He Is Risen!

He IS Risen!!!

I love Easter Morning! 

With the fun of children with baskets finished yesterday, 

Easter morning brings hope, joy and assurance of happy reunion 

with the Savior and those we love.  

 

As I wrote to my dear young friend who's baby died last October of SIDS...

Happy Easter, my dear Jenn! For all of us with family in heaven, who sadly visit cemeteries, this is the day we celebrate. "For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord" is only the beginning of the good news of the gospel. The other half of the glorious news came years later in an empty tomb..."He is not here, but is risen"! 

Christ lives, and because he lives, we will all live again! Absolutely and positively certain. As we follow Him we have the opportunity to be with Him and our loved ones again. Hope in Christ and the comfort of the Holy Spirit are the reasons we can continue to live and find joy in this life. As He said, "Fear not, only believe".

"He is risen! He is risen! Tell it out with joyful voice. 

He has burst his three days prison; Let the whole wide earth rejoice.

Death is conquered, man is free. 

Christ has won the victory"!!! (Hymn 199)

Much love to you and your wonderful family. We're remembering Jossy and count her as one we look forward to seeing on resurrection morning.

The number of those I look forward to seeing again grows ever larger. 

Among those at the top of that list are my mother and grandparents, 

and my John. 

Kira asked yesterday for the list of "Remember When's...."

from Nollie's journal that we added to shortly after John's death. 

It was tender, sweet and sad to read it again. 

Still, the remembering is only for this short life,

as we will soon be reunited 

and remember our love and experience together perfectly.

Happy Easter to all the family and friends on both sides of the veil. 

We have every reason to rejoice!

