Saying good bye to a hero

We had the funeral for Brandon's Grandfather a few days ago. It was sad to say goodbye to such a wonderful man. I've never met anyone who loved his family more then Grandpa Brady did. He loved all of us so much and would send us each b-day cards (even my kids got them), anniversary cards, Christmas cards, and even a little holiday cash each year. He was amazing and he will be missed. I will miss his yearly peaches for me to can, I will miss his hugs, I will miss seeing him wave goodbye, I will miss having him call Brandon with his computer problems. I really do think that heaven lucked out when he got called back. I'm honored to have known such a wonderful grandpa.

Stanley Jay Brady

January 19, 2014 12:00 am

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Stanley Jay Brady
1923 2014
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:7)
Stanley Jay Brady quietly left this world Wednesday night, January 15, 2014, after suffering complications following surgery. He was surrounded by his family as they sang his favorite hymns and family songs.

He was born in his grandparents farm home in Fairview, Utah on May 21, 1923 to Niels Stanley and Coquella Jones Brady. He was the oldest of six children, followed by Maurine (Keith) Allred, Logan, Utah; Bryant (Gladys) Brady, Orem, Utah; Milton (Oneda) Brady, Springville, Utah; Carolyn (Gerald) Olson, Logan, Utah; and Paul (Vera) Brady, St. Paul, Minnesota. He loved and honored his parents and his greatest desire was to have them be pleased with him.

He attended elementary and junior high school in Fairview and he attended North Sanpete High in Mt. Pleasant. He excelled in academic, athletics, and music. It was there that he met his wife, as they both played leading roles in an operetta. He graduated from BYU with a Bachelor of Arts in 1948 and a Master in Arts in 1951.

Staff Sergeant Stanley Jay was inducted into the Army in 1942. During World War II, he was part of the 101st Airborne Division, Glider Infantry.

Stanley was employed by Provo School district and taught music, history and economics until 1984, when he retired after 35 years.

Stanley loved the LDS Church where he served in many positions: including Patriarch, Counselor in the Stake Presidency, and Bishop of the Provo 10th Ward. He and his wife Mary served missions for the Church in Sri Lanka and in the Hawaiian Islands. He was an ordinance worker in the Provo Temple for 25 years.

Stanley married his sweetheart, Mary Hafen, on June 4, 1947 in the Manti Temple. They were married for 66 years. He selflessly and tenderly cared for her for 14 years after she suffered a stroke and a heart attack. He loved his family and was always an example of integrity. His motto was: Our capacity to work will never be obsolete.

He is survived by his children: Kathryn (Richard) Elliott, Corvallis, Oregon; Ruth (Cornell) Porter, West Valley, Utah; Patricia (John) Higley, Mesquite, Nevada; Naomi (David) Thomas, Orem, Utah and Stan (Kay) Brady, Mt. Pleasant, Utah. He has 21 grandchildren and 46 great-grandchildren.
He is preceded in death by his wife, Mary, his parents, and his sister, Maurine Allred.

The bad and the good

This week I had a little bit of "woe is me" syndrome. Oddly, it just happens that the step we covered tonight in the 12 Step Family Support class was about writing your moral inventory (basically writing in a journal about your past). Anyway, in the midst of my mini melt down, I wrote in my journal about all the things I hate about my life right now. This is the list I made:

I hate being overweight
I hate having car problems
I hate our debt (house, car, student loan)
I hate being in charge of weekly playgroup
I hate not having any clothes
I hate not being able to buy all the crafty stuff I want
I hate having a brother in the mental hospital
I hate having a dead brother
I hate having a sister that isn't able to have kids
I hate that I'm not close to my cousins anymore
I hate that our proch stucco is leaking
I hate that I can't remember living with God
I hate myself for eating fattening food and treats
I hate having a sister who lives so far away
I hate having kids that wake up before 5am
I hate how the kids both such their thumb so much
I hate myself for not keeping my house deep-down clean
I hate worrying about money
I hate being the VTing companion that always pushes to get it done
I hate how noisy my kids are during church
I hate the expectations I set for myself

