Goodbye, Ginny

After a long, long, long time of being sick from cancer, my sister passed away 2 weeks ago. It was harder than I thought it would be, since she has been hoping for it to come for many months. She was told in March that she had 3 months to live. Cancer is a merciless disease. One day in June, she went into a coma, and even the doctor said she had hours to live...but nope, she came out of it and back to sinking slowly. I went to stay with her every few weeks. She was always happy to see me, and tried to be attentive to me. I was there a few weeks ago, and she was very weak. She kept falling asleep. I would be jabbering on, and when I would see her dozing, I would try to leave the room. She would say, "I'm not asleep!" She just wanted me to be there with her.

Ginny will be remembered as a great friend to many. She was a master letter writer. One of her church jobs was to keep track of the Young Adults in her ward, and she was writing to 65 of them!

Ginny had a bucket list unlike most. Here are some of the things that were on it: Write out the stories that she had been telling her children and grandchildren. Make valances for the windows so that Jim wouldn't have to worry about that. (I'm sure that really would have worried him). All the girl grandkids had a dress made by grandma, except Lila, so make a dress for Lila. Finish her journal. Everything on her list was something that she wanted to do for someone else.

Ginny was ready to learn some things that can't be answered here. She never said "Why me?", and was always sure of where she was going. I am so thankful for the example of my sister. She lived well, and she died well. Thanks for your life, I will miss you!

Blessing and Baptism

We have had an eventful two days! The first was the baptism of our first grandchild, Sophie. We truly feel like she is our miracle. Born 3 months early at 1 lb. 12 oz., we weren't sure if she would make it. This picture is of her with a beanie baby to show how small she was.

Now here she is 8 years later, healthy, happy, and baptized! It was a wonderful day. DJ played a piece on the cello that he had arranged, and David gave a great talk about the Holy Ghost.
Sophie was baptized on the same day as her bff, Lilly.
Our second event in two days was the blessing of Amy and Rich's 4th child, Annie Ruth. While she was being blessed, I understand she was very content, looking around at the goings on. Richard gave a very nice blessing (as well as a wonderful blessing for Sophie).

After the blessing, she wasn't in a photo op mood, so this is what I got. She's still awfully cute!
Here is a four generation picture.
What a blessing it is to have children and grandchildren!

Our Friends are Sealed

We have been part time missionaries for almost 2 years now, and loving every minute of it. By far, the best thing of all happened yesterday.

In the summer of 2008, we got to meet the Ledesma family. The sister missionaries told us that they had a "golden family". They were right. By October, we helped with a wedding, and the next day the baptism of Andrea, Luis, and Tomas.

Through the next year we saw both sucess and trials for this family. Luis lost his job shortly after being baptized, but he said that he knew everything would be ok. One day during a priesthood meeting, a brother was putting the Catholic church down. Luis stood up. He didn't say anything for a while, just stood there. Finally, he said, "I joined this church because I know that this is the truth, but we should not be putting the Catholic church down." And calmly, he sat down. He wasn't afraid, even as a new member, to be bold.

Yesterday, we got to witness the sealing of the Ledesma family in the Salt Lake Temple. To see that family that we love, surrounding the alter of the temple was indescribable. The joy on their faces, the tears, those cute two boys in white...amazing!

Maybe today topped it off though. Andrea, who has always been afraid to speak in church, or even to give a prayer, bore her testimony. She spoke of the experience of the temple, of her love for her husband, children, and the gospel.

Amy Has 4!!!

Last Wednesday, Amy had her 4th baby, a little girl, 5 lbs. 11 oz., names Annie Ruth. Everything went well (for once), and everyone is doing great! Amy came home on Friday. The baby is another beauty! This adds the Hesterman grandbabies to 8! Sophie was so excited to hold the baby, she held her for at least an hour the first time at home. Carson and Cameron checked her out and then went on to do other things. Congratulations Amy and Rich!

