100 years "old"

today, if he were still with us, my grandfather joseph would have been 100 years old. one hundred. and what a legacy he's left behind. one of the proudest moments of my life was being able to name my first born son after him and watching him now, looking just like him, with that same fiery temper, is more than just a freaky co-incidence.

to celebrate we had a j party at jared and donna's place over the weekend. all our j's are born in an 8 day period... starting with joseph on the 20th, jared on the 21st, grandad joseph on the 24th and jared david on the 27th. how's that?! mum even made this epic 100th birthday cake and brought it out for everyone to enjoy after dinner. (and it was delicious, oh my gosh.)

i often wonder what i would say to grandad if i had the opportunity to see him and chat. i hope he's watching over us and proud of what we do. i am forever grateful for eternal families and look forward to the sweet reunion we will get to experience one day, because he is still, after all this time, 100% my favourite family member. 

 

sundays are for family

sundays are for family... so sometimes that means driving to pinnaroo valley after church to see poppy steve. i love that the kids still talk about him so much and hope that doesn't go away as i want alex to know him like the others do. they rake the leaves off of his grave, chat to him and always look for flowers that don't have a grave to put with him.

we miss him so much even though we know he is safe, so being near him is good for all of us.

a family is forever - and we are making sure ours will be. 

a day of remembrance

today we had an amazingly beautiful ward activity/ service project at the karrakatta cemetery, a day of remembrance, honouring those who have gone before us. organised by one of the councillors in the relief society in our ward. it was such a beautiful morning, we met at the cemetery in the latter-day saints section and had a brief service with a speaker and two short musical items, followed by us giving service. we cleaned and weeded the graves, placed small floral tributes on them and the youth from our ward photographed each headstone to upload them to the billion graves website, assisting with the family history of future generations.

it was such a lovely, touching morning and i was so glad to be a part of it... here's hoping it becomes an annual event. ♥