Til we meet again Great Grandpa Joe.

Great grandpa Joe passed away this week. It's been bitter-sweet. I'm so happy that he's with my sweet grandma. And also that he's reunited with many people in heaven. I know that it was a happy reunion for him and so many loved ones.

Even though I know this, death is hard. It's hard to have a loved one pass on. My heart has ached and I've done lots of grieving this week. Friday night, as I was laying in bed it really hit me. My grandpa's funeral is tomorrow! I knew the time would come, after all he was 95. But I never wanted that time to come.

I have so many awesome memories with grandpa. I want to share a few.

My grandpa was a firefighter and on one of the occasions we were at his house he wanted to teach all of us grandchildren how to be prepared if there was a fire. So in his garage he filled it with a fog machine(I think), so it was dark in the garage and "smokey". He wanted to know that we were comfortable with dropping and knowing what to do incase of a fire.-That alone shows that he cared about our well-being.

We would play a game where he would lock our fingers together and he wouldn't let go. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get my fingers loose. He would just laugh and smile.

I loved that he could have fun, and took time to play with me. No matter how old I got.

He had so much love and respect for my grandma. Growing up my grandparents always showed love and respect for one another. They showed each other how much they loved one another by action and in words. What a great example to see how a couple should treat one another.

Grandpa Joe

Grandma and Grandpa always had a treat for you. Whether it be cookies, swedish fish, peanuts etc. we never left being hungry. AND in their garage their was a fridge, just of soda pop. Grandpa would always say "make sure you grab one, even for the road"

These are only just a few. I'm sure grateful to have so many memories of my cute lil' grandpa.

My grandpa's funeral was amazing. Really. He was loved by so many people, and he's touched a lot of lives.

His funeral was honorable and I think Grandpa would of been very pleased with it.

Instead of him being taken to the graveside in a hurst he was taken by a firetruck that he helped acquire.

The flags at the fire station were at half mast.

Grantsville firefighters lined up as he was taken to his graveside.

They rang a bell

They laid their white gloves on his coffin.

They had a wall of water that was misting in front of three firefighters. One on the right, one on the left and one in the middle. The one in the middle represented my grandpa. He passed through the water, which represented him going through the veil.

That was the first time I had ever seen or heard of anything like this, and it was by far one of the neatest things I've ever witnessed.

After the firefighter went through the veil they did a last call over the radio for him.

We then said our goodbyes to grandpa. Whether it was aloud or in our hearts. I'm grateful that his funeral was so honorable. He deserved every bit of it. I'm SO grateful for him, and I look forward to the day when I see him again.

“Love is the very essence of life. It is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Yet it is not found only at the end of the rainbow. Love is at the beginning also, and from it springs the beauty that arched across the sky on a stormy day. Love is the security for which children weep, the yearning of youth, the adhesive that binds marriage, and the lubricant that prevents devastating friction in the home; it is the peace of old age, the sunlight of hope shining through death. How rich are those who enjoy it in their associations with family, friends, and neighbors! Love, like faith, is a gift of God. It is also the most enduring and most powerful virtue.”
― Gordon B. Hinckley

