Celebration of Family

Thanksgiving is fast approaching; more birthdays have come and gone as the children are now another year older.  Arielle will soon be sixteen.  People always say, "Where did the time go?"  Regrettably, I must say, much of it has been squandered and wasted or else I have rushed through the days with the only goal of completing all I had to do.  I've lost many years that way, longing for the day to end just so I could go to bed.  We'll soon be gone, all of us.  We'll be just a memory for a couple of generations and then we'll be gone forever as if we'd never lived.  There won't be anyone left who even knew us!  I leave behind these words that may never be read, and I leave my children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  I hope a few will carry into the future the hope of the gospel.  The word of the Lord and the souls of people--those are the only things that last forever.

I'm ever reminded to hold on to these days, somehow, and treasure them.  When you almost lose a beloved family member, every day is a celebration.  We had a party for Lana on her 10th birthday.  Our precious Lana reminds us how fragile and fleeting life is.  The cousins all had a grand old time running around the yard and enjoying each other. Our house just gets smaller as more babies are born into the family, so we were thankful for a warm day to be outside. Liana did a photo shoot of Lana.  I think the pictures will make a great gift for Lana for Christmas.  And Liana is becoming quite a photographer.  I seldom take pictures anymore because hers are always better than mine.  

The girls had been cleaning our their closets and found a bunch of fancy dresses they wore when they were young.  So at Lana's party, Liana helped the little girls put on a fashion show with the dresses, even styling their hair for the occasion.  All the adults sat in the living room as they strolled in and modeled their outfits. To their great delight, we told them they could KEEP the dresses, so they wore them home! 

I loved watching the kids interact with each other.  They don't get together too often, so it is exciting and fun for them to play together.  Arielle and Liana are so good with the babies, and I love seeing my daughters nurturing and caring for the little ones.  How blessed we are to have this family!