Her Majesty, The Queen

This last weekend was a pretty special one. There was a lot of celebrating going on in our family. We celebrated the end of one, incredible life and the beginning of a new life, full of potential to be just as incredible.
 My great aunt JoAnn passed away almost two weeks ago and she is already sorely missed. She was an amazing lady. The kind of person that you aspire to be like. I have so many memories of her house, her laugh, her sarcastic comments- I am going to cherish those memories for the rest of my life. Most people might ask, 'how well could you really know your great aunt', but that is the great thing about our family- I really did know her and I really did love her and I really do hope to be like her one day. I have to mention her girls as well and their families. I love that no matter how long I go without seeing them it is a happy reunion when we cross paths again. We hug and kiss and smile and chat and I can feel their love and that made this weekend even more enjoyable. I am glad to have known JoAnn and glad that she is now forever reunited with her sweetheart, Martin, who, I learned this weekend, referred to her as his queen.

I do think this picture may be the sweetest picture ever taken.

The contrast of the beginning of life and the end of life was an interesting one to watch and experience this weekend but I was thankful for it. I am thankful for the Plan of Salvation and for the knowledge that our families truly can be together forever. Watching little Olivia Mae be blessed this weekend and thinking of just how hard her parents worked and sacrificed to get her here built my testimony of the love of family and the love that our Savior, Jesus Christ, has for each of us. I am thankful for the occasions that bring us together. Grateful that I got to spend the weekend with my parents and my grandparents and with my favorite Youngs. It was busy and exhausting enough that I baked a metal spoon into a loaf of pumpkin chocolate chip bread... that is another story... I loved every second of it. I am thankful for the new addition to our family in Olivia and I will be forever grateful for my association with one of the backbones of our family- JoAnn, or The Queen. To quote the JoAnn and Martin Hickman family, ILYBATWSM.

There is a pretty momma and a pretty Liv.

I seriously love this photo and I seriously love this man- my  Papa Bob.