Sixteen

Today is April 30th. It was sixteen years ago today that Mom, Dad, and Granddaddy White died. I actually remember that morning looking very similar to this morning -- it was overcast and then began a light rain in the early afternoon. I was sixteen years old. Can it really be possible that they have been gone now for as long as I knew them?

April 30th is usually a beautiful day for me. On April 30, one year after the accident, our family was sealed in the temple. That turned my focus from a terrible loss to the hope of a bright future. I still feel that hope. Today it would just be nice to talk to my mom. There is a lot I would like to say to her. I would really just like to listen to her, have her hug me. I was thinking of her on Sunday in Sacrament meeting as I sitting next to Hannah singing the alto part to one of the hymns. I wondered if one day Hannah will think of me the way I think of Mom each time I sing a hymn in church.

I really enjoyed Elder Scott's talk in General Conference last month. I thought this part was great where he quoted President Joseph F. Smith: “I believe we move and have our being in the presence of heavenly messengers and of heavenly beings. We are not separate from them. … We are closely related to our kindred, to our ancestors … who have preceded us into the spirit world. We can not forget them; we do not cease to love them; we always hold them in our hearts, in memory, and thus we are associated and united to them by ties that we can not break. … If this is the case with us in our finite condition, surrounded by our mortal weaknesses, … how much more certain it is … to believe that those who have been faithful, who have gone beyond … can see us better than we can see them; that they know us better than we know them. … We live in their presence, they see us, they are solicitous for our welfare, they love us now more than ever. For now they see the dangers that beset us; … their love for us and their desire for our well being must be greater than that which we feel for ourselves.”

Softball

Hannah had her first two softball games last night and tonight. When I turned on my camera at the ball field last night, I found out I didn't have the memory card in it. Then, today I put it back in, got to the ballpark, and the camera wouldn't recognize the memory card. Ugh. So no pictures. I'm so amazed at how she can look so calm when I know she has got to be so nervous. I'm pretty sure she was shaking when it was her first turn up to bat, but I don't think anybody else would have known. After the game last night, she said that she understood how the game is played a lot better now! I was a little dumbfounded by that, and I felt kind of like we had just thrown her to the wolves. I just didn't know she didn't know how to play! Anyway, I'm proud of her for trying something new.

Easter

 We had a great Easter weekend. We were so busy the Easter bunny had a hard time catching us. Finally, after church Nate took the kids on a walk and I took a nap, and the bunny took the opportunity to leave a few treats. Nate says he always got a chocolate bunny when he was growing up, so our kids finally got one this year, too. I can't stand Easter grass (it ends up all over the house!), which is why we just had tissue paper in the baskets.

 Our bunny always sends us on a treasure hunt, and our friend Lauren was staying with us for the weekend while her parents were out of town, so she got to join us for it, too.

 The girls are growing up and their clues are getting a little trickier. This one had them both stumped for a while!

Of course, Easter is about so much more than treasure hunts and candy, and I really enjoyed the messages shared at church yesterday. We also got to attend Eliza's baptism on Saturday, which is a wonderful reminder of what our Savior has done for us.

I would try to catch up with my blogging a bit more, but Ryan has been begging for me to play cars with him.