinner: Food

Hahaha!

Well, week 13 brought the 2Nd tri-mester, which has been most pleasantly welcomed! The sickness is, for the most part, GONE (yay!) & I can eat again! Cody's glad, because he can touch me again without me feeling claustrophobic & the world is a much happier place! I had my first appointment with Dr. Puckett on the 4Th, which was beyond exciting! She did an ultra-sound, which was amazing! It was so awesome for Cody & I to get to see our little one! Dr. Puckett had a fun time trying to get the head, abdomen & femur measurements, as the baby wouldn't stop moving! Throughout the entire ultra-sound, it was kicking & turning & flipping & spinning & squirming... We decided it's my inability to sit still with Cody's energy. Look out world! Haha! But, she finally got what she needed & confirmed our estimated due date to be March 14Th! It's so weird sometimes to realize there's this tiny little person growing inside me. It's such an amazing feeling that just can't be described. I love being pregnant, (now) but I can't wait to hold this child in my arms.

Ok, ok. So, I know I've been TERRIBLE about updating my blog! I'm sorry. Our internet has been SUPER slow, so it takes 3 years to do anything! & we've just been staying busy. But here I am. So, after the wedding, we moved into my brother-in-law's second house, which was beautiful! But, the longer we lived there, the more we found wrong with it. Man alive! For a 7 year old house, it had a lot of issues! The AC had a mind of it's own, which never seemed to agree with us. There were more creaks & sounds in that house that in ANY old house I've ever been in! Let me just say, being in that house alone was CREEPY! There was definitely at least once that I actually left & just went for a drive because I got so freaked out while Cody was at work. Call me crazy. The walls blocked less sound than a sheet of paper, which made it a little tough when Cody's brother (Jeremy) was there working (his office was there.) All in all, it just wasn't a great arrangement for us, or him. So, we ended up moving out to Cody's parents house, where we're living now. It's much better as far as feeling comfortable & at home, plus we're saving money & we don't have to worry about getting in Jeremy's way. It's only temporary & we don't mind it. Well, the latest big news... I'M PREGNANT!!! Yes, that's a good thing & yes, it was on purpose. We're so excited! Don't worry though, we'll be in a place of our own before the baby is born. (I know that's what some of you were thinking. Haha!) I've learned a lot of things in the past few weeks that I never knew about pregnancy. 1 being that "Morning Sickness" has absolutely NOTHING to do with mornings! Whoever named it that was vastly misguided & has been deceiving the world ever since! I was pretty much expecting to feel a little nausea in the mornings & then great the rest of the day... Yeah, NOT HAPPENING! It's been better the last few days since I've been taking the kidney support supplement that Dr. Joe gave me. Yeah, kidney support, go figure! Who knew something like that would help with "morning" sickness? Dr. Loomis is who! But I tell ya what, I'm glad! It's still there some, of course, but it's getting much better. For example, I can actually eat food & I can actually keep the food that I eat in my stomach! For a while, I forgot what that was like! It's kinda nice! I always knew I would eat more as a prego woman, but dang! I never knew I would have this constant feeling of starvation! It's a bit insane. Also, no one ever told me that being pregnant would unplug my brain. I feel half retarded, for Heaven's Sake! I can't remember anything. Most of the time, I don't even know what day it is. Anytime I try to think or figure something out, it doesn't really seem to work & I just end up confusing myself. Another thing I always knew was that I would be more tired, but I didn't know I would end up sleeping half the day & lounging around the other half to do lack of energy & strength. Even something as small & simple as getting up to get a drink, or going to the bathroom, drains me of everything I have & more. I get dizzy & usually feel like I'm going to pass out &/or be sick. Mentally, I have all this energy & I want to be hyper & play with the dog, or I feel ambitious & want to get things done, but then I try to actually do something & feel like I'm going to die. It's not the most fun, since I hate sitting still & I get way fidgety, but as Chris said, it's for a good cause. I'm just hoping the no energy thing will pass with the nausea thing, which according to family history & popular opinion, should only last the first tri-mester. I read a thing that said in most cases carbs seem most appealing to pregnant women... I've seen kind of the opposite. I mostly want fruits & soups & light things. Cold things! I guess I have been kind of craving Olive Garden bread sticks, but that's pretty much the only kind of bread. Mashed potatoes have been on my mind a bit as well... with brown gravy. I haven't really been able to eat meat much though. & certain smells have been discovered to make me instantly nauseous! Like smoked cheddar & lunch meat. Uh, even just thinking about the smell is making my stomach churn! Somehow the only things I've been able to keep down consistently are Chop Suey & Pizza Rolls! Go figure. How did I get back on food? We may never know. I'm finding the personal space thing to be kinda big. Cody & I are both very cuddly people & physical touch is very important to us both, but lately I've been finding myself not wanting to be real close to or touched by anyone or anything! Even just t-shirts make me feel like I'm being strangled & when Cody gets in my face & wants to be sweet & snugly, I feel like I'm suffocating. I get a sudden understanding of claustrophobic people! It's weird! It's hard, cuz I don't want to be mean & be like "Get out of my face!" but that's kind of how I feel a lot of times. I know he can't wait until that part passes. I'm with him on that one. In other news, just before we found out I was pregnant, we got a dog! Yay, right? I guess. He's really cute & pretty sweet, & that's been the only thing to save him, several times! He's about 7 months old & he's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. I guess you could say he's between a small & medium sized dog. Not as big as Maia & Yamah, but not as small as Mom & Pop Miner's wiener dogs. He's still a puppy, so he's not the best at listening or behaving, but he's getting better... slowly... ever so slowly. Haha! He's fun though. Another thing I know some of you have been a little worried about is Cody & I moving to Utah. Well, don't worry, We're going to stay around here to have the baby. We've been praying about it & we still feel like we're supposed to go out there, but we feel like it's ok to wait till next fall, so we'll be around here for at least another year or so. Um... I think that's all the big news for now... I'll try to update more often. I hope everything is going well with all of you! Love you all! Keira

