just saying...

i saw this on gorgeous little picture on facebook today after church and was blown away by how true it is. there has been a lot of nastiness around me lately that i can't do anything about, other than trying to repay it with love. i hope more than anything that i'll always be able to do that and try to remember two things - one i learnt from my pre-primary teacher "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" and the other i learned in primary at church - "kindness begins with me!"

i know that being kind to people who aren't, is always the hardest thing to do, so i am trying to remember this everyday. wish me luck!

clarky getting ready

last night we all went to the temple together - because clark was going through for the first time... all part of the prep to go on his mission in may. i have been asked so many times by people what we do in there, but the best explanation i have seen (and trust me, i couldn't say it nearly this well...)

"as he dedicated the cornerstone of the salt lake temple on april 6, 1853, president brigham young made this observation about the endowment: “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, … and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell.” (in journal of discourses, 2:31.)"

so in other words, we are preparing ourselves for the life to come! 

here is vivienne and clark, looking happy together. it was such a lovely night and i am so glad to have been able to share it with them.

clark and his boys...

kieran, michael, doug and clarko

best place in the world... i am so lucky to have what i have, and know what i know! ♥

twenty months

it's happened again! she's gotten older (and just when i thought it wasn't possible... cuter!) she's 

20 months now and such a crack up. her favourite song is popcorn popping and every time she wants to sing it again we hear a little "poppp poppp" as she opens and closes her little hands like crazy, then does the actions as you sing. then "gen gen!!" (again!) when you finish. she also loves twinkle twinkle and waves her hands in the air while you sing. she still dances to any music you put on, and in the last week has developed a sudden love for hi-5... apparently. she loves to dance with them while the dvd plays in the background.

maddie has 12 full teeth now, with 4 more popping through between them. 16 in total... amazing! i sometimes wonder how on earth they even fit in her tiny mouth, and then i see another one coming out! she finally has enough hair to put into pigtails and i am taking full advantage of that at every possible opportunity. 

she's a smart little cookie and does what she is told... sometimes. she knows where things go, where to get them from, and what most things we tell her mean. everyhouse day when doug tells her to get in the car she runs into the garage and gets into the toy car she got for christmas, closes the door and won't get out. it's so funny. when you say, "time for bed" she whinges and hides her face if you're holding her, or tried to hide if you're not. she has quite a long list of words now, including, "mum, dad, nanna, up, more, jade, teesh, clark, neenee (nikki), here..." she tries so hard to held when you are getting dressed, putting her arms through the holes, holding on to things to step into her pants, putting her feet up for her shoes... she loves to run around the house with a few, never just one, hand bags in her hands. i don't think anyone has ever made me laugh so much in my life. we watched youtube clips with her last week and she laughed so hard at one stage that she had both hands over her mouth giggling and kept slapping her knee. 

having this little girl in my life, is pure bliss.

wise words

i saw this quote on instagram a few weeks ago and was struck by the power in these two short sentences. if only more people could take them into account and make their lives a little better... i am sure it would make the world a better place ♥

long weekend...

we just had a long weekend and i got to spend it just the way i like... with miss maddie! i thought i would thrown in some snapshots of what we got up to, just because you can never really get enough of her... 

sunday afternoon tay and teesh collected her from nursery and took her out to their car, where they let her honk the horn and jump up and down on the front seat of the car. she was loving every minute of it, and giggling like a crazy... such a crack up! we are so blessed to have people in our lives who love her almost as much as we do...

kieran and clark came over after church and hung out with maddie when she woke up, i plonked her on kierans shoulder like a parrot and she nestled there and watched youtube clips with them and chatted away to them... ahhh kizz. he's going to make such a good dad one day...

at family dinner that night - mads was all systems go on clarks laptop the minute he turned his back. they are learning young these days... maybe she was facebooking mason?

monday morning maddie woke up and called out for me, "mum mum mummmm mum-mum" - there is no better sound in this world. then, when i got her out of bed, she snuggled up to me and went straight back to sleep. i could spend my whole life this way. i swear that's when babies are the cutest - when they are fast asleep. find me any mother that doesn't agree and i'll be impressed.

later that day it was yogurt time and mads was chanelling her inner joker with a giant yogurt smile, right across her face... and spots all over the kitchen floor? much more fun for mummy to clean up i suppose! lucky she's cute... i tell myself that a lot!

aunty hayley dropped by in the afternoon and she and maddie had a play with her lip gloss. or should i say, maddie had a play with her lip gloss, attempting to put it on both herself and hayley! the results were pretty awesome terrible. but so funny... 

