New Years' Eve

This year for New Years we decided to start a new tradition.  New Years Day happens to be Grant's Dad (Larry) birthday.  Larry died when Grant was young and as a result Grant doesn't have really any memories of him.  Fortunately for us a lot was kept and preserved of his life which included two scrapbooks Grant's mom put together.  The evening started out with Grant and I looking over the scrapbooks, reading the letters, and looking at the pictures.  The kids were happily entertained in the office.  It was really neat to look over the stuff, to read about Larry and to learn who is was.  I really enjoyed reading about his character, the things Larry enjoyed doing, and the funny things he said.

After Grant and I poured over the scrapbooks we marked a few pages that we wanted to share with the kids.  We started out by explaining who Larry was and the relationship he has to them.  We talked about Eternal Families and the blessings of being sealed in the Temple.  We showed the kids pictures of him and we recounted stories from his life.  It was a special night for our family.  After the scrapbook presentation we decorated the cupcakes we made in honor of Larry's birthday.  We enjoyed our cupcakes with sparkling apple juice and we each said something that we wanted to accomplish in 2013.

I learned somethings that I didn't expect to learn.  As we read about Larry I realized I was reading about Grant.  The values, goals, desires, and ambitions that Larry held dear are the very things I see in Grant.  With this realization I learned although Larry may be gone from us physically he is still with us in his children.  I also learned of the great importance it is for me to teach our children the same values and character traits Larry possessed so his legacy and life will continue on for many generations.  I guess that is the whole meaning behind Family History.  I was not blessed with meeting Larry in this life and although I don't know much about him, in the end I do because I know Grant.

I think I can confidently say Larry was present during our celebration and I am sure he got a kick out of us celebrating his birthday.