Lorin's Letters

Starting my 3rd trimester wasn't too bad. As I started getting bigger, I was finding it more and more difficult to sleep comfortably and breathe normally. The 8 stairs leading to our house became more and more difficult to climb. I think I was a little out of shape. I haven't exercised much during the pregnancy. With my job being so demanding on my body, the last thing I wanted to do was go home and work out at the end of a long work day. July was a really lazy month for both jared and I. A lot of our friends are out doing summer sales so we have been pretty bored and lazy. Jared has been gaining some pregnancy sympathy weight and we haven't been eating super well. Basically Chik-fil-A has been our weakness. Its bad. So we wanted to make August a better month for us and help us get healthy and to help the baby! We went to Calgary the first week of August and the 15 hour drive was pretty tough on my body. Luckily, Jared got me a big pregnancy pillow for my birthday and th...

The past 2 weeks in church i have been reading over the family proclamation. Its been on my mind a lot as Jared and I have been discussing how we plan to be parents in the gospel. I have always known this is the greatest responsibility i will ever have and my patriarchal blessing really helps me a lot by laying out what my role as a mother is. As Jared and I have experiences we are starting to make decisions on what we want to do as parents. We know that we always need to involve the Lord in our decision but Jared and I were brought up with really different backgrounds so our pasts are quite different.  Being one of the oldest in my family i have seen a lot and learned a great amount from my parents. It's going to be tough. We were not always perfect at family home evening and family scripture study but  i know my parents tried hard! I was always taught to go to church, to pray, to read my scriptures and choose the right. Basic primary commandments.  The older and mo...

This first trimester: When we first found out I was pregnant, we weren't completely sure it was the real deal. I still believe there was a chance of a negative test. After several positive tests we just kinda shrugged our shoulders and said okay, i guess its the real deal. Not really what i was expecting emotionally but we have since moved on from that. The first 6 weeks i didnt really feel any different or really remember i was pregnant so it didnt feel real. We told my family at 7 weeks and that was really exciting! Everyone cried and it made me so happy because at this point it was just me and Jared and we didnt really have a ton of enthusiasm. Also i was grateful they were so thrilled and encouraging because right around week 7 i started getting terribly sick. Morning sickness and nausea were in full force and i absolutely could not handle it. Jared was doing everything. It took everything i had just to get out of  bed and try to make it to work. Sometimes i didnt. My job is...

Back in July I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and i just wanted to share my thoughts on it. For those of you who don't know exactly what Celiac Disease is, I will explain. It is a genetic autoimmune disease which the ingestion of gluten lease to damage the small intestine. Meaning, my own cells are attacking my body. There are little Villi or tentacle looking things in your small intestine that absorb nutrients. Eating gluten damages those and you cant absorb much nutrients. That can lead to many other issues. Unfortunately, it has no cure YET ( i hope one day... ) which means this is a complete lifestyle change. I have eliminated Wheat, Barley and Rye from my diet. Which seems simple because its just 3 different grains but you would be shocked if you started reading labels and saw how much wheat is in everything we eat.  Luckily over the last year and a half or so I have made a lot of health changes and was eating very plant based and limited a lot of foods that I can...

HERE ARE A FEW HIGHLIGHTS OF SOME OF OUR EXCITING TIMES THIS SUMMER! FAMILY VACATION IN BRYCE CANYON IT WAS SOOOO PRETTY! WASHTONTON DC FOR MARK & MCKINZIE'S WEDDING SO HUMID BUT SO GREEN AND BEAUTIFUL!                                         WE FOULD SOME AWESOME ART MUSEUMS!                CONGRATS MARK AND KINZIE! WE LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH! 6/18/16                AFTER THE WEDDING WAS OVER THERE WERE FIREFLIES EVERYWHERE! IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL AND FUN TO TRY AND CATCH THEM! THE LOCATION OF THE RECEPTION WAS AMAZING! IT WAS A DREAM WEDDING! THIS TEMPLE WAS ABSOLUTELY BREATH TAKING!! IM SO GLAD WE HAD THIS CHANCE TO GO TO THE EAST COAST / THE SOUTH FOR A LITTLE HOLIDAY

The last 18 months, Emmie has been in Jackson Mississippi serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! She has been amazing and i am so proud of her! Being in the south was probably so fun and so different from where i served in Vancouver, Canada! On Wednesday she flew in at 9:00 pm after a long day of delayed and missed flights! We are so happy she is home! While she was gone, Jared and I got married, Tanner and Kenzie had Tommy (15 months) and Lissy got accepted to USU! Lots of big changes for our family! It is so good to be all together again! Here are some pictures! We got a cute video of my Mom waiting at the bottom of the escalator. There were hundreds of people there that night! So many missionary moms just anxiously waiting! Watching the missionaries run to their moms is the sweetest thing! The LDS church has such an amazing missionary program and I am so glad i got the chance to serve a mission as well. It has changed my life so much and brought me so...

This past week I had a really comforting experience with prayer and I wanted to share. I have always fallen into a pattern with my prayers that becomes pretty routine. I still feel like I talk to Heavenly Father personally about my life and always give thanks but the other night I really just needed to be comforted. I don't typically ask for that when I pray. I usually take the time to thank Him for all the blessings of that day or little things I felt His hand was a part of. I will also ask him to bless my family or friends or ask for specific things that I need at that time. The other night I was very upset and sad about something that had happened and I was crying so hard. I couldn't even pray. I just sat there unable to even address him. Sometimes starting your prayer just makes you cry harder. A thought came to my mind.. " I just need to be comforted, that is all I need to ask for." Heavenly Father knows us and how we are feeling. All of our emotions. I finally ...