let me in - let me in!

oh you're in baby! in our hearts for good!

good works lesson!

have i done any good in the world today?

have i helped any one in need?

have i cheered up the sad?

or made someone feel glad?

if not i have i have failed indeed.

has anyone's burden been lighter today?

because i was willing to share?

have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?

when they needed my help was i there?

then wake up and do something more

than dream of your mansion above

doing good is a pleasure...

a joy beyond measure,

a blessing of duty and love

-lds hymns 223 (have i done any good?)

today i gave the lesson in relief society... on good works - here's a few highlights!

the majority of the content for the lesson is taken from a talk entitled “forget yourself and serve” by president gordon b hinckley in the july 2006 ensign. if you get a chance – go and read the whole thing, it’s a fabulous talk!

george eliot once said, “what do we live for, if not to make life less difficult for each other?”

president hinckley recalls, “i remember visiting a friend in southern india. this man worked as an accountant in a cement plant. his salary was meager. his house was small; it would fit into the front room of many homes. but his heart was large and overflowing. out of a great love for others that came from his understanding of the gospel of jesus christ, he built a school with his own hands on a piece of ground he bought from his savings. it was a simple, rough building; but studying there were some 400 poor children, each being brought out of the darkness of illiteracy into the light of learning. what this act of love has meant and will mean in their lives is beyond calculation... through this one man’s efforts, there were established five small branches of the church in the rural villages of southern india. the members constructed three or four little buildings, neat and clean. over the door of each was a sign, in both english and tamil, which read, “the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints.” the floors were of concrete and without benches where the people sat together as we met, shared our testimonies, and partook of the sacrament of the lord’s supper. someday, someone will write the story of the church in india. that story will be incomplete unless there is a chapter on my friend who lost himself in the service of others." 

"for many years there was a sign on the wall of a shoe repair shop i patronized. it read, “i complained because i had no shoes until i saw a man who had no feet.” the most effective medicine for the sickness of self-pity is to lose ourselves in the service of others."

step up! put your name forward! be the one to make a difference. i read a quote this year in a book I borrowed from a friend, regarding service… i don’t remember the exact words, but it said something along the lines of, “i often wondered why someone didn’t do anything about it… until one day i realised that that someone had to be me!

let the Church be your dear friend. let it be your great companion. serve wherever you are called to serve. do what you are asked to do. every position you hold will add to your capacity. i have served in many responsibilities in this great organization. every service brought its own reward.

you will serve in many capacities before your lives are complete. some of them may seem small, but there is no small or unimportant calling in this church. every calling is important. every calling is necessary to the advancement of the work. never demean a responsibility in the church.

the church may call upon you to make sacrifice. it may call upon you to give of the very best that you have to offer. there will be no cost in this, because you will discover that it will become an investment that will pay you dividends for as long as you live. the church is the great reservoir of eternal truth. embrace it and hold fast to it. 

how lucky can you be to be a member of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints! here you find choice and wonderful friends. here you find able and faithful teachers. here you find opportunities for service!

the young womens scripture that represents good works is found in 3 nephi 12:16

therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven.

i am so grateful to be a member of this wonderful church and to have had such wonderful examples of service in my life from family and friends. i know the best part of giving a lesson is what we learn ourselves and i have had a renewed desire to look for ways to serve others.

i'm so thankful to have enough to share with others... ♥

7 years and counting!

7 years ago, on saturday i married this amazing guy. who would have known, that all those years ago - i would have taken a leap of faith, going to brisbane even though everything had gone wrong (would you believe that i actually went to brisbane for someone else?) before i had even gotten there... but i got on the plane and decided to give it a go - and met the one. in all honesty, everything i never knew was missing in my crazy life.

doug was friends with my flat mate beth, who introduced us in the kangaroo point chapel foyer after i had sang at a friends baptism. i didn't really think too much of it, seeing him again at a party that night where i waved hello and kept on walking and then seeing him again at our house the following week where i was introduced again with a quip from beth, "this is my friend doug, you can marry him if you want!" not exactly what i was wanting to hear that week i can assure you. i was still dealing with the burns from the last one...

but... we came to be friends, and it all went from there. he invited me to the stake ysa ball, we kissed - and we have been together ever since... and i wouldn't change a thing. he is the best thing that has ever happened to me and i am so grateful that he chose me. looking into his eyes on our wedding day 7 years ago and promising to love him not only for this life, but for eternity was the best choice i ever made. i can't wait to spend eternity with him, miss madeline and our babies that are yet to come.

dsk♥jeg

for eternity