A baptism photo shoot for Joseph

For "the boy who never smiles," we had no problems today. I wanted to get some lovely shots of Joseph for his baptism invitations and set aside some time to make it happen. We got his hair cut nice and neatly to make sure Grandma would have been happy, that was so, so important to her. After I finished work on Wednesday, I took him home for a shower and neatened his hair up, put on some nice church clothes and dropped Madeline at dancing (Alex was at Nannaleahs) so we could go to the temple and get some shots on the grounds.

I was so proud of him. I told him, the sooner you smile and pose nicely, the sooner we can go home. It'll take fifteen minutes if you work with me.

And that is all it took! Done and dusted and on our way home in 15 minutes flat.

I honestly believe it was because none of the other kids were there with us... it was him and I, with all my attention focused on him, just the way he likes it. He is honestly best with one on one situations, so I thought it out ahead and made it happen.

I can't wait to see the invites made up and ready, the shots are great! ❤

 

temple thursday

thank goodness for nannaleah. i managed to slide in to do one last temple session this morning before our temple has an extended closure until after christmas. no matter how hard it is to get there, i always feel better for having been. i always race in with just minutes to spare, but somehow always make it. 

i am grateful today - and always, that we have a temple within our reach. i feel for those who are able to visit only once in their life, or never have the opportunity. it always makes me think back to one of my favourite ever talks by thomas s monson, about a family who worked their entire life to get there.  

"May I share with you the account of Tihi and Tararaina Mou Tham and their 10 children. The entire family except for one daughter joined the Church in the early 1960s, when missionaries came to their island, located about 160 km south of Tahiti. Soon they began to desire the blessings of an eternal family sealing in the temple.
At that time the nearest temple to the Mou Tham family was the Hamilton New Zealand Temple, more than 4000 km to the southwest, accessible only by expensive airplane travel. The large Mou Tham family, which eked out a meager living on a small plantation, had no money for airplane fare, nor was there any opportunity for employment on their Pacific island. So Brother Mou Tham and his son Gérard made the difficult decision to travel 4800 km to work in New Caledonia, where another son was already employed.
The three Mou Tham men labored for four years. Brother Mou Tham alone returned home only once during that time, for the marriage of a daughter.
After four years, Brother Mou Tham and his sons had saved enough money to take the family to the New Zealand Temple. All who were members went except for one daughter, who was expecting a baby. They were sealed for time and eternity, an indescribable and joyful experience.
Brother Mou Tham returned from the temple directly to New Caledonia, where he worked for two more years to pay for the passage of the one daughter who had not been at the temple with them—a married daughter and her child and husband.
In their later years Brother and Sister Mou Tham desired to serve in the temple. By that time the Papeete Tahiti Temple had been constructed and dedicated, and they served four missions there.
My brothers and sisters, temples are more than stone and mortar. They are filled with faith and fasting. They are built of trials and testimonies. They are sanctified by sacrifice and service."

a small video has been made by the church about this talk and is available on you tube and i cry every single time i watch it. how spoiled i feel to be so close to a temple. i hope to never take it for granted and to be able to attend regularly as time goes by. the months when the temple was closed during the peak of the covid-19 pandemic were so disappointing to me and i am so glad it's open and i can attend again.

 

temple saturday

when we moved into our house in aveley, i made a goal of attending the temple once a month. i am proud to say that i have nearly always managed to keep that goal steady. sometimes i have scraped in on the 1st of the following month due to something i couldn't control and then gone again later that month... but the point is, i have tried my hardest and as president nelson said, "the lord loves effort, because effort brings rewards that can't come without it."

i have tried so hard to keep to my commitment and i know that blessings have flowed because of it. i love being at the temple and being able to feel close to my father in heaven in his holy house. i am especially grateful to those who have helped make it happen. for the times i slide out of bed early on a saturday (like this morning!) leaving doug home with the kids, or the times i fly past the pinkers and throw alex at them on a thursday so i can make it in time. 

