Visiting Another New Temple...And An Old Friend

We kept our kids out of school on Monday, October 20th, so they could attend their Grandpa Barrett's memorial service. We also got them out of school early on the following day (Tuesday the 21st) so our family could take a quick road trip to Phoenix, to catch the open house of the LDS Church's newest temple...the Phoenix Arizona Temple! We'd planned on going to the open house the weekend before, but had to cancel due to Glenn's passing. We still really wanted to attend the open house, but were quickly running out of time to do so (due to my birthday and Halloween bearing down on us). So we decided to make a Tuesday of it and get some family bonding time in.

This was actually our second temple open house this year; we'd attended the open house for the Gilbert Arizona Temple back in February. Seeing two new temples open in Arizona has been a great opportunity; I know how many blessings temples can bring to their communities, and I am happy the Phoenix area now has multiple temples operating to help the many, many members of the church who live there. Next up (hopefully) is the Tucson Arizona Temple...it's been announced but the groundbreaking hasn't been officially planned yet. I'm confident we'll see progress on that front in the next year, though. It's almost our turn!! *fingers crossed*

Anyway, our trip to Phoenix was fairly uneventful; we stopped for a quick bite to eat at Chick-Fil-A on the way up, since we'd taken the girls out of school before their lunchtime. The Phoenix Temple is located on the north edge of Phoenix, which is a longer drive than we usually undertake (the Mesa and Gilbert temples are both in the southeast part of the Phoenix metro area). But we made it in time for our 3:00 pm tour all the same! As it turns out, we needn't have hurried much. Unlike our visit to the Gilbert Temple, when we waited in line for over an hour, we were hustled right to the front door of the temple this time! One of the advantages of visiting in the middle of the week, as opposed to a Saturday afternoon, I suppose.

Due to the Phoenix Temple's location (it's situated right at the edge of a large residential area), it was impossible to park too closely to the building. Instead, we parked our car at a large water park about a mile away, where a series of chartered buses waited to drive visitors to the temple. It felt a little weird to walk around outside a large water park wearing a church dress!

As you might imagine, the girls felt super-excited to be riding a big fancy bus to the temple.

The Phoenix Temple was a little smaller than the Gilbert Temple, and perhaps a little less "flashy" (some of the architecture of the Gilbert Temple seemed designed to "wow" visitors; the Phoenix Temple felt a shade more utilitarian). However, the Phoenix Temple was still a beautiful, impressive building.

 

 What it lacked in fancy stained-glass windows, it more than made up for with its striking oval skylight in the Celestial Room, its oval-shaped, elaborately tiled baptismal font (I don't think I've ever seen a baptismal font in a temple that wasn't a perfect circle! This font stood out, in a good way), and its extensive collection of original paintings that hung throughout the building. Many of them were Arizona-themed drawings, featuring landscapes from our wild, beautiful desert state. The endowment room also featured two large wall murals, complete with saguaro cacti and numerous desert plants. Like the Gilbert Temple (albeit in a different way), the Phoenix Temple felt like a temple built to honor Arizona's unique natural beauty.

Daddy & Lorelai just couldn't help themselves; goofing off here by the reflecting pool

The girls had fun taking their picture with this Christus statue in the small visitor's center following the temple tour...

It was hard to find a good angle to get a family picture in front of the temple (mostly because the late-afternoon sun made too much glare), but we managed to get a couple of good shots.

 

After visiting the temple, we had another great opportunity...we were able to visit my good high school buddy Kelly (Grady) Dahl, and have dinner with her and her beautiful family!

In years past, we'd spent frequent weekends with Kelly, her husband Greg, and her kids Carter and Bryn. However, as life has gone on, and our kids have gotten bigger (and busier), we haven't been able to travel to visit them as much. In fact, we hadn't seen the Dahls for more than three years! As luck would have it, though, the Phoenix Temple is located about five minutes from the Dahl's house. Nathan and I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to see them, so we managed to sneak in a quick (two-hour) visit with them before getting the girls ready for bed and making the long drive back to Sahuarita.

