So many things to be grateful for

In my mind so many times I have written this post. We were at a funeral and a cousin of mine reminded me of how long it had been since I wrote on my blog. You know me--consistency is not my best quality...so here I go, 4 or 5 months late. As you know from several posts on my Facebook page, at the end of May, Spence got a liver transplant. It has been an amazing year for us--and full of so many things to be grateful for. The timing of this transplant was truly one of the Lord's tender mercies to us. Because of when it was, we could participate in so many important events in our family's lives. We are so grateful for that--so even though they happened a while ago, I'm going to share pictures and tell you a little about what happened. The one thing that this transplant meant was that we had no vacation (our normal one to the beach)...but you know, that was all right. This transplant and the chance Spence has for truly a "new life" is worth any small sacrifice we had to make. When we knew that he was a liver candidate, we told our daughter, Katie, that there was a good possibility that we wouldn't be there for the birth of her second baby. But, by the time little Callie was born, it was the end of July--and it had been 2 months since he had gotten the transplant...and I was able to go and be there when that precious baby was born.

So I had the great privilege of being there when she was born--what a thrill! She continues to do well, and for any of you who are friends with Katie on Facebook, you know she is a darling baby--no bias from this grandma at all!! That was one of the great tender mercies. Then Kelsey, our 4th daughter, graduated from BYU--also something we didn't know if we would be able to attend...and BOTH of us were able to do that. What a great time--what a wonderful accomplishment and a happy time for Spence and me.  Here we are sharing that time with her:

That was another red-letter day in our lives. Spence was even able to drive her to California where she started her college program with Disneyland! Can you believe he could make that long trip? Another bonus for us this trip was Spence's chance to see baby Callie--that was awesome!

We have just been so blessed. So there's a little picture story of our last few months. But there have been so many other things that we have been able to do--it like we have a new "lease on life!!" This coming Friday we'll be going to Disneyland with some of our grandchildren and be able to see Kelsey in action as a photographer in the park! We are just amazed at how much the Lord has blessed us. And these are BIG things...but there are other smaller things which are wonderful too. We both have been able to keep working in the Church and serving there...and we're so thankful for that. We watched General Conference this past weekend, and were reminded again of how grateful we should be for big and little things. In the Lord's eyes, they are all big things! Let me name a few of those--little kindnesses that people do as part of their Church callings, or just because they are good people. I heard of one woman who has 5 fairly young children, who took breakfast into a friend of hers who wasn't feeling well. My daughters are some of my best examples--some of them call me often, just to see how I am, others serve so valiantly in their Church callings, my handicapped daughter writes notes to people who speak in Church. How nice is that? I think we all should look around a little bit more, and notice all the thoughtful, wonderful things that people do...and thank everyone more often. We all need that "attitude of gratitude." We don't do things to be noticed, but it IS nice to notice the extra mile that many people go, to make our lives just a little bit better. I have big blessings and I am very thankful for them...but I also am deeply touched and affected by those "little" things too. Happy October to all of you--may we all notice and then recognize and thank the people around us for just being the wonderful people they are.  Much love to you all, Louise