Fowers Family: November 2010

Well, our October has been a month that I never want to repeat in some ways, and in others I wish it could have gone on a lot longer. We started out the month with the news that the cancer Tim's dad had been fighting for the last year was terminal and all we could do was make Mark comfortable. This was incredibly overwhelming do deal with. Add to that the moving. We moved out of the small rental we were in by the 1st and put all of our boxes on that patio, and moved all of our furniture to the new house (next door) patio. Then we packed up our suitcases and stayed at my mom's for 2 weeks. Add to that us traveling to St. George 4 weekends in a row to spend as much time with Mark as we could. This was precious time that I wish we could have had more of. We even had a weekend where Mark had all 6 of his kids together to spend time and get some last council and comforting words from him. Add to that Tim studying for his Professional Engineering exam. He studied 10-15 hours a week on top of working 40-50 hours a week- making me feel like a single mom. Add to that moving into the new house- which has been wonderful! It feels so good to finally be in a home that we can grow into! All of these things added together in one month have put me close to losing my mind at times, but I have managed to pull through. The day after we moved into our house we got the phone call that Mark was going back to Heaven quickly. I had to run over to the Stake Center bawling and pull Tim out of a meeting so that he could call his dad to say goodbye. Mark was not very responsive by this time, but we did find out that he said Tim's name when he got on the phone and said, "I love you." We jumped in the car again and made it to Nephi when we got the call that Mark had taken his last breath. This experience has been so sad for our family, but we have a firm testimony in the Plan of Happiness. There have been far too many spiritual experiences in the last year to be able to deny that Heaven is real, the Savior lives, and we don't just go to sleep when we die. We go back Home and we know that is where Mark is now. We know we will see him again, but we miss him a lot still. After the funeral I realized how lucky I am to be married to man who was raised by Mark Fowers. Tim has so many characteristics like Mark and I am so blessed to have him for a husband and the father of my children. Mark's example has made us want to be better people and has made me be a better wife and mother. A week after the craziness of the funeral, Tim took his 8 hour test. One of the last times we saw Mark he gave Tim a blessing and said that he would be successful with this test. Tim could feel that strength during the test. We know that Mark was aware of what Tim was doing that day and was proud of his son. Mark was only 64 years old- not even old enough to claim Social Security! We know that our Heavenly Father needed him more than we did. That knowledge has brought us comfort that I can't even begin to explain. I posted some pictures here, in no particular order, of what we have been doing the last month.

Halloween. Juliet- ladybug, Emmary-witch, Davis-dragon

Mark's casket. The only picture we took during the funeral. Tim's sister took a lot, so we can get copies later. It was weird how that didn't even cross our minds that day.

St. George at Tim's parents.

7 days before Mark passed. I know it is sideways, but I didn't upload it from Picasa. Oh, and I am brunette now. Davis has a giant piece of candy in his mouth.

The same day as the previous picture. I was trying to get Brinley, Emmary and Juliet, but Juliet just wanted to look at Mark. When you zoom in, they look so cute just the 2 of them. It is hard for me to know that I will have to show this picture to Juliet one day and tell her about her Pappa Mark because she won't remember. But for this one moment they had a special connection.