Sorry for the sabbatical! It seems I have so much to blog about lately that I don't know where to start. I guess I will start with the most important :)
Last Mother's Day was really wonderful. Not because of how great it was for me but because it was a miracle for my own Mother....
My mom had never been sealed to her own parents because although they were members, they were not active and never went to the temple together. My Grandma Ruby later became active and became a temple worker out at the Jordan River Temple. This was after my grandparents had divorced and my Grandpa remarried. My Grandpa Joe never came back to the church. After my grandparents both passed away, my parents tried to get them sealed in the temple but were told they couldn't do that because Julie, my grandpa's new wife was still living. My mom was heart broken. She had been waiting for this day for a long time, and she felt like she would never see it!About a month before Mother's Day, my sister, Kelly, called me to see what I thought about trying to find Julie and see if she would give us permission to do the sealing. We decided to do it and also fast and pray as a family (without mom knowing, of course) that Julie's heart would be softened and she would allow the sealing. My sister found Julie's address and phone number and my Dad contacted the Temple recorders office to see what kind of paperwork we needed to fill out and have Julie sign to allow the sealing. After explaining to the recorder about the situation and telling him what we wanted to have done, he told my Dad we didn't need Julie's permission because Julie and my Grandpa were only married civilly. My Dad went right down to the Temple and got the needed paperwork for the sealing. It was truly a miracle and we hadn't even started fasting as a family yet!
Now we had about 2 weeks to wait before Mother's Day and it was torturous trying to keep the secret from my mom. Finally Mother's Day arrived (I flew to UT with Dallin and Thatcher the day before and surprised my mom...Jason had to work...:( The BBQ and daily events took forever because everyone was so anxious to have my mom open her presents. After opening presents from each of us, my sister pulled out a big box and said this was a little something from all of us. She unwrapped it and inside was a smaller box, and then a smaller box and then smaller, and on and on until she got to a single envelope. My mom was really nervous because she could see how intense and anxious we all were. When she opened the envelope it said "Here is a copy of the family group sheet that is on file at the Jordan River Temple. For Joseph Mark to be sealed to Ruby Gregory Mark for time and all eternity." 
My mom cried and cried! It was so beautiful. It really broke my heart when she said that she had been praying and praying for this since she was a little girl but stopped because she could see it was never going to happen - at least not in her lifetime.That Tuesday we went to the temple as a family! My sister Kelly was truly inspired and we were blessed so much as everything just fell into place. It must have been the right time for my grandparents!