Great Grandpa Joe

Joseph Benjamin Elfors, beloved father, husband, brother, grandfather and great-grandfather, passed away Jan. 24. He was born June 9, 1916, in Grantsville to Maryann Pearson and John Joseph Elfors. He graduated from Grantsville High School and served in the Civilian Conservation Corps, building dams and roads in the Cedar City area. Joe married Vera Sagers on Sept. 23, 1938, in the Salt Lake Temple. She preceded him in death March 15, 2006. He worked eight years for American Smelting & Refining, then joined the Tooele County School District as chief custodian of the Grantsville schools, retiring after 35 years of service. He was a founding member of the Grantsville Volunteer Fire Department, joining in 1945, and has been an active member since then. He served as assistant fire chief and fire chief. He was a Grantsville City councilman for 12 years; an organizer and official of the Grantsville Gun Club; chairman of the Old Folks Sociable committee in 1956, and many more. He was recognized for his service to the community with awards from the city, state and FFA. He and Vera won many awards for their beautiful lawns and gardens. A devoted member of the LDS Church, he served in many callings including bishop, high councilman, sunday school president and group leader. He and Vera served as ordinance workers at the Jordan River Temple for eight years. Joe is survived by his children; Byron (Joyce) Elfors, Karen Kleinlein, Raymond (Norma) Elfors, Ilene (Russ) Wood; 15 grandchildren, 46 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be Jan. 28 at 1 p.m. in the Grantsville 4th Ward Chapel, 428 S. Hale Street, Grantsville. There will be a viewing the evening before from 6 to 8 p.m. at Tate Mortuary, 110 S. Main Street, Tooele, and at the church prior to the services from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The family suggests that instead of flowers, please make a contribution to the Grantsville City Volunteer Fire departmentElfors

Giveaway!

One of my dear friends-Whitney, was so sweet and wrote a post about Steve and I this week. It seriously made us so happy that she was willing to help spread the word for us.

Steve and I generally have never been the type of people to ask people for help, we just aren't like that. But as we've been going through the Adoption process we need help in spreading the word.

The more people who can help spread the word, we can be one step closer to finding our lil' one.

So, with that being said-I'm going to be doing a GIVEAWAY!

I'll make you, your very own cooking apron! AND you get to choose the colors!:)



Here is how you can enter!

1. Follow our blog.

2. Leave your name and e-mail address in the comments section of this post. You can also get one extra entry for each of the following:

1. Grabbing our Adoption button and putting it on yours!

2. Liking our Adoption Facebook Page

3. E-mailing friends or family

4. If you’ve done anything else to help spread the word, please feel free to give yourself an extra entry.

DEADLINE is two weeks from today: February 1,2012

Not Forgotten.

It's amazing to know that God always seems to know exactly what I need. He has countlessly shown me that I am not forgotten and that he loves me.

Infertility can be such an ugly topic, but such a beautiful one. I've been growing so much with this trial and through this trial I get the amazing opportunity of going through the Adoption process. The process hasn't been a bed of roses, it can be really hard but so fulfilling at the same time.

I'm growing. I'm gaining a greater understanding for his purpose and his plan. His far better plan.

Within the last couple months I know that God has placed certain people in my life for a reason.

-A birth parent who made the most unselfish decision of her life when she was only 16 to place her baby through adoption because she wanted what was best for her child. Through her I have a different perspective on birth parents, and I find her to be one of the most strongest women I have ever met.

-A friend I haven't actually met, but yet I consider her one of my dearest friends. I met her through the blogging world. Through her I have gained patience and a better attitude and outlook on infertility. We write each other notes of encouragement and updates of how our Adoption journey is going.

-The Young Women-They inspire me, and touch my life daily. They all have such strong testimonies of the gospel and they are constantly reminding me of how to be Christ like.

-Three different women. I get to associate with these women regularly. They too, have gone through infertility. We can talk, laugh, hug and cry together. One who has never gone through infertility can never, truly understand what it feels like.

I'm so grateful to my Father in Heaven for always reminding me that I'm not forgotten, that he does remember me and that he loves me.

2012.

We managed to already make it to the Instacare-great way to start off the new year, right?

Steve woke up Monday morning with a headache, and it soon turned into a migraine. Generally when he gets a migraine he throws up once and then he can sleep it off but this migraine wouldn't go away. I was so worried about him, I've never seen Steve this sick. Ever. I've had a migraine before and I know it makes you feel like death, but it really worried me that he kept throwing up over and over. He had a blessing from dad and Kolt and we tried getting food and medication in him but he couldn't keep anything down. I had a feeling I needed to get him into the instacare and I'm so glad I did. I am so grateful for the knowledge and medications that doctors have now. They gave him two injections above his hips and those helped him enough to be able to fall asleep and sleep the migraine off. It seriously was one of the worst days of my life. I felt so helpless I hope that never happens again. The next day he was able to go to school and had the lingering headache feeling for a couple days, but he is doing great now! Thank goodness.

