Day 10- Tender acts of love

Every year when we go to the cemetary for the twins birthday the emotions are always a little different. As Hunter and Ave get older the more questions they have and more emotions seems to come up. Last year Hunter cried at their gravesite when we saw them and for the past year has had a lot of questions about them and what happened. Deke and I have tried to answer his questions honestly but at the level that a seven year old can handle. He keeps asking to see a picture of them and we will show him soon at a quiet time with just Deke and I when we feel it is right. This year when we pulled up to their grave as soon as we stopped the car I looked back to tell the kids to hop out and saw his face. Tears were streaming down, he was sobbing. Deke opened the back door and Hunter practically lept into his arms for comfort. As we sat by their grave we talked with him and Avery and comforted them. We told him that Ethan and Dylan loved him and missed him too but that they wanted him to be happy until they were together again. We told him that they wanted him to have fun at school and playing with Ave and Em and not to worry about them because they were okay. He calmed down and after a while decided he was ready to go sit back in the van with the girls. He unzipped his jacket and pulled out a white envelope. "I made them a Valentine all by myself while you were at the temple" he said. He placed it on their grave said, "Bye brothers" and headed for the car. Deke could not contain his tears. We cried together feeling the pain not just for ourselves but for Hunter, Avery and Emma. At the moment especially for Hunter. On the front in his little handwriting was their names and inside he had drawn a picture of himself with heart shaped eyes and arms open wide. At the bottom it said, "From your big brother" with a heart. It was so tender for Deke and I at that moment to see his expression of love for them. I think because the twins were born when Hunter was only eighteen months they have a very strong bond. Three boys under two would have been much more like triplets and they looked so much like him. I will never forget seeing them and thinking how much they reminded me of Hunter and then of course being identical how much they looked like each other. We would have had all three of them out on missions at the same time for a short period of time. It is hard not to think of the three of them sharing a room and all the boyish fun and mischief they would have found. I look at Hunter's sweet freckled face and imagine two more freckled faces running behind him. I always feel close to them when I am with Hunter. I think that they stay close by him and love him very much. There is definitely a bond there that I believe is felt by all three of them and the brotherhood that they share. It will be such a sacred day to witness when they are reunited again.