When Life Knocks You Down

Over the passed few months life has knocked me down so many time that I cannot count. Last night I was laying in my silent bed I began to pray no plead really with Heavenly Father as to what to do. I was impressed to open my scriptures and read where it landed open. There I sat reading D&C 6 not knowing what it had to offer for me. Why was I there in that passage? It was wasn't until I got almost to the end of the chapter that I knew why I was there. D&C 6:36 says "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not". Talk about powerful!!!
I knew in that moment that I wasn't trusting my Heavenly Father. I was busy trying to fix everything myself.It is hard to surrender all things to Heavenly Father. I am like a little kid with a broken toy. I will give it up to be fixed but take it away when it takes to long to fix. I was told so many things with that one verse.
1. Look to Heavenly Father in everything even when I am not sure he is listening
2. Doubt not His time and His reason for things
3. Fear not for He is always with me. He has promised this time and time again
To say I was moved is beyond what I was. For the first time in a long time I felt noticed by my Heavenly Father and had an overwhelming since of love and understanding. I can not promise many things in life but, I can promise this if you seek out Heavenly Father in prayer and through scripture he WILL answer. 

So Its Been A While

Life has been crazy busy. The kids are getting bigger.
Joshua is getting ready to finish his kindergarten year of school. He has learned a lot and made friends. Joshua loves school and learning new things.
Lindsay graduated her second year of preschool. It was a great ceremony. She has learned a lot in her two year of school. Lindsay will be going into kindergarten in the fall.
We are all looking forward to summer adventures and getting out of the house. 

To the woman who called my daughter RETARDED!

Fellow Mom,

First off please allow me to apologize. When you called my sweet girl retarded my only instinct was to protect her. As a result I lashed out at you and made a sceen. It was not my intention to cause a sceen in which people would stare. For that I hope you will forgive me.

I have thought many time why you would say that about my sweet girl. Maybe you saw her brace on her leg and just assumed she was like that. Maybe its because you did not know how to answer your sweet child's questions or maybe just MAYBE you where raised in a house in which you or others were called this name and you just do not know any better. Either way my heart was and is broken.

I would now like to take the time to tell you more about my sweet girl.
1. Her name is Lindsay (she is a daddy's girl)
2. She is 2 years old
3. That brace you saw on her left leg is to help her hold her foot up because she has cerebral palsy. Also that same brace you saw with all its beautiful colors. She picked it out.
4. Her favorite thing to do right now is to jump on the trampoline and climb the big toy with her brother.
5. Her two favorite movies are Frozen and Captain America
6. She loves her dolls
7. Her daddy and grandpa are her two favorite men and her whole face lights up when she sees them.
8. Her bubba is the only one that can make her belly laugh
9. Her bubba also holds her hand so that she can go anywhere or do anything he does
10. She loves Sunday and going to church
11. Her favorite songs are I am a child of God and Rock-A-Bye baby
12. She wants to be a helicopter pilot when she grows up
13. She loves to help with dishes and cooking
14. She believes that her brace gives her cheetah powers so she can running as fast as she wants.

I would like to tell you some things about myself now.
1. The day before you called my sweet girl that she put on a long sleeve shirt all by herself. Her daddy and I clapped, laughed, and cried tears of joy.
2. When we got home after you said what you said I had to lift my girl out of her car seat because she was so stiff she couldn't move.
3. The last few weeks have been hard. I spent most of my nights holding a girl who is in so much pain she can't sleep.
4. Every triumph and failure I take personally
5. My children are my world
6. I will fight with every last breath in my body to make sure my children don't feel an ounce of pain.
7. I would take away all of my daughter's hurt and deal with it myself if I could.

Lastly I would like you to know that as much heart break as your comment caused me I forgive you. I also would like you to know that I am praying for you. I pray that next time your child asks a question they will get a proper answer. I pray that you will listen and educate yourself the next time someone talks. I pray that one day you will no longer use that word. Finally I pray that you will never go through the hurt and heartache that we as a family are going through.

Also thank you. Because of you I now know. How to better prepare myself and my daughter for the sometimes cruel world that we live. I will arm her with the knowledge and power she will need to defend herself.

I hope that if I ever see you again I can do so with grace and dignity.

Update on The Heslop's

This year has been filled with joy and wonder in the Heslop house. Adam and I now have two beautiful children and are getting ready to move into a bigger place soon. We have truly been blessed by our Heavenly Father and know that his love rains down upon us!!

Meet our beautiful daughter Lindsay Renna Heslop. She was born on August 5th 2012 at 10:40am. Her birthday is so special because it is on the same day as my grandpa Marvin's. I know that he held her in heaven until it was time for us to have her down here.

 This is our boy Joshua!! He is now 18 months old and he is a wonderful ball of energy. He is running (not walking) everywhere. He is talking up a storm and knows how to pray to his Heavenly Father it is the cutest thing in the world to see. He is still trying to get used to being a big brother but, he truly loves his sister and I am sure that he will learn to be gentle very soon. He is better each and every day

The next big thing that is going to be coming up is Adam and I are going to be sealed in the temple we do not know when at the moment but it is something that we are working towards. We both know and believe in the gospel and the blessings of the temple. We know that its going to take work and we are ready. I can wait to see more of the temple and be able to be sealed to my wonderful and loving family.

