Catching Up

As you may have noticed we are not the most prolific of writers. So many things have happened since our last entry, that frankly we are a little embarrassed.

Our last entry was about Genai's Uncle Butch. He was her mom's oldest brother, and as Rex so eloquently wrote a force to all those who met him. He lived a life full of love for his family.

In the beginning of December Uncle Butch came back on his birthday (December 8th) to take his little sister home. Caroleen (Genai's mom) lost her long and courageous fight with breast cancer. She had fought for 6 years; never once complaining and always keeping a positive attitude. Caring for and loving her was a privilege, and a huge part of our everyday lives. We will always be blessed to have her spirit with us, and we pray that she will be a guiding angel in our lives. She was the picture of beauty, not just physically but spiritually as well. We were blessed to have her example of faithfulness. She always had a burning testimony of the love of her Savior and in 1995, after searching long and hard she found His true and living Gospel. Caroleen was baptized in June of 1995, and the Amanda and Genai followed soon after. What a blessing her relentless search for the truth has brought in to our lives. We know that we will be a family in the eternities, and that knowledge helps us through these times of grief. It's been a hard journey, but we are finally starting to find our "new normal" and replacing the sorrow with memories. Mom was always upbeat and positive. We will be the same just as she would have had us do.

Mid-December brought a snow storm for the record books. We had almost 3 feet of snow in our front yard for over a week! Needless to say Rex was at work most of the time.

For all you that don't live in the Northwest 2" of snow calls for a cancellation of schools, so 3 feet shuts the city completely down. The kids played outside until they couldn't feel any of their extremities. We had planned to give the kids their own 4 wheeler for Christmas, but the snow was too much of a temptation, and we gave them their present early. We all had a blast riding our wheelers around the neighborhood day and night. It is remarkable that kids think they are freezing-to-death walking from the car into a store when it is cold outside, but when snow is involved the temperature mysteriously rises! Hours turn to minutes and the day flies by.
Christmas snuck up on us quickly just as it seems to every year. This Christmas was our families first without Uncle Butch and Grandma, so even though things had changed significantly we made the best of it.

The highlight for us was letting the kids in on a secret we had been dying to tell them for months: we are going to Disney World! At the beginning of February our family will be heading to the sunshine!!!!!

This Christmas we finally gave in and got a Wii. In retrospect it is not clear if that was a gift for us or them; but either way we have one and are using it well. Guitar Hero World Tour has become family favorite. The kids are getting pretty good, and we are mediocre at best. Wyatt rocks the guitar and vocals at the same time.

Magnolia started dance class this Fall, and her first dance recital was today (January 24th). She was fantastic. We thought she may be shy dancing infront of so many people, but she did great. She loves to perform, and is quite the ham.

We are thankful for all the prayers said by our friends and family on our behalf these last few months. We are humbled by the support and love we have felt throughout this time of hardship and grief. It occured to me the other day that these are the times in ones life that shape who you are. Knowing that we have so many people helping us through-molding us into better people makes this time of sorrow and pain easier to bear. We are indeed grateful for all who loved mom, and continue to show love to our family.

~The Harper's

Maggie's dance recital Wyatt is a rock star!