I am so proud of all of you. It was so great to be together for Julia and Grant. I really feel the love and support we all feel as a family.
I of course think of your Mom all the time. I wanted to share a couple of things with you that I have read:

President Spencer W. Kimball (BYU speeches of the year)
I am certain. in my mind that the Lord has planned our destiny. We can shorten our lives, but I don't think we can lengthen them very much. Sometime we'll understand fully, and when we see back from the vantage point of the future we will be satisfied with many of the happenings of this life which seemed too difficult for us to comprehend.

Elder Neal Maxwell (All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience)
A mortal life may need to be 'shortened' by twenty years as we might view it, but if so, it may be done for certain services to be rendered by that individual in the spirit world, services that will benefit thousands of new neighbors with whom that individual will live in all of eternity... Our omniloving and omniscient Heavenly Father will release us when it is time to be released. But each such release of a righteous person is also a call to new labors!

I try to focus on this fact. That your Mom has been called to an important labor. I am happy that she won't have to suffer the difficulties of growing old. That she is in such a beautiful place. Do you know how happy she must be?
Now I have given you plenty of quotes about how she is involved in each of our lives. She is near us and loves us more than ever.
Here is another quote.

Elder Jeffrey Holland ("For Times of Trouble," New Era, Oct. 1980, 15)
In the gospel of Jesus Christ you have help from both sides of the veil and you must never forget that. When disappointment and discouragement strike and they will, you remember and never forget that if our eyes could be opened we would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye can see riding at reckless speed to come to our protection. They will always be there, these armies of heaven, in defense of Abraham's seed.

I know these things are true. You know your Mom. Her love for her family will benefit us more
than we can know.

Sophie and Sloth

Hey Sophie,

Remember that time you got pink eye and I gave you Franny's medicine, and you woke up looking like this? We would have called you "Sloth" all day, only I couldn't remember that character's name so instead we said, "You look like that guy with the deformed face from goonies!"

It was so hilarious! I was taking Franny to school and Sophie was still sleeping, so I grabbed Sophie out of her crib, put her in her car seat, and while I was backing out of the garage, I finally saw sophie's face. I was like, "Holy crap! What happened to your face?!" Poor Sophie.

(This was months ago by the way. I just never blogged it.)