It's a girl!

The fetus has officially been designated female, due September 6.

Newish hobby

About a year and a half ago, while serving in a stake calling, I sat in a meeting with the stake presidency while we discussed the goals of the stake. There were three main objectives: get to know your neighbor, family history work, and increasing temple attendance. As I listened to the inspired counsel of my stake president, I felt that I was doing alright in two of the three areas-- I knew most of my neighbors and had a good report with them and Adam and I were fairly consistent at temple attendance. When it came to family history work, I felt a strong impression that I needed to start somewhere. I wasn't sure how or where to start or when I would find the time in between cleaning, feeding, playing and chasing James. I finally asked my mom a week or two later if she wanted to start working together on family history, knowing that she had done quite a bit of research on her side of the family when she was younger. She was excited and said she'd been thinking about working on it for a long time. Once my mom oriented me on family names and dates, I went straight to the internet. I strongly believe that one of the reasons why the Lord has given us this great tool is to further family history work. Since I began my new hobby, I have found over 200 names on my mother's side and I have nearly 1000 names ready to be taken to the temple on my father's side. Last month, I was able to be baptized for one of my ggg grandmothers and gggg grandmothers. All of that research has taken me less than two years to complete. It wasn't that long ago when people had to write to each other or the government to request information, census records, etc and then wait for a reply. It's a miracle how quick and easy it's become to do this work. I'm thankful that I listened and followed the counsel of my stake president. I know it's brought great blessings into my life but especially the lives of my ancestors.
A couple of days ago, I sat down at the computer to research the family names of an elderly friend of Adam's who lives in England and has no living relatives. He didn't even know all of the names of his grandparents. Within an hour's time, I found nearly all of his grandparents, greatgrandparents, and on one line, his ggg grandparents clear back to the 1700's. It's absolutely amazing to me! And it's the one gift that we could give him that I know he would really enjoy and appreciate. He's not a member of the church but he has a strong desire to know where he came from and who is ancestors are. I'm grateful that I'm in a position that I can give that knowledge to him.