When a person passes from this earth, we reflect on that person's life, how they lived and the impact they had on our lives.  Unfortunately, I have had this opportunity with members of my family, with whom I had a close bond.  Starting with my dear Grandma, Ona Shippen, and her kind loving ways. And then my Grandpa, Tom Shippen, and his tough exterior, yet unwavering faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And then my mom, who was one of my best friends and biggest cheerleaders, who stared down challenges and walked through life's storms with unbelievable strength.

Most recently with the passing of Bill's mom, I have reflected on the woman she was and the incredible influence she had on the lives of so many. Although she was my mother in law, we were very close. I learned so much from her.  She taught me how to be a mother in law. She taught me to not sweat the small stuff. She taught me how to love unconditionally.  She taught me that baby blessings and baptisms and ordinations and  Eagle Scout awards and high school graduations and missionary farewells and homecomings are events too important to miss. She taught me that sharing a meal together as a family is more important than serving a fancy one...it's about the love that goes into the preparation. Many joke about Mom not being a great cook.  I was always satisfied by everything she prepared and served.

The 21-gun salute that was performed for her at her grave side service, was a perfect example of how she lived her life.  I am guessing that her association with the veterans in St. George came as an assignment for work (she ran Senator Orrin Hatch's Southern Utah office), yet, although it was work, she was dealing with people.  And she loved, and was loyal to, those she served. And they knew it.  This overwhelming honor came as a result of her loyalty.

On a trip to St. George last spring, I was reading in Mom and Dad's bedroom and noticed on the bookshelf a row of copies of the Book of Mormon.  There were several (more than 10) and each had a label on the binding.  On those labels were written words like, "faith", "forgiveness", "prayer", etc.  She had studied the Book of Mormon many times and focused on a different topic each time.  Simply amazing. Her love for and testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ was obvious.

I had the opportunity to spend time off and on over the past 2-3 years in Mom and Dad's home while visiting our kids in college nearby.  It was not unusual for Mom to disappear into the office to do a batch of "indexing" for family history.  She would also visit the sisters in her ward regularly...not just her visiting teaching route, but others who needed extra love and encouragement.  I appreciated her example of quietly serving the Lord by serving those around her.

Mom also was always full of gratitude.  We loved to travel with Mom and Dad and included them in  trips to Hawaii, Disney World and a couple of cruises...cherished memories for sure.  It was perfectly normal to receive a "Thank You" in the mail from her.  She would even send "thank yous" to the kids if they had given up their bed to them on a visit to our home.  Mom never missed an opportunity to say "Thank You."  I loved that about her.  It made perfect sense to me to receive these kind notes in the mail. However, I had no idea that she was sending kind notes to a variety of people.  To a Stake President who had touched her in some way during his remarks in Stake Conference, or a kind Bishop who served their ward tirelessly, or a young woman who had shared a sweet testimony.  She showered people with her love.  And the beauty of it all?...she did it quietly.  I never witnessed these cards being written.  She moved  quietly, always being grateful, always looking for ways to lift someone up, never wanting or needing recognition.  I loved that about her.

She was strong, courageous, kind, faithful, compassionate, incredibly smart, hard-working...but most of all she was humble.  As I reflect on Mom's life and attributes, I feel incredibly blessed to be married to Bill, who I have come to realize more than ever, possesses all of his mom's finest traits.  Marreen Casper is one of my heroes. I miss her, but am so grateful that I invested time into getting to know her and that our children knew her well too. We have been blessed by her presence in our lives.  'Til we meet again...

Little Baby A

 The bright spot of the weekend was seeing our sweet little Addie.  We could not wait to get our hands on her! She fussed, slept, smiled, cooed and we loved it all! She is an angel. There were a lot of people around so we had little time to ourselves with her. However, we did have a bit of time in the hotel room to hang out, visit and bond.  It was so wonderful.

 Papa and Grandma had only Skyped with William and NaKya and Addie, so this was his first time meeting her.  Although she cried the first time he held her, it looks like she settled down. Great Grandpa approved:)

 This is our lame attempt at a 5-generation photo...Great Grandma was pretty unaware of anyone and anything.  But, it's the best we could do.

 And THIS is our JOY!

 Uncle Garrett and Uncle Grant only love Addie a little bit...NOT! They adore her.

 We are so proud of William and NaKya. They are amazing parents.  Addie is very well taken care of.  They handle things as if they had been parenting for years.  Bravo!

