The Prophecy

Hand of the Lord

At the October 2007 General Conference, Elder Eyring of the First Presidency gave a talk entitled O Remember, Remember.

In it, he said, “When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. … I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. … Trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.” 

In October 2022 - Stake Conference, President Kreutz gave us a challenge. The challenge was:

1. Pray for specific opportunities to serve and for God to place people in our lives that we can serve

2. Recognize and identify the hand of the Lord in your life and record it for 30 days. He promised that if you do those things, the Lord would send people to you that needed you in their lives and that you would grow closer to the Lord as you recognized Him in your life. 

Immunotherapy

I am now going to tell you a story from my life where I witnessed the hand of the Lord. We’ve never told this story in public, only snippets of it. We talk about it in our home from time to time. In fact, it took us years to fully comprehend the significance of it (October 4th, 2020 is when we first recognized it as a prophecy).

Seven years ago, for those of you who weren’t in the ward, our oldest child, Caden, passed away from cancer on October 4th, 2017. He was 16 years old. He was noble - faithful.

April 18th, 2017 he started an experimental immunotherapy with a baseline CT scan.

He would have another CT scan in seven weeks to see if it was working. We would know if it was working based on whether the tumors grew while he was on the medication. At this point one tumor was the size of a small grape in the middle of the liver, and the other a small raisin at the edge.

Wednesday, June 7, 2017 - 7 weeks later

He had a follow-up CT scan and the tumors had grown into each other and were now the size of an apple, a Washington-sized apple.

Clearly the immunotherapy didn’t work. There was nothing more that anyone on earth could do. Our Oncologist met with us, and described the pain and suffering people go through the months preceding the end of their life with this type of cancer. She painted a pretty grim picture in order to prepare us for what was to come. 

Pain became our greatest fear and the focal point of all of our fasting and praying. Wednesday, June 7th was the day we found out that it would be Caden’s last summer. 

Sunday, June 11 - Elder Neil L. Andersen

Dan and Kristi Ostrowsky used to be in our ward. Their son Landon passed away about 6 months earlier and Elder Andersen was Dan’s mission president in France. They were meeting in the High Council room with Elder Andersen and asked if we could also be brought in. So, 20 minutes before the meeting we went in to meet with him. Caden wasn’t there because he was too tired to go, which was the hand of the Lord. He wrote Caden a handwritten note.

During that meeting he asked Stephanie how she was feeling. She said she was scared, terrified even, of what was to come. He asked her what she’s afraid of. She replied that she was afraid of having to watch him suffer and see him in pain. That pain and suffering was our greatest fear. As soon as Steph said that, he immediately said, “Oh no, Caden won’t feel pain.” He said it in sort of a dismissive way. It was as if he was minimizing her concern. Later, Steph said of the experience that she was angry with Elder Andersen for saying that and for how he said it. She thought, “How dare you say that. You don’t know our circumstance, you don’t know my son or his cancer. You didn’t hear what the oncologist told us. Don’t just sit here and try to tell us not to worry."

And that was our meeting with Elder Andersen and how we started the summer of 2017, knowing it would be Caden’s last.

Focused Prayers

We began to focus our prayers on one thing. We specifically prayed that his days of suffering would be minimized and the number of good days maximized.

We took advantage of every spare moment to make memories. As long as Caden felt well enough to go, we would go. We went boating, camping, played games.

We had a monthly follow up call with our Oncologist at Seattle Childens. For the months prior to his passing, every time she spoke with us, she could not believe that he wasn’t experiencing more pain. She told us that he will not feel well enough to go to Homecoming. After all, that was more than a month away and he should already be needing morphine. 

3 Final Weeks

Saturday, September 16th, Homecoming Ritchie Style

Saturday, 23rd, Oahu

Monday, 25th, Polynesian Cultural Center

Friday, 29th, he attends seminary for the last time

Saturday, 30th, Richland Homecoming

Sunday, October 1, watches every session of General Conference - After the last session he asked for his first pain pill, which easily took care of the pain. 

Tuesday, October 3, In the evening, Caden received a morphine pump, which managed his pain well. He sat on the couch for me to give him a priesthood blessing. In that blessing I told him that his mother is going to be okay which was important for him to hear.

Wednesday, October 4, At 1:30 AM he sat up in bed and one by one, met with his siblings. Around 2:00 or 2:30, Bishop Kreutz assured him of his readiness to serve a mission on the other side of the veil. After that, he was in and out of sleep. His sight was leaving him. Around 3:00, he woke up confused by what he was seeing and told us that he sees us. We’re sitting around his bed, but he’s above us. At 4:35 am, he fell asleep and peacefully passed away. That was 58 hours after he asked for his first pain pill.

The story doesn’t end there.

Two days later on Friday, October 6th, Steph talked to Sue, the oncologist, again. After hearing our story, she shockingly emphasized, "Stephanie, I just have to say: It does not happen like that!" After 20 years of childhood cancer care, she has seen and heard much. It doesn't happen that fast! She told Steph that it was truly a miracle the way it happened. 