i am just so grateful to be able to make it happen - and for a temple right out on our doorstep. ❤

so many things to be thankful for

i was so grateful to be able to attend the temple today - with so many things to be grateful for! we finally received word yesterday from that last insurance company (the one that had been stressing me out) - that the claim on oli's life insurance had been received, assessed - and would be paid in full. but the best was yet to come, the amount we had been expecting was just one third of what was paid out. we actually couldn't get over the figure that was owed.

what a relief and a lifted burden. i honestly was so happy/relieved that i burst into tears at work, much to the horror of my co-worker, who was just happy it wasn't anything serious. it had been playing on my mind for so long and to have such a wonderful end result was just the most amazing thing that could have happened. i was so full of gratitude and love today that i could have burst, especially after a final prayer the day before yesterday from both doug's sister and that by some miracle we would have a good result. so the temple was the perfect place to be. 

in good times and in bad, we take our prayers to the temple, for the temple is the place where heaven and earth meet - and we can be the closest to the lord.

temple - alone

i went to the temple today by myself for the first time in a long time. i have been taking dougs mother with me each time for months and i felt so lonely there today. i felt peaceful and a real assurance that she is okay, but i missed having her there with me.

i thought about this moment a lot today. this was the first time dougs parents met alex and i have never seen them so happy as they were in this moment. i imagine that they are this happy again. he was straight from heaven bringing them the joy they will be feeling there, together at last. what a sweet reunion they would have had. ❤

temple with oli

oli and i went to the temple this morning and it was so nice to see her there and now she was feeling peaceful. it's been a rough week for her, the chemo that worked before is no longer working and her dr has started her on one final option, which he has told us is much more aggressive than the other options and may be the last chance there is. she decided to go ahead, in her words, "i want to try everything they have. if i don't try it, i won't know, it could have been the one that helped." 

while we were sitting in the session waiting our turn to go through to the celestial room, she leaned in close to me and said, "i keep imagining i can see stephen there waiting for me behind the veil." i love that she knows that when her time comes, that he is there and will be waiting for her to take her hand as they spend eternity together. what a blessing it is to know that because of the sealing power in the temple, we know that families are forever. 

i have loved that we have been able to attend the temple so many times together over the years. ilove the time we get to spend together and seeing her so at peace in the house of the lord. what a blessing.

 

last temple day for 2019

with only two days left of this year - let's talk goals here. we are pretty overwhelmed right now with the very real possibility of losing doug's dad in the coming weeks - so what do i want to focus on right now? an eternal family. and what's the best way i can do that? keep my focus on the temple, keeping the covenants i made there and making sure i am worthy to be part of an eternal family.

yesterday i made it to the temple one last time for the year completing my goal of attending monthly for the fourth year in a row. it felt good to achieve it and it feels good to be there each month and to know i am in the right place. 

so what's my goal for next year? same thing. make it there another 12 times. something simple and doable, to keep me going in the right direction.

temple with kerri

i had the most wonderful blessing today, being able to be the escort for my beautiful friend kerri as she went through the temple for the first time to receive her endowment. for those of you not of my faith, the prophet brigham young explained it as such: "your endowment is to receive all those ordinances in the house of the lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being able to give them the key words, the signs and token, pertaining to the holy priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell."

you have to prepare and be found worthy to enter the temple as it is literally the lords house here on earth. such a feeling of peace and love is found within the walls. rosemary m wixom put it beautifully when she said, "in the temple all feelings of inadequacy and imperfection begin to fade." once inside we are all equal and there to feel closer to our father in heaven, not ever to compete.

seeing kerri so happy and being able to share this experience with her was a wonderful blessing. i am so grateful for the choices she made that led her here today.

♥

above all else, i am so grateful to have a temple so close and to be able to attend regularly. what a wonderful blessing it is in my life and in the life of my family. 

a picnic at the temple

my gorgeous friend ash messaged with an awesome suggestion last week - to meet at the temple so the kids could have a wander around looking at everything and then a picnic afterwards. the kids (especially alex!) were thrilled to see her and we had a great day.

the perth temple is in such a perfect spot... tucked away behind a main road, yet so peaceful.

i love taking my children to the temple, i always think of that scripture in proverbs 22:6 "train up a child in the way that he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." 

i know from personal experience that my parents faith has certainly helped myself and my siblings remain strong, so i only hope my own can do the same for my children.