Friday night Steve needed to study. School is back into full swing. So, when I got home from work I was debating what I should do. Well, I received the sweetest text from one of my dear friends. She wanted me to have a girls night with her and her daughter while her hubby and sons were having a boys night out. Super thoughtful.

We ended up making homemade manicures and they turned out sooo nice! My hands have been so dry lately with the cold weather and this was perfect. Plus, the homemade manicure is only with three ingredients-sugar, olive oil and honey. Way simple.

It was such a fun girls night! I loved painting my nails, chatting and then having hot coco to end the night.

Homemade Manicure

1/2 C. White Sugar

1/2 C. Olive Oil

Honey

Saran Wrap

-Mix together sugar and oil and scrub on hands.

Once you've scrubbed it to your hearts content rinse it off in warm water.

-Pour warm honey onto your hands (make sure it's not too hot)

-Wrap your hands individually in saran wrap for 30 minutes.

We ended up only leaving it on for 20 minutes. We were starting to get grossed out when the honey was starting to run down our arm because our hands were starting to sweat from being wrapped.

-Take off wrap and wash your hands!

My hands are seriously so much smoother.

Yesterday Steve and I went for a walk with Soph and it was so nice getting outside-even though it was REALLY cold. We have a nice walk way out in the middle of no where at the end of our neighborhood. It was really relaxing. Just being outside, enjoying each other's company while Sophie ran around like a mad dog! haha. She gets so stinkin' excited about birds she doesn't know how to contain herself. She really is such a good dog though, you tell her to "Come Sophie" and she'll come running back to you.

Soph's been my little cuddle buddy this evening. I woke up with a dang head cold and I thought I could fight it off but I'm officially feeling sick. Steve's been studying away memorizing drugs for his top 20 exam tomorrow.

I really am so lucky. I'm so grateful for Steve and his hard work. Always studying and working hard to support us and our future family. I'm also grateful for Soph cuddling me, ooh and Vicks Vapor rub.

December.

December was a very busy but fun month for Steve and I. Steve had two full weeks off of school, which meant lots and lots of US time. We. loved. every. minute. of. it! We played multiple games together, worked on our adoption paperwork, saw MI4, cuddled, and did multiple holiday things with family and friends.

Instead of doing individual posts for all the different festivities we did, I'm just going to sum it all up onto one big post. PLUS, I have more adoption paperwork that I need to get my hands on:)

Ford Family Christmas Party-This year we played lots of MINUTE TO WIN IT games! It was a really fun party!

Thanksgiving Point Holiday Lights-Steve and I went one evening, just the two of us to see the lights together. I loved that we could be in our car and stay WARM while we looked at the lights:) After the lights, we ended up going into one of the shops and had hot cocoa and watched the reindeer.

Christmas Concert and Temple Square Lights with the Anderson Family-First dad, mom and Steve and I all met up at Robintino's and had pizza for dinner. Then we met up with everyone (minus Kody, Jade, Cars and Kolt) at temple square.

We watched a Christmas concert that my cousin Jody was in and then we walked around and enjoyed the lights.

Annual Christmas Play with the Fords-This Year, a Christmas Carol at Hale Family Theatre.

I made an apron for my sister in law Shannon for Christmas :) It was SO fun to bust out the sewing machine!

Christmas Eve-Anderson's: This year we spent Christmas Eve with my family! We had a really nice dinner and then played games all night! We had a lot of fun!:)

Christmas Day-We celebrated with both families and we LOVED that Christmas fell on a Sunday this year. It made the day even more special being able to really celebrate Christ's birth, taking the sacrament and singing Christmas hymns. We really wish that Christmas could fall on Sunday every year.

A fun and busy December for sure! We LOVED Christmas!