9 years ago today...

...Kaylea came to this World & changed our World. What would we do without a girl in the house? Here's the video I made her last year for her baptism. I cry every time I watch it as I reminisce the ups & downs of these past nine years & wonder how different life would be without her...

Happy Birthday to our 9 year old Princess Kaylea!! 

We Remember...

"I'd thank my lucky stars to be living here today.

'Cuz this FLAG still stands for Freedom. 

And they CAN'T take that away..."

'Till We Meet...

Ryler woke me early one morning.
I was exhausted from a long night but I got to see this:

This was what the Sunrise looked like on August 12th, a year to the day that Emmie returned home to Heaven. It was so bright, it even hurts my eyes looking at the picture of it.

Later that evening we honored Emmie with a Balloon Release on the Temple grounds. It was a special time as Debbie (Emmie's maternal Grandma) had just gone through the Temple for the first time to receive her Endowments. She had promised Emmie that she would do this a year ago as Em lay there preparing to leave this Earth. Debbie followed through and did it on this special day a year later. She radiated that evening as she walked out the Temple doors & I know Emmie was there to experience it with her.

Not too many days after this day we got awful news:

Tim's step cousin Amanda passed away in a terrible car accident. She was driving very early in the morning & had to have fallen asleep at the wheel. She went off the road, off the side of the mountain plummeting hundreds of feet killing her instantly. She wasn't found till days later after she hadn't been heard from. A helicopter discovered the crash site & her car. She was planning to get married in the coming months leaving behind a fiancee, her parents, 2 sisters, brother & nieces and nephews that adored her. 

Although we didn't see her often, Tim and the 5 kids happened to run into her at the Mall not too long ago. She introduced her fiancee to them & then asked each one of my kids their ages, what grade they were in among other things. She took specific interest in each one making them feel special. Something so small yet so meaningful in recollection. As my kids recalled the moment, I thought to myself how important it is that when I speak to someone, I make THEM feel important; a definite Christlike quality.

And then the Lesson we are all reminded of when anyone passes away...that This Life is Temporary & we never know when it will be our turn to leave. It reminds me to live in the moment..not too much in the past or the future. I try & treasure the now- as imperfect as it may be. I hold my kids a little longer, forgive a little easier & cherish life a moment at a time.