Category: Extended family

Remembering

These were my grandmother’s books. On this anniversary of her death, I have been looking at photos I took of little corners throughout her home. I can still find her wisdom and her voice folded away like a sachet that sometimes gets jostled and leaves a subtle scent. She was so good at imparting family stories, gifting us with a sense of who we came from.

In 2018, I overheard her telling my mom about her father Axel’s passing. Assigned to the shift that night was a nurse who could speak his native language, Swedish. The nurse was not just able to speak words of comfort, but do it in the language of his parents and childhood. She spoke to him, quietly and tenderly, easing his fears during his final hours.

My parents and my aunt were with my grandmother on her last night. They told me that they read to her from the book of my dad’s childhood memories. I don’t know what she heard or understood, but I am glad that there were words of comfort and memory in the room for her, too.

No lentil soup?!!

We celebrated Richard’s birthday this weekend with all the good things. He is definitely worth celebrating. We had so much fun that I *think* he will forget that I neglected to buy a key ingredient for his birthday meal so it had to be postponed. Also, I sewed him a minky winter hat which turned out to be too small for his sweet head. Really, though, in memory, the wins should outlive the fails. I hope.

A very fun dinner in an Alpenglobe in Midway
Paige attended her new ward and discovered one of her youth leaders from Arizona is a ward member there. I call that a miracle

choral concert

Richard’s cousin Loretta invited us to hear her Christmas choral concert. It was so, so good! We already know we want to be in the audience again for next year’s concert. (Salt Lake Choral Artists)
I laugh when I see these puffy coats (I am actually wearing two in this picture), but they are necessary right now.

wait, come back, we didn’t take a picture

I have lived long enough to understand that gatherings are worth documenting, and I regret that we didn’t pose for a group photo at our Thanksgiving dinner. Richard mentioned he would also have liked to see a picture of all the good food. Thanks to Paige, we have photos of the tables and a few Ross family guests in the background, and look, there are some pies there, too.

Dale and Lorraine

Richard and Angela

Paige and Michael

Daniel and McKenna

Mark

Dave and Shari

Sara and Christopher

Henry, Katie, Fletcher

Susanna and Cameron

Behind the scenes

This is just a portion of the cookies we decorated.
Refreshments and handouts ready to go.

It has been a busy few months preparing for a stake Primary training about temple and family history work. On the day of the training, Paige and I decorated 70 temple cookies, and that was a big job. Thank you, Paige!

Most of the effort to prepare for this evening can’t be shown. Truly, it was not about the pretty cookies. There was a lot of personal and collaborative work. It was a spiritual journey. By the end, I realized this wasn’t “my” training at all. My original ideas for the evening slowly changed to something better, thanks to counseling with my presidency and an enthusiastic high councilor. Answers to prayers came. My small hope for some help from a few temple and family history consultants resulted in around 16 people showing up to teach.

It’s my birthday weekend, and as I look back on my last week of being 47, I can say that it was one of the best weeks. I was with my Sanchez family in the temple, along with Richard, Paige, Daniel, and McKenna. I got to see ordinances performed for people from my own labors in family history research. And towards the end of the week, I believe miracles happened at our training.

We gathered at the grave for my grandparents the morning after we completed their temple ordinances.
Modern apostles, including David A. Bednar, Quentin L. Cook, Neil L. Andersen and Dale G. Renlund have promised many powerful blessings to those who participate in Family History and Temple Service.

Dressing up

Happy Halloween! It’s not my favorite holiday, but I have always enjoyed the costumes. Mark dressed up with his friend to go to a Halloween dance with church friends. Cuties.

This wasn’t for Halloween, but I asked Daniel to try on my grandpa’s US Army uniform from WWII this weekend. Wow!

Here is a picture of my grandfather in his uniform.

Did I ever tell you that my grandpa and I got along really well? He had a tough and intimidating exterior, but he also gave me the nickname, Angelina Magdalena and talked to me like a pal. He took me places, Hawaii, Hearst Castle, San Francisco, and good restaurants. I have so many memories, but one favorite was when he picked me up from the Oakland airport and drove me to his house. We listened to his Andrews Sisters cassette and we talked about what his life was like when he was my age. I loved him so much.

Neighborhood Gathering

I hope these familiar faces continue to also feel like a novelty. I won’t forget their kind acts when we have experienced sickness, grief, and storms. May these people who have cheered for our children understand what that has meant to us. May they see that we love them. May we appreciate the blessing that it is to gather. I hope they always feel welcome in our home.