The Start of a New Life

Well, Cody & I have now been married for 9 days! We were married last Friday in the Nauvoo LDS temple. It was absolutely amazing! We arrived at the temple around noon for our 1:00 sealing. When we drove into Nauvoo, it was cloudy & rainy & nasty. We had several umbrellas & were prepared to have them in our pictures. Not fabulous, but do-able. As you'd probably guess, however, the weather was very low on our list of concerns. All we wanted was to get in there & be married already! As I stood in the bride's room with my mom, preparing to go up to the sealing room, it was hard not to cry. But, knowing that my mascara was not waterproof, I fought it hard & somehow won! Walking up to the sealing room & waiting in an empty room with Cody before our sealing, I'm sure his hand was going numb from my holding it so tightly. The excitement was overwhelming & the whole day was highly surreal. Knowing that in just moments, I would be Mrs. Miner & I would never again have to worry about losing him. The sealing was perfect & I couldn't have asked for or imagined it to be any better! Then, as we came out of the temple, we looked out to find blue skies with the sun shining brightly & the most perfectly beautiful weather we could have hoped for! No umbrellas were needed. We took tons of pictures & never once had to force or conjure a smile. In fact, we couldn't get rid of them. Well, except to replace it with a few silly faces, but that's what Cody does best! The reception on Saturday was beautiful & as always, mom's cake was amazing! Several people pitched in to decorate & prepare food. Overall, it was fabulous! Aside from now being married, though, the best part of the weekend was getting to have my family around, all together (minus Amber, who we missed greatly.) & getting to spend time with them! I miss being around them all the time, so it's so great when we get a chance to all get together again & just have fun together! So, now, after the first week, & going to church in my new ward, it's finally hitting me... little things like the fact that when I introduce myself, it's no longer, "Hi, I'm Keira Shelby," it's "Hi, I'm Keira Miner." Having to remember to sign things (like checks) as Keira Miner, instead of Shelby. Telling people "This is my HUSBAND, Cody" instead of "fiance." Things like that. It's tricky at times, but it's fun, & never frustrating, but simply entertaining! I love being married. It's truly amazing! Never waking up alone anymore, but always next to the man of my dreams & actually feeling like I am the woman of his. Today was Cody's first day back at work. He's only been there a few hours & he's just 2 min. up the road, but I miss him terribly, which is a surprisingly wonderful thing. When he's not here with me, I feel the void. He is so wonderful, & always treats me like a princess. He does everything he can to make my life easier & to make me as happy as possibly, which right now, isn't hard at all. All he has to do is smile at me & tell me he loves me, but he does so much more. He is the greatest part of my life & I love him with all my heart. I'll get some wedding photos posted as soon as I get them back! I know, I can't wait to see them either! I love you all! & for Mom & Dad, all my brothers & their families, Mom & Pop Miner & all my new brothers & sisters in law & everyone else who helped out: Thank you so much! You have no idea how much Cody & I appreciated all you did to make our wedding beautiful & special! You took over & did everything & took all the stress off of us (which is big, because I SUCK at letting people do things for me!) & even just you being there made the weekend perfect! We love you all! Keira Miner

I AM Alive!!!