Kelly, as always, was looking fit, gorgeous, and happy. She is so sweet and fun to talk to! Greg is an awesome guy, too, and it was great to visit with him as well. We were really grateful to have that short time with them, and hopefully (if we make our annual trip to Phoenix this Christmas) we'll see them again before too long!). Plus, the pizza dinner was good too. Food is always good when you don't have to prepare it yourself; that has become my motto over the last month! Between Nathan's dad's passing, and our constant traveling back and forth, and the caloric black hole of Halloween, we are happy for whatever properly prepared meal we can get!

Overall, it was a quick trip to Phoenix, but definitely a happy one. It was a nice pick-me-up from the somberness of Glenn's memorial service. Seeing the temple was a good reminder that this life is not the end, but merely another step in our eternal progression. Thanks to the work performed in these gorgeous temples, our separation from our loved ones will only be temporary. We needed that reminder more than ever on this week.

Families Can Be Together Forever

Two weeks ago today, we held the memorial service for my father-in-law, Glenn Barrett. The days leading up to the service (and the day itself) are a big blur of preparation, high emotion, and reflection. I wanted to jot down a few scattered thoughts about that experience before my busy life overtakes a few small memories.

First of all, I have very few pictures of that whole weekend. That shouldn't really be a surprise; running around at a memorial service snapping random photographs didn't feel natural or appropriate. Also, the service itself was relatively simple and free of ornamentation (as Glenn would doubtless have wanted). There were a couple of large floral arrangements in the chapel, a small table with some pictures of Glenn in the foyer, and a slide show Nathan put together on our computer that was shown on a television at both the church (for the service) and the country club (where we had a luncheon afterwards).

 

Glenn had chosen to be cremated, not buried, following his death, and dealing with that has been a new and different experience. In some ways, cremation seems to have a lot of advantages over a traditional burial. It's much cheaper (like, thousands & thousands of dollars cheaper, since you don't have to worry about purchasing a coffin/burialplot/etc.). If you are uncomfortable with dead bodies, cremation removes the need to deal with that aspect of death. Glenn had asked that his ashes be scattered in a few different places. Some of the ashes are to be poured into a locket that will be worn by Sandra. Another portion of the ashes are to be scattered/buried along the fifth hole of the Green Valley Country Club's golf course (Glenn eagled that hole once, and counts that experience as one of his golfing highlights). And interestingly, he wants the remainder of his ashes to be scattered on the grounds of an LDS temple. Although Glenn and Sandra haven't been active church members for a number of years now, it was nice to hear that he still holds the temple in high esteem. We're not sure at which temple we'll be scattering the ashes; but another advantage of cremation is that we are not bound by a time limit to make that decision.

Regardless of whether Glenn was cremated or buried, this has still been a very difficult time for Sandra. She has found herself crying as little things (smells, objects, random words) remind her of what she's lost. Thankfully, all her children were able to come down for the memorial service and be there to give her comfort. Most of them (including many of their families) had been able to travel to Arizona earlier in the year to visit with Glenn when he was still relatively healthy & active. Most of these visits had had emotional "closure," but it was still good to have everyone in one place for the week.

Nathan's sister, Kelli, drove all through the night from Colorado to Arizona the night before Glenn's death, making it into town just a few hours before his passing. Kelli, Nathan, and Sandra, along with two dear family friends, were able to be at Glenn's bedside when he passed away in the early afternoon of October 16th. His final hours were relatively peaceful; he had trouble breathing, but he was unconscious for most of the night and the following morning. Two more of Nathan's brothers (Ryan and Evan) spent the day driving to Arizona as well, but unfortunately made it into town a few hours after Glenn passed away. Ryan's wife Judy, and his son Cameron, arrived a few hours after that. The final two brothers (Grant and Blake) arrived together about a day later.

Nathan's family is not always close; in fact, as Glenn's health was failing earlier this year, there were some arguments and some hurt feelings between a few family members. Luckily, those feelings were mostly put aside for this weekend together, and everyone got along very well. There was a lot of laughing, sharing, golfing, eating, and drinking. Well, not all of us drank...Nathan and I, being the boring Mormons we are, mostly sat and watched as a fair amount of alcohol was consumed. However, I was happy when I saw that the drinking was a way for the family to bond and relax, and numb their grief somewhat. It actually made me a tiny bit jealous that I wasn't able to "blur my emotional edges" in the same way (but don't tell my bishop!).

