So Blessed

Last weekend while Grandma B was visiting, we had baby Leah's blessing at church. Allen gave her a beautiful blessing and she slept the whole time.



It was fun to have Allen's aunt & cousins Ines, April & Jarry, Heidi & Mike there to celebrate with us. Shauna & Randy were out of town and couldn't make it and none of my immediate family is around these days. That's another really nice thing about living in Utah -- so much family nearby. It did make me reflect on the fact that it didn't occur to us to invite any of my many cousins to join us. Why is that, I wonder?

I was prepared to be pretty emotional about the whole thing, because I've had a hard time with the idea of blessing her without Grandpa there -- it was always a priority for them to be there when the other girls were blessed and for months (this is part of why it has taken us so long to bless her) I've resisted because it made me think of all of the rites of passage that we will celebrate without seeing him there. Instead of being upset though, I was just filled with love -- for this sweet (though often difficult) baby, for my other girls who were so well behaved, for the family who was there to support us and for those far distant who are such a daily support to me, and for Allen. How truly blessed I am.

I've been working on a talk I'm giving in Sacrament Meeting on mother's day and have been reflecting on the idea Uncle Bruce has talked so much about -- bonds that make us free. There are days when I feel like I am trapped and can't see a way out. There are days when I wonder what lunacy possessed me to want children and then to want 4 of them. But sprinkled in them are so many moments where I feel the love I have for these little monkeys and the way it has transformed my life. In that love I feel also God's love for them and for me. And I wouldn't trade any of it away for an easier life.



Doesn't she have the most darling sad face you've ever seen. ooh that lower lip!