Until next time everyone I hope that life treats you well and that you are truly blessed by our Heavenly Father!!

~Brie~

From Confused to Latter Day Saint

My journey into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints began in August of 2010. When I started my journey I knew a few things for sure.

1. I knew that Jesus Christ was real and that he did die for me
2. I knew that the truth was out there
3. I knew that in order to find the truth I had to ask questions
4. I knew that I could not keep living my life the way that I was.

In knowing that I began going to church with my husbands parents. When I first starting going to church with them I was not sure what to think. I have been in other churches where people were seemingly nice but, when tough times hit they were not there to help when I needed them. The first thing that I noticed about the LDS church was how nice the people were and how excepting of me they were.

From August 2010 to March 2011 I was a silent observer asking questions when I had them not really knowing what to think about the whole situation. After my son was born in March I decided to take the next step and talk to the missionaries. I was glad to know that we had sister missionaries in our ward. My first talk with them went great! It was on that day that I was given a Book of Mormon and told to read about it and pray on what I read.

The following are passages from the Book of Mormon that I first read all taken from the introduction.

“The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel.”

“The crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon is the personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among the Nephites soon after his resurrection. It puts forth the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come.”

“We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost.”

“Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah.”

After reading all of those things I was more than compelled to read more. The more that I read the more that I knew in my heart that the Book of Mormon was true. Over the next few weeks I read and prayed and invited Heavenly Father into my heart and home.

I learned more and more from the missionaries and decided that I wanted to be baptized into the church. There were a few things that I had to do first my husband and I weren’t married at the time so I told the missionaries as soon as we set a date I would like to set a date for my baptism.

My husband and I were married on July 25^th 2011 and I was baptized on August 13^th 2011.

My baptism was beautiful and spiritual and I had the best feeling of overwhelming love in the world. I knew that in that moment I was making the best choice for me, my eternity, and my family. I no longer question the many things that I had before because I knew that I had a purpose in life.

I am learning more and more each day about the church and where my Heavenly Father wants my life to go. I can honestly say that joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the best and most important decision I have made in my life and I would not trade it for anything in the world!!

~Brie~

Having Faith

Faith is descriped as complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

Many people these days say that they have trouble having and/or keeping faith. for some that is understandable and for me at the same time I have struggled with the "complete" part. there are things that always seem to help me.

1. Pray daily: praying daily helps me not only stay in touch with my Heavenly Father but it helps me to be thankful for the many things that He has given to me

2. Read my scriptures: this helps me by renewing my faith in the things that Heavenly Father done for many others. Such as healing the blind and sick and being humble enough to give of Himself to others.

3. Being of service: when I give of myself I know that I am acting Christ like and making my Heavenly Father happy. Know that my Heavenly Father is proud of me and happy make my faith renewed because in that moment I can feel His spirit.

4. Asking for help: when you ask for help you are allowing Heavenly Father to show through to other people.

5. Go to church: this helps by being with other believers and renewing coventants made at baptisim. I feel the holy spirit the most when I am at a chaple and even more so when I am in the temple. These are honestly my favorite places in the world.

I am not saying that faith is easy but, I am saying that it can be done. My hope for all reading this is that they know that complete trust in Heavenly Father is possible. I also want everyone to know that Heavenly Father loves you and will never leave you when you need Him the most!!

~Brie~

Pumpkin Cake Pops

Ok these look hard but are super easy to make. I thought they looked like fun I will be making tons of these this year!!

Ingredients

• One 13×9 cake – make it from scratch, or make it from a box.
• 1/2 cup cake frosting – use already made
• Orange candy melts, or white candy melts colored with oil-based food coloring
• Green Tic Tacs (for the stems)

Special Equipment

• Lollipop Sticks
• Wax paper
• (optional) Edible Pen or Marker to make jack-o-lantern faces
• styrofoam block
• toothpicks

Instructions

1. Start by making the cake and letting it cool completely. Cut the corner crusts off to help the cake mixture keep a nice consistency.
2. Spoon the cake into a large bowl and crumble it up with a pastry cutter.
3. Add in the frosting. Combine with the pastry cutter.
4. Form the cake/frosting mixture into quarter-ish-sized balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper.
5. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or on a double boiler, according to package instructions. Be careful not to overheat. Dip a lollipop stick about 1/4″ into the chocolate and then halfway into the cake ball.
6. Repeat the process on all of the cake balls. Now, somehow finagle your freezer so that you can pop the whole baking sheet in to chill for about 10 minutes.
7. Get your candy coating ready. Dip each cake pop in and roll it a bit, using a knife or spoon to help get it coated. Use a toothpick to skim off any excess coating.
8. Push the green Tic Tac into the top as a stem immediately, because the candy coating sets up fast. Use the Styrofoam block to hold the pops until the candy sets up.
9. Once dry, feel free to draw on faces with an edible pen. Enjoy! :)

~Brie~