Us crazy girls

Crazy Crossley Women

We went to a tea shop and a chocolate store while the guys were at a training meeting.  I think we had more fun than they did.  I loved this picture so much I made each a 8x10 framed and gave it to them for Christmas. 

Halloween

The Green kids and Halloween  we missed it all because we went to Geeat Falls to be with Dave for his ordination. 

Our precious Green kiddos!

Lunch date

Lunch Time

We try to go to lunch with the girls once a month. This was in Pocatello with Jes and Lissy. Kalen couldn't make it. 

Jaz and papa

Lissy invited us for dinner and after here is grandpa and Jazzy playing a game together.  Soooo cute. 

Goofy girl

She's goofy

Donut day

My kids love the donuts.  I try to make them for October Conference weekend.  We had to share this time there were so many.  And they were SO good!!!

Play date

Play date at Grandmas!!!  These two are so cute together.  When I have one I like to get the other to come too.  They entertain each other so well, such cute cousins!!

Kids and grandmas house

The best thing at grandmas house is Grandpa!

Answer to Prayers!

I was asked to be Harolds speaking partner for his High Council Sunday talk in October.  I have known about the talk for quite a few weeks now.  I have been pondering and praying for divine guidance as NOTHING had come to me as of yet of what Heavenly Father wanted me to say.  I had listened to a BYU devotional by the NOW  Elder Renlund that I loved.  He shared a story of a ship that was commissioned and sunk, likening it to our need for spiritual stability and I wanted to share that story but the more I thought about it the more it just didn't feel right to share.  Sunday after the last session of Conference I bowed my head and again prayed for Father to help me and inspire me with my own story that I might be able to share that dealt with the topic of marriage and defenders of marriage I have been assigned. (feeling that I am totally ordinary and have no stories of worth to share)  I awoke about 5 am and the thoughts FLOODED into my mind and heart and I knew they were direct answer to my pleading prayers!  I now have finish my talk and look forward to sharing what I know God wanted me to share on the 18th of October.
I LOVE THE Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Here is the talk:

Marriage:

I have known about this talk and have been praying for weeks as to what the Lord would have me share and express to you today. Through those many, many prayers I have felt the great love and concern Father in Heaven has for each of you and His knowledge and understanding of your challenges, trials and successes, your concerns, your struggles and your joys .  I know that He LOVES EACH OF YOU!                 Monday morning after a wonderful General Conference I awoke about 5 am with many thoughts in my mind that I knew were answer to my fervent and pleading prayers.  I testify that God will and does answer our prayers. 

My Patriarchial Blessing states that “ I am a chosen daughter of God, that I can know that Father loves me, that He is concerned for me and that His Spirit will never forsake me”.  In addition it tells me that “ I can  stand as a queen in my own home” AND that “ if I would live clean and choose wisely I would have the privilege of going to the temple with a worthy bearer of the priesthood, there to be sealed as an eternal family”.  Listen carefully again, “ there to be sealed as an eternal family.”

Now that may not sound alarming or odd to you so let me give you a bit of background into our lives.  I was only 18 when I met and married a young man not of my own faith but with a faith in God I did not even know at the time of which I am so grateful for.  I wasn’t thinking in my young immature mind about the chance I had taken.  At that moment in my life I wasn't concerned with eternity, all I knew was I loved my husband and I was temporally happy.  We were blessed with our first  child, a daughter whom we named Jennifer.    It wasn't until a little while later and alone in my hospital room, a new mother with this child fresh from heaven lying in my arms and looking into that precious little angel face that I began to wonder what I had done.  This beautiful baby, this child of MINE was not sealed to me.

 It was then and quite a bit too late to start to wonder about eternal marriage and what I had given up.  So I did all I could do, I dove into marriage and motherhood and put my aching heart on the back burner as best I could.

