My father-in-law

My father-in-law, Norman Baxter, passed away on April 27th. Greg and I were there when he died, which was a good experience for us. Grandpa had suffered with Alzheimer's for years, and the first thing I thought after he died was, "He doesn't have Alzheimer's any more and never will. He can remember things, he can speak, and he can walk." Grandpa had many wonderful qualities such as being humble, mild-mannered, and without guile. I never heard him say a bad thing about anyone. He was well-loved by the students he taught and extremely loved by his wife, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He had a gift for loving and taking care of babies. This picture of him holding two-month-old Courtney is typical of the soft touch he had with our five babies. They would snuggle up to him as he patted their bottoms, and they were as comfy as could be. We will miss you, Grandpa!

Jacob pulled this picture out of his scrapbook, to show us what Grandpa looked like when he was healthy. I fell in love with it. Grandpa is so happy holding his little namesake, Jacob Norman. Jake has always been proud to have the middle name of Norman. In his early years in school he wrote "Jacob Norman Baxter" on every single paper. Now Jake is 16, and he was fortunate to see his wonderful Grandpa a couple of hours before he passed away and have the opportunity to kiss him and say good-bye. He will cherish those memories.

My husband, Greg, has many of his dad's great qualities. They are both excellent teachers. Every morning when we teach early-morning seminary together, I am continually amazed at Greg's gift for teaching. He laughs and jokes with the kids, but when it comes to teaching the doctrines of the gospel, he does it with great clarity. His dad was a masterful teacher of the gospel too. One thing Greg says about his dad is that he always knew his dad loved him. Greg is also a wonderful father to our children.