We finally got a miracle. 

I don’t know what this talk was about for you. Maybe seeing the hand of the Lord in times of both trial and prosperity. Maybe it was about writing them down for posterity. That’s what I thought it was going to be about. For me, this ended up being about an Apostle and of the Lord. 

Remember what Elder Andersen said, “He won’t be in pain.” As he spoke those words, there were angels on the other side that were listening and prepared to make that happen. 

He wasn’t just trying to quell a mother’s worries. He was following the spirit. The Holy Ghost put those words into his mind and he just blurted them out. A living apostle prophesied that he wouldn’t be in pain. And he wasn’t. A prophet, seer, and revelator gave our family our own personal prophecy. 

It was a miracle that he wasn’t in pain. But the fact that it was prophesied makes it even more remarkable. 

The biggest miracle in this story is that Jesus Christ has prophets, seers, and revelators on the earth again. 

Before Elder Andersen prayed with us, he said, "I am going to add Caden's name to a special prayer roll for the session that the Quorum attends on Thursdays." 

After Caden passed, Elder Andersen wrote, “They will see their noble Caden again.” I’m going to count that as another prophecy.

Back to the challenge of President Kreutz. I want to renew that challenge. 3 weeks before General Conference when we will hear from prophets, seers and revelators.  

The challenge was:

1. Pray for specific opportunities to serve and for God to place people in our lives that we can serve

2. Recognize and identify the hand of the Lord in your life and record it for 30 days. He promised that if you do those things, the Lord would send people to you that needed you in their lives and that you would grow closer to the Lord as you recognized Him in your life. 

(The reason it's written like a talk is because is was written for Randy's sacrament meeting talk on September 15, 2014.)

Grandbaby Bliss

August 22: Keilie gets her first ultrasound picture of Grandbaby.  Happy Birthday!!

August 25: We celebrate Keilie's birthday and add a few extra pictures that can't be shown until later.  21 and pregnant with her first-- Best birthday gift!!

Overcome with the news, I took Grandbaby to visit Uncle Caden.  He would have been a great uncle!  We're all convinced he's showing Grandbaby all the ways in which to prank us, and make us laugh.

Just a few purchases.  Heaven help me when I find out the gender.  For now, "Grandbaby, you are already LOVED!"

Stranger Things

Three times now, we've found these MASSIVE mushrooms growing in our rocks out back.  When I showed them to my family, they mentioned that they looked like something from the Netflix show Stranger Things.  Apparently, they grow where stumps or wood shavings are, which makes sense as they're in the exact area where we cut down Aspens a few years ago.  Luckily, they're not poisonous.  In a way, they're beautiful!

Permission Granted

 WE'RE GOING TO BE GRANDPARENTS!!!!!!!!!!

Grandbaby Pratt due April 16, 2025.

Papa Randy, smile on his lips: "This baby is going to cost me, huh?"  Grandma Steph, unapologetic: "Yes."

Beautiful Brushing

Mira knows the pleasure of someone brushing your hair.  Look at her serene smile.  We sure love this precious creature.  Although she sheds puppy-size piles (truly, the only downside), we couldn't imagine our lives without her.  She's worth the extra work.

 

Hermiston XC

Tyson had his second Cross Country meet today.  His last meet was a 2-miler, this was his first (ever) 5K meet.

I didn't know what to expect, but I know I completely underestimated my son!  Remember, he ran his first solid mile in late June, and started running 2+ miles at practice at the end of August.  Here we are a mere three weeks later, and Randy and I watched as he crossed the Finish Line in only 24:05.  He said he got a pretty bad side stitch and had to walk for about 10 seconds, otherwise he would have been sub 24:00!

This is Kyle.  They met in Libby Middle School the year Tyson chose to go back to school in person.  They haven't been super close, until Cross Country.  Since then, Kyle has asked Tyson to go for runs, and spent every practice with him.  Tyson enjoys the friendship, but also enjoys the "encouragement" from Kyle to keep up.  He's better because of his friend.

Kyle: "If it is alright with you, I'm going to just remember your name as 'Tyson's mom.'"

I'm the luckiest girl in the world.  I am forever grateful to be known as "Caden's mom," "Keilie's mom," "Shelby's mom," "Brennon's mom," and "Tyson's mom."  I'm living my best life.  This is all I ever wanted to be when I grew up.

Flat Tires

Shelby found this when she needed to leave Richland High School for Tri-Tech.  Talk about stress.  Sometimes, car issues make me think that owning and maintaining cars is overrated...
 

HOCO 2024

 

Dr. Vigneri

The doctor that delivered Shelby, Brennon, and Tyson passed away unexpectedly.  Sad!  He was such a great OB.  I so appreciated his listening ear and understanding of a woman knowing her body.  I consider myself blessed he was my doctor.
 