I remember vividly in my final moments of labor with our little Jennifer that I stated through my pain and out loud for any in the Labor Room to hear ,   " When I get up there I'm gonna give Eve a piece of my mind".   I remember my Dr. who was a member of the church pausing, giving me a funny look and then going on about his business.  It would be years before I would again think of Eve and the debt of gratitude I owe to her for her part in the fall that allowed us to be born into mortality, marry, bring children into the world and grow old together, thus fulfilling our personal part in the Great Plan of Happiness

  2 Nephi 2:25  reads,  “ Adam fell that men may be and men are that they might have joy”.

 God promised me joy and that joy is manifest in my marriage and my children and now my grandchildren.

So how important is marriage?  In a world full of turmoil and a huge desire to change what God has ordained to be pure and perfect, what is our roll and how do we fulfil it? 

D&C 49:15:   And again, verily I say unto you, that whoso forbiddeth to marry is not ordained of God, for marriage is ordained of God unto man. 

May I share with you portions of:

THE FAMILY A PROCLAMATION TO THE WORLD as it pertains to our topic today:

WE, THE FIRST PRESIDENCY and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

ALL HUMAN BEINGS—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny

IN THE PREMORTAL REALM, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.

WE DECLARE the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed.

HUSBAND AND WIFE have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children.  Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness,

THE FAMILY is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.

WE CALL UPON responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.

I would like you to Ask yourselves:  Where do I stand on the subject of the sacredness of marriage and family?

Helaman 5:12:    And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Elder Russel M Nelson said in August Ensign:

“ The greatest guardians of all virtues are marriage and family. This is particularly the case with the virtues of chastity and fidelity, both of which are required to create enduring and fully rewarding marriage partnerships and family relationships.   

Male and female are created for what they can do and become—together.

 It takes a man and a woman to bring a child into the world. Mothers and fathers are not interchangeable. Men and women are distinct and complementary. Children deserve a chance to grow up with both a mom and a dad.

 The future of marriage and of countless human lives will be determined by your willingness to bear solemn witness of the Lord and live according to His gospel. Great protection is available to us as we enter the waters of baptism and take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. King Benjamin so explained: “And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters” (Mosiah 5:7; see also verse 8).”

 “God is the Father of all men and women. They are His children. It was He who ordained marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Marriage was not created by human judges or legislators. It was not created by think tanks or by popular vote or by oft-quoted bloggers or pundits. It was not created by lobbyists. Marriage was created by God!” unquote

Our purpose in coming to this earth was to gain this wonderful physical body and to help fulfil Gods plan.   To marry in the right place and at the right time and help bring His spirit children to earth so they too may have the same opportunity here.

Abraham 3: 24-26

 And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;

 25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

 26 And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.

Elder D Todd Christofferson stated,

“If, then in the course of our mortal experience, we chose to “do all things whatsoever the Lord [our] God [should] command [us],” we would have kept our “second estate.” This means that by our choices we would demonstrate to God (and to ourselves) our commitment and capacity to live His celestial law while outside His presence and in a physical body with all its powers, appetites, and passions. Could we bridle the flesh so that it became the instrument rather than the master of the spirit? Could we be trusted both in time and eternity with godly powers, including power to create life? Would we individually overcome evil? Those who did would “have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever”—a very significant aspect of that glory being a resurrected, immortal, and glorified physical body.   No wonder we “shouted for joy” at these magnificent possibilities and promises.

A family built on the marriage of a man and woman supplies the best setting for God’s plan to thrive—the setting for the birth of children, who come in purity and innocence from God, and the environment for the learning and preparation they will need for a successful mortal life and eternal life in the world to come. A critical mass of families built on such marriages is vital for societies to survive and flourish. That is why communities and nations generally have encouraged and protected marriage and the family as privileged institutions. It has never been just about the love and happiness of adults.

Now the rest of the story.  35 years ago I took a huge chance, a chance that could have cost myself and my family great blessings and given us lasting, even eternal consequences.  Luckily for me and I DO MEAN LUCKILY for I do not know statistics but I know they are not great,  LUCKILY, a Loving and Patient Father in Heaven, and a kind,  compassionate and concerned older brother,  Jesus Christ  helped me gather up this good man and 9 years after we were married we were blessed to take 5 cherished children to the Boise Idaho Temple to be sealed as an eternal family just as my patriarchial blessing promised!  One more was then born in the covenant. 

