Letting Go

Here are pictures from the last two weeks:

Sunday, 3 February

Last Sunday activities as a family

 Monday, 4 February

Joseph playing his guitar and helping Peter with his Science Fair Project

Tuesday, 5 February

Peter doing tests for his Science Fair Project

At 1:53 pm on Feb 5th, Just a few hours before this picture was taken, we found out that Bruce's mother had passed away peacefully at the hospital in Colorado.  She had been in and out of the hospital for more than a year, and she finally got a MRSA infection that caused her body to shut down.  She was in a great deal of pain.  I was going to write "a great deal of pain this last year of her life", but really, she has been in a great deal of pain since I've known her.  She was limping with bad hips and knees the first time I met her in Dec of 1987, and I guess I've never known her not to be in some kind of pain.  Not that this pain caused her to alter her plans or slowed her down at all.  It probably should have, but she paid no mind to it and just went on doing what she wanted to do in spite of it!  To have this news come with only 8 days remaining before Joseph went on his mission was tough!  A lot of loss all at once, although with a proper perspective and understanding of both events, we couldn't help but rejoice at both occasions.  It did make for a stressful week of getting ready, however, as we knew we would have to leave 2 days earlier than planned, and that we were taking the whole family down with us.  It was pretty crazy getting that all done, but we managed to pull it off.

 Thursday, 7 February

Jesse and Joseph up on the roof watching the sunrise

Jesse, Isaac, Joseph, Bruce, Peter

My new favorite picture of Bruce, taking Flat Stanley on a horseback ride

 Friday, 8 February

Erica and Mary

Erica and Mary trying to defy gravity

Mary, Erica, Tori, Shailor - working on Jesse's hair

Saturday, 9 February

Playing with the Walkers

Sunday, 10 February

Sunday morning at 9:15 we went to the Stake Center for Joseph to be set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Pres Evans gave him a wonderful blessing - it was so powerful!  Joseph wrote down all that we could remember that he said.

Last Sunday breakfast at home, right before Joseph's farewell

 

Joseph's farewell was amazing.  Logan, another boy from our ward whose family moved here recently, spoke first, and then Joseph gave a great talk.  He talked about four things that he felt had given him a foundation on Christ:

• Have an appreciation for small things
• Have a reverence for sacred things
• Have a thirst for good things
• Have a love of ALL things

 It was a powerful, powerful talk, and truly centered on Christ.  I am so grateful for his beautiful gift of speaking and communicating with the Spirit.

After Joseph's farewell, Lorna and Dan and Grandma and Grandpa helped us get on our way to Colorado.  We would have been hours later had they not been there.  We had some very memorable hours in "Muy Bueno", the name of our 2002 Town & Country Van that has 256,000 miles on it and a broken heater in the front, driving across Wyoming through the night in sub-zero temperatures.  There was a solid sheet of ice on all but the front windshield, and it reached -18 degrees F at one point.  It was memorable!  I have to say, though, that through that long night, I truly felt that we were surrounded by angels that were protecting us and helping us through.  I felt comfort and peace through it all.  We arrived at Grandpa's house in Colorado at about 8 am after a 16 hour drive.  We talked for about 1/2 an hour and then slept soundly for the next four hours.  At 12:30 we gathered at the chapel for the Viewing and Funeral.  I don't have any pics from there because my battery died, but hopefully I'll be able to add some later because Aunt Janel took a lot.  Bruce gave a great talk, as did all the siblings.  My favorite line was Michelle's description of Mom.  She said she was "feisty, determined, a perfectionist and kind-hearted," and I think she was exactly right!

Tuesday, 12 February

On Tuesday, we drove with Grandpa to pick up the coffin and Grandma's body to drive it to Utah in a UHaul.  As we were sitting in the parking lot at the mortuary waiting, Jesse all of a sudden yelled out, "I just got an email from Scott Holden at BYU that I got into the program."  Oh my word!!!!  We all started yelling and had to get out of the car and do a happy dance, despite being at the mortuary!  Jesse made it into BYU in piano performance!  She made it!  She was one of 10 that made it, out of 70 that auditioned.  It's incredible!  She was so happy.  The fact that she got the email on that day was a tender mercy of the Lord.  Any day in the week before that, or any day in the 10 days after that would have been terrible, but on that day, all we were doing was driving back to Utah, so we had all day to celebrate with Jesse.  It was truly a miracle, and I'm so grateful the Lord gave us that tender mercy.  Notice in these pictures below how happy and relaxed she looks, and how she's laughing.  She was indeed, so happy that night.   We stayed the night at Josh & Rachel's new house in Utah, and played Catch Phrase with cousins.

Mary, Kaleb and Jesse - cousins playing Catch Phrase

Joseph, Libby, Peter

Marinna, Jeremy, Kaylee and Bruce

Lorena, Joshua Wayne

Marinna and Jeremy

Wednesday, 13 February

Joseph all set to go to the MTC!  (With Libby's contribution to the outfit!)

Cute, cute picture of Peter and Mary in the van driving to the MTC.  We listened to Called to Serve, Praise to the Man, How Firm a Foundation, Brother James' Air, and we sang the family song, from my side of the family, and High on the Mountain Top.

Breakfast at IHOP

Jesse hugging Joseph - dropping him off at the MTC

Joseph and Mary

Joseph and Peter

Joseph and Libby

Wednesday, 13 February, continued (yes - this happened on the same day)

Libby and Katie - playing at theViewing of Grandma LuJeanne

Mary, Kaylee, Gewenaelle, Nicole and others at the Cedar Fort Cemetery

A lot of grandsons to be Pallbearers

Graveside

Grandma's Coffin and Burial Site

Aunt Leah (Grandma's sister), Grandpa, Michelle, Stephen, Gary, Shawn, Bruce

Uncle Bruce's grave

Cedar Fort Cemetery, which was full of Hacking relatives.  It was a lovely, lovely spot, and I could see why Grandma wanted to be buried there!

This is the headstone for Bruce's great-grandparents

All through this day, I had these words going through my mind, "Joy is not the absence of pain but the presence of God."  This is what I truly felt this day.