Through all of this, I was left amazed at what an awesome, thoughtful, caring, hardworking husband I have. I love Nathan so much, and I was so proud at how well he handled all the arrangements for the service without totally losing his cool. I spent the week feeling somewhat emotionally separated from my husband...but I did not begrudge him that time. Nathan was able to bond with his family more than he has in quite a while. He kept his mind very focused on the memorial service, and he put it together in a way that was tasteful, timely, and in keeping with his father's wishes. He was able to be there for his mother, supporting her emotionally and helping her make decisions big and small. He wrote an absolutely beautiful eulogy, which he delivered perfectly at the service. I was left somewhat in awe of his amazing speaking skills, and his poise throughout everything. I hope I can do half as well when I lose one of my parents (which hopefully won't happen for a while!).

The other big thing that stood out to me over that long weekend was how wonderful and supportive our LDS ward members were...and how supportive Glenn & Sandy's country club members were as well! Technically, Nathan's parents live in a neighboring ward's boundaries, but they are better known in our own ward, since when they came to church, it was always with us. From the day of Glenn's death, we had people calling, dropping by flowers or food, or otherwise offering their services. Several members of our ward cooked large dinners (for 10+ adults), sometimes on very short notice. Two friends of mine willingly juggled their busy schedules to come help me perform an instrumental musical number at the service. Several other friends participated in another musical number...an all-male chorus singing the hymn "The Day Dawn Is Breaking" in Spanish ("El alba ya rompe," a favorite of Glenn's). Many of these men had to take the morning off work last-minute to participate, yet they did so gladly, and the results were wonderful.

Throughout that whole weekend, I had many people volunteer to baby-sit, run errands, and do many other things. To think Nathan and I had just a week ago been dwelling on how our friendships were fading away! Perhaps, the Lord was reminding us of how blessed we truly are and how many people really do care for us. Besides all the other feelings swirling around us that weekend, the feeling that we were loved and supported by so many was humbling and gratifying.

On the Green Valley side of things, we were thrilled to see so many people reach out their hands in service, love, and friendship. Glenn and Sandra are very active members of their country club (in fact, Glenn was the treasurer of the HOA for a long time), and many of the country club members were quick to rush to Sandra's side. They provided just as many meals as the members of our ward, and they called regularly. Since Glenn's passing, Sandra has been contacted several times a week by their local friends, and invited out to several activities. At the memorial service, the country club members probably made up about 75% of the attendees...and there were more than 100 people present! Seeing that closeness and support was inspiring to Nathan and I; it reinforced our belief that Sandra is in the right place right now, and that she will have the support of many friends for a long time to come.

My own role at the memorial service was not too involved; I gave a short talk on God's Plan of Salvation, and on our church's belief in the resurrection. Without becoming too technical, I spoke on Jesus Christ and His role in our being reunited with our loved ones after our mortal lives have ended. I was very nervous about speaking at an event like this, but I think the Lord helped me muddle through without making too many mistakes. Besides that, I performed an arrangement of the hymn "Come Follow Me" (it was a flute duet with piano accompaniment); I also think the Lord buoyed me up and helped me through this number as well.

At the country club luncheon afterwards, all the other siblings got their chance to take the microphone and share some of their most special memories with their father. It was a fun occasion and a good opportunity to hear some more "Glenn stories." After that luncheon, Nathan spent much of the rest of the week with his family, but he also got to hear a lot of feedback from the country club members about the memorial service. It was gratifying to hear that the service was a positive experience for everyone. One person even told Nathan, "I'm not a believer...but this service made me want to be a Mormon." Many others commented that it was one of the finest memorial services they had ever attended. Some complimented me on my talk (whew, I'm glad some people liked it!), many people (rightfully) complimented Nathan on his amazing eulogy, and many others commented on the beauty & tastefulness of the stake center.

Overall, Nathan and I were grateful the LDS church made such a positive impression, and that it was so helpful to us during this difficult time. Nathan's family took note of it as well; a few of his brothers, more than once that weekend, commented that "the Mormons are just so organized and helpful." I think all the support may have startled them a little bit, since they have been inactive for many years and aren't really involved in church culture. Who knows? Perhaps this memorial service helped a lot of people see the church in a new light this month, and maybe the good feelings there will open doors for missionary efforts in the future. At the very least, we were grateful that everyone felt the comforting presence of the Holy Spirit, and were brought closer to Christ. I know I was!

