And so it goes

I told our Relief Society president that it seems like our family only has one mode: crisis mode.  Just when I was taken off bed rest (hooray!) the very next day we suddenly lost Jonathan's father to a fatal heart attack.

This past Tuesday we received the news that his dad, Ethan's Poppy, passed away at 52 years old.  It came as a terrible surprise and, of course, completely unexpected.  Jonathan and Ethan are seemingly doing okay though I am sure in the coming days and weeks we will see the effects of grief.

Poppy was an amazing man and will be desperately missed.  He always played with Ethan and was the "on the carpet" kind of grandpa.  The kind who would always get on the ground to wrestle, play with Legos, build forts and, of course, be the one to go camping and hiking.  Our home is graced with various pieces of his craftsmanship -- a baby's cradle being one of them, which will now be blessed with our second baby.

He loved laughing, Poppy did, and I'm still sorry I aggravated his hernia from making him laugh so hard when we were in Washington, D.C. Between the Long Fence and the short police officer who pulled him over for running the stop sign in the Target parking lot, though, it couldn't be prevented. Probably.

I am grateful to Dad for teaching my husband such a strong work ethic and how to provide for his family. Jonathan is always honest in his business dealings and I know that this comes from Dad and also from Grandma B.  Dad helped to raise a man of integrity.

Dad, my son's Poppy, will desperately be missed by all of us here.  But we are so grateful for the gospel and for what it teaches us.  We are so grateful for the Plan of Salvation and for the security it gives us in knowing that we will be with him for eternity, that ours is an eternal family.  We are grateful that we could do the temple work for Grandma B and Grandpa George so that he could be sealed to his parents for time and eternity and they could be waiting for him as he passed through the veil.  It is through this comfort that our pain and sorrow can be assuaged and somewhat tempered until the time comes when we can meet them as long as keep our covenants.