Just as we have done with previous babies in our family, we lay them on the floor and watch them do basically nothing...and yet, it is amazing! It was incredibly hard leaving her in Utah with her awesome parents.  We miss her tremendously.

Loving wife, mother, grandmother and friend

 And THIS was Mom's JOY. 

Such a great looking group of Caspers.
 The funeral was wonderful.  Marnie and Jeni gave the eulogy (life sketch) and Jared gave a beautiful tribute to Mom.  The grand kids all sang "Army of Helaman"  and Senator Orrin Hatch spoke briefly also.  Apparently if a missionary passes away while serving on their mission, the Church sends a representative from the missionary department.  In this case, Elder Martino of the Seventy came and presided at the service.  He met with all of us before the viewing and the Stake President spoke to us as well.  It was awesome. 

All of the grandsons were pallbearers. The grand daughters were also pallbearers, but at the Church.  It was quite a sight.  It was a beautiful, warm, sunny, breezy day.  Mom's kind of weather.

A group of veterans came to the graveside service and honored Mom with a 21-gun salute.  They said they had never before done this for a civilian...a 21-gun salute is reserved for the military only.  Quite an honor.

Grandma's beautiful casket and flowers.

More awesome Caspers.

Just a few of my favorite people...Aiden, Chris and Alix Olsen.

The family was given the opportunity to write a little note to Grandma on the outside of her casket.  This was Papa's message to her. 

We were all blessed because we knew Grandma.  She was humble, kind, loving, loyal, accepting, generous, faithful, steadfast and immovable. We will miss Grandma's influence in our lives, but we are so happy that she is in a better place.  And we are comforted by the knowledge that we will see her again one day.

And he's off...

 315 Lamprecht Hall

 The dorms...

 a) Scared b)Excited c)Sad d)Nervous e)Pensive f)ALL of the above..."f". Definitely "f".

This is where Garrett will rest his head for the next 2 semesters.  He's adjusting well to BYU-I, but it was touch and go until I pulled out of Rexburg.  He has great roommates and LOVES the cooler weather.  His classes are good and he has been successful at cooking for himself and doing his own laundry.  I think he'll be fine.  It is so fun to see our kids grow and do hard things and realize that they actually can survive, thrive even, on their own.  Great things will come to this young man.

 Jennie and I made our yearly trek to visit, rejuvenate and see sights we haven't seen before.  We actually had been to Tybee Island, GA a couple of years ago, but neglected to visit this awesome little shack on the beach.  We ate lunch at the wonderful "hole in the wall" named North Beach Bar and Grille.  It was quaint and cozy and served awesome food! We had chips and salsa, salads and yummy white chocolate key lime cheesecake...simply THE BEST!

This is the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge that crosses over the Cooper River and connects Charleston, SC to Mt. Pleasant, SC. It is an amazing suspension bridge! (by the way, I snapped this while driving...crazy dumb)

We learned a new trick on this trip! We learned how to ride segways.  They are suprisingly easy and we had an absolute blast!

We went on a historical tour of quaint, little Mt. Pleasant, SC.  Nicholas Sparks' movie "The Notebook", was filmed in parts of this town.

I took a ton of pictures of the wonderful homes in this town...this is one of them.  It's price tag?...several million dollars.

 Although I am not a big fan of Spanish moss---it gives me the creeps---this is an awesome shot of it...plus, I love the porch in the background.

We stopped at the local drugstore/soda shop for lunch.  A "no frills" grilled cheese.  It was great!

Our last night in Hilton Head called for dinner at a place we'd never eaten at, but Jennie had read about in a magazine.  It was a great find.  The Skull Creek Boathouse was so great!  The food and the service and the location were all perfect! Jennie had her first fish tacos.  She approved! One of these years we hope to visit Hilton Head with our husbands. We will definitely be taking them here:)

So this may be photo overload, but I don't think so.  Truthfully, these pictures are only a small sampling of the many we have.  Over the years we have made SO many memories with our sweet Grandma Casper.  And boy are we grateful we took the time to share so many of life's experiences with her.  Grandma passed away on Sept. 14, 2013 while she and Papa were serving a mission for the Church in Knoxville, TN.  It was a surprise...but what a way to go.  She was LOVING her mission.  That was a tender mercy from the Lord.  We love you Grandma..."til we meet again."