Our Fall Break 2014: The Highlights

 Our Fall Break this year was a little bit of this and a little bit of that...nothing super new or revelatory (with one exception that I'll get to shortly). We managed to stay busy, and I managed to keep the kids mostly amused throughout their break from school. Here are some of the highlights.

This year, General Conference weekend kicked off our Fall Break. For my non-Mormon friends, General Conference is the twice-yearly broadcast from Salt Lake City, in which the leaders of our church deliver several talks on a variety of spiritual topics. In years past, we would have friends over to watch some of the conference sessions on our television. We'd cook a big breakfast for everyone, we'd have activities for the kids...a good time would be had by all. As our kids are growing older, we are more often watching General Conference with only our family, so as to minimize distractions and increase reverence. Hopefully, our girls will gradually come to understand that each General Conference is not a chore to be endured, but an opportunity to hear the words of living prophets and receive inspired counsel for our own lives.

We often have a hard time catching all the Saturday sessions, since other activities are happening at the same time...like our twice-yearly community-wide yard sale! Before the General Conference session started, I was able to sneak out and buy a few early Christmas presents for the girls (including clothes, toys, a few old Wii games, and even a nice kids' bike for Aurora!). After that, I returned home for the remainder of the broadcasts...and for a yummy breakfast casserole Nathan had made.

It was my turn to cook on Sunday morning, when Nathan took Lorelai to our meetinghouse. We've decided that as each of our daughters turns eight years old, they will go to the church building with Nathan to watch the Sunday morning broadcast, dressed in their Sunday best. Hopefully that will be a good reminder for them that General Conference is still a "church" meeting, even if it is broadcast from far away. Having two fewer people in the house makes for a slightly more mellow viewing experience; I was able to make cinnamon rolls for everyone...

...and practice my "girl" skills by braiding Celeste & Aurora's hair.

 

The braiding forced Celeste & Aurora to hold still and listen while the president of the church, Thomas S. Monson, was speaking. Hmmm...perhaps this will be a tactic I always use in the future! The braids turned out okay, too.

All in all, it was a wonderful General Conference weekend. Maybe it's because my kids are getting more manageable, but I was able to listen to and appreciate way more of the talks than usual. It gave me a much-needed spiritual boost.

Much of the rest of our week involved shopping for one thing or another. This year, I'd sworn I wouldn't buy the girl's Halloween costumes; instead, I'd make them myself. So of course, all of them decided they wanted to be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle characters. Yeesh. This meant a lot of running from store to store, buying up little bits & pieces of what would eventually become their homemade ninja costumes. On one hand, I got to visit Hobby Lobby for the first time...yay! On the other, I probably ended up spending about as much money on costume-making supplies as I did on buying pre-made costumes last year. Sigh. Oh well; at least I'd have a fun project for the next few weeks! I'll talk more about the costumes in a later post.

The girls and I also had a few more mundane errands; we bought some new clothes and shoes; we took a trip to CostCo, the bank and the tire store, and other such exciting stuff. We fed the missionaries dinner one night, and we took Lorelai for her yearly physical. Oh, what fun! I did manage to take the girls to Pump It Up, the inflatable jumping castle party place, but it wasn't the best experience. The kids all tired out quickly, and a couple of their friends who'd come along got hurt bumping into some other kids. Sadly, it seemed the kids were the most excited about staying home and watching television. I hope I am not raising a bunch of TV addicts!

Oh yeah, I also taught a few piano lessons throughout the week, and I finally got my salsa canned for the year!

This year, we didn't have time to go to Apple Annie's to get fresh-picked tomatoes & peppers; I had to buy them from the grocery store. The salsa turned out fine, but I suspect it won't have the strong, distinctive flavor that my salsa has when we use the fresh-picked ingredients. Hopefully next year we can make it a priority to go to Apple Annie's; it was a trip we all missed taking this year! But at least now I have something to put on top of my tortilla chips & burritos for the next several months. If anyone is interested in trying out my salsa recipe, you can find it here.

Despite its modest beginning, Fall Break ended with a bang on Friday October 10th! To start things off, we met up with Nathan downtown, where he got off early from work. Then we all went together to get lunch at Tucson Meet Yourself, the cultural festival that takes place downtown every fall.

