A week before your daddy died we had our pictures taken for
our passports because we were going to go to Monterrey during our Christmas
vacation.
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| Talita 1 1/2 |
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| Jason, the day before he turned 31 |
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| Parley 3, almost 4 |
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| Isa 7 |
We also took some silly pictures.
On Monday we went to the county courthouse to submit our passport
paperwork, then we went to the Guadalajara restaurant in Wheatland for dinner.
We went there to celebrate Daddy’s birthday, which was the next day, too. He
got to order whatever he wanted. It was chicken fajita with some kind of cheesy
sauce. We told the waiter it was his birthday and he brought Daddy a sombrero
and a brownie with ice cream. They sang happy birthday to “Panchito” then they
took off the hat and we shared the dessert. When it was time to pay we didn’t
have to because our friends from church, Micah and Justin Hood who happened to
be sitting right by us, paid for us. It was a nice birthday present.
On Tuesday Daddy went on a field trip with his Art Club
students to Casper College where they watched a professional painter do a demo.
That night I had a Guernsey Prevention Coalition meeting. We got back home
around the same time. You had stayed with Ms. Walters. We had more brownies and
ice cream for his birthday. You gave him an ice cream scoop for his present.
That Friday (the day before) I had planned on going to my
writer’s group in Wheatland and doing visiting teaching (1), but I started to get
feverish and decided to stay home. I’m glad I got to spend that day with you
and your father. After putting you to bed, we stayed up and talked on the couch.
We talked about how we both felt we needed to know what our next step in life
was. We talked about him becoming a school administrator. He read me his patriarchal
blessing (2). We went to bed.
(1)a church program where the ladies visit other ladies to see that their spiritual and physical needs are taken care of
(2) A blessing is given by worthy men putting their hands on someone's head and, through inspiration, saying what blessings God would have that person receive. It can be a blessing of health, comfort, healing, etc. A patriarchal blessing is given to a person once in their lifetime by someone who holds the office of Patriarch in the church. It entails blessings that you can expect throughout your lifetime as well as warnings, counsel, and admonition.