K so, basically... I'm sure no one really ever comes here to check out my blog anymore because I pretty much SUCK at keeping it updated! My apologies! So, here's the deal: It's Monday, May 5Th, 2008. On Friday, May 9Th, 2008 (as in, 4 days from now) I, Keira Shelby, will no longer be Keira Shelby, I will be married. So I, Keira Shelby, will be I, Keira Miner. Did that make sense? No? Perfect! As most of you know, Cody & I met at EFY in '05. We got to be pretty great friends & kept in touch. He got his mission call that fall to Seattle, WA, so before he left, we got together & hung out a few times. -I call them dates, he does not. We were totally twitterpated & he had his heart set on marrying me. Yes, I am just that charming! No, just kidding. I just fooled him. Mwahaha! So... we wrote (at least) weekly through the first year of his mission, then lost touch, as I was dating someone else & he really consumed himself in his work of spreading the gospel. Plus, a misunderstanding between us & a random 3rd party caused some tension. In other words, I thought he was being a jerk & got rather angry with him. In my mind (& words) any chance he may have had of marrying me, was just lost. There was no way, that was IT! We did try to stay friends though, I wrote him a few times at random through the 2Nd year of his mission & received a whole 2 letters in return, so I finally gave up. (He says he sent more than that, but I never got them.) Well, the 2 years had flown by & I suddenly found myself in December of 2007, realizing that Elder Miner would be home any time! I still had some of his stuff he had sent me to hold onto for him, but I didn't want to contact him because I didn't where we stood. Was he still in love with me & would he try to win me back? Was he still heartbroken & trying to get over me? Did he hate me & not want to hear from or talk to me ever again? Was he completely fine with everything? I had no clue! I was afraid it would be awkward & I didn't want to send any mixed signals in any way. He called me the weekend after he got home, just to say hi & make sure I was still alive & healthy & let me know that he was as well. It was awkward & neither of us really knew what to say. Then, in February, he called me again on day at random, to tell me he was in Columbia with his family for the day & wondered if I wanted to come meet him & hang out, however we had just had our musical the night before, so I had a cast party to attend. Finally, the 20Th of February, I was preparing to go to St. Louis for the weekend for a National Leadership Development Convention. At random I thought of him & thought I should share this great opportunity with him & invite him to the Convention to learn about leadership & grow personally, etc. So, I called him & set up an appointment to come down to Lake of the Ozarks with my leadership mentor, Chris, meet him & tell him about the opportunity & extend the invitation to join us for the weekend. So, the next day, we went down & visited with him. It was OK. It wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be. It seemed that everything was fine & that we would be able to rebuild the friendship that was previously there & not have to worry about any strings. What a relief that was to us both. Cody came with us the next day, to St. Louis for the weekend & opened himself up to learn leadership principles & how to apply them to life. It was that night (Friday) that our lives took a turn in an unexpected direction... After the Seminar that night, we returned to the hotel. Jeremy fell asleep very quickly as Cody & I sat, catching up with one another. He talked about his mission & things he learned & went through, I talked about what had been going on in my life. We talked about how we had both previously wanted to move on with the next step in life & get married, but that more recently that had left & we now felt quite the opposite. Neither of us wanted to even date at the time, let alone think about being married any time soon! I told him how I had decided I wanted to serve a mission & that I had started to prepare to do so. Next thing we knew, all the feelings we'd had when he left 2 years earlier had come flooding back. I found myself wishing I hadn't turned him away & he found himself, again feeling the longing to have me back that he had worked so hard to lose. Without even thinking, he kissed me, & from then on, neither of us could deny what was really there. He asked me to marry to him & I accepted. After some thought & prayer, his official proposal came & we became engaged. The date was set, the Temple was called & the sealing scheduled. Plans began & things got CrAzY! Life, these past 10 weeks, has been a whirlwind! Finding things out & getting things done. Going through all the plans & preparations. Picking a cake, designing a dress, (because of course, we're making it!) taking pictures, getting invitations, scheduling & reserving the building for the reception, acquiring bridesmaids & groomsmen, picking flowers, ordering a tux, picking decorations, meeting with Bishops & Stake Presidents to receive temple recommends... The list goes on. & through all of this, my greatest struggle over the past 3 1/2 years, has been resolved. Prayers have been answered & the Spirit has confirmed to me, that I am doing what's right. So, on Friday, 4 days from now, I will enter the Temple, the House of the Lord, to be married, not only for time, until death, but for all Eternity, to the man of my dreams & my Prince Charming, Cody Miner, & I will be the happiest person on earth. I can't wait to spend Eternity with him & I'm SO forever grateful for that opportunity! I love him so much & I can no longer imagine my life without him. Our Father in Heaven does hear & answer prayers! I know that with all my heart! He knows each of us, personally, individually, & loves us. He wants us to be happy, & I am. I love you ALL & I wish you the best! Keira Shelby (For now.) P.S. Here are some pictures from the last little while. If you don't know him yet, Cody is a goof ball! Wedding Present from Grandma Cada! It's a rug! How cool! Our blown glass Nauvoo Temple cake topper came in last week. It's gorgeous! & this is what my hair will look like! Thanks to Ashley Haubner who rocks! She got my hair to do cool stuff & it actually stayed! She's MAJIC! Heck, this was even after being out in the crazy rediculous wind all day!