We have been to Tucson Meet Yourself for three years running now, and it is always lots of fun! We love to try out the obscure cuisine that is scattered throughout the festival. This year, we tried some Iranian chicken skewers & rice as a warm-up dish.

 

We did have a few "repeat purchases" of last year; the girls were obsessed with the steamed Chinese buns stuffed with barbecue pork, so they each had two of those...

Nathan and I tried to get a little more adventurous with our meals; I had a Bosnian gyro-style sausage sandwich...

 

...while Nathan went to the Filipino booth and got a huge (and cheap!) plate of rice & meat; it was seriously delicious!

Then, since the day was hot, we decided to buy a couple of aguas frescas on the way back to the car, to wash it all down.

We bought a watermelon drink and a mango drink. Both were incredibly fresh-tasting and delicious. It was the perfect way to cap off our meal!

After this came the most exciting, daring (for us) part of our Fall Break; we were going camping! By ourselves! We'd already been camping once this year (at Lake Patagonia); we'd also gone up to socialize during the ward camp-out, but chickened out and went home early. At that time, we'd promised the girls that yes, we would do one more overnight camp-out sometime this year. Now it was time to make good on that promise, in whatever way we could.

Before going to Tucson Meet Yourself, I'd spent the whole morning (and much of the evening before) packing up our stuff and getting the car loaded. Nathan had bought a bunch of yummy meat from a local Hispanic food store, and some nice friends lent us a camp stove. Our initial plan was to drive up Madera Canyon and get into one of the limited campsites there. No such luck! Every site was filled once we reached the campground. The girls (and myself) were discouraged, but Nathan had an idea; we would go find a campsite somewhere else nearby.

Several years ago, Nathan had camped with a friend in Gardner Canyon, a location on the east side of the Santa Rita Mountains. Getting there required another hour of driving, much of it on an unpaved dirt road. It was very loud, dusty and bumpy, and at one point, I ran over a six-foot rattlesnake that was stretched clear across the road. It was quite the adventure. The kids were skeptical, but Nathan appeared to know where we were going.

In the end, we didn't drive too far up the canyon. We found an empty campground and gratefully nabbed it. However, this was the most primitive campsite our family had ever used before! There was no water (thankfully we brought a lot of water with us), no picnic table, and no restrooms! Nathan was okay with this (of course), but the girls were mortified. They would have to pee where?!?!

Behold! The pee tree

It was pretty difficult to convince all the girls to use the "pee tree" at first, but eventually they all managed it. It is probably the thing they will remember the most about camping here. They didn't enjoy it much, but I suspect it will make a good story to tell their friends about in the future.

Despite the lack of amenities, it was a quiet, peaceful campground. We got the tent up without too much trouble, and the girls and I took a short walk along the dry riverbed located a short distance from our campsite.

One minus to finding a campsite "on the fly" the way we did is that we didn't have time to investigate for any nearby hiking trails. We were only able to do this short walk, and that was pretty much it! Hopefully next time we go as a family, we'll be a little better prepared for what awaits us. But the girls and I did get to see a deer dart along our path (it ran away quickly, because we were being too noisy, of course). And I found this random knife that some hunter probably left behind long ago:

At least our dinner was fantastic! Nathan grilled the marinated carne asada, and we ate it with tortillas, pico de gallo, and homemade spiced refried beans. So delicious! We all ate until we were filled.

 

 

 

And I even managed to cook some apple crisp in our campfire; it also turned out very nicely!

After putting the kids to bed, Nathan and I sat by our fire's dying embers and talked with each other for a while, admiring the stars. Unfortunately, much of our conversation turned towards both of us feeling lonely and isolated these days. Some of those feelings come from friends moving away, or from us drifting apart from our other friends for one reason or another. The huge influx of new members of our LDS ward has left us feeling a little out of touch and "old." Another cause for our feelings of isolation is likely our growing family; raising our kids has sucked away much of our free time and we don't socialize as much as we used to. Both Nathan and I are in a "transitional" phase of our lives, when we are re-orienting ourselves and filling new roles we don't always feel comfortable with yet.

Our feelings that night were probably exacerbated by our quiet, isolated location (even though another family eventually set up camp at the adjoining campground). There's nothing like sitting out under a deep, black, starry sky to make one feel somewhat insignificant. However, despite our somewhat downer conversation, I found it a peaceful, spiritually calming experience. I love looking at the stars, and I realized that before that trip, I hadn't done it for quite a while! In retrospect, it was probably nice for our family to have a little "alone time," since Nathan's dad would pass away in less than a week's time and our family's schedule would be turned upside down for the rest of the month.

