Grandpa and Greta

At 10:00 this morning Abe and his six brothers and his mother went to the mortuary to dress their father's body for burial.
At 11:45 this morning, my girls and I got Greta dressed in her blessing dress.

And that's life.  There is much celebrating and rejoicing when we welcome new spirits into our lives.  There is sorrow and grieving when we say goodbye to those we love so well.  That is as it should be.

We were planning to bless Greta in our home ward in October, but we changed plans when we realized we could do it up in Spokane with the entire Fox family (minus one missionary in the Dominican Republic).  

Our wonderful friend Barbara crocheted Greta's dress.  I loved it so much.  Greta was a perfect little angel and Abe gave a most beautiful blessing.  I've said it before, but baby blessing days are among my absolute favorite days of my life, and this was no exception.  Rather, laced with the sadness of the last week, it has been even more tender and special and memorable.

She is joy.

She is a gift to our family from a loving Heavenly Father.  

A baby is such a comfort during sad times.

It sometimes catches me off guard when I see a picture of our whole family.  First of all because we aren't just a family of little kids-- there are a lot of big people now!

And secondly because there are so many of us!  That might not make sense-- I gave birth to them... how would I not realize how many of us there are?

I suppose I know each person in our family so well-- as individuals, that I don't see our kids as just a big group of people.  I know Clark, and I know Bethany.  I know Elinor, and Faith.  I know Cannon, George, and Peter.  So when I see them all grouped together, I realize, WOW! that is a lot of people.

To me, that explains why Grandpa Fox loved so many people so well.  We weren't just a big group, we were individuals that he knew personally.

Stuart, our patient photographer humored us as we did outdoor and indoor pictures.

When Abe returned to his seat after giving Greta the blessing, he was very emotional.  He expressed his gratitude for his father, in that, without his parents' love of their grandchildren, we might not have had as many children as we do.  We never felt pressured to have a large family, but they did teach us the joy of family.  They showed us there was no greater joy in their life than their children.  They genuinely celebrated announcements of pregnancies and births.  They wept with us when we lost a baby.  Grandpa Fox called me up in the days following Greta's birth saying he'd been thinking about me and he just wanted to express his happiness and joy that she was here. He was practically gushing!  It meant so much to me that this man who already had 56 other grandchildren would have such enthusiasm for our ninth baby.   

Grandpa never got to meet Greta in this world.  He was planning a trip down to Utah for a planned blessing in October.  I have no worries on that count-- they'll have the eternities to get to know one another, where love will not be diminished-- rather exponentially magnified.  He will have influence from beyond the grave and this great patriarch will bless his family from the other side.

For days like today, when the veil is so thin, you can just about reach through and touch those you've loved and temporarily lost, I am grateful.

For the love of eternal families, I am grateful.

For the priesthood power to bless our lives from the beginning to the end, I am grateful.

For the gospel of Jesus Christ that makes it all possible, I am grateful.