Ancestor Collage

Yesterday I was asked to share a short presentation to the primary children about family history.   It was hard to decide what to share as I have felt inspired by the lives and stories of my ancestors.  I never met my maternal grandmother "Dessie Kristine" because she passed away before I was born.  But thankfully my mom told me many stories about her and I have always felt a connection with her because we share the same middle name.  As we have named each of our children, part of their name includes a piece of their heritage so they're "hearts can be turned to their fathers" too. 

Dessie loved music and played the violin, piano and trombone.  She loved to garden so I think of her whenever I hear the song "I often go walking in meadow's of clover"
She was an optimist and rarely complained.  Despite her many health challenges, she would awake most mornings and sing "Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day, I've got a wonderful feeling, everything's going my way."
I remember seeing my mom tear up in church whenever we sang the hymn "How Great Thou Art"  because it was one of the songs sung at her mother's funeral.  Now I'm the one tearing up on the bench each time I sing it.
One day when I was struggling with morning sickness and feeling down about staying in bed during my pregnancy as my house seemed to be falling apart around me with four little ones on the loose, I reflected on the life of my grandmother and felt a wave of gratitude that I have been blessed with fairly good health for most of my life, and I don't have to endure farm life with the smells and filth that accompany it.

This weekend was amazing with fabulous "firsts"!  Jared and Jacob and I did baptisms for the dead for 16 of our own deceased ancestors and it made our temple experience so much more meaningful.  It was Jacob's experience doing temple work and my first time doing family names.  I'm excited to go again.