Breaking the Rules Part Two

I have to catch up on the rest of our little trip before school.  A few days before we were scheduled to head to the cabin, we received word that Glenn’s Grandma Roper passed away.  We absolutely love Grandma Roper and already miss her.  We felt very lucky that we were able to stay with her when we went to Arizona in February and then we were able to see her again during our trip to Utah in July, just a few weeks before she died.  It created some recent and good memories of Grandma for the kids and for Glenn and me.

So, without hesitation we planned to forego our trip to the mountains for the funeral.  The cabin owners were able to shift our stay by a day so we only really lost one day of our cabin vacation  for our trip to Utah for the funeral, which was very nice.

The drive was long, particularly since we had just made the drive a few weeks before, but very worth it.  The funeral reminded me of the importance of family and just how much Grandma Roper loved the promises and blessings that come from being sealed in the temple.  She loved the temple.  She was so full of joy when we saw her in February when we went to Arizona for the Gilbert Temple open house.  She loved having a temple so close even though she was no longer physically able to serve there.  It gave me a desire to attend the temple more often and with greater purpose and I was filled with gratitude for our Savior, Jesus Christ, and his Atonement that makes the promise of eternal families possible.

Grandma and Grandpa Roper were great people.  They loved their family members.  From the time I married Glenn, they immediately made me feel welcome and like part of the family.  I loved how straightforward Grandma Roper was in the things she said.  She was so willing to honestly express what she thought, which was refreshing to me.  Besides that, Grandma Roper was one of the only people who reads this blog, so I’ll miss knowing that she’s out there reading what I write!  She was always so up to date on what was going on in our kids’ lives because she faithfully read this blog.  I loved seeing her and hearing her ask all the kids about the stuff that she knew they were involved in.  It always made them feel so important.

The summer I was pregnant with Derek, Grandma and Grandpa Roper let us live in their house in Phoenix while Glenn worked for a law firm there.  We loved living in their home and appreciated their kindness and generosity to us.  We also loved having them close when Derek was born in Utah!

I am grateful that I was able to know Glenn’s Roper grandparents!    I’m also glad that our kids were able to have a relationship with them.  They are great examples to our family and we will miss them!