After crawling into the tent, we had a (mostly) warm night of sleep. For some reason, Lorelai had to get up and "visit the pee tree" several times, poor thing...she is usually very good at sleeping through the night! However, we all survived and made it to the morning, where another warm fire and delicious meal awaited us!

 

Nathan was really great at doing all the cooking on this camping trip. He is not often an enthusiastic camper, but he was a great help this time around and he seemed to really enjoy his role as cook and tent-pitcher.

We didn't stay too long the following morning, since there wasn't a whole lot to do at the campsite, but the girls and I did go take a short walk along the nearby road:

Our clean-up didn't take too long, and before long we were on our way home. Even though we got home by mid-morning, we crashed hard and stayedat home for the majority of that Saturday. Yes, we are wimps when it comes to camping! However, we still felt pretty proud of ourselves. This was the first time our family had camped completely on our own, without another family to "bail us out" when we encountered a setback. We survived, ate well, and had a pretty good time together. Even though it wasn't the longest camping trip, I still call it a win! It was a satisfying way to end our Fall Break.

Wrapping Up September: Fiesta Sahuarita and Women's Broadcast 2014

Well, time to crank out a bunch of blog posts, seeing as how I'm about a month behind! This month has been nuts and it's not over yet (Halloween is this week...eek!), but I'll try to spend the next few weeks putting out a blog post here and there. Including this super short one!

As is always the case, the last Saturday of September was the date for our town's big annual anniversary celebration. Our kids really enjoy going to Fiesta Sahuarita every year, especially because the event now includes an outdoor inflatable water park. There are so many other things to do at this party (food, shows, rides, booths, presentations), but it seems like more and more often, we just end up staying at the water park for the majority of the afternoon.

Nathan brought a book, sat down in a corner, and read for a while as the girls ran around at the water park having their fun. I went down the super-huge slide with the two older girls, but mostly I just supervised as they had their fun.

We did manage to fit in a quick ride for Celeste & Aurora on the Ferris wheel on our way out of the fiesta a couple of hours later...

That same night (as is also always the case), the LDS Church's General Women's Meeting was being broadcast in our local meetinghouse. Lorelai and I had to hurry home, throw on dresses, and zip over to the church. We missed the first talk, but managed to catch the rest. It has been a nice experience having my oldest daughter along for these broadcasts. Although she is still a little young to understand everything she's hearing, I hope she will eventually come to anticipate these meetings for the spiritual feeding we receive from them.

That about did it for our September! As you will soon see, our October was nuts.

Vigil For Glenn Barrett

I haven't blogged as much as I'd like this year, for a number of reasons. One of the biggest reasons is my father-in-law's failing health, and now his imminent passing.

I'm still awake, very late on a Wednesday night; the kids are asleep upstairs. Nathan isn't home with me; he's at his parent's house in Green Valley, keeping vigil with his mother as Glenn Barrett, his father (my father-in-law) slowly passes from our world into the next. We have known this moment was coming for more than three years now, but still it has caught Nathan and I off-guard this week. We are still coming to grips with what is happening.

At this writing (to the best of my knowledge), Glenn is resting comfortably, though he is not very lucid; the morphine and the respiratory problems keep him in a fog. Sitting here in front of the computer, far from the "action," I feel lonely, soul-sick, and terribly worried about my family. Nathan has been very strong and positive over the last several months, but his father's quick decline in the last month has hit him hard, and he is struggling to keep it together. My heart aches even more for my amazing mother-in-law, Sandra; she and Glenn have been inseparable for their 42 years of marriage, and this impending separation could be very difficult for her.

We are all sorrowful tonight; it was very hard to take the girls to Grandma & Grandpa's house to say goodbye. Lorelai in particular has been crying most of the night, and was very shaken to see Grandpa in a bedridden state. All the girls were a little afraid of him. Aurora didn't fully understand what was happening, which was particularly sad in its own way. Each of them got a chance to give Grandpa a goodbye kiss. At one point, after Celeste leaned in for a hug, Glenn roused himself briefly, and his eyes lit up with joy and recognition to see his beloved granddaughters. It was a very sweet moment, and I'm so grateful he was able to see them there. I hope that is a memory that will bring him some comfort in the time to come.

