The Decision

Corey and I had fun climbing this morning. We were there for 2 hours and did 9 climbs, woo! I tried this black 5.10c as my last climb, and I was barely able to do it - had to take a few breaks, but I didn't cheat with another color. We're getting stronger!

After climbing, we got ready for a funeral for a dear neighbor. Karen was the best of the best. Click that link and look at her photo. That is how she ALWAYS looked - like she was always about to burst with laughter. You could just see the light of happiness and of gospel living in her eyes. Beautiful flowers on her casket.

Corey, Abi, Daniel, Katharine and I went to her funeral. We loved this photo of a young Dave and Karen that they had on display - They are both so cute and  young! Karen is so pretty! 

This poem was shared during the services, I think her husband read it? It was written on the cover of one of her journals. I like it.

"One day she finally grasped that unexpected things were always going to happen in life. And with that she realized the only control she had was how she chose to handle them. So, she made the decision to survive using courage, humor, and grace. She was the queen of her own life and the choice was hers."

Karen was definitely an example of that. She made that decision and faced her trial of breast cancer with courage and optimism. She chose to trust God, and he walked with her in her trials. She chose to have courage, humor, and grace. I'm grateful we were able to know her and have her life influence ours and the lives of our children. I was able to go help serve a lunch for the family after, and enjoyed visiting with the other sisters in our ward that helped with that - Jess, Jill, Maralee, Kathy, Lisa, Leslie, Kathy... I'm surrounded by wonderful friends here in this neighborhood, I'm very grateful.