Gramps

This is my Gramps :)
I love him!
He is 93, but acts like he's 25.
Full of life, full of goodness,
sometimes he's so silly
he's full of it.
He has lived the most amazing life
and we just found out a few weeks ago that
his beautiful life is coming to an end.
He has pancreatic cancer
and there is very little they can do for him.
He may only live a few weeks,
or a few months
but you can bet he will live fully right up
to the very last second...
that just how he is.

He has been a patriarch for many years
When I was 17 I got my patriarchal blessing from him,
which was priceless.
A few weeks ago, my 17 year old son Dallin
got his blessing from him,
even more priceless.

After hearing about his cancer
and limited time
I wanted to go sit with him for hours,
but I knew he was overwhelmed with visitors
who all felt the same way.
So I waited a few days
and then
a tiny miracle happened.
Grandma had a dental emergency
and so Gramps came down to Lehi with her
to my brother-in-laws
dental office to get her taken care of
which is 2 blocks from my house.
And my sweet brother-in-law was
thoughtful enough to call me
and see if I wanted to come
visit with Gramps while he was waiting 

for Grandma.

So for an hour and a half

that dental office became 

a holy place

and I had a 

rare, sweet, never-will-forget

 one on one time

to quietly visit with my grandpa.

Time stood still, 

Duncan quietly played the entire time

(which is in itself a MIRACLE),

and me and Gramps sat knee to knee

and just talked.

I felt like the whole time I was just inhaling him

trying to burn into my heart the sound of his voice

and his beautiful face, 

and his endearing sense of humor.

The spirit was so strong as we contemplated 

together where he would be going soon

and who he would get to see.

And the peace that comes from having lived 

a righteous, service-filled life

was so tangible that it lingered with me

for a very long time.

I love you Gramps!

It is an honor to be your granddaughter.

Gav in all his glory!

Gav ran track for the Jr High this yaer.

He ran the mile and the 800

just like his Bro.

He has the most beautiful stride 

and I can almost feel how it feels to race

when I'm watching him. 

He has a natural love for running

and has made some 

great friends in the process. 

He qualified for Alpine Days in both events

and ran 2 perfect races.

Gavin has another sweet talents...just out of the blue he 

picked up piano this year.

He hasn't had a single lesson, but

has taught himself to play some amazing songs.

He finds the songs he likes on youtube

and then watches someone play them over and over

until he picks it up.  

He is very gifted and sometimes can 

even play by ear after hearing a song he likes.

I love to have his beautiful music floating 

through our house.

Gavin is also the deasons quorum president.

He is very duty bound and heads out the door every 

Sunday morning to meetings or whatever duty may call.

He is a very sharp dresser and always carefully

gets ready before he heads off the serve.

 

One more tihng...

he is the most thoughtful son!

He is always offering to carry my bag

or help me with things.

He has a gift of looking outside himself

and seeing the need of others.

Some lucky girl out there

is going to get one great husband someday!

I love this kid...kinda glad I'm still the girl he has his eye on:)

Happy Mothers (and sons) Day!

The Silver Lining

                            

You know sometimes the "didn't happens" are

actually the best thing that happened.

Landon was frustrated to not make the JV/Varsity 

Soccer Team for Lehi.
We knew it was a long shot to make the team
as a ninth grader

but he is an AMAZING soccer player:)

He tried out knowing the coach

gives playing time preference to the Seniors

and that he would have probably sat the bench

most of the season.

***
After making it all the way to the final cut...he was cut:(
So he decided to play for the High School 

Provisional Team.

Which has been PERFECT!

He gets TONS of playing time.

He is a valuable playmaker as center mid

and wows everyone on the sidelines with his

masterful footwork.

Not to mention the great friends he has made.

So next time there is a big black cloud

just wait a minute, or day, or week...

there is usually a silver lining on it's way!

Seeing Blue

 This is what I see

Blue...only blue

perfect, warm, happy blue

I'm lying on my back in the middle of the driveway

On warm cement

Somehow it's not hard today

Just welcoming

Came out to remember what spring feels like

I am not disappointed

A cute 4 year old is riding his scooter

around and around and around

me

I am the center of his universe

His energy is life giving

Always there
always in my viewfinder

always close enough to touch

Soon the scooter is abandoned

The world is still

for 3 seconds I lay in perfect peace

then he's back

2 orange creamies

one for him

one for me

Sticky

Drippy

Yummy

All done

My sister calls

Buddy takes over the camera

I move to the grass

Click

Click

Click

He takes 75 pictures:)

Hmmm, future photographer...

could be one more thing for the 2 of us to do

under a blue sky

You are more beautiful than you think!

Talking to Kids about Tragedies

As Fred "Mister" Rogers said:

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 

Look for the helpers. 

You will always find people who are helping.' 

To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world."

***

I was asked the important question of how to talk to your children and grandchildren about tragedies. There's a lot of things that can be said. What they need to hear is the truth? — and that includes both sides. I discussed the following with my own:

The dark side of the matter is that dangerous people are out there, and we need to be as careful as we can. Many evil people seek to selfishly prey upon the innocent.

The light side is that most of the time, most the places you go — indeed, the vast majority of that time and those places — you are safe. We should not live in fear. The worst thing you can do to those intent on killing is to give the fame they seek and to give fear. The best option to take is to live well, live happy and seek to reach out to those in need.Thus, we don't give in to fear, and we don't let fear rule us. The only fear we should use is the fear that protects us: to be cautious and careful. But not to hide, and not to retreat into easy cynicism. The truth is that most people are sane. Most people are good. And there are always more helpers than harmers.

We don't respond to evil and hatred and violence and insanity with fear and terror, because then the evil wins. 

"Our hearts are broken, but our spirits are strong." We need to teach our children that to be strong is to be compassionate; to be powerful is to be wise; to be kind is an intelligent way to live.

And to take Mahatma Gandhi's advice:

"Whenever I despair, I remember that the way of truth and love has always won. There may be tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they may seem invincible, but in the end, they always fail. Think of it; always."

Look for the helpers, you will always find people who are helping!

*Taken from an article in Deseret News by 

Jonathan Sherman

Carried Away in Moab

For spring break we corralled my whole family...

(a small miracle)

and went down to Moab to play in the dirt.

The weather was good to us

and we adventured all over that gorgeous 

red rock landscape.

The views were stunning

and I could have spent 3 days alone with my camera!

But was happy to have so many 

smiles from faces I love to enhance

my photographs.

I looked around me at the 35 or so

people that mean the world to me

and thought

how I wish everyone in the world had this kind 

of support network...

To be surrounded by so many people who
would do anything at anytime.
What a lucky duck I am!

We did a lot of hiking
and the fabulous cowboy hatted menfolk
carried a lot of "Littles" who were too tired to
keep going.
And we were happy
and we were reminded that this
really is LIVING!
To be in a beautiful place with
the ones you love most
is the best way to live:)