Father’s Day is upon me and I’m having some sentimental moments so I thought I would put my thoughts out there for you to enjoy too! My mind and heart are struggling today to keep all the emotions at bay, but I do have some things I would like to share and people I would like to thank.
My Dad: Thank you Dad for all the things you taught me. Thank you for teaching me how to work hard. Thank you for teaching me how to play hard after the work is done! Thank youfor teaching me how to take responsibility. Thank you for teaching me a love for animals. Thank you for teaching me how to manage my money. Thank you for teaching me how to love and take care of a spouse. Thank you for teaching me to have a love of the gospel.Thank you for teaching me what a great Dad should be! Thank you for all the little things you did when I was growing up and all the things you do now to show me how much you love me and my family. I love you so very much!
Jer’s Dad: Thank you Dad for teaching Jer how to be a dad. Thank you for teaching him how to work hard and take responsibility for his actions. Thank you for teaching him to love the Lord and appreciate all the little things in life. Thank you for worrying about me now that he’s not able to take care of certain things. I know I give you a hard time about how you don’t need to worry about me because I’m a big girl, but I sure appreciate it! Thank you for loving me and my kids and for still looking out for us. I love you so very much!
BIL’s: Thank you so much for always taking time to make sure you horse around with my kids as well as your own. Thank you for always making sure they are included on any fun things that you do. Thank you for being great examples of how to be a great dad. My kids need good examples of strong men in their lives and I’m so very grateful I have all of you!! Thank you for reminding my kids of the great Dad that they have. Thank you for sharing your stories of the many adventures you took part of with Jer. I love you so very much!
Dave: You’ve been around since before there were even kids in our house! Thank you for spoiling my kids on their birthdays and Christmas. Thank you for having enough energy to spin them around, give them shoulder rides, ride them on “airplanes”, and take them on “helicopter rides.” Thank you for taking care of all the little fix it stuff around here that I don’t have the energy or patience for. I’m so glad that you are so close and that we can help each other out! I love you so much!
I am so blessed to have a Heavenly Father who knows me better than I know myself. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have that I will live in Heaven someday with all the people that I love the most. I’m so grateful for the love and patience that Heavenly Father has shown to me. There have been so many tender mercies shown to me the last 20 months and I’m grateful for each little one.
Last but not least, Jer. Thank you babe, for being such a great husband and father. You didn’t get to be an earthly father for very long but you showed your children so much love. They love you so much and always know how much you love them. Thank you for choosing to spend your free time with us while you were here on the earth. We know that you are still here helping us and teaching us. I can’t wait until we can see you again! I love you and miss you. Forever and ever.
This is Brinci from her Spring Recital. She was one of only a few that had her piece memorized! She is doing such a great job on the piano.
This is Toby’s Creative Challenge dance for this year. I was glad there were a whole lot less hip movement this year! It’s kind of funny watching 6 yr. old boys try to coordinate their movements!
Today was filled with lots of laughter, hugs, smiles and of course the occasional tear. It was so great to have so much family with us as we celebrated/grieved on this day. We missed the ones that were unable to be here with us. It was nice to have Dean and Rachel come and hang out with us. After breakfast, Mom and I went to Hastings and picked out 14 balloons! We started off the fun with a balloon launch. Everyone wrote a message to Jer and we sent them off to Heaven. We then made the short jaunt to the cemetery. It was incredible to be around so many people who love us and care for us. Thank you for everyone who was with us today. Thank you for everyone who thought of us today. Thank you Jer for being such a great man and still inspiring us to greatness. We love you!!
A Missionaries Blog
Hello Everyone! I am posting a link to Elder Uncle Wade’s blog! He is such a spiritual giant and such a great example to me. His latest post was about Jer. Check it out only if you want to cry!
http://elderwcoxnyrm.blogspot.com/
I am so very grateful for the man that Jer is. I am so grateful that he took a chance on a lowly farm girl and taught me so very much about life and how to live it to it’s fullest. Thank you all for helping me remember that and helping me continue to live and love life! I look forward to when I can bask in his presence once more. But until then let’s all remember: Life is good.
Our trip to Zion National Park this year was so much fun. Granny decided to come with us again. The trip started out with a trip to Chevron for their oh so delish do-nuts. The kids watched movies and Mom and I talked the whole 5 hours to Cedar! We stopped for lunch then finished the trip. We had a small problem with our original campsite. It was still under construction so we had to go to a different campground and find another. We located the best spot and put up our tent. Mom was very grateful that we brought hammers this year!! After a snack we hit the road again to go hike the Canyon Overlook trail. The kids did such a great job. Even Gage was ready to be a big boy and hike by himself! The wind was a little wild up on the top of the mountain but the view was spectacular as always. The tunnel was also a lot of fun. Back at camp we roasted hot dogs (Gage was a little upset that I hadn’t brought his special ones, oops!) and marshmallows. We went to bed early so that we could be prepared for all the hiking!
The next day we woke up, ate breakfast in the van because it was soooo cold. We caught the shuttle and headed up the canyon. We hiked Emerald Pools, Weeping Rock, stopped at Big Bend for a snack, and the Riverside walk. We had to find a different lunch spot this year because the water was so high but none of us were complaining because the squirrels weren’t quite as aggressive where we stopped as they are by the beach. We figured out that we could hike to our campsite if we got off at the last shuttle stop so all the kids agreed we could do one more hike. It was a great hike and I think it will be how we get back to camp from now on.
We made it back to camp, had a little rest, ate some food, then headed over the bridge into Springdale. We were so excited to get ice cream and were so bummed when we saw that it was closed! We found a treat for everyone at the grocery store. Then it was on to the movie theater where we saw Rango. Gage couldn’t believe how big the screen was!! After the movie we were all tired and ornery so we got right to bed and slept really well.
The next day we broke camp. Once again Mom was glad that we had hammers! We got the van loaded and decided we had enough time to take the shuttle back up the canyon and do one more thing. We stopped at the Court of the Patriarchs and took some pics. The kids enjoyed running up and down the trail since there were no other people on it! We went back to camp, got in the BatVan and headed home.
It was a great trip with many memories. It’s still hard to do camping things without Jer. I know he is so excited that his kids are learning to enjoy something that meant so much to him. Can’t wait til next year!!
Here are a few more. There were many, many more pictures and many, many more memories, but you get the idea. I had a rocking time with my wonderful family. I love you guys!!!
Here are a few random pictures from our amazing cruise we took in December. I know it took me a LONG time to post them, but it was worth the wait right! I can’t wait until the kids are old enough that they can appreciate the kind of vacation this was so that I can take them on one!
This is about as good as it’s going to get for a family picture for a while! I still have a hard time seeing this “new” family of mine. My kids are adorable though! I also really love how tan my face is next to that white snow!!
Here are a few random pictures of things that happened last spring. I’m hoping to get something together a little more formal, but for now this is what you get!!
