REAL LIFE HEROES

 Last week, my sweet niece invited my family over for visiting and refreshments.  Mariah made everything beautiful and welcoming.  I eagerly hugged all of my nieces and nephews.  I visited with my brothers and sisters.  And for a few moments, I sat by myself and marveled at how blessed I am that God gave me this remarkable family.  I watched my husband have conversations with each of my brothers and my parents, and I felt doubly blessed as I thought about the important and extraordinary men in my life.

Zane, Ben, Dad, Scott and Ken

GREAT men -- all!

My husband

This guy is an example of Christ-like love.
He loves everyone... (He continued to love me, even when I was difficult to love.)

He is hard working.  It's one of his favorite Christ-like attributes.

And he makes me laugh.

I'm soooo grateful to spend eternity with him!

My dad

This guy gave me my name because he loves the Lord.  He has taught me to love God too.

He is an example of continual learning and growing.

He is one of the smartest men I know... although he would deny it.

I am grateful for his love and his example all throughout my life!

My brother, Zane

If you can't tell from the expression, this guy makes me laugh.  He's always quick with a quip.

He is witty and smart - dangerous combination.

He's also got so much energy and shares it with everyone.

He's a people person and EVERYONE who meets him likes him.

One of my favorite memories is jumping on the bed with him,

while we blasted "The Eye of the Tiger" on the radio.

My baby brother, Ben

This guy is super intellectual - especially about things that are true and important.

He makes conversations fun and meaningful as he asks probing questions (sometimes playing the devil's advocate to help solidify our beliefs).

He also is the most charitable person I know.  If anyone needs something, he gives it.

One of my favorite memories is eating Taco Bell and going to movies with my baby brother!

My brother-in-law, Ken

I hesitate to call him my brother-in-law, because he's more than that.

I picked this guy out to be my brother by encouraging him to date my sister over 27 years ago.

He's quiet.  But he's always willing to help.

He's humorous, if you catch him at the right minute.

But the thing I love best about Ken is his testimony of the Atonement.

He makes me want to be a better person and use the gift of repentance better.

My oldest son, Cody

He wasn't at the party... but he's every bit as dear to me as the other guys on this list.

Cody is extremely creative.  His imagination knows no bounds - he's an artist and loves fantasy.

He is an example of making goals and working hard to achieve them.

I truly love my oldest boy!

My baby boy, Skylar

Look at this amazing smile!  Isn't it perfect?!  

He also makes the list of one of my heroes!

Skylar has an amazing testimony of Jesus Christ and his divinity.

He studies hard.  And he loves harder.

I am blessed to call him son!  I love this kid!

As I reflect on these extraordinary men, I feel honored they all belong to me through the bounds of family!  My heart is full!  Thank you, each of you on this list, and others who are FABULOUS examples to me and to this other young man: my grandson, whom I love beyond words!

HE LIVES!

Easter is one of my favorite holidays.  I love Spring!  I love treats!  I love the excitement of children!  But most importantly, I love the miracle of my Savior's love being celebrated!  HE LIVES!  I know that He atoned for me.  I know that He died, a horrific death.  I KNOW He was resurrected.

It has been an interesting week of celebrating.  How so?  Well... we drove 23 hours to Idaho to move our daughter to Rexburg.  The weather was HORRIFIC!  And it was a white knuckle drive.  Once we arrived, we unloaded our 26 foot Uhaul and helped to set up their new home/apartment.  (I mostly babysat, so other could do the hard work.... Although I soaked in every moment with my grandson and loved spending that time with him.)

Skittles loved the BIG truck!

Grandpa let him sit in the cab....

Grandpa bought him a buffalo at a gas station.

Skittles named him "Happy Jack Buffalo"!

Learning to play with Legos

with Uncle Skylar and Katia.

Service naps are my favorite!  And my grandson is my favorite nap partner!

Before we left to visit my family in Boise, we celebrated a bit of the Easter fun with Skittles.  He was a bit scared that a Bunny was coming, but when he discovered that the Bunny left eggs with candy and toy cars, he decided he really liked the Bunny.

"Look, Grandma!"

Soooo excited!

The Easter Bunny brought a backpack with candy rather than a basket.

Grandma and Grandpa brought Easter gifts too.