May 2010 Trip to Florida/Georgia

Yep, I got to see my cute grandkids again! Ruby has changed the most. She is so adorable, I could hardly stand it! She is very easy going (How did Wendy get that kind of luck?) I was afraid that she wouldn't like me, but she seemed just fine with me holding her.
Here's the gang at what Wendy calls "the kiddie pool". It is very shallow, and the kids love to hang out there and play in the water.
Sally is as precocious as ever. Just like Emily, no one is a stranger. She wants to make friends with anyone near by.

Alice has changed a lot since last time. She says a lot of words. But my favorite thing is that she sings! She sings the "ABC song" in tune. It is so cute. A lot of the letters are not decipherable, but every once in a while one comes out.
Coleman is a sweety. He often comes up and says, "Grandma, I love you so much!" What could be better than that?


Just a few more...



Sally is taking a ballet class. They let me come in for the last 10 minutes. It is so cute to see them dancing!
I LOVE this picture!

Two People I Admire

I am in Logan for two very good reasons this week: to see my sister who has cancer, and doesn't have much time left on this earth, and to see my son play in his Sophmore cello recital.

It is both hard and easy to be with Ginny. She is such a good person, and even though this is incredibly hard, she looks to the good things. We play games, and talk and laugh about normal things. She talks about how it will be great to see mom and dad, and how she will soon be able to get answers to questions that she has. She speaks of her love for her family. There is no doubt in my mind that she knows that this life is not the end, and that she will be able to be with her family again. It is hard to see her becoming skinnier each time I see her, to see her belly swollen with a liquid that means that the cancer is continuing in her body, and to see her in pain. She is an inspiration to me, and I hope that I can become more like her.

DJ is playing in his first solo recital. He is such a great young man. Not only is he talented, he is fun to be around. He is very spiritual and thoughtful . He has been working hard with his cello, and I am proud and pleased with all that he is doing.

These are two people that I am so grateful to know and to be able to have in my life. I'm thankful to both for they ways that they have touched me!

For My Valentine

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and I have a wonderful Valentine...his name is David. Here are just a few reasons that I love him:
He NEVER makes me feel bad by criticizing, or telling me I'm too fat, too dumb, not smart enough to learn Spanish, or any other things that I sometimes tell myself.
He is always happy to see me when he comes home.
He has amazing energy for our mission work.
He is a wonderful father and grandfather.
He rubs my head when I have a headache (which is often).
He makes the bed.
He is smart.
He makes money so that we can have nice things.
He lets me be me.
He has nice hair.
He loves the gospel and shares it with others.
He always tell me he loves me.

There are many others, too. I am very blessed to have a mission companion who is also my best friend. I am thankful to have David as my Valentine!

Christmas with the Hesterman Gang-2009

For the first time in 4 years, all of the Hestermans were together for Christmas! We had such a great time, I was thrilled to have us all together.
The day after Wendy arrived, Terry invited us to come to his amazing place to enjoy the amenities.
Finally, we got the 4 siblings together for a picture!

When Sally saw Santa coming through the door, she jumped up and ran to him. It was so cute.
The kids got to decorate some Christmas ornaments.

The big kids got some foosball in.
Sally liked the bunny.
And grandma loved holding Ruby.

Then it was off for tubing.



The Lewis' luggage hadn't arrived, so we had to make do...Coleman is pretty stylish, huh?

Christmas day was awesome! To have Wendy's family, Emily's family, and DJ all there made it a wonderful morning.

After Christmas, we went and enjoyed the Christmas lights and spirit at Temple Square. We were all there, but DJ left early.
David worked it out so that we could spend 3 days at a lodge in Castle Valley. We turned into gunslinging, ATV and horse riding fools!
We had people wait on us, make our beds, and feed us. It was fantastic!!!
Emily put our name in the snow...this is the lodge where we stayed.


Everybody loved the ATVs, especially the boys.

I can't tell how happy I was to be taking pictures of my 4 kids.
We got to ride some horses, it was a first for a few of them.
All the grandkids together in their jammies, how cute are they???
Here are my darling little gun slingers!
To have all of our kids together was a dream come true. Sure, the house was a mess, there was always a kid or two sick or crying, but it was a wonderful thing to see all four of our kids enjoying each other. I will cherish this time together forever!