Moving forward.

Camille enjoying her ice cream

Ellie enjoying her ice cream too! :)

This post has been sitting in my head for the past two hours and I know if I don't get it out now, then it will be lost forever! (My mind isn't too sharp these days ;))

Let me preface, Mike has "day dates" with our children. A special time where they go and do something by themselves with him or in two's. Yesterday was the boys turn and they went to go see Captain America. They had a BLAST with their daddy and while they were watching their movie at the theatre, the 2 little girls and I were able to do some shopping at Ross and then stop for some ice cream. It was a great day all around.
On the way home, Michael and I were talking about how we wished we could be able to remember days like this with our older girls. I told him that I was so sad that my memory was fading a bit and that I can't readily recall how my girls sounded (although I do remember some phrases here and there), or how they walked or how they smelled as babies... I wish my mind was more of a video so that I could still be IN that moment again. (For the record, my husband has a great memory and can remember and recall WAY more than I can at the drop of a hat. :))
Then I told him how I thought it was interesting that I can recall more of what has happened in the last 5 years than at any other point in my life. I can distinctly remember how Ellie was as a baby, yet I can barely remember Weston as a baby, even though it was only a year and a half before that. I always attributed it to the fact that it was because everything in the last five years has happened relatively recently.

Michael has a different take on it, because he feels the same way about our lives "before". As we were talking, he said that he felt it was because of being able to have the Priesthood in the home.
He described it in this way:
"Before, I became a member of the church, we were just floating through life. We weren't bad people. We did good things and tried to help others, but we weren't moving forward. We were just there. Our spirits can't recall as easily because they were stuck in a state of limbo."
I can't begin to tell you how much I agree with this statement. I can testify that this statement is so true. It's amazing how much I can recall and how many memories are emblazoned upon my heart. It's amazing to me how much MORE I can comprehend, and how much more I can FEEL now that we are blessed with the Priesthood in our home. Everything makes sense now. I can more easily taste and remember the sweet moments of life and in some instances, I can almost feel those ties that bind us with our pre-existent selves. It's hard to explain, but someday I want our children to look back upon this and understand how important the Priesthood is and HOW exactly it can affect our lives.

I look forward to so many things with JOY, because I know that we ARE progressing. We are working and (hopefully) little by little, are gaining the knowledge that we need to someday be able to reunite again beyond the veil.
Until then, I am savoring all these moments with my babies and eternal companion. I can feel my spirit rejoice in the Lord's work.

We are so blessed.