Ten Months...

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My brother Robert, his wife Teresa, and their son Zach came down this evening. They took us out to dinner then we went to play at the park. Here are a few photos. Thanks Robert and Teresa and Zach. We had a great time.




After they left, Aaron Jr. found the Johnny Jump Up and wanted to play in it. So, I hooked it up, put him in, and he had a blast. We don't have any door jams in any open spaces in our house, so when we first got it, Aaron found a 'stud' in the ceiling and put this bike hanger in the ceiling to hang it from. It always worked really well. This is the first time it has been used since Aaron passed away. Aaron Jr. enjoyed himself... even though he is getting a little too big for it.




This is Aaron's friend Dan, his girlfriend Liz and her daughter Ashlynn. The past few years around this time of year, Aaron and Dan would go up to a beautiful canyon in Mapleton. They would take their horses, camp out, then go horseback riding through the beautiful mountains with trees full of changing leaves.
Yesterday, Dan called to see if Aaron Jr. and I wanted to join them up in that canyon to sit around their campfire and roast marshmallows. Dan had called and asked my brother in law John if they could bring Shayla (she was Aaron's horse) with them. So, they had Shayla and Abby (Dan's horse) with them. Aaron Jr. knew who Shayla was and kept calling her 'Daddy's horse'.
It was a really nice evening. The whole drive down there, I just kept wishing that I was sitting in the passenger seat with Aaron driving to go and meet them.
It was SO nice of them to invite us. I am so glad we went and it was nice to sit and talk about Aaron and also talk about their trips to go horseback riding up there.
Thank you Dan and Liz and Ashlynn. We had a great time.




This is a photo that Dan took of Aaron a couple of years ago on one of their trips to that canyon. Thanks Dan. I love this photo of Aaron and Shayla.

The fact that it has been ten months since Aaron passed away is a surreal feeling for me. I still miss Aaron as much as ever and my heart still aches with loneliness and sorrow wishing he were here with me. Each month that passes doesn't necessarily make me feel more healed... it is just time. The healing has come from the love and support of others and also from the healing power of the atonement of Jesus Christ. I still feel like I have a long way to go, but I am so grateful for the Savior and for the understanding He has of my own individual pain. He knows it, because He suffered it. 'Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows...' -Isaiah 53:4
'...the Redeemer was anointed to bind up the broken-hearted...' -Doctrine and Covenants 138:42
I am not alone in this. None of us are alone in anything that we suffer. No matter how excruciating the loneliness feels at times, I am not alone.

Always missing you, Aaron. I love you...

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