Burnt Offerings

My loving and kind family have ridiculed me incessantly over the dinner I made this evening. So what if I forgot I had steaks broiling? Was my mistake really worthy of the comments and rudeness? Below are actual statements.

*Oh good, you finally got rid of the cats!
*We can make a new couch out of this dinner.
*I had to douse my steak in A-1 sauce so I wouldn't taste it.
*Mom, what did we do wrong?
*This is turning me into a vegetarian.

Then there were, of course, the chiseling and sawing motions that Todd made while trying to cut into his steak which apparently was the funniest thing my kids had ever seen.

Finally, after all of their laughter and hilarious (NOT) insults had died down, one of my children secretly whispered in my ear (of course out of the earshot of everyone else)... "actually mom, it wasn't that bad - I liked it!"

HA! So there!

Tomorrow we're having leftovers!

Farewell

Wow - what a week!

First there was..

Preparing. Shopping. Cleaning. Cooking. Song practicing. Talk writing. Temple attending. Snow removing. Planning. Organizing. Worrying. Phone calls.

Then...

Sacrament meeting. Singing. Speaking. Food...lots of food. Family. Friends. Support. Laughing. Smiling. Hugging. Picture taking. Love.

A week of stress dissipated yesterday as friends and family joined us for Darren's farewell. Feelings of worry and thoughts of "did I remember everything" were slowly replaced with love and gratitude as support and smiles were flung abundantly in my direction.

Elora and Larissa did a beautiful job on their musical number - nervous, but not showing it! Elora received her Young Womanhood Recognition Award and was pleased that her mother was there to see it.

Todd spoke as a loving father giving tribute to Darren's decision in serving the Lord, bestowing advice as only a father can. Darren spoke with confidence, conviction, and excitement for his future.

All in all it was a wonderful day. There were small glitches, but nothing that detracted from the day. Even the snow cooperated and only began to fall as people were leaving to head home.

Last night I crawled into bed and breathed a sigh of relief. A realization then hit me that the hard part has yet to come and saying goodbye to Darren on Wednesday will not be easy.