it was such a beautiful day to be there, the sun was shining bright, the flowers were blooming...

and our picnic was delicious. fruit and homemade banana bread? perfect!

so lucky to be raising these three cuties.

kids chilling with aunty ash.

then out to the back of the temple for a wander...

this little one kept making an appearance in all my photos, but the more the better... i am in denial but he'll be one in just a few days, so the more shots i have to showcase the better.

there is nothing better than being at the temple with good friends.

temple time

i made a promise just a few months after we moved into our new house, that i would make it to the temple once in each calendar month... and i have managed it. so far, so good. i love that i am able to serve and be in the lords house and make time for the temple.

"There exists a righteous unity between the temple and the home. Understanding the eternal nature of the temple will draw you to your family; understanding the eternal nature of the family will draw you to the temple." —Gary E. Stevenson

i know that by making time for the temple, i am being the example that my children need. by seeing their parents attend the temple, they will want to make the gospel of the highest priority in their own lives and to make it a goal to attend themselves one day.

"Prepare now for the temple, the mountain of the Lord. Never allow the goal of the temple to be out of your sight. Walk into His presence in purity and virtue, and receive His blessings—even 'all that he hath.'" —Elaine S. Dalton

make the temple a priority in your own home, for as long as we can see the temple, we will never be lost. ♥

jae + jesse

this past saturday i had the amazing opportunity to take some photos for a friend on her wedding day. i was their temple photographer and it was such an honour. they are a beautiful couple and i loved being able to capture the beginning of their "happily ever after"

congratulations jae and jesse! ♥

a place of peace

it has been one of those weeks. alex isn't sleeping, i have been feeling so anxious it's ridiculous and am struggling big time. there have been lots of tears and not just from the baby. sometimes it's just really hard to do life. i am sure anyone with kids (and especially with a baby) can sympathise. but, my week got better, when my husbands sister came over yesterday afternoon and looked after the kids so i could go to a temple session.

in her april 2014 general conference talk: keeping covenants protects us, prepares us and empowers us, rosemary m wixom, the primary general president said: "temple ordinances lead to the greatest blessings available through the atonement of jesus christ. they are those ordinances necessary for our exaltation in the celestial kingdom. as we strive to keep our covenants, our feelings of inadequacy and imperfection begin to fade, while the ordinances and the covenants of the temple come alive. everyone is welcome to walk that path to eternal life."

i am here to tell you that's true. in the temple itself, all those feelings i carried began to fade and when i left that evening, i felt like i could actually do it again. how unbelievably lucky we are to have a temple close by. we are seriously so blessed. 

temple nights

quite unexpectedly doug was home today which meant after picking the kids up from school i could rush over to the temple and do the 4pm session. game changer, because it meant i could be back for dinner and in time to tend to the grizzly baby who wants a feed before bed and does not like the bottle. 

the last few weeks have been a struggle, we have been stressing with all the appointments and hospital visits for doug's parents and it was so nice to be there in the peace and calm for a few hours. it was exactly what i needed. 

for those of you who may stumble across this and are not members of our faith, we do not attend the temple for a weekly meeting. we attend as often as we can (some weekly, some once a month, some less often - just whatever we can personally manage) to perform sacred ordinances first for ourselves and then on behalf of others who have passed on before having the chance to do them for themselves or perhaps before ever having a chance to learn of the gospel of jesus christ. we often attend to witness a marriage of friends or family members, or a sealing, which binds family members together for eternity, allowing them to remain together after this life. many are under the impression that the ordinances we perform are a secret. not so. we do not speak of them publicly as they are sacred in nature and should only be discussed within the temple. it is a place where we can go to feel close to the lord and to be able to take our troubles and receive inspiration and personal revelation. it is the place we believe we can be closest to the lord on earth and brings us so much peace. how grateful i am to live so close to a little piece of heaven, the perth australia temple. ♥

back to young women’s we go...

there i was, thinking i was home and free without a church calling, when the lord decided otherwise... and just before new years, i was set apart as the second counselor in young womens. oh my word. i've never tried to hide the fact that i am not good at all with teenage girls and struggled the last time i was in young womens (as the president i might add!) so i'm a bit nervous about this time around too!