Remember When’s About Dad from Nollie’s Journal – Written March 1999

• Eating parmesan cheese & cocoa straight out of the can
• I’m his “Nollie Anne”
• Gingersnaps, taking a bag on a scouting trip & coming home with an almost full bag because he was the only one who liked them
• Dad’s “uniform” – his duck shoes, red sweatshirt, jeans, & his gray & leather down vest, & his Indiana Jones hat
• Helping Dad cook cobbler at the 1997 Ward Trek
• Sitting down & having serious talks with Dad -> he wants me to be a leader & live up to my potential
• Dad teaching me how to do multiplication in the 7^th grade
• Dad with his scratchy whiskers (“whisker rub”) speckled with gray & white
• Playing kickball with the little girls on vacation in Utah
• Late night walks with Dad at Grandma Rich’s house
• Dad renting golf clubs & playing for cheat at U of U golf course
• Going to Big 5 Sporting Goods to buy shoes for cheap
• Asking for diagnoses when we were sick, never being able to fake sick
• Taking tons of pills every day after his liver transplant
• Dad working in a Dole pineapple plant one summer during college
• Eating cereal (especially Raisin Bran) out of a cup – that’s where I get it from! J
• Little girls playing “Bee-uty parlor”
• Dad’s Good Shepherd staff
• Me borrowing Dad’s old wool sweaters
• Dancing in the front room with Dad
• The sign dad made & put on the door when Eric Olsen called about PLC
• Our Daddy-daughter Laurel night with my favorite picture
• Going to Dad’s office in Nyssa & getting treats out of treasure box
• Him organizing the Thunder Egg Run in Nyssa -> I won in 2^nd grade!
• Wearing Dad’s old doctor coats for dress-up
• His major stacks of books/clutter
• Dad tearing articles out of magazines & giving them to me to read (on nutrition or sports, one on plantar warts)
• Playing the tin whistle
• His love of Scouting – being Scoutmaster for forever—Good Shepherd staff, Scout Recognition Dinner (at Keewaydin Park with hot dogs)
• Love of old movies—Beatles—oldies music—classical
• Having boring talk radio channels on when I got into my car after he’d drive it. J
• Always bugging me about cleaning my car (It needed it)
• Teasing me about being a reckless driver
• Giving mom Victoria’s Secret cotton pj’s
• Funny pictures from Hawaii, posing on the beach
• Eating his breakfast (cereal—Raisin Bran) late at night
• Making pasta for himself when his tummy was sick
• Being Nephi in the Book of Mormon play in Nyssa
• Dad and Nan, the “Whistling Marmots”
• Making hug sandwiches with me and mom
• Giving Bekka rides to school every day
• Making dutch oven cobblers at Ward Trek 1997
• Making detailed food lists for our camping trips
• Dad finding Cheyenne at the Humane Society
• His ketchup soup dinners in college
• Rooming with Bob Bell and driving cross country
• Meeting Mom on a blind date
• Taking me to the Olive Garden in SLC for my 13^th b-day
• Picking me up in Yakima after my track meet at West Valley
• Dad’s love of the stock market –playing with it
• Telling me he loved me
• The Leatherman mini-knife and mini-flashlight for my 18^th B-day (Always a scout—Be Prepared)
• Dad’s advice always to be a leader—he saw it in me
• Blue cheese (stinky cheese)    I like it cause of him
• Dad’s Teton Toaster slippers
• Accompanying Dad to REI in SLC
• Dad buying the red monster truck as a scout truck
• Reading Kira & Kaylee Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew
• Dad’s book & scripture basket under the bookstand
• Not being cooperative in pictures
• The movie “Stand & Deliver” – he loved it
• Reading Call of the Wild & Treasure Island to us when we were little
• His silly finger dance
• Accompanying me to California with Mr. Barber
• Baking sourdough bread & biscuits
• Dancing with me in the front room
• The letters he wrote to me every day my 1^st semester at college
• E-mail greetings and forwarded jokes
• Taking me out to Baskin Robbins after an event (or A&W in Nyssa)
• Cheering (and getting worked up) at volleyball games & track meets
• Going hiking on our 30 mile trip on Pacific Rim Trail
• The polecat joke – camping at Ohanepekosh (campground at Mt. Rainier)
• Dad’s love of thunderstorms
• Helping me with my English homework and analysis of poetry (Emily Dickinson – YUCK!) – Passage to India
• Robert Frost & Carl Sandberg
• Dad’s funny Castilian Spanish accent (lisp :) )
• Paella whenever he could get it
• Taking Scotty for a walk and getting to spend time together
• Letting me wear his fuzzy wool sweaters & Big Dog sweatshirts
• Teasing me about boys – yardstick rule
• “I’m perky today Nol.”
• Pictures of dad running races when he was younger
• Dartmouth College & he gave me his old PE shirt
• His loud green & blue jackets – so embarrassing!
• Bow ties (I like them now :) )
• Driving with Dad when I had my permit (I was his chauffeur)
• Being Dad’s caddy at golf in Ontario when I was little
• Hugging Dad @ graduation
• Him always commenting about sports games & it driving me crazy
• Dad’s hugs – The Best!
• Dad getting his “Sports Illustrated” and other good magazines & giving them to me before he read them
• Taking me to the Eagle Caps with his Scout Troop when I was 8 and playing Capture the Flag
• Doggy Poop sandwiches --> backpacking or hiking
• Trips with English muffins with peanut butter & honey mixed in a squeezy thing
• Buying day-old bread – overall cheap
• Cheesy eggs, homemade french fries, homemade pizza with the little girls
• Always helping us with chores, etc.
• “The Big Voice” – I was scared
• Catching me & Brian kissing in front of our house  :) oops
• Dad sitting in his chair before all my high school dances & watching patiently as I pinned on corsages
• Dad sleeping in my bed cause it’s cooler downstairs
• His lunch bunch with Rod Jackson, Mike Beauchamp, Keith Howard, Neil Hymas, etc.
• Dad’s excitement for Mariner’s games
• His ball catching contraption & getting players’ autographs
• Living in Seattle for 1996 summer after liver transplant
• Visiting Dad in hospital during August 1996 after liver scare—my first time visiting there
• Dad sitting at the end spot at the dinner table & sitting in his special chair in the living room
• Always competitive in family games
• The expert BBQ chef of chicken or steak with special seasoning mixed with lemon juice and Montreal steak seasoning
• Him cooking at my 18^th b-day party
• Father’s blessings every year before school started
• Being at my junior year Homecoming halftime show with Mom (when I was announced as Junior Homecoming Princess)
• His love for dogs and nature
• Dad’s testimony that he shares with us, knew important things in life—loved Heavenly Father & Jesus
• Dad’s dry wit sense of humor
• His professional phone voice
• Brushing his teeth so hard that the toothbrush frayed
• Dad telling us the story of Shiz from the Book of Mormon & it always scaring me
• Making biscuits with dad from scratch & cutting them out with a cup (“biskers”)
• Dad’s big brown ugly pillow that was always by his bed
• Dad’s worn out old navy blue bath robe
• I got my writing talent from Dad
• Helping me analyze Emily Dickinson poetry for IB my junior year
• Teaching Latin names like “haliaetus lucocephalus” – bald eagle
• Whisker rubs
• Dad teaching me how to do multiplication
• “Bekka-lekka-hi, Bekka hiney-ho” – like the genie from Pewee’s Playhouse
• Going up to Red Butte Gardens by U of U and taking pictures & walking through it
• Dad always vacuuming
• Kid’s Klassics – the book thing Dad tried to start
• His collection of magazines & junk piled in the garage
• My Washington postcards collection
• Dad’s cute real smile – it was like pulling teeth to get him to do it though – not a fan of photos too much
• His special patterned scrubs
• Walking laps around Horse Heaven Hills Park
• Cheering right next to the finish line at home and away (regionals in Richland, Pasco Invite, 1998 districts in Yakima) track meets & I could hear him & was embarrassed because I was majorly self-conscious when I ran