Praise To The Man!

Tonight, as I found myself sitting at the computer looking up frivolous information for random happenings in my life, I was not surprised to hear the phone ring and see my brother's number come across the caller id. Mom answered as usual, but it was what I heard next that made today different from every other day. First silence, then "What? No... are you sure? Have you checked the internet or anything?" Then more silence. My questioning "What?" was ignored. Finally, she told him "Let us know if you find out anything else." and hung up. "Tommy just got a message: President Hinckley died..." My first thought was No... it's a rumor... It can't be true. Immediately, my focus shifted & my search went to LDS.org, KSL News & Deseret News. As can be expected, the world wide web was already being swamped by (my guess) millions of people, all asking the same question as myself; Is he really gone? Finally, the Deseret News site loaded with the headline confirming the news. Tonight, January 27, 2008 at 7pm MST, our beloved prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, at the age of 97, passed away in his Salt Lake City Apartment, surrounded by his family. As I ready the news story & the comments posted by readers, I kept seeing mention of the sadness of this event. While it's true, he has been a life-long hero of mine and there is no doubt that he will be greatly missed, I found myself wondering why I didn't feel the stab of pain in my heart. As I looked over a few pictures from his time as the Prophet, I realized why I didn't feel sadness, but joy. In 2004, another dear hero of mine, Marjorie Pay Hinckley passed away. My mind was brought back to a neighbor of ours who had lost his wife in much the same way. For a year after she had passed away, Alvin was often heard to say "I miss Mable. I want to go see Mable!" He longed, more than anything, to see his wife again. I know President Hinckley must have felt the same way. He must have felt that same constant longing to be with his eternal companion again. Oh, how he must have missed her! The knowledge, not belief, but knowledge, that I have of the Plan of Salvation comforts me greatly at this time. I know that at this very moment, that wonderful man, Gordon B. Hinckley, is overjoyed in embracing, once again, his lovely wife Marjorie, as well as our Father and His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. How wonderful it would be to witness such a reunion! So, at this time of seemingly great sorrow, my heart is filled with joy. For I know He lives. And I know that we will see Him once again, when we are called to that wonderful reunion. And now, as I sit pondering the countless tears of sorrow that are being shed at this very moment, those tears that I shed are tears hope, of comfort, of excitement, and of overwhelming joy for our prophet who has gone Home to be with those he loves more than any others and those that we all long to be with again. In reading about his life and service in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, my mind is called back to the words of a hymn... Great is his glory and endless his priesthood. Ever and ever the keys he will hold. Faithful and true, he will enter His kingdom, Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old. Hail to the prophet, ascended to Heaven! Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain. Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren; Death cannot conquer the hero again. Death certainly cannot conquer this hero again. He has filled so many souls with joy and hope and understanding. May we all be filled with such now. I love President Hinckley and he will always hold a very special place in my heart. And I cannot wait to have that reunion with him & others. It is my testimony, in the blessed name of Jesus Christ, that through the Temple, we will return to live with our Father in Heaven, our Savior, Jesus Christ, and all of those which we love who have remained faithful. I know that much like Joseph Smith, Gordon B. Hinckley was called of God to lead the restored gospel in these latter days. All that he did, he did as a testament to Jesus Christ. He has inspired countless masses and left his mark on the world as a tribute to the fullness of the gospel. His message will always ring true, that Christ lives, this is His true church, and his Atonement was and is the greatest sacrifice and gift the world will ever know. I cherish this testimony which I have, and I proudly proclaim it in the sacred name of Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas!

Well, it's 2008 now! How crazy is that?! Christmas was aweome! Everyone came here, so it was a lot of fun! It was the first time we've all been together in years! It was great! I don't have much time, so I won't write much right now, but I wanted to get these pictures up! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Love you all! Keira