Group Hug

After a busy day speaking at church and finishing last-minute projects, our family (all except the Bridegans, of course) showed up with traditional Hawaiian fare, delicious sides, and two desserts for our farewell dinner. It was nice not to worry about a thing...except pack and get ready to leave for a year!

After dinner, Jason taught all of us how to "hang" Hawaiian style, and Jon snapped a couple of group hug shots with the help of the self timer. I'm counting on this special group hug to tide us over for the next twelve months until we're together again!

We'll miss our entire family, but we know we're doing the right thing. And we also know they'll be praying for us (and us for them!) and holding down the fort while we're gone. We wouldn't be able to serve on a mission without their love and support!

Love and lots of hugs to our wonderful family!

Bravo Set Sampler

As promised, here's the set sampler I mentioned last week...some fun samples using the Bravo Photopolymer Stamp Set. Enjoy!

Sterling's Birthday

We’re taking every opportunity we can to be with family. Today’s opportunity was Sterling’s birthday dinner at a local pizza place where we snapped a photo of Sterling with all the grandkids who live in Utah.

After an intense (and very good) day at the Mission Training Center, it was nice to take a deep breath and relax, enjoy pizza and visiting together, and give lots of hugs and kisses!

Among several things appropriate and needful for the mission, Sterling received a tie clip that fit just perfectly in this gift box.

Happy birthday to my sweetheart!

Celebrating Paul's Life

After a light snowfall early in the morning and heavy rain mid-morning, everyone was prepared for a wet graveside service honoring Grandpa Paul, so it was a pleasant surprise when the sun’s rays peeked through the clouds, and the only evidence of a storm was the thunder that clapped around the red cliffs of Kanab.

Because we expected to be standing out in a storm, we decided to dress warm and casual…something Grandpa would’ve enjoyed. In fact, many of us wore plaid flannel shirts in honor of Paul!

Paul requested a simple family service with Sterling to dedicate the grave, which he did beautifully. Veterans from the American Legion Post 69 performed the three rifle volleys, and the reverent ceremony was so powerful and humbling.

Afterward, we gathered for a family photo and went to Stampin’ Up! for lunch and reminiscing…just the way Paul would’ve wanted it! Later in the afternoon, everyone enjoyed a walk down memory lane as we spent time in Mom’s and Paul’s home and yard, reminiscing about and admiring the warm and comfortable home they created together.

I believe their spirits were there to feel our love and admiration for them. It was a nice way to end a beautiful day of celebrating Paul’s life!

I Did It Again!

As you know, I’ve been a little preoccupied and haven’t scheduled any events, but my plan was/is to continue to share monthly “set samplers”. Well, I completely forgot AGAIN about the projects for the month of February, which should have been posted at the end of January. Thanks to a faithful reader, who kindly reminded me, you will receive two sets of projects in a matter of days!

At convention last year, I shared my calendar of themes for the year, focusing on sets from the annual catalog. The theme for February was condolence and thinking of you. You’ll notice I threw in a baby tag/gift, and I also used the set for the bookmark I posted last week. I chose to feature An Open Heart, a simple yet elegant set…one of my favorites. I can also see this set being used for Mother’s Day and birthdays. It’s just a beautiful set!