THE BIG 3-9!!! Jer is so loved!

I remember this wedding day like it was yesterday.  We knew that Jer had finally found his eternal companion and we were so thrilled that it was Andrea.  They compliment each other.  It was the most important day of Jer's life and he chose very well.  As they have held to each other through this trial, and am so thankful for their love for each other and their testimonies.

This picture of Hazel, Grandma Bradshaw, and Randy's family was taken at the Salt Lake Airport before Jer flew to Knoxville.  He was a missionary in High School, on his mission, and still remains a forever missionary.  Hazel made the beautiful blanket and Booties Ben little body will be wrapped in.  Colleen and Randy are waiting on the other side with many loved ones and greeting this precious missionary.

Jer with Grandma Bradshaw.  I know his love of missionary work began here.....but I am so thankful that he never let that love go (and so are the missionaries in McAllen that he works so closely with).  In a recent Home Evening, it was so great to hear him tell missionary stories to his children.  He explained that we aren't successful when we have a baptism.  We are successful when we never stop trying through example, and extending invitations.  We have now sent our first grandson , Ben, on a mission.  I have no doubt that he is telling people how families can be eternal and they can have eternal joy.

It would have been the best present ever if we could have gotten one like this with our beloved Ben.

This picture makes me feel very nostalgic!  It is a picture of Jer on his first day of 7th grade. Oh...to have more simple times.

I have thought about these days a lot as we have watched Jake and Will in Cub Scouts and watched Jake playing baseball.  These were busy but fun times.  I am sure Jer is thankful that my energy level was much higher then than it is now.  GOOD TIMES TOGETHER.  The one "normal" seemed to be baseball and Cub Scouts.

Jer and Andrea's lives will never be the same.  They will have a different normal....but this is what it will be like when their family is reunited.

FAMILIES ARE FOREVER!

THE KID'S HAVE BEEN HEARTBROKEN WITH JER AND ANDREA.  IT IS BECAUSE OF THEIR ETERNAL LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER.

Still feeling each other's joys and sorrows.

Wow.

This picture was taken when Jer was our "only" child and I was just starting my pregnancy with Justin.  Such simple and joyful days.

This was my favorite time for being a parent!  We had a lot of fun as a family at this time!  Jer...as always...was the third parent.

I think that Ty looks a little like Jer in the picture below.  He scrunches his nose the way Jer used to when he was young.

Living in Dallas, TX.  Wow they have moved a lot.  I think this was about the time they realized how much they missed the mountains.  When they come home, they love to go to the mountains.  They love to just look at the mountains.

Well, I can't believe my oldest child is 39.  I should be able to believe it.  It is not because he has lived a dull life.  We have visited places we never thought we would see as we have followed their family all over.  We have watched each place he has lived prepare him to become a Bishop.  While he was in school, he was the financial clerk.  When they moved to Rochester, he was the Elders Quorum President and the Ward Mission Leader (they had 10 ward missionaries and at one time they were out baptizing the whole mission).  The move to Dallas brought the call as the Young Men's President.  After Dallas they moved to Denver where he was the Executive Secretary in the Bishopric.  Then the first year he was in McAllen we returned to his first love....Ward Mission Leader...before he was called to be the Bishop.  

I have watched his leadership skills since he was young, and then I have watched as the Lord has prepared him for this calling.  During his first year as the Bishop he visited every family in his ward....active and inactive.  He believes in being aware of each person.  Life's status means nothing to him as he interacts with others.  AS I SAW THE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE FROM HIS HOSPITAL AT BEN' S FUNERAL,  EACH TIME I SAID I WAS JEREMY'S MOM....THEY EXPRESSED THEIR DEEP LOVE AND RESPECT.  HE WAS ABLE TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO ALL OF THOSE NON MEMBERS AT BEN'S FUNERAL THERE.  HE, ANDREA, AND THE STAKE PRESIDENT ALL DID IT SO BEAUTIFULLY AND THE PEOPLE TOLD ME THEY BELIEVED WHAT HEY HAD HEARD.   Also, his ward members expressed how much he had blessed their ward.   It made me feel unworthy to have been blessed with him as a son. I can now BELIEVE YOU ARE 39 for such hard  reasons.  The last week has seemed like a lifetime .......WHICH MAKES US OLD...BUT WE LOVE YOU FOREVER AND WE ARE SO THANKFUL FOR YOU!  You will have your birthday wish....Ben will always know how much he is loved by your family, and all of us.  As I listened to conference that message was testified to me.

I know that Ben is here with our entire family for your birthday.  He will be a guardian angel forever!