What an amazing and emotional time we’ve had for the past couple of weeks. Lots of family visiting a week ago (including a surprise visitor) and then a wedding and a funeral this past week. It seems there’s been no time to do much with the blog, so today has been pretty much dedicated to getting pictures posted in the picture album and to writing up a bit about the events.

Last week on Friday the 13th, my nephew Bryan took his wife Sydnee into the hospital to deliver their baby. Bryan is the oldest son of my sister Terry. In the course of events, the baby Dana Arlene Harris did not survive long after the birth and Sydnee was also in pretty serious condition. She had lost a significant amount of blood and is just now beginning to return to health. An autopsy was performed on the baby (the results will not be known for a while yet, if there are any useful results) and the burial services were scheduled for this past Friday, March 20th, down in Salt Lake.

I took mother down for the services on Friday. We first went to the funeral home for a viewing at 11 a.m., then to the cemetery for a short graveside service about noon, and then went over to Bryan and Sydnee’s ward house for a luncheon put on by their Relief Society sisters. It was a beautiful spring day with temperatures in the upper 70’s. If I had to pick a day for a burial, that would have been the kind of day I would have chosen. Bryan and Sydnee were most gracious and, although this is perhaps one of the hardest things that parents can do, they were both rock solid.

Of course, the day and the events brought memories strongly to the surface from some 34 years ago when Nina went into the hospital in Neuss, Germany and after an emergency C-section, our daughter Traci was born and then died about twenty minutes later. The time after Trevor’s death eight years ago and all that had to be done in such a short amount of time came to mind as well. My heart really goes out to them and I understand a little bit about the emotional rollercoaster that Bryan and Sydnee are riding. You never forget. They are always close by in memory.

I’ve posted some pictures from that day in my picture album. Click on the link or click on Pictures! at the top of the page.

On a high note, this was also the week that Ashlyn got married. She’s Nina’s niece and has been attending BYU-Idaho and was kind of despairing that she’d never get married! Then all of a sudden the absolutely perfect guy came into her life and Eric and Ashlyn are now husband and wife for time and for all eternity.

Thursday evening, March 19th (my birthday!) we went up to the Rexburg Temple for the 6 p.m. session where Ashlyn and Eric took out their own endowments. It was a jam-packed session and a very lovely session.

Nina’s sister Pamela flew out for all of the festivities this past week and stayed at our house for the week. Her good friend from High School Anne also flew out last Wednesday and spent the rest of the week here as well.  We had a lot of fun with them here … and a lot of Very Late Nights for Nina. On Friday while I took mother to Salt Lake for the funeral, Nina, Pam and Anne went to Jackson Hole sightseeing and shopping. We all arrived home about the same time … me from Salt Lake via Pizza Hut for takeout, and them via Idaho Falls and picking up my MacBook computer that was getting an upgrade.

Saturday morning we left about 8:30 a.m. to drive to Logan where Ashlyn and Eric were to be sealed in the Logan Temple. Their sealing appointment was at 11 a.m. and we needed to be at the Temple at 10:30. We arrived quite nicely about 10:15 and by 10:45 we were in Sealing Room #1 in the Logan Temple. Lots of friends and family were there for a delightful sealing and marriage ceremony. The officiator gave them some outstanding advice (Eric’s sister did a good job of making notes later of that advice) and then pronounced them man and wife for time and for all eternity. We were very privileged to be there and to be a small part of their day.

I also took a bunch of pictures and have posted them to the picture album. Click on the link or click in Pictures! at the top of the page.

Finally, yesterday was another very busy day. In addition to normal Church responsibilities, I had an assignment as a High Counselor to speak in one of the Wards in our Stake at 12:50 p.m. Further, I had a meeting at 6 p.m. scheduled to begin the work on a Stake Preparedness Plan. Meanwhile, my favorite brother Perry had a couple of his daughters visiting (one from Las Vegas and one from Green River, Wyoming) and they were going to Soda Springs on Sunday to visit with dad. Nina and I also wanted to see our nieces and spend a few minutes with them.

So, Nina went with me to the Ward for my speaking assignment. We left directly from there at 2 p.m. and drove to Soda Springs, arriving about 3:15 p.m. We visited for about an hour at the nursing home, and then dashed back to Pocatello so I could go to my 6 p.m. meeting. We had a short, but nice visit with Mindy and Jayme and their kids. We also met Jayme’s new husband Joe for the first time. We were very happy we went over, in spite of the lousy weather! It rained most of the day here in Pocatello and when it wasn’t raining, it was snowing. However, the weather turned out to be a non-issue for all of us, which was nice.

There’s also pictures of that event posted in my picture album.