Among the special joys of growing older is the privilege of observing the parenting skills of our own children and their families. We feel extraordinarily blessed to have a large posterity ( 25 grand children). We are happy that all of our children have wonderful spouses and that they work together to teach and raise their children. Each has a little different style of parenting and I cannot help but wonder to what extent our parenting mistakes and perhaps our successes have influenced the way our children now that they are adults raising their own families. I'm sure each of you can look back at times in your life and say: "I'm not going to do this or that the way Mom and Dad did." At least I hope that is the case, because we certainly made our share of mistakes and have our personal shortcomings, which no doubt exhibited themselves as we were raising our own family. At the same time we hope that we did a few things right and in some small way helped guide you in the right paths and that you find joy in accepting the challenges of parenthood just as we have over the years. Being a grandparent is in many ways different from being a parent, but the joy is still there and the love we have for our grandchildren is much the same as it was for our own children, except that it is multiplied several times and we feel like we are a little less positioned to have the consistent influence we had on our own. There are, of course, pros and cons to this circumstance.
This week has been one in which we have had cause to reflect, and to rejoice in the love each of our children has for their own children, how supportive they are, how they love to see their own children participate, and how they truly enjoy spending time with own kids.
Below are just a couple of photos, which brought joy to our hearts this past week. Unfortunately, I know we missed similar moments with every grandchild. There is one thing I have never been able to learn, and that his how to be in multiple places at one time. Maybe some day. In the meantime we do what we reasonably can.
We went down to Ogden to the Region Five cross country meet. Addison is in his senior year at Mountain Crest High School and has had a very good season this year. He is among the best on his team and qualified to go to the state tournament in SLC next week. This picture was taken shortly after the race. Addison is getting congratulatory hugs from his younger siblings. We got to the fair grounds in Ogden where the race was to be held a little bit early. After a while we noted two kids running towards us across the field. Alison and Ammon had arrived in support of Addison. Avery and Ada were the first to see us and came running to us like they were really glad to see us, and of course we were glad to see them too.
Saturday morning Ryan called and said he was going fly fishing. Did I want to come along? Of course, I wanted to and had no conflicting interests at the moment so we were off. The beautiful fall weather stimulated my soul. The fresh air invigorated my mind. The fishing was good for me, great for Ryan.. We enjoyed the afternoon together. I took this picture as we were walking along the trail near the lake, Ryan and his boys. I couldn't help but think of he word "Fatherhood". Certainly this is a big part of what fatherhood is all about, being out in nature where you can think and talk without interruption. Where you can learn to truly feel the Father's presence and where your own have your undivided attention.
To all of you who share these kinds of special moments with us, we say thank you, and God bless you always.
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