His Blog

His Blog

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Hallelujah

I first saw this and was so grateful for a Savior. It also made me want to pull out a picture of Layne. I know I will see him again.



Thanksgiving in Mapleton...November 22, 2012

Monday, March 14, 2016

Encircling Arms

I went to the UCAP Conference on Saturday. It was great. I'll share some thoughts about that elsewhere. I wanted to share an experience I had while I was there. I was sitting down and getting ready for the next session. A guy came and sat down a couple of chairs away from me. Part way through the session, he rested his arm on the back of the chair between us. No biggie - except for the fact that I suddenly felt like it had been a long time since Layne had put his arm around me. I felt alone. It's hard to have reminders that there's no significant other waiting for you at home when you're out and about doing your own thing for the day. It's going to be a long time before I get to have his arm around me again.

Conversation Prompts

So, yesterday I heard the kids play this one a few times.


I like this song. It reminds me of Layne and being able to see him again. I was curious as to their interest in the song. Jonny said it was his new 'jam'. (He says that just about every time he finds a new song he likes.:}) I asked the kids what the interest was...telling them that it reminds me of their dad. They said it reminded them of him too. Well, Megan and Jonny did...I think the others were in agreement.
I asked the kids what they remembered about their dad. I feel like we don't talk about him a whole lot. He'll come up in conversations...but, it's usually not a conversation in and of itself. Here are some of the things mentioned. The girls both remember him laying downstairs watching shows. Megan says it's weird not to hear country music and TV shows coming from downstairs anymore. Jonny remembered some of the same regarding how things were towards the end. Jacob says he remembers, "Dad being a crazy busy college student.". That comment reminded the others about going to the lab with dad and getting to spend time with him...and have a chance to see all the cool equipment. Jonny also made a comment about remembering him towards the end because that's when they had the most time to spend with him because he wasn't going to work or anything.
At some point in the conversation, I asked about whether it was hard for them to remember their dad before the end of his life. That's when they said some things about when we lived in student housing - when we considered him to be healthy. I also got to the point of my having a hard time remembering him as healthy after he first died. I had to put effort into remembering the guy that was a runner and had muscles. That started them talking about dad not having very much hair...and reminiscing about our wedding pictures where he has quite a bit of hair and I have longer hair that was actually styled fancy. Layne kept his hair short for years. So, I'm sure that's why they remember that about him.




Friday, March 4, 2016

See You On The Other Side

Thought I'd share this one. I had something profound I was going to say about it - but, now I'm not sure what that was. I just know as I listen to this song I am reminded that Layne is not gone. He's just not here right now. Our family will have a chance to see him again. So thankful for the gospel...and for the atonement.