Last September 14th, in remembrance of the one-year anniversary of Jackson moving on to the other side of the veil, we held a Garden Dedication. I suppose it is time for me to finally post the outcome of our hard work! We call it Jackson's Garden. At the event, the yard was still pretty bare, all dirt, but we had a great gathering of our friends and loved ones. When we began working in the Spring of 2013, it was a mess. If you don't believe me,
click here. We worked hard all summer. This time last year, we were still plugging away, clearing away grapevine, digging, laying down weed barriers and using every possible ounce of our strength and time to finish by September 14th. This is what it looked like that day, with everyone having a good time.
You can scroll down for earlier blog posts about fighting with the yard and see that the back corner, which used to be a grapevine, is now a nice fire pit area. We planted a vegetable garden in planter boxes my dad built.
Who would have thought that our little "jungle" could become a place where we could enjoy our family and friends? Jackson did! I never go outside without thinking about how happy he'd be here. At the dedication ceremony, I read a little quote from Brigham Young: "Build cities, adorn your habitations, make gardens, orchards, and vineyards, and render the earth so pleasant that when you look upon your labors you may do so with pleasure, and that angels may delight to come and visit your beautiful locations."
My cousin Donald made a sign for the garden.
Around him, you can see some of the plants that people brought. We are doing our best to take care of them! We have become much more of an outdoor family, and this is in direct relationship to Jackson's desire to create a space where we could do just that.
Friends not only brought plants, but other things for the yard....
My friend, Melissa, created a backdrop of streamers and took pictures of many of our guests. We were especially pleased that some of Jackson's friends could be there. Here are just a few:
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| Pat, Michelle and Sara |
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| Sara, Ina, Betty, Suzan and Emily |
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| Richard and Amy Bernard |
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| Tom and Kathy LaBerteaux |
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| Jakob and Lacey Bredsguard and Crew |
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| Libby, Suzan, Nickie, Melissa and Linda |
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| Luis and Karina Corona |
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| Rachelle, Ben and Vanya |
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| Elijah, Tess and Free |
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| Jack and Suzan |
I wish I could put everyone in! It was a happy, sad, emotional, support-filled evening. I don't know if we'll ever do anything like this again. It was the right thing to do that day--surrounding ourselves with loved ones so we didn't have to face it alone.
I am planning to take some pictures as the garden looks today. I will post them soon.
