Bryce Day...the Times They are a Changing 2013

Playing Boggle...We played this a lot when Bryce was around and even when he wasn't.

 Bryce day started early this year as our friends in Mozambique were able to meet one of Bryce's companions.  He answered a question that I have wondered about.  What made Bryce decide to serve a mission.  It is amazing to me how questions that I have wondered about are slowly answered in ways to me that are miraculous.  They can not be missed and happen in unexpected and wonderful ways.  This was one of those times. 

Baby Bryce, Karen and Wade from Pretoria South Africa

This was the gang that came last year to help us remember Bryce.  Two of the young men have since gotten married.  Wahoo.  We are still at two babies.  Steak dinner was the order of the day and Leif was the chef on his own birthday.  He was the one that started the grilled steak tradition.  Now he is married.   Joel just got married to a girl from Brigham City that Bryce played with when he was young.  He is the one in the very front left with the happy face. 
This year we had a quiet family get together.   We ate enchiladas, played Boggle, watched videos of Bryce and played the family information game on Sunday night since everyone had work or school on the 7th. 
On Monday, Kim and I cleaned some of the church since it was our neighborhood assignment and then picked up Kira and did sealings at the temple.  This is our 4th year since we began after dressing Bryce for the funeral.  We all went to the temple together then and did sealings.  There was a man in our session that first time that told us his son had gotten hit by a car while running across the street to get to the beach ( in Hawaii).  He showed us the future by the way he talked and acted and how all things are doable even with pain and sadness.  The next year we went and had a wonderful time thinking about what Bryce is doing as the sealer read names of families from South Africa for us to do.  The next year was quiet and then this year half way through the session, the sealer asked Kim if we were there for a special occasion.  When Kim relayed all that has transpired and our tradition of going to the temple on the 7th, there were some pretty special moments of reflection and gratitude and tears shed as we were reminded that God was aware of us.  We came away renewed and aware that Bryce was not far away. 

Last year at the temple...this year minus Dallin

Then we just went shopping and ate at the Olive Garden  ( Bryce liked to get pizza there) and went and saw a movie for three hours!!!!   Holy Moly that was long.  To finish our day we went and saw a brand new baby girl named Tilly.  She was so delicate and sweet.  What a nice ending to a very nice day.