 So....after I let all my hatred out I felt much better. In fact, this morning I felt so much better about things that I took all these hateful statements and turned them around into thankful statements. Here is that list:

I'm thankful for enough food to eat
I'm thankful for my car
I'm thankful Brandon is done with school
I'm thankful I've made such good friends with the playgroup moms
I still do hate not having any clothes
I'm thankful I'm a crafty person
I'm thankful my brother isn't cold and homeless
I'm thankful Alex will be waiting for me when I die
I'm thankful my sisters loves my kids as much as she would her own
I'm thankful for a happy childhood spent with amazing cousins
I'm thankful for a warm and beautiful home
I'm thankful that one day I will be with God and Jesus Christ
I still hate how yummy treats take control of my self mastery
I'm thankful Lisa and Brent have a beautiful home in Missouri
I'm thankful for kids who can wake up and take care of themselves
I'm thankful for kids who have thumbs
I'm thankful I can keep my house tidy most of the time
I'm thankful I have money to worry about
I'm thankful for the VTing sisters I visit and the companion I do have
I'm thankful my kids can communicate
I'm thankful for the growth that comes because of expectations

It seems whenever I sit and write my feeling out things don't seem as bad as I originally thought. My life is full and happy and I'm thankful for these things and so many others. I'm also thankful for honesty and that I don't feel ashamed to admit the weaknesses I have. I know that with the help of God and Jesus Christ I and (and hopefully will) make my weak things become my strengths.

All of us

Once or twice a year I mange to take a family picture using my camera timer. I think this might be the last year it will work. Our sweet boys are getting so very tall.

The end of a long journey

On the 15th we received word that Grandpa Brady passed away. I felt no sadness at the news, only joy that he is now enjoying a working body again. For being 89 years old he was doing great (morning walks at the mall, still driving his car, picking grapes and peaches from his yard), but last week he went downhill very fast due to an abdominal aneurism. He was an amazingly spiritual man, a veteran of WWII, and a loving husband. His precious wife Mary passed away in October and he was extremely lonely without her. I am very thankful they aren't apart anymore. 

My dedicated Mother-in-law, Naomi also deserves a tribute here. Over the past 8 years she has been caring for her aging parents. Whenever they needed anything, they called Naomi. She also dedicated a day each week in their home cleaning and making meals for them. Her service zapped her energy and her health. However, she never gave up serving her loving parent. To me, she will always be a hero. Love you Mom T.!

O is for octopus

For the past several months Peter has been attending a coop preschool that I and a few neighbor Moms host weekly. Today we learned about the letter O. We made an octopus for each boy and they had a blast hitting them all over the house. We made them using a balloon and crepe paper. It was a delightful activity and the boys played with their octopi until they popped. I think we'll be making these another time since they were so easy and fun to create. 

A Day with Grandma

The boys and I had a chance to go and spend part of the day with Grandma Deslie. We had a wonderful time, especially because Grandma was in an "up for anything" mood and she lit a fire in the fireplace. We came prepared with hotdogs and smores. The boys loved helping Grandma by tossing in newspaper and small sticks of kindling. I had a wonderful time remembering all the fun times we had as kids being pyro's with that same fireplace.

While we were there Luke also decided to show Grandma what a typical day for him is like and he had three potty accidents while we were there. He ended up in the bathtub twice and he also got to wear one of Grandma's small shirts while his clothes were in the laundry. Oh, that child. We have been potty training since May and I wonder if he will ever completely get it down.

It has been quite a long time since we spent the day down there with just Grandma. It was so nice and relaxing for this Momma. Hopefully we'll get a chance to do it again soon.

A Story for Peter

Yesterday morning Peter and I had a rare chance to spend an hour together before Luke woke up for the day. After having breakfast he asked me if he could look at his scriptures and mark some of the words in them. Not wanting to discourage him I told him he could do whatever he wanted, but I told him to be respectful too since they were the worlds of the prophets from a long time ago. A few minutes later he came into my room and showed me how he had added stickers to a few of the pages.