He loved the three books and his own pots for plants with an elephant watering can.

I can't JUST spoil my grandson.

I got Easter gifts for my oldest son and daughter with a lot of food storage too!

Don't worry, my "babies" weren't forgotten in the Easter fun!

Saying goodbye was extremely hard.  I ugly cried all day on Friday when we left.  And I continued to ugly cry all day long.  (Yes, I'm still tearing up as I write this.  I really miss my best friend, Kiara, and my grandbaby, Skittles!)  But I have faith that the Lord will watch over them and help then grow and become all that they can be.

When we got to Boise, we were lucky enough to get there early enough to go to a Living Christ program where famous paintings were recreated with live actors.  Davinci's Last Supper was amazing!  But my favorite was the one that "starred" my sweet niece as Mary Magdalene.  She invited the spirit with her beautiful portrayal of being the first witness of the resurrected Christ.

Christ and Mary at the Tomb

Mariah is my niece who portrayed Mary.

The guy in the middle is the artist.

Saturday my sister, my parents, my son and daughter (Katia and Skylar) and Skylar's parents all went to the temple.  Afterwards, Mariah and Emily invited us for a classy party of finger foods and treats.  Yum!  And after visiting for an hour or two, we went to Alicia and Ian's home for another Easter party with their family.  I absolutely LOVE Skylar's family!  And they welcomed us with open arms.  We felt so honored to be included.  (And the food and company were AWESOME!)  We left that party to go to yet, another party with my brothers and their families.  I'm sooooo grateful for such wonderful men in my life.  (I'll blog about that later.)  And then Scott and I went to play games with Ben until 1:30 AM.  Part of that fun included getting to meet my nephew's prom date and celebrating a fun dance with some crazy teenagers - whom I instantly loved.

Everything was homemade.

Everything was delicious and delightful.

And these two nieces are truly incredible and lovely!

Sunday was much more calm... which is how I love celebrating the true meaning of Easter.  Katia and Skylar shared donuts with us in the morning.  I took a nap.  We attended Church in the afternoon.  It was wonderful as the Primary children sang "Gethsemane" with such sweet belief.  And the Easter messages were beautiful.  Dinner with my sister's family, my parents, Scott and I was delicious.  And I feel so blessed.

For some reason, Mariah didn't make it into the picture....  She's to the left of Sheila.

Left to right:  Sheila, Emily, GJ, Ken, Mom, Me, Dad and Scott

For some reason... family pictures are something we do on Easter.  So my daughters carried on the tradition even though we are all separated:

Scott and me!

Kiara Lea, Skittles, and Cody!

Katia Rae and Skylar!

(Their attempt at a family pic made us all laugh!)

I know this was an extra long post with lots of pictures.  If you read this far - wow!  You are dedicated.  I just want to end this Easter blog post with my testimony:  He was born in Bethlehem.  He was perfect.  His love is perfect.  His perfect love is evident in the events during the Easter/Passover, where He sacrificed and delivered us through his actions.  HE LIVES!  

CAN I PLEASE STOP TIME?

The countdown isn't slowing at all... my daughter and her young family are leaving me at the end of the week for an adventure in Idaho.  My grandson has lived his short life here with Grandma and Grandpa, and it's breaking my heart to see them leave the state for an indefinite amount of time.  But I understand that in order to grow, they must move on.  It's just been an emotional month of saying "goodbye."

Two weeks ago, Skittles wanted to show me how "awesome" he was.

This is his "awesome" look with his "awesome" expression.

Jamming to tunes together!

Love it when Skittles plays my piano....

He's the cutest!

And this is what happens EVERY time Skittles and I take a walk.

We pick up ALL the sticks!

I have to carry some too.

Scott and I also got to have dinner a couple of weeks ago with some dear friends!  I'm so grateful Heavenly Father put these people in our lives!

Scott and I - Mark and Janis - Mary and Jim

And of course... General Conference was this weekend!  I LOVE listening to our Church leaders and receiving inspiration and hope from them.  We teach our children young to love this amazing weekend.  

Ready for it to start!

Enjoying the tradition of sweet rolls!

Watching the prophet with Grandpa!

Look!  It's Spring!

So excited for the yellow flowers!

Kiara made me this cute collage of our sons and daughters!