Life has a way of reminding us that we all have expiration dates. In January our brother-in-law passed from this life so we soon found ourselves flying to Oregon to attend his funeral. He will be missed It was the first time in many years when Steve's siblings had all been together at the same time. So it was wonderful to see everyone but also a bitter sweet time.
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| All four of the siblings in Steve's family together after several years! |
We also drove a little further up the coast to Portland for a quick trip to see our daughter and her sweet family. But it was quick enough that we did not get any photos. And my mind was definitely somewhere else when we turned in our rental car because I forgot to get the cheese curd from our trunk. We had bought it at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Oh well.
Then just last week one of Steve's favorite aunts also passed from this life. Yesterday we went to Farmington, UT for her funeral. Again it was bitter sweet. She was an awesome person and a great inspiration to me in our early years of marriage. I learned so much from her. One of the things I remember most was her example of having "family" prayer every morning often 2-3 three times with Steve's uncle before he left early for work, and then Steve's cousins as they left at various times of the morning. So, no one ever left the house without the protection of "family" prayer. She inspired me and I will miss her.
We enjoyed the opportunity of rubbing shoulders with many of Steve's cousins. Some we had not seen for 20 years as we had all lived far apart but the warm feelings of family were still strong. And we are all more mature now and appreciate each other so much more. There was talk so trying to get the cousins together for a reunion sometime in the coming months which would be great.
These wonderful associations made me even more grateful for the Plan of Salvation. It is wonderful to know that our Father in Heaven has provided the way for families to be together forever. We do not cease to exist when we die. Our spirits live on and we know that after the Savior comes again we will be resurrected and can be reunited with our families. How grateful I am for that knowledge. It makes the sadness of losing a loved one bearable.
Now we are regrouping. Steve and I have been given a "calling" or assignment to work with the young boys ages 8-11 at church. We will be responsible to help provide activities for them a couple of times a month. There is a marvelous new program for the youth of the church that helps them set life goals and we will try to help them realize some of those goals through activities. It is a stretch for us and I am sure we will grow as we work with these young boys. It's kind of like we just got 25 new grandsons! We just hope to have enough energy to work with them.
Occasionally we get to enjoy family moments. It is a great privilege to be closer to much of our family.
Our family reunion is also getting closer. So, we have plans and arrangements to be made. So onward and upward. More sorting and organizing in our house, more blog catch up - still have lots to blog about, and more living as our adventures continue.
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| We, mostly I, could not leave Florence without spending a few moments at the beach just listening to the waves and smelling the sea air. |
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| One of our sons borrowed our kitchen counter to film a short segment of his children trying out a Playdough Pizza set which he will eventually put on his Facebook page You Make Pizza Love our cute family! |
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| And yes, they can be silly and it was NOT Steve who put up the rabbits ears! |
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| Our grandson was finally awarded his Eagle Scout. He is all grown up now and will leave next week to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Cambodia. |
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| Just a lovely view of the mountains along our way. We love to see the mountains and look forward to having time to drive up there and just enjoy the nature. |