Then, he asked me to read him a Book of Mormon scripture story. His request was quite the surprise. He has never asked for a story out of the "real" (not abbreviated) scriptures. So I quickly looked up the story of the 2,000 Stripling Warriors. I knew he would enjoy that story and I was right. He thought it was so cool they went to war in place of their fathers (who had made a covenant to never go to war again). I read two entire columns before he got tired of the story. I am glad that we had that special moment together. I hope that we will have many more moments like this one as he grows up to be an amazing man.

This past Sunday he came home so excited to show me his new CTR ring (and we haven't lost it yet - a new record), and his assignment to say a prayer in Primary this coming Sunday. He is growing up so quickly and it's so exciting to see his enthusiasm for life. I love it!

Gratitude

Today I am thankful for:

-New beginnings
-2nd chances
-Eternal eternities
-Shared testimonies
-Amazing teachers
-Kind friends
-Honest words
-Fun board games

Tomorrow our life gets back on track after the hubby has been on vacation for the past couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to the structure again.

The End of an Era

Three nights ago I decided it was time to throw away all the sippy cups in our home. With the youngest turning three this month, I feel like both boys are old enough not to have sippy cups.

So...
Gone is the pink cup with the purple lid I bought when we were watching the neighbor girl often
Gone is the Donald and Mickey mouse cups that we bought just before leaving on a family vacation.
Gone is the red cup I bought at the dollar store which didn't have a stopper and left puddles all over the house.

Part of me regrets having to leave this stage, and the other part rejoices that it's over. My kids are no longer babies and I am determined to stop treating them like they still are.

Also, I finally got crafty with a piece of ribbon given to us on our wedding day. I made this adorable ribbon rosette that attaches to this small wreath for my front porch. I am very happy with the results.

2013 - A Year of Trials and Triump

I've often heard it said that God doesn't give you any trials that you aren't able to handle. For most of my life I believed that saying, although I'd never been given any trial that I felt was "extreme" or "unbearable" (although I thought at the time the courtship with Brandon came pretty close to unbearable because Brandon was so slow).

Then, this year my 19 year old brother was killed in a motorcycle accident very unexpectedly. To say that my whole world came crashing down in front of me would be an understatement. My very existence was shattered and I learned that I was indeed a weak person and didn't even know who I was or what I believed in. The first few weeks were particularly difficult and I often wondered what the point was in continuing to live my life.

It has taken many months of deep contemplation and many sleepless nights to finally come to grasp the reality that my brother is gone and won't be coming back into my life. At least not in my mortal life. I've had the unique blessing of feeling him particularly close in two very vivid dreams and many times throughout routine days when I felt like I needed a bit of reassurance. I know he is nearby watching and helping me and my little family whenever he can.

Anyway, I've learned an awful lot of things this past year. I've learned that it only takes a split moment for your life to change drastically. I've learned that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ really are there for you when you feel like you can't take one more breath. I've also learned that it's okay to be sad, grieve, and even be angry. I've also accepted the fact that Alex is gone and I still have to go on with my life without him. I'm also glad I've got someone up in heaven waiting for me. It makes me excited for my time to die (I know that sounds a bit morbid) so I can see him again and talk to him like we've never talked before. I also can't wait to see what a handsome perfect being he now is. If I could wrap all that up into a few words they would be Hope, Peace, and Love.

I've come to hope that I will one day be able to tell him all the exciting and fun things I've done with my life since he has left. And so, I continue hoping and believing that one day I'll be able to do just that. So, I keep putting one foot in front of the other, and taking life one day at a time because I know that is what Alex would want me to do. I recently came across this saying: Because Someone we Love is in Heaven there's a little bit of Heaven in our Home. I love that quote, and I believe it with all my heart. I love you Al Bob and I promise with all my heart never, ever to put flowers on your tombstone (he would hate that so much). Perhaps I'll put a cookie or brownie there instead. He would have been 20 tomorrow and even though he isn't here with us know I'll be celebrating the memory of all the good and beautiful things he did in the short life he lived down here on earth.