"To mourn with those that mourn..."

And comfort those who stand in need of comfort."

Beautiful words,

Part of the covenant we make at Baptism.

How do we "mourn for those that mourn, comfort those who stand in need of comfort?"

I witnessed many examples of people who did this very thing for Spencer and Kim and their family this past week.  All of us who love this family, and grieve with them for the loss of their little girl, have been compelled to offer comfort in our own individual ways:

* Buying/wearing pink ties
* Rushing to Spencer and Kim's side from North Salt Lake, Bountiful, California, Italy, Arizona, the Book Cliffs, and the Divorce court

* Catching up and keeping up the laundry of a grieving family

* Bleach, wash, and press the white shirts of four brothers who just lost their sister
* Clean and vacuum Lily's room, put away her clean clothes, put sheets on her bed

* Sewing a dress for Lily

* Making bead bracelets with Lily's name to give to family members to wear

* Dinners

* Coolers full of drinks

* Flowers, letters, notes

* Framed pencil sketch of Lily

* Framed photos of Lily

* Lovely display tables 

* Video of Lily's life

* Singing for Lily

* Prepared luncheon for the family, which included a lot of Kim's favorite dishes

* White Balloons and sidewalk chalk

* Silver Lily flower tie tacks for the boys, pendant for Kim

* Handmade pink bows for all the girl cousins, matching ones for Lily and Gemma

* A potted Lily plant delivered to the house in the early morning hours

* Donated money

* Lots of hugs, whispers of love, support, prayers

* Attendance at viewing and funeral
* Careful explanations to the children, beautiful presentation of God's Plan of Salvation
* Powerful testimony of God's love and knowledge of each of His children

* Cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming the floors

* Floral spray for Lily's casket

* Floral arrangements for the family dinner

* Cute table cloths and beautiful arrangement of food at family dinner
* Beautifully prepared program for the funeral service
* Recording the funeral program and documenting with pictures
* Cards, letters, emails, facebook posts
* Handmade cards from classmates
* Handling of business affairs/insurance
* Rolling down the hill with the little cousins during the viewing
* Pink ribbons tied to the front yard trees

These are just a small sample of comfort I saw being offered.  Everything was done with love and with hearts turned to the Spencer Mordue family.

I discovered a very interesting fact:  we all have talents and abilities that we have been blessed with that we in turn can use to bless others.

Which in turn comes right back to bless us and help bring us peace.

As quoted from Yogi Berra at Lily's funeral:

"The main thing is to keep the MAIN thing the main thing."

Lily Ann

Gemma and Lily Ann

Our Little Princesses

My heart is full, even while it is hurting.  Our family has experienced many mercies from a loving Father in Heaven in the days following the passing of our darling niece, Lily Ann.  I feel an urgency and desire to record some of the little miracles, while acknowledging that many surrounding this event are very sacred and private.  Over the course of the past few days, our family and Lily's family have felt the outpouring of love, compassion, and comfort of many who are on the errand of angels.  This morning, while watching the morning session of General Conference, we as a family once again knew that our Father in Heaven is watching over us as we listened to the beautiful Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing "Consider the Lilies," the song that Soni will sing tomorrow for Lily.  It didn't escape our notice, either, that the women of the choir were dressed in pink...the color that all of us are going to wear in honor of Lily at her funeral service.

Birthday Boy

My patriarchal blessing states that I will have "sons and daughters," and so after three girls I held out for one more chance at a son.  When my baby Ashley arrived in all of her unmistakable feminine glory, I had a revelation:  someone else was raising my sons, and I would know and love them when they married my four beautiful daughters.  Happy Birthday to son #1--I admire and love you for many different reasons, Covey, but most of all because you love my daughter.  Thank you for taking such good care of her. We love you!