Say goodbye to Heaven on earth...

and hello to noisy kids, and the smell of slobbery animal crackers and dirty diapers (of both the very young & the very old). That's right, we've been welcomed back into the "real church" and it feels like I just got run over by the Welcome Wagon. Confused? Let me explain.

Two weeks ago, we had a "special" sacrament meeting for just the married student wards in our stake. There were 2 members of the quorum of the 70 there to break it to us that they were making some changes, and that there would no longer be married student wards at all. Which means its back to family wards, and what they like to call, the real church, for all of us pretend adults. There had been rumors that this was going to happen, so I should've just handled it like a champ, but that's not really my style is it?! Nope. I bawled my eyes out the entire meeting.

Don't get me wrong, I sustained the dang decision, but that still doesn't mean I'm thrilled about it. We went to our new ward this past Sunday, and everyone was very nice and welcoming. I still wanted to run out the door, though. Don't worry, I'll get over it. I don't really have a choice. At least I'm with my best friend, no matter what ward I'm in. Unless he decides to go to a Spanish ward (which he's seriously been wanting to do!)...he's on his own with that one.

Although they didn't give us any real warning that our ward would be dissolved, Todd & Lacey were still able to plan a killer last activity - best activities committee directors ever!

Some of my favorite sisters!

Elder Nielson from the High Council, Bro. Smith & Bro. Boyer from the Bishopric. We love these guys so much! Richard really looks up to all of them.

Here are the wives that truly inspire me: Suzie Nielson, Sis. Smith, Sis. Hansen, and Peggy Boyer. They were all so wonderful, and the best examples of wives & mothers. I've learned so much from them & will miss their awesome spirits. I had to get Sis. Boyer's cookie recipe asap because I'm sure we'll be having withdrawals any minute - she made them for just about every activity, and they are simply the best!

Bishop Hansen was so perfect for our ward. I know he was called of God to be the Father of our ward Family. Not only is he Doctor of the Year, but he is the kindest man, and we could always feel the love and genuine interest he had for every single member of the ward. Thanks, Bishop!

I think I'm having such a hard time with this because the University 1st Ward just felt like home to us. We tried a family ward when we first got married, and didn't like it too much because we were the only newlyweds and felt so out of place. Then we tried a married student ward, but felt a little uncool & like the outsiders, which was probably our fault, but it was just dumb. So, we went back out to my family's ward (the ward we were in & loved before we got married) until we got the boot because our records couldn't be transferred there. The 1st ward was our last resort, and it ended up being better than we ever could have asked for. It was seriously to the point where we didn't ever want to miss church, not even to visit the other ward we thought we'd loved so much. We were called to the activities committee & loved it, even though we missed a lot of the activities while living in the mortuary. We made some great friends & we could really feel the love of the bishopric & their wives. We soaked it all in, and I just couldn't be more thankful for our experience in that ward. I know without a doubt that both of our testimonies were strengthened there.

University 1st Ward, we love you!!!