Angel Day

Wyatt's grave...thank you everyone that have put things on it.

We survived our first angel day and it turned out to be a very sweet and special one. The peace was there and we felt such love from so many wonderful people in our lives. Thank you to each and everyone that sent prayers and support our way. Thanks for all the sweet comments left on the blog. And thanks for the cards in the mail. All of it has been such a tender mercy for our family. Thanks to those of you that put things on Wyatt's grave..oh, that means so much to me.

We woke up and looked out into our front yard and someone had put paper butterflies covering our entire front yard. It brought tears to my eyes. Oh, I can't tell you how much that meant to me to see. So, whoever did that for us THANK YOU. They were each cut out individually. I can't even imagine how much time that must have taken so thank you sooooo much! What a sweet tender mercy for our family. I'm so grateful for so many that showered us with love and support yesterday.

The kids went to school and my parents tended Hayley so Derek and I could go to the temple. While we were at the temple my parents planted our pots in the backyard for us. Thank you mom and dad...we love them!

The temple was one of the greatest mercies for me of the day. We did sealings. When we entered the sealing room there was already another couple in there. When it was our turn the sealer said "this couple is here celebrating their 10th anniversary are you here celebrating something?" Derek and I both hesitated and I looked at Derek and wondered if we should tell him because I guess the word "celebrating" took me off guard. But I felt like we needed to so I said "um...yes, we are here because a year ago today our little boy passed away." I'm sure that was not at all what the sealer was expecting..he said "well then we will all be very close today". We did many sealings and as always I held back the tears as much as possible as I would listen to the wonderful blessings promised there...those promises that give me so much hope. At the end the sealer then asked us if we didn't mind sharing what happened a year ago. I then told him the short version of Wyatt's last week here on earth. There was not a dry face in the room..even my sweet husband teared up which he hasn't done since Wyatt died. The sealer was very touched and it was such a tender mercy for me to be able to share our Wyatt with these people we didn't know and to have them show such tenderness towards us. The other couple were both in tears and after, the husband told us that he had lost his brother to a drowning many years ago. It was such a special moment where the spirit was very strong...at least for me. I'm so very grateful for the temple and all the wonderful blessings it can give us. I'm always so grateful for the chance to share my Wyatt with whomever will listen. So, that was a tender mercy I will be forever grateful for.

We then went home to put a few things on Wyatt's grave before the kids got home from school. On our way home though we stopped at Home Depot to get some wire so we could wire stuff at his grave. As we entered Home depot I noticed the weeping cherry trees. We had a weeping cherry tree at our house in Orem and I loved it. I told Derek how much I missed having that tree. Then the thought came to me that we should get one and plant it in our backyard in memory of Wyatt. I loved the name of the tree "weeping" because I've spent a lot of time doing that this year and I felt like that was very symbolic of us making it through our first year without our sweet little guy. So we bought a weeping cherry tree that we planted today next to the rose bushes my parents bought us when Wyatt was born.

Once the kids got home from school we went to Wyatt's grave. We had blown up balloons and had the kids write on them. I felt like that was a good thing on his birthday to let them express how they were feeling so I decided last minute to do it again. We then released them at Wyatt's grave. Then we released the 5 butterflies that we watched from being a caterpillar to a chrysalis to a butterfly. What an amazing process we got to experience. The butterfly release was even neater than I had expected. There was one butterfly that was bigger then the others and I felt like it was the prettiest. Well, that one didn't fly away. It stayed around and let each of us hold it. After each of us held it, it then would fly a little ways and the girls would catch it again. This went on for a long time. There was one moment when Emily was holding it and it flew right at me and around me...pretty much attacked me. Oh, I just had to think that Wyatt had something to do with this. As I watched the girls running and laughing in the cemetery (of all places) enjoying this butterfly it did my heart good. It was a really neat experience for our family and what a tender mercy! That butterfly eventually flew off and we didn't see it again.

All in all it was a very peaceful day. I'm sure it was because of the many prayers offered in our behalf. Thank you to each and everyone that remembered us on this anniversary... I never thought we would ever have. Thanks for all the love and concern that was given to us. We feel very blessed with all the wonderful and amazing people in our lives. Here are some pictures from our day yesterday. I obviously like taking pictures so there are a ton.

Our first "Wyatt moment" of the day.

The pots in our back yard.

The butterfly farm.
Releasing the butterflies.Four of the butterflies with their wings out. The whole time they were in our house I wanted to see them with all their wings out...this was neat for me. It happened right before we released them. The girls chasing the butterfly.

The pretty blossoms at the cemetery.

A plant from the Relief Society Presidency

Gerber Daisies(my favorite flower) from my kindred spirit...Jen.

Our "Weeping"Cherry Tree