It feels like forever since I have sat down to write. Part of that is that it has been a while, and part of that is that we have been so busy and doing so much that it has made it seem like it must have been a long time since I last wrote! We got home about a week ago from the West. We went to my moms family’s reunion in Wyoming and then we drove to Colorado for a few days for Nick’s family reunion. Nick had to fly home for work in the middle of that, so we drove back to Wyoming and spent several more days with my family before the kids and I made the 24 hour drive back (not in a straight shot, but in two days!) to Ohio.
It was so much fun and so much work all rolled into one! It is really important to me that my kids know and love their extended family, and since we live so far from them, it is so nice to be with them. We canoed and zip lined and made our own water park. We went off roading and camped and got really really dirty. At one point, the kids and I even ended up stranded in a ditch. The GPS took us a bad route to my in laws new house and I couldn’t get anyone on the phone. We ended up on an ungroomed country road that had been washed out. It was an adventure, and thankfully we weren’t stuck for long. I have pictures to remember it by, although I’m positive that the kids won’t let me forget about it either.
As I was stuck, with the five kids, in a ditch, waiting for rescue, I realized that I’ve grown and have more life experience than I used to. When I was younger the whole stressful experience would have precipitated some stress crying, but I made it through dry eyed- although there was still a little stress involved!
One of my favorite things is going to my moms family’s reunion. My grandparents joined the church when they were young and they taught their family to love God and do good. That tradition has continued. My grandma has Alzheimer's now, and Grandpa wasn’t able to be there for a lot of the days, but I loved seeing all my aunts and uncles and cousins and their children and the strength that the gospel has brought to all of our lives and our families. We all have struggles, and there are some that have chosen different spiritual paths, but the love we all feel for each other is so strong, and it is because of that shared heritage of love and faith. I hope that my children and my children’s children will have that same heritage. They are awfully big footsteps to fill!
In the last general conference, Elder Christofferson quoted Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian that was executed in a concentration camp because of his criticism of Natzi Germany. I love this quote about family, and felt it at out family reunion. Bonhoeffer said in a letter to a newly engaged niece: “Marriage is more than your love for each other…. In your love you see only your two selves in the world, but in marriage you are a link in the chain of the generations, which God causes to come and to pass away to his glory…. In your love you see only the heaven of your own happiness, but in marriage you are placed at a post of responsibility towards the world and mankind. Your love is your own private possession, but marriage is more than something personal- it is a status, and office.” I felt that as I was with my family, I felt the links of our generations and it was a beautiful feeling.
School starts in two days. We are very ready and at the exact same time not ready at all. Just like so many other things in life! Ready or not, it comes and we are excited for it.
