Do You Love Me?

When Mike got back from his mission but before we were married, we started doing a "secret code". Mike would squeeze my hand four times (do you love me) I would squeeze back three (yes I do) he would squeeze twice (how much) then I would squeeze his hand as hard as I could. Now every time one of us taps four times on anything, we know what that means. For example, if Mike taps my leg four times under the table he ends up with a giant kick to his shins....pretty harmless, right?

Well, now Jorja has figured out our secret code and wants to squeeze our hand every night before bed. She also comes up to Mike and gives him four quick hugs. When he squeezes her hard at the end she'll say, "Hey! No fair! I could still breathe!" She has also taught this secret code to Preston and he wants to do it all the time as well. Sometimes he gets confused. For example, Maysen came behind him and gave him four quick squeezes. He reached behind and gave Maysen three quick hugs around her neck. Maysen gave him two squeezes, then Preston pulled her hair and squeezed her face as hard as he could. Not quite the right idea. Anyway, Jorja and Preston wanted to do the secret code all through church. The people who sat behind us probably thought we were very strange.....

Speaking of church. Maysen gave a talk in sacrament meeting. She didn't tell me. I did figure it out before we went there. This morning when we were playing Dominion, Maysen made a comment that she was stressed. I kept asking her what she was stressed about. Mike would say, "Don't worry about it Stephanie, she's okay." I dropped Maysen off at her presidency meeting before church and came home and asked Mike what was worrying her. He said, "She wants it to be a surprise, but it's nothing bad." I said, "All I can think of is she would be giving a talk in church." Mike said, "I'm not going to say either way." I just stared at him because I knew he would laugh if he was trying to get out of telling me something. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and said, "You're so mean!"

Maysen planned the talk all by herself. Mike didn't help her at all. Her talk was on faith. I thought that was funny because her first talk in sacrament meeting was on faith. Maysen did really well and gave her talk with only a few notes. It is so hard to do it that way, I am glad she tried it - and she did a fantastic job. Many, many people came and complimented me on Maysen's talk. I loved the quote she started with. It is by Trina Paulus. "How does one become a butterfly? You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar."

I have many caterpillar traits that are hard for me to give up. I'll have to focus on them more so I can learn to fly. Thank you Maysen. You are amazing.