upside is that i get to serve alongside one of my best friends - and another good friend, so i should be able to stumble my way through it! i really hope i can be some influence for good on the girls.

tonight we had youth temple baptisms and i got to (finally) have my turn as the towel angel (handing the towels to the youth as they come out of the font) which i loved. i love seeing them dressed in their whites ready to serve, it's amazing. maybe i can do this!

so here's to 2019 and a new start... young womens here i come! 

yellow roses

as we were walking back to the car yesterday after the temple, i paused at the roses and took a snap to share here, because the yellow roses at the temple hold a wonderful memory for me. thirteen and a half years ago, my husband broke one off of the bushes, knelt before me and said, "jade i've loved you from the first time i saw you and i promise i'll love you forever. will you marry me?" 

nine months later, at the same place, the perth australia temple of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints, we promised to do just that - and somehow, we are still loving each other, even though sometimes it's hard. but seeing those roses each time i go to the temple reminds me of those two youngsters, madly in love that knew a future together was ahead of them and totally possible. that's when i know that we will always make it through ♥

temple time

almost three years ago i made a commitment, to attend the temple at least once a month... sometimes it's been easy. sometimes it's been hard. sometimes i have ended up there multiple times in one month, sometimes i'm scraping in on the last day just in time. but i have managed it! today i scraped in for october on the first day of november, but i'm still proud and am totally counting it, because i had a baby not even three weeks ago and somehow still got there. woo!

i am so grateful for a wonderful friend who came with me, went in first while i fed baby and then snuggled baby alex so i could go in and do just one initiatory. it doesn't matter that it was just one, what matters is that i made it there. baby steps... especially with a new baby! i love to be at the temple and was so glad we made it work. here's hoping i can pull off november and december as well. 

stake conference - (39 weeks)

baby kendall is 39 weeks today, almost ready to meet us!

we had stake conference yesterday and i decided to get what i am hoping is my second last pregnant photo in front of the temple. it reminded me of that scripture from the bible:

"train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." 

- proverbs 22:6

i am hoping from my example as a mother that my baby will have a love for the gospel and especially for the temple the way these two do. i remember when we went to dianella ward (our stake centre chapel is on the same block as the temple, common in australia where we have the smaller style temples) madeline used to sit in her carseat waiting for her first glimpse of the angel moroni as we turned the corner to the chapel and used to put her little fist to her mouth and make a doodoooo noise like she was blowing a trumpet. it was the sweetest thing!

i truly will be trying to raise my children in the way that they should go. ♥

letitia + jordan are getting married!

our great friends the fepulea'i's are marrying off another one of their kids at the end of this year and this past weekend was allllll about it. on friday night we got to be there as letitia received her endowment in the perth temple - which was such a special experience. it's always so nice to be there with someone as they take it all in and remember my own first experience at the temple. afterwards all of us had dinner together at a local chicken place... yum!

then the following evening, i headed down to mandurah (kid free thanks to my amazing mother in law, with my personal minder darrio... grandma kendall and nanna pinker are petrified i'm going to deliver this baby at any time, i'm sure of it) to help set up and then attend jordan and letitia's engagement party!

tay hired this amazing flower wall to have photos in front out throughout the evening, which looked so cool! ♥

and a family friend put together this cool engagement cake for them!

i arrived with tablecloths, runners, vases, flowers and these gorgeous birdcages that we originally sprayed for dominiques wedding (almost 2 years ago now - where has the time gone?!) set up looked great, and the party went off without a hitch! i love this time of year for free flowers... i grabbed all these from a local spot, with a set of secateurs... what a laugh though, i was almost home and heard a buzzing in the car. even though i'd been careful checking, there was a couple of bees flying around the back of my car. i pulled over quick smart to get rid of those!

tay did such a good job of prepping everything... she had organised a video with people answering questions about jordan and letitia which was an absolute crack up... i could not stop laughing! especially seeing as wade (the bride to be's oldest brother), was "working out" for show, through the entire thing every time the camera was on him. it was hysterical.



and as an added bonus, one of my besties melinda was there, so i got to hang out with someone awesome all night. score!

thanks for a great night guys! ♥