At times like this, I wish I could be more than just the one who "takes care of the kids." I wish I could provide meals, transportation, even a shoulder to cry on...anything. Perhaps in the near future, I will have that opportunity. At this point, all I can do is wait for that phone call I know will soon come...the call that will announce the next stage of the Barrett family's existence. Until then, our focus just gets narrower and narrower, counting each ragged breath, wondering how many are left.

Ironically, I am not sure if I've ever mentioned Glenn's health issues before on the family blog...and tonight, I'm too tired & strung out to bother checking. So I'll try to make a long story short...especially because Nathan will want to write about this in greater detail later, when he has time:

Glenn & Sandra planned to move down to Green Valley, AZ, as early as 2007, when they bought their first vacation home here. They would eventually buy three more homes, most of which they rented out for snowbirds. When Glenn finally retired for good in October of 2009, they moved to Arizona and became year-round residents. It was a nice change to have family close by; we hadn't lived this close to family members since 2002, when we still lived in Utah.

Besides the free babysitting (which was always nice!), Glenn & Sandra were always quick to offer good advice or help whenever it was needed. Without them, we wouldn't have been able to purchase the wonderful home in which we live. I will always be grateful for the many, many ways in which they have helped Nathan and myself. Plus, it has been wonderful to get to know them as people and grow closer to them.

In April of 2011, Glenn noticed some blood in his urine. He didn't worry too much about it because he otherwise felt quite healthy. However, he did go in for an appointment with a urologist just to be safe. His world (and ours) was turned upside down when the doctor diagnosed him with stage IV renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer, in layman's terms). He was initially given months to live. We were all stunned and saddened. Glenn, however, stayed mostly positive; he showed great perspective by focusing on all the wonderful blessings and opportunities he'd had throughout his life. His attitude is one I hope to have myself should I ever face similar bleak news.

Fortunately, Glenn has been blessed with more time than we originally thought he'd have. He was put on some newer drugs, in the hope of arresting the cancer's growth without resorting to chemotherapy. The drug, named Sutent, worked better than anyone had expected. The cancer shrunk significantly, to the point where Glenn was able to have the infected kidney removed. He remained on the drug for two more years, and remained in pretty good health the whole time. He and Sandy were able to travel out of state for a few short vacations, and keep up their usual golf & recreation regimen.

This spring, X-rays found new cancerous growths developing in Glenn's body, this time near his lungs and spine. Although the Sutent had worked well for a time, the cancer had unfortunately found a way to "work around" it. A few more medications were tried this summer, most of which left Glenn feeling very ill and dejected. Last week, he went in for what was his final MRI, to determine if any of the medications had been effective in stopping the cancer. Sadly, they hadn't. He was put on hospice care and will hopefully end his life peacefully, surrounded by his loving wife, son and friends. A few more of Nathan's siblings are on their way; I hope they make it down here in time.

I am going to let Nathan fill you in on the details of my father-in-law's life; suffice it to say, I have grown to love and respect him very much. When Nathan and I were first engaged, I was pretty intimidated by him; he seemed very gruff and sarcastic, and even a little profane (of course, I was living in Utah when I first got acquainted with him, so any swearing felt a bit extreme). With time, however, I came to see how wise, humorous, and compassionate he was. As our family grew, I loved seeing Glenn's eyes light up with bemusement whenever he'd spend time with our energetic little girls. He is a great man, and I am lucky to have known him and to have married one of his children. Nathan owes so much of who he is to his father, and I won't ever forget that.

At times like this, I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't pretend to understand all of God's will, or the workings of the universe. However, my testimony of the plan of salvation is firm. I know that we existed as spirit beings before coming to this earth, and I know that our spirits live on after our physical bodies die. Best of all, I know we will one day be resurrected into a perfected, healthy physical body again. Thanks to Jesus Christ and his resurrection, our opportunity for immortality has been secured. We will live again, and we will be reunited with loved ones someday. This perspective helps me see our mortal lives as one small step in an eternal journey. At times it may seem painful, but I know these sufferings are small compared to the joy that awaits us. I will miss Glenn very much, but I know we will meet again.