Birth and Baptism

There are a number of posts running through my head right now - all worth sharing, writing down and remembering. And everyone filled with joy that comes from family and family activities. We left California a couple of weeks ago, headed up to be a part of the baptism of Kelli Jo who had just turned eight (8). After spending a few hours at the Vegas offices of Voyager, we headed to Hurricane, Utah (just a few hours from Vegas) to see our newest grand baby, Harrison Joshua Burgess, who was only one day old. 

There is nothing more precious than holding and smelling a brand new baby - fresh from heaven. There's such joyous feeling that sweeps over you as you cautiously snuggle that new baby, touch their soft skin, count their little fingers and toes, and just take in that bit of heaven that lingers with a newborn, remembering why we all came to this earth. There's a peace like no other with newborns. And it takes me back to the births of every one of my six babies. I loved that special time with each one of them in the hospital. That bonding time that only a mother knows and feels. Welcome to the world my precious little one, Harrison Joshua Burgess!

Harrison - only one day old.

Harrison was born June 28, the same day as Kelli Jo eight years earlier. Kelli Jo just turned eight (8) and that is an important time in our church. That is when we baptise our children members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So, not only were we heading up to be a part of Kelli Jo's baptism, but we were able to stop by and spend a few hours with Joshua, Ashleigh and their new baby boy Harrison Joshua.

Now it was time to continue along I-15, next stop...Orem, Utah to spend the 4th of July with Angela, Eddie and their family. Chris and his family came down to celebrate with us and we had a fun visit. With so many fireworks stands on every corner here in Utah, the neighborhoods were all aglow with firecrackers, sparklers, and various firework displays shooting off around us. In fact, where we were sitting there in Angela's driveway, with the girls all snuggly and giggling on blankets on the ground, we could look up, look over to the right and then to the left and see fireworks lighting up the sky from all directions. It was fun and kind of exciting. Anad although the turkey burgers were a bit dry and lacked ...taste... (missing here the real beef burgers of days gone by before my marathon Fit Farm visits,) the company was all that mattered and it was great fun being together.

June 30, 2012 Kelli Jo's Baptism Day

That brings me to the original reason for our treck to Utah ... the baptism. On June 30, 2012, Chris baptized his oldest girl, Kelli Jo.  What a beautiful day where such joy and emotion filled my soul being a part of this important event. To watch Chris baptize his daughter, to be a worthy priesthood holder, brought tears to my eyes, and tremendous joy and happiness. We want nothing more than happiness for all of our children, to see them reach their goals and dreams, to find worthy companions.  But most importantly, to live the gospel fully, honor their convenants made at baptism, raise their families in righteousness, and return again to our Father in Heaven's presence. "Families are Forever," and with every step we take, that dream becomes a reality.

FIT FARM

Here they are, all five of my fab kids, four married with kids and the last one, David, getting married in a few weeks. And, of course, I adore them. And I miss them everyday because they've all moved from California to Utah, Nevada and Pennsylvania. But, that's a whole other post where I bust out in an ole' 70's song, "All By Myself." But this post will be about the four handsome young men pictured who have teamed up to get mom fit for David's wedding. They even have some network, or something, where when I was in Costco here in Bountiful, Utah near Chris' home, I received first a call from Josh saying, "mom stay away from buying cheese." And at that exact moment a text came in from David saying, "mom, stick with the program Chris has you on. Get serious."

Ben, Cooper and Family (5) All Bike

Oh, forgot to mention, I'm at what I fondly refer to as the "Fit Farm" here at Chris and Lesa's beautiful home in Bountiful, Utah for nearly the entire month of July. My mission...to get in shape. That means exercising with Chris everyday on his extremely modified P90X (I'm doing just the P), and Lesa cooks the meals and plates it in the portion I'm allowed to have. I'm fully "armed and dangerous" with my new MACbook Pro (had to throw that in for Chris' sake), my new iPad (3), my cell phone, chargers for all, a small refrigerator in my room, a desk, cases of bottled water (including my fav...ICE from Costco), and to my knowledge, there is no string cheese in the house. And...I love it. 

Chris (my coach) does P90X

Here's my schedule. I get up early, answer biz email and update Facebook, Twitter, and Textmarks for my distributor team, do my call-backs to distributors, straighten up the room, drink my Atkins Vanilla shake with a handful of vitamins and my V3, then plug in my iPod to the treadmill. The music of choice is either Adele or Carrie Underwood, where I crank it up high and start walking. And I walk fast for 35 minutes. Once I'm "warmed up", as Chris puts it, he comes downstairs to his home gym where I'm toweling off the sweat, and says, "today we're working on your core." And then the fun begins.

Josh Runs and Plays Basketball

It's been one week (actually 6 days on my new Fit Farm program), and my blood sugars are doing great, I'm down 6 pounds, and my legs and arms are sore. You see, the only muscle left in my body is my jaw from singing, talking and training. Every other muscle has laid dormant for a number of years. Other than the occasional walk around the lake in Irvine, CA and a massage or visit to my chiropractor where they move my extremities, my muscles had seen no action. My first day with Chris (this past Monday) saw him trying to sneak a picture of me struggling through basic stretches with his cell phone, where I immediately put a stop to that. And the snickers he was trying to hide under his breath were answered with a few motherly GLARES. And my sweet son-in-law, Eddie, attempted to sell me on doing a fitness documentary - not! Come on now, I'm 61 years young, have had 6 children, 17 grandchildren (I know...I did nothing to get the grandbabies, but thought I'd add them in), and I love watching and cooking with the cooking channel. Ooops...another post all together. 

David and Sarah do Spin Classes and P90X

The bottom-line is that I love that my four boys have ganged up on me. I'm glad I'm here with my personal trainer (Chris), and I'm glad I'm on my way to a permanent lifestyle change. I needed this little push and I'm feeling much better, even if it has been just a week. Thank you kids...Ben, Chris, Josh and David! You