Blessings in disquise

Today ended up being an AMAZING Sunday... Despite it being daylight savings, (losing an hour of sleep), and having to have us and the kids ready for 9 am church in SUGARHOUSE, today was such a good reminder to me of just how LUCKY I am.. Today was Grandma and Grandpa White's farewell. I wasn't expecting it to be soo touching for me.. Church started out at 9 am and of course the kids were all a little cranky, a little whiny and a little rambunctious, even though it was tough we managed to hear most of grandma and grandpa's talks and they were great (exactly how I knew they would be). After church we walked back to the house (the kids LOVED that. They never get to walk to church and since grandma and grandpa's culdesac is right across the street they got to run the majority of the way, ALL BY THEMSELVES). We had a yummy breakfast of crepes, fruit, Cinnamon rolls and other treats and then spent the rest of the afternoon just spending our Last "Sunday dinner" together, (even though I'm sure everyone will get together at least a few times while my grandparents are gone, it will just be so much different without them).....

Before dinner the stake president and the bishopric came over to set them apart and WOW I wasn't expecting the emotion that came along with that process.. The stake president that came over was ABSOLUTELY AWESOME, he walked in and greeted everyone that was there (which was A LOT of people) and then he told us that he wanted to go around the room and have 1 person from each family say something (ie: how they were feeling, advice or words of endearment) to grandma and grandpa. They started oldest to youngest (it ended up being all the brothers and sisters that talked) and from Aunt Natalie on down, every single person that spoke brought tears to my eyes.. As I was listening to everyone talk about how much they love and appreciate grandma and grandpa, I was reminded of just how lucky I am to have such a close knit family. Grandma and Grandpa have 7 children and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEIR CHILDREN was there (can I just say I have AMAZING aunts and uncles also, how many kids can say they LOVE their Great Aunts? Mine CAN!!), along with most of the grandchildren and for my kids some of their great grandchildren. I was reminded that not everyone has Aunts and Uncles that live so close to eachother, not everyone has family dinners every Sunday, not everyone has cousins that they not only know but that they are pretty much best friends with, not everyone has a family that is there for them in good times and in bad, NO MATTER WHAT! When I was younger I took our close knit family for granted (they were just nosey and asked WAY TO many questions for my teenage liking). I thought that was how all families were though. When I would go to other peoples homes I just expected to see all of the aunts, uncles, and cousins around the dinner table all laughing and having a good time. As I've gotten older I'v come to see not all families are like "ours" and it's actually pretty RARE now a day's. Families like mine don't seem to "come around" all the time and they definitely aren't the "norm" anymore. I am so grateful for everyone sharing there feelings about grandma and grandpa tonight, I am grateful that I was able to remember and feel just how lucky I am. I left the night feeling and hoping that I can recreate with my own children, what my grandparents have done with theirs.

Thank you Lee and Jacque White for always being such a great example to me and everyone around you, Thank you for always putting everyone else before yourselves, Thank you for letting us know that we could always come to you: for ANYTHING (whether it be for a dinner, a place to stay, a person to talk too or just a friendly smile and hug) you were always their and you always had just what we needed, Thank you for putting on Sunday dinners for 50+ people if not EVERY WEEK at least once a month, Thank you for always being involved in "our" (your grandchildrens) lives, Thank you for loving My children (your great grandchildren, just as much as you love me), Thank you for taking care of me (and my babies) and for letting me stay with you after I had my last 2 children,   Thank you for showing us how to love unconditionally, Thank you for being so generous with your time, Thank you for being such an AMAZING COOK (that one is mostly for grandma :), Thank you for all of the things I took for granted as a kid and am coming to realise are VERY hard characteristics to have, Thank you for raising such wonderful children (My MOM especially), and most importantly Thank you for loving the gospel and for showing us how to live it! There are so many moments in time I wish I could just freeze and tonight, sitting in the living room as my grandparents were being set apart, was one of them!!



 Grandma and Grandpa White


this was the last "family" picture we had taken, 09'... Seriously one AMAZING FAMILY!!!