Valentine from Heaven

Since Jordan died, I've found myself wishing, and even praying, that I'd dream about him, so that I could hear his voice and feel his personality again for awhile. Not being much of a night-dreamer, it's not too surprising that it hasn't happened. But last night as I went off to bed, I asked Dan to set the alarm clock for 6AM, so that I'd have a little extra time to put a few finishing touches on my Primary lesson. then I changed my mind and upped that to 5AM. I am so glad he didn't hear me and set it for 6 as I'd originally asked. Because, this morning, I dreamed of Jordan! I dreamed I was sitting on the loveseat, talking on the phone with Carol Cornwall, a friend of long ago that I recently reconected with, and just as she was telling me some really interesting news, the front door opened, and in came Jordan, just as if he'd been doing it every day without any interruption. My heart swelled with joy, I let the phone fall from my hand onto the loveseat without signing off or anything, and cried, "Jordan! Where have you been?!" He answered just as calm as you please, saying,, "Oh, I've been around for about a month and a half," as he walked across the room to look at something or pick up the mail or something. It was all so natural and so low-key. Low-key for him, but exhilarating for me! I ran across the room and threw my arms around his waist, hugging him from behind. I gave a long, loud, wordless, shout of joy. Dan hurried into the living room to see what was going on, and then, then I woke up. It was the best dream I have ever had, that's for sure. I checked the time, and it was 3 minutes before 6AM. Oh! if I'd risen earlier, I might have missed my wonderful valentine from heaven.

Dan was such a huge help to me yesterday as we prepared for our family Valentine's Day dinner. He made radish roses, halved and scooped out, and filled the twice-baked potatoes, helped with flattening and rolling up the chicken and cranberry filling, divided the Nutella mousse into the cups, etc. Not used to being so involved, he asked, "Why are you so needy today?" I told him that I'm always needy, but that in recent years Colin or Shane or Brianna were around to be my assistants. Now our household has dwindled down to the point that he's my one and only right hand man. And he came through with flying colors. A good meal, and a good time, was had by all. :D

Today's Primary lesson went well, too. Skylar, Makhyla, Andrew, and Nathan were elsewhere, but Kylie and I had a great class on dodging temptation with Ally, Connor, Doug, Lauren, Madison, Phoebe, Marinda, and Allie. Primary can truly bless lives. I know, because it has blessed mine.

Chocolate Mousse on the Loose

Last year at this time, it was all about red velvet cupcakes. But this year, it's chocolate mousse and chocolate dipped strawberries, heart-shaped cherry chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon rolls, cheese zombies, chicken rolls with cranberry filling, twice baked potatoes, a yet-to-be-determined salad and vegetables, and dodge ball that are on my mind. You can tell I'm slightly carb deprived, huh. But it's been worth it, because I'm down about 30 pounds in the last couple of months. Yay me! A wedding is a great motivator. We started a new tradition in January, something my sister Julie's done for years, getting together for an extended family dinner once a month. That doesn't meanit lasts a long time, it just means that Brianna and Jason, and Colin and Macey join us for a special meal so that we can catch up on what's going on in each other's lives. We had Thanksgiving dinner together, and Christmas dinner (Greg and the kids were here for that one). Then Brianna and Jason hosted the four of us for dinner at their cute house, which led us to setting up our shiny new tradition. I love searching out new recipes to try, and I love our special guests, so it's a win win. I made the chocolate mousse last June when we had everyone over for an after-cruise dinner (everyone except Macey, she wasn't on the scene then). It was a success, so it's making another appearance for our Valentine dinner, but this time I'm serving it in some cute little heart-shaped teacups found on Amazon.com. Teacup-sized servings will leave plenty to share with my good friend,, Pam, who's just now beginning a grueling journey to defeat a very aggressive form of breast cancer. Surgery was last Friday, first chemo is this Friday. Sending lots of prayers and love out for Pam and Ally, her 11-year-old niece she's raised since infancy, who's in my Primary class.
Speaking of Primary class, that's where the heart-shaped cherry chocolate chip cookies and dodge ball come in to play. I'll see if my new cookie cutters permit me to shape the cookies like I'm hoping they will, to hand out as one of our rare treats in Primary. I don't think it's wise to give treats on a regular basis. But for Valentine's Day, yes, it's a go! Before treats though, we'll be talking about the 40 days Christ spent in the wilderness, fasting and communing with Heavenly Father, and then how Satan came and tried to tempt Him multiple times, and how He recognized and resisted every one of them. . There's nothing like a nice reverent game of dodge ball to simulate the barrage of temptations the adversary constantly throws at us, and to show how necessary it is to be on guard against his wiles at all times, with a strong defense in place to dodge them. Three generations on earth have taught me how very important it is to have a clear understanding of these things, and how hard it is when that understanding is lacking. I am praying the Holy Ghost teaches each child how to resist Satan's temptations, and permanently impresses it in their hearts and minds, this very Sunday.