Mom

I don't know how else to start this post, my Mom has died.

She passed away July 10th, 2015 at about 4:30 in the afternoon, after a brief struggle with a very aggressive cancer that appears to have started in her lungs and ultimately went to her brain.
I don't want to spend much time talking about how she died. It was tragic. It was something I didn't see coming, maybe that is a blessing, I don't know.

When I think about her earthy life and the words I think best represent her, the ones that come to mind encompass the principle of service. She was compassionate, selfless, and constantly thinking of others instead of herself. I can't begin to describe her capacity to love. She loved people unconditionally. She loved us children and grandchildren like people should be loved by a mother and grandmother; very Christ-like in nature.

I am heartbroken, for myself, my kids, my dad, everyone that knew and loved this great lady. The only thing that is helping to lessen the pain is the knowledge of the great plan of happiness, that I know without a doubt and maybe more than ever, that I will see and be with my mother again. Death is not the end all, be all. Christ made that possible for all of us. Now, as I think about the kind of person my mom was, I know that the bar is set, and if I can be a fraction of the goodness that she brought to this earth, that maybe, I will return to my Heavenly Father with honor as I know she has.

CUTE Alert

Dan finally took Rayce to get a much needed haircut! Oh boy, is this kid handsome!

Bali-Days 7 & 8

So after our long day in the mountains the kids wanted a down day, a day of doing nothing but swimming at the hotel pool, so that's what we did. We spent literally the whole day by the pool. Our hotel was awesome, they had a bunch of activities for the kids throughout the day including a drawing contest. We ordered drinks, food, everything and just stayed put...and I didn't take any pictures, but here are some of the kids at the hotel pool from another day.

So our last day in Bali was a long day. Our flight was leaving at one in the morning so we planned to make it a full day and then head to the airport around 9 pm. We started the day at a turtle conservatory.

The turtle trade is a big deal in Bali, it's illegal now but it went unregulated for a long time to where turtles almost were wiped out. There's no charge to get in, they just ask for donations to continue to try and bring the turtles back.

Some of the volunteers had just returned with some turtle eggs.

They release the ones that are healthy enough back into the wild.

After that we went to the Bali Zoo. We were hesitant to spend so much money at a place we only had time to be at for a couple of hours. I'm so glad we ended up going, it was pricey but one of the more interactive zoo's we've ever been to.

What a great petting zoo they had! They even had wallaby's!

A wallaby! They're a little skittish.

The bird show.

They had an option to buy an elephant ride with the admission ticket but we didn't have time, and it would have been ridiculously expensive. I was so excited though when I saw that we could feed the elephants!

Rayce stepped right up to do it of course but then, he got a little nervous, I mean, an elephant is pretty intimidating!

The employee kept telling him that he could get closer.

Then there was this little guy the kids got to hold, and their visit was complete!

We left the zoo very glad we came. The last thing on our list before we left Bali was the Tanah Lot temple. Another temple that gets a little congested around sunset which is when we wanted to go. Tanah Lot literally means "land (in the) sea". It's dated sometime in the 16th century. Like many of the other temples in Bali you can't actually go inside just walk around the outside, just not during high tide.

The sun was setting so we hiked up the cliff for a better view, and less people.

As the sun set over our last day in Bali, we talked about the neat things we saw and did during the week, the kids took turns telling us about the highlights for them, and I just felt grateful. We had a great week in Bali; and I remind myself often that having the opportunity to live in a foreign country feels like you're on vacation all the time! These past two years have been a dream.