On a morning very much like this morning three years ago today, mum left her tired old body and stepped through the veil to reunite with daddy and many other family and friends that have gone before her.  I remember the morning and all the emotion and feelings like it was yesterday.  I had been with her most of the time for the past two days because I knew her time was very short.  She had been sleeping most of the time and was starting to breath with that rattly sound. This was ironically on Mother's day.  My sisters all came down and we spent an emotional afternoon talking, laughing and crying as we reminisced about our mom.  We started planning the funeral and making arrangements. That night was sleepless for us, (except for mum...and I don't doubt that in the state she was in, she was already receiving callers and invitations from the other side, beckoning her to join them)  I laid there staring at the baby monitor, listening to her breath.  Early in the morning,  the time between each breath started getting longer and longer.  I got up and went down to her room and sat on the edge of her bed and held her hand.  There was a peaceful, almost sacred feeling in the room and I knew we were not alone.  I laid my head on her chest, whispered my love and goodbyes and within a few minutes, her breathing stopped and she slipped away.
I sat there holding her hand and crying for a while...not really sad that she had died, because we had been praying that she would not go on for a long time in this condition, but I think it was just realizing that she would not be with us anymore.  It was selfish crying...my heart was aching knowing that until I join her on the other side, I wasn't going to be able to talk to her, or see her, hug her, or just be with her.  There were many more tears to come, but I think after I got through this, I could cry tears of joy for her...she had completed her mission here on earth...had lived an exemplary life filled with joys and sorrows.  Had raised her family and had loved and taught them well, then continued to teach us through the life she lived.  She left us all with "gifts" that we inherited from her.  I can see qualities in all of my sisters and in myself that were so strong in our mother. So really, she continues to influence our lives even when she is not physically here.  That's about the best gift ever. 
So happy graduation day mum...I know you are happy and doing good for others in heaven...just like you did here on earth. Thank you for the things you taught me and my kids, for your great example and the joy that you shared with everyone who knew you. I miss and love you so very much...

 This was about a week before mum died.  Rebecca, her care giver from hospice for the last three months of Mother's life, was the dearest lady and we were so blessed to have her...she sincerely loved mum and mum loved her too.  She was so sweet and kind and gentle with mother...I couldn't have done it without her.

 I got the best surprise last week...Camille and Emily came home for the weekend.  She had mentioned that she would like to come for Keelee's sealing to Jason, but then said she wasn't going to be able to make it. Then Thursday afternoon I get a call from her and she said what are you doing tomorrow?  I told her I was going with Kelley and KC to get some rocks.  She said "I was going to surprise you and just show up", but then KC told her that we were going to be gone all day, so she decided to tell me so I would try to get home quicker. So it was still a surprise, but I knew it was going to happen!  (Seriously so surprised  that Camille kept it a secret all that time...she is the worst secret keeper ever! (sorry dear, but you are.)

I love that she wanted to surprise me, but in general, I'm not a big fan of surprises.  I would have liked to be getting ready for them to come, you know, buying food they like and fixing up their room, and not to mention being super excited for the three weeks before they got here instead of having a big pity party cause I missed them so bad.  Anyway, I was thrilled beyond measure that they were here!

Emily is such a little joy...we couldn't get enough of her

 Kelley and KC were working hard on the wall on Saturday morning and Camille had gone to the temple early for Keelee's sealing so come Saturday afternoon, they all needed a nap.

Later that day, we went over to Kelley's dads place.  As soon as we went in, we could see that someone had broken in.  They had rummaged through things and made a big mess in the house. We wondered why the alarm system hadn't notified us, but then realized the electricity had been cut off some how.  It was awful to think of someone going through the house like that.  They had taken some things that were out in the shed and probably other things too... we couldn't tell...there is still so much stuff there.  So now Kelley and his brothers will have to get the electricity fixed and get things back in order.  I kind of wish they would just move forward and get the house cleaned out and sold.

 Sunday was a beautiful day...so nice to have Camille and Emily at church with us.

 

Then we enjoyed the afternoon lounging and playing Racko...doesn't get much better than that.

Emily is happy to just crawl around and play with whatever she comes across.  She had fun with my yarn until she got all tangled up and couldn't detach herself from it!

Monday morning we decided to go for a hike.  We were thinking somewhere pretty close like Donut falls but when we got up there, the road that goes into it was under water!  So we went a little farther and saw a trail on the other side of the road that seemed like it would be dryer.  As soon as we pulled over, Emily threw up.  I don't know what it is with my car, but Camille's kids always get sick riding in the back seat.  Poor Emily!  She was covered in it and it was all over her blanket too.  We got her clothes off and cleaned her up, then I rummaged through some bags of stuff we had brought from Kelley's folks place and found this full body bib.  So Camille put that on her and put on her jacket and we were ready to go.  We started out on the trail but only a little way up, there was snow.  We thought we could get around it and went a little farther but the trail was really muddy and we were going to have to cross a stream where the water was running pretty fast so we decided to bag it.  It was beautiful in the mountains though ...everything is so green and fresh.  I'm glad we went.

 Camille had text Travis and told him she was in town, so we were glad when he stopped by to visit Monday afternoon.  We haven't seen him for quite a while so it was good to catch up.  Love that guy.

 It's so hard to see them leave...Candice and I dream of the happy day when she won't have to say goodbye.

We got to do the coolest thing for Young Women last week.  I had ran into Ida Buie at Costco a couple of months ago and she was telling me that they had moved their insurance business out to Thanksgiving Point.  She said she would be able to get our young women  group in to see the gardens there for free!  I talked to our presidency about it and they thought it would be great so I tried to contact Ida through her son who is on face book.  (kind of a round about way, but that's what she  said to do)  So I sent her son a message and asked him to contact me, but he never replied.  I kind of forgot about it until I ran into Ida again at Easter time up at the Joseph Smith building.  She said she  had asked her son if he had heard from me and he was like uhhhh yeah...I forgot to tell you.  So anyway, I got Ida's phone number and we worked out the details. She told me all the best gardens to see and how to get to them.  She called me that afternoon and said she wasn't going to be able to meet up with us because she had an appointment, but would leave the tickets at the front desk there. 

This place is amazing!  The timing worked out perfect for us to see the tulip festival.  There are lots of different gardens and this place is spread out over acres  and acres of land.  I had no idea how big it was!  It was just so beautiful...perfectly groomed lawns and flower beds over the whole area.  There were themed gardens like a fragrance garden ( smelled like heaven!) a butterfly garden,  a secret garden, a children's garden..and on and on!

 They had lots of fun in the children's garden...chess, checkers, backgammon, and lots of posing...Donna and Marv Armstrong came by in a golf cart while we were there and hollered at me.   It was great to see them and get to visit for a bit.

 My favorite by far though was the Sacred Garden.  It was a display of statues of Christ.  They were pretty incredible. You just wanted to stop and take them all in. The girls loved it!  They were talking about it all the way home.  Made the whole trip worthwhile.

 To finish it off, the girls all rolled down the hill...about 20 times! Oh to be 12 again!  ( I love that they didn't care if you played on their beautifully manicured lawns!)   It was a wonderful warm day and a perfect activity.  Many thanks to Ida Buie for her generosity and making it possible!