grief and gratitude

We arrived in Rexburg, Idaho on the 5th of October to stay with Natalie while Justin was in training, due to her baby being due the 24th of October. The after of the 11th at her routine checkup with the Doctor there was no heartbeat for the baby.  We contacted Justin immediately and the military was able to fly him back to Salt Lake City where his father picked him up and drove him back up to Rexburg. They arrived here at 5:30am on the 12th.  That morning Natalie was induced at the hospital and cared for by amazing nurses and a great Doctor.  Justin was so exhausted, but rested some in the chair at her side during the day.  Isaac James was born at 6:15 Tuesday night.  The Doctor on delivering him was able to tell that his umbilical cord had twisted, due to him being very active and all mainly in one direction, throughout the pregnancy.  It had twisted till it finally cut off his nutritional supply sometime during the previous week.  Such grief and pain at wanting to hear your baby's first cry.  Of holding his body and knowing his spirit has already gone home.  At the same time we rejoice that Isaac is a part of our family and we shall see him again.
Sometimes  Father's children get unknowingly caught in the same sort of cycle,  busy and doing and going and turning and slowly but surely entering into the world till the point they cut off their own supply to Heavenly Father.  That is why it is so important that we hold on tight to the iron rod, to the things of value and importance.  Having the atonement we can be aware and if we ever do start to turn and cut off that supply we can reverse the process. Living with our Heavenly Father, families and friends is our goal and we need to keep it ever in our sights.

Homeless

At the Lab this morning they asked me for my adress... Saying I don't have one just didn't work!  Funny how we get tied so much to places.  I called and made sure I had Brian and Marian's adress right, because at least for the next two days that is where we will call home. 

Family, daily joys

The last few weeks have been amazing as we have traveled towards the west, seeing children and grandchildren in Little Rock, Colorado, Utah and now Idaho.  We vistied with my two brothers and their children also while in Colorado and had a wonderful time.  In fact, I have a date with my nieces Faith and Grace for a camping trip and hiking in about two years.  That's exciting!  While in Colorado with Tina we were able to spend several mornings out hiking and it continually reaffirmed the glorious beauty in which we live.  Majestic mountains, side by side with brilliant tiny flowers. That and a lovely evening roasting marshmallows over a fire in the backyard. Visiting Amber and Tilile in Provo we met their friends. We are so grateful that Amber has been taken so lovingly in by wonderful people who support and believe in her.  We know that we need to leave for our mission, but thoughts of leaving our chldren are very hard, until we have seen how they are being cared for by others.  Natalie and Amber being the youngest, of course, we felt very responsble and concerned.  We know now that Amber will be fine and Alea will stay with Natalie when Justin leaves for Afghanistan and help take care of Isaac, so Natalie can finish her Associates degree.
  We are daily seeing blessings and miracles both small and large, and I am very grateful. We went to General conference on Saturday and Alea had a nonmember friend in Salt Lake that she wanted to invite to go with us, but we didn't have any extra tickets.  Amber's Bishop called us late Friday night and said there was another ticket available for our session if we needed it.  We were so grateful for his inspiration - because otherwise he would have not known that we even needed it.
There is a lab here that Marion knew about where I was able to get my Thyroid test done and faxed back to my Doctor in Arkansas, while there I mentioned needing to get our Typhoid vaccines and one of the ladies knew exactly where to go and what to do, because her son has been called to serve in Peru.
We have been so warmly welcomed, loved and cared for in our travels that I am overcome with the joy and gratitude I feel.  Studying is a high priority, we also need to be exercising and both of these things have been continually wrapped up in the joys of being with family. We were able to help Tina with some of the projects she needed done, help my brother Jerry move, and now Harold is helping Brian with the carpet.  I'm grateful that in some small ways we also are able to be of service to those around us.