9 September 2018 - Sunday - Happy Birthday Daddy Jack!

9 September 2018 - Sunday

My Daddy Jack would have celebrated his 95th birthday today.  It was 66 years ago that he passed away, suddenly, and left a wife a widow at 26 years old, with two children under the age of 4 years.  I am so grateful that my mom kept dad's memory alive for my sister and me, and that she was able to fill a huge void in all of our lives with her talents and abilities.  

She did not have any warning that he was sick.  She was at her dad's house in Kerman, California, on that Easter Sunday April 5, 1953.  A phone call came right after dinner was eaten, and my sister, Jackie, barely remembers mom crying and throwing up that afternoon.  

I have absolutely no recollection of his death.  Jackie and I were always taken care of after his passing with lot's of stories about his way too short life.  My grandfather Thomas Clinton Sykes, mom's dad, and Madeline Josie Howard, our dad's mom, were with us anytime we needed them.  

The legend that my dad left was always in the conversations as I was growing up.  That proved to be a blessing to me as I tried to live up to what I thought would be his expectations, and the example and encouragement my mom represented throughout her life!

Here is one tired Kenzie!

Cody is up and ready to roll this morning!

Granny and Grandpa were up at 5:30am this morning getting ready for the day.  We made extra efforts to not wake up the grandchildren until after 7:00am!  That was hard for this Grandpa since the grandchildren looked like they needed roughing up before breakfast!

We took Cody and Maddie and Landon with us to the Homestead.  Mom and I get the Sacrament programs, and hand them out each week, so we always try to be there by 9:30am.  The meetings begin at 10:00am, and we have moved from the Trek Center to the Chapel for Sacrament.  However, the Chapel was almost full, today, and Jared and I got to bless the Sacrament together.

All the grandchildren went to Primary and had a great time.  I asked them how they liked Primary and they said it did not last very long!  Jared and I went over to pick them up at the Gathering Room and then we enjoyed a pot luck dinner with the senior missionaries at the Barn.

We have had a great day here in the mission field with our precious family

After our lunch at the Barn, our district had the last cleaning assignment after the pot luck.  All the family jumped in to help clean tables and put up the chairs.  That was fun to work together!  Then we went out to the Prairie Park and the kids pulled handcarts with friends they met in Primary.  Then we headed for home and had a wonderful afternoon together.

Look at that precious family!

The kids playing outside the trailer window

A new game of "jump the rocks" - I cut this one short

I don't getting many sunsets, but this was our walk with the grandchildren.

Some of the things that I learned today came from our Sacrament talks.  The thoughts were along the lines of; "why did the pioneers do what they did?  And; Why do we take our youth all the way to Wyoming for these trek experiences?  Here is the answer, that is worthy of pondering; 

First of all the pioneers wanted what we have today and were willing to give their lives to have it.  And second, for bringing the groups here - we want our youth to have those desires that the pioneers had, to recognize that opposition in our lives is a blessing to qualify for the Celestial Kingdom and that Jesus loves us enough to be patient with us as we learn the Doctrine of Jesus Christ, and we learn how to live it completely.

The overwhelming message from Heavenly Father, and our precious Savior, Jesus Christ is; They love us unconditionally because Their love is not conditional on our love for Them.  That message is repeated throughout the Scriptures, and is one of the very plain and simple truths that we have in our mortal experiences.

What a wonderful day today!  We celebrated my dad's birthday, and we also celebrated Grandparents Day!  (What will Hallmark think of next?)  We are so thankful for those who were able to come and see us this summer, and we are so looking forward to our family reunion at the appointed time in October!  Thank you for joining us tonight!