the JOY of families!

Dear Emi,

I have woken up the last two mornings with a familiar line from a hymn rumbling through my mind....."Go Forth with Faith to Tell the World the Joy of Families."  (I tried to Google a version for you, but alas, it must not rumble through Mack Wilberg's mind as there were no Mormon Tabernacle Choir versions available - oh well, look it up).

This past Monday was Labor Day...and may I just tell you how brilliant it is (on so many fronts) to have a vacation the 2nd Monday of School.  So, with our day off we took ourselves to the Mesquite Rec Center for 5 hours of PURE FUN!  Time after time I watched Sam and Gary go down the slide TOGETHER...Like they liked each other.  And Ally tote Daniel up the 30 steps and conquer the slide just to report to us how "big Daniel's smile was that time".  And Joseph waiting patiently at the bottom to "scare" me each each time I came off the slide.

As we were leaving, a young couple came in.  They looked as if they were newlyweds.  I saw them get in the pool and have fun alone....but I thought to myself, "Just wait.....it get's so much better."

A few weeks ago your Grandpa and I had the chance to go to the Salt Lake Temple and see Daniel Rust and Emily get married (yes, the Daniel that our Daniel is named after).  It was beautiful!  And I found myself KNOWING again, what I have known before.....

The sealing rooms (the room they were married in) are so pretty.  But what makes them beautiful is the Mirrors that adorn the two opposing walls.  When a person sitting in the middle of the room looks into the mirrors, the image they see seems to go on without end, representing Eternal life, without end,  in the presence of loved ones.

Each time I find myself looking at those images.  When I look forward, I see Me, as a mom.  In the Second image I see ME again, as a grandma.  In the third....a great grandma.  When I look behind, I see ME as a daughter.  In the second image, me as a granddaughter.  The third....a great granddaughter.  But sitting in that room, without those mirrors and the connections they represent, the room suddenly becomes a very lonely place.  Filled with just ME.

Emi, have faith, and have a family.......it will bring you greatest happiness!

Love your Grandma, who should be cleaning, but kept hearing the rumblings!

P.S.  Speaking of our little Daniel, he has managed to break, destroy, and dirtify the entire house in the time it took me to write this... JOY :)