My advice to you today…..I implore you to  Choose wisely in this most important decision, your happiness and the happiness of your future family rests upon it.

 Is our life perfect?  No.  As this mortal life would have it we have been blessed with many trials and hardships through the years but none so hard nor devastating as when we lost our precious and beautiful Jennifer at the age of 14 nearly 20 years ago now in a horrific car accident.  Can you imagine my anguish had we not the promised blessing of that temple marriage to be reunited with her again when this life is over? I can only testify to you how our faith and testimony in and of our kind and loving Heavenly Father, our older brother and Savior Jesus Christ and our eternal marriage sustained us through the single most difficult thing we have ever had to endure so far in this life.                                          

 Did you catch the word BLESSED as I spoke of our trials?  We will all be tried and tested in this mortal life, it’s part of the plan.

2 Nephi 2:11: 

 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad.

May I add we would not know joy if not for the sorrow.  I testify that we can and will find great joy and happiness in our lives, in our marriages and in our families as we come to understand Gods plan for us and as we keep our sacred covenants.  And that even greater joy may be found in the life to come.  I desire to stand before my Savior one day and hear Him say to me “well done thou good and faithful servant”.  That phrase is a great motivator for me to be better than I am every day.

I have a greater understanding and love in and for My Savior and His atoning sacrifice for ME.  I testify in the power of prayer.  As for those blessings promised in my patriarchial blessing…I DO know for assurity that God loves me, that He is aware of me and that HIS Spirit will never forsake me as long as I am worthy of it.  We can be an eternal family forever because of the sacred ordinance performed with the proper priesthood authority in the house of the Lord.

I do stand as a queen in my own home.  I am blessed with a worthy priesthood holder at the head of our home who treats me as such! 

As I’ve read through my blessing time and time again I have seen things that through my choices I was not blessed with and thought I had missed out on so much, but what I have come to know and understand is that it is never too late to receive of Gods chosen blessings for us… we just need to start NOW. I was listening to Elder Hales this morning and I believe not by coincidence, he stated :

In the Savior’s parable of the prodigal son, the son had many blessings awaiting him, but before he could claim them, he had to look closely at his life, his choices, and his circumstances. The miracle that happened next is described in the scriptures with a simple phrase: “He came to himself.”19 May I encourage you to come to yourself? In the Church, when important decisions must be made, we often hold council meetings. Family councils serve a similar purpose. You may want to conduct what I’ll call a “personal council.” After praying, spend some time alone. Think about what is ahead. Ask yourself: “What areas of my life do I want to strengthen so that I can strengthen others? Where do I want to be a year from now? two years from now? What choices do I need to make to get there?” Just remember, you are a pilot, and you are in charge. I testify that as you come to yourself, your Heavenly Father will come to you. By the comforting hand of His Holy Spirit, He will help you along.

My young brothers and sisters, I have been a prodigal and probably still am in many ways, because I am imperfect.  But I want those blessings promised from a loving father here and in eternity, for myself and most especially for my children!

I look forward with great anticipation to meeting Mother Eve one day and expressing my thanks to her for what has significantly blessed my life!   Now when I think of giving Eve a "piece of my mind", it is in total and complete gratitude, for without her strength and determination to keep the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth, none of us would be able to enjoy the blessings of this earthly life and partake of the joy that God has promised.  

I testify of these truths in the holy name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Confrence Sunday October 2015

Mom is so tired anymore.  She falls asleep a lot during the day.  Today was again WONDERFUL!  Conference was absolutely amazing.  We love being able to sit in the comfort of our home and listen to and feel the spirit of Apostles of God!  I couldn't choose a favorite talk they were all wonderful.

Confrence Saturday

I made 3 batches of cinnamon rolls. I send one pan to the meat department. One pan to John and Shanna Henderson and one for us. Love me some Conference. Got 3 new apostles! I love how I feel after listening to these wonderful men and women!