Better w/ Friends

 Tyson had his first cross country meet in Friday.  I was super sad to miss it, even if my excuse was a good one.  I loved getting a video from Brennon, cheering his little brother on.

Official: 2-miles in 14'51.  

When they were making teams, Tyson was placed in the lowest group because this is his first time ever doing cross country.  He approached his coach and asked if he would consider advancing him to the middle group so he could run with his friend.  I love that he advocated with for himself, knowing what he wanted and going for it even though it was a little scary.  He said he almost regrets asking, because the running is more intense than he has ever done, but it's worth it to run with a friend.

When he was telling us about the run and how exhausted he was after, I mentioned how Kyle was going to make him a better runner.  "Oh, I know!  I would have slowed down a million times during that race.  But I wanted to run with him."  I can't wait to see what this season brings for my Ty!

Bookends

 Randy surprised me with Casper after the Sealing.  We had it all planned to go with Kimberly on the 3rd, but with Randy being laid off and all the stress that comes with trying to save money in that limbo, we cancelled our KOA reservation and stayed home.  I was super sad, but understood our Why.  So when he said we were going to go home via Casper-- an out-of-the-way trip of 12 hours-- I was super excited.

The red dot is our first home, the blue at the bottom of the screen is the location of the temple.  .7 mile!  Although we didn't know it at the time, it feels a little like I took that house for granted being so close to the temple.

It looks so much bigger outside than it does inside.  Having spent the last 12 years attending and working in a "mini temple," this one surprised me by being even smaller.  Columbia River has 16,880 sq. ft, Casper has 9,950 sq. ft.  Even so, it felt like the most special palace on the planet at that moment.  Obviously, I believe temples are important, but I prayed for this temple for many years (when I lived in Casper, and when we moved away), and just felt immense joy standing inside the walls-- FINALLY!

I got to bookend my day going into two temples I've never been to before, holding the hand of my Love, and just feeling so, so grateful.  It was definitely a red-letter day!

Thursday: 9 hours driving.  Friday: 7:45am-11:45pm, 3-hours of which were not driving.  Saturday: 12 hours driving.  Worth it!

Sealed

 Saratoga Springs, Utah

Dallin & Keilie Pratt, Sealed for Time and All Eternity

Sealer: "Your Heavenly Father is not surprised you are here today."  It was the most beautiful morning.

Beggin' beauties

 Keilie dropped Bailey off early this morning so they could begin their drive down to Utah.  Shelby was getting ready to leave for Tri-tech, grabbing a quick lunch, when this scene took place.

Cuties, all three.

It's going to be such a great weekend!

Cats & Dog

 Tyson gets asked to watch a friend's cats every once in a while.  He loves it!  I love that he gets to play with cats, but I don't have to have them in my home-- Majorly allergic to cats over here!  It works out well for all parties.

I'm not so sure Max is a fan, though.  He LOVES to go on car rides, but is always a mess when Tyson leaves him behind.  It's so much fun watching his wagging tail when we pick Tyson up, though.  I love how much those two love each other.  I'm happy to report that I am firmly Max's #2 favorite person.

Typical Tyson

 A few weeks into Summer, Tyson told me that a girl he knew was signed up to run a 1/2 marathon in town.  "I'm going to start running a mile every day to support her."  Day after day, he'd time himself and challenge himself to run it faster, getting it down to under 7.5 minutes without formal training.  Sometimes, he'd challenge himself to simply go for that run, even if it was moments before bed.  His dedication was so cute, especially knowing it was for a girl.  So, when he said he wanted to try Cross Country, I wasn't quite shocked, although it was the first time I'd ever heard him express interest in running without a soccer ball included in the sport.

Yesterday was supposed to be his first practice.  I'd done everything that I knew needed to be done, even going to the school a few times to sign papers and pay fees.  When he got home, he said, "They didn't have certain forms, so I wasn't allowed to run on the track."  I was mortified.  I'd signed some of the forms on the computer, but I did notice that something was wrong when I signed in and it didn't have ANY kids under my profile.  I created "Tyson" so he could be signed up, but it doesn't look like that worked!!  When I apologized, telling him I didn't know what had happened, his reply was typical Tyson: "That's ok.  I was told I couldn't run on the track, so I just moved over a few inches and ran on the grass next to them."

I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have such forgiving children.  I was sent a link from the secretary at RHS and got him signed up for real so he'll be able to run today.  Hopefully.  

FOUR bunnies

 On Friday, Brennon and his friends wanted to go stargazing before school started.  Brennon asked if Randy would also take them on the Rzr and make a fun date out of it.  So, at 8:00pm, they headed to to Horse Heaven Hills for a night of fun.  The wind and clouds had hung around all day, so the decision to just go was made at 7:45, even if they weren't up there very long.  That's Miracle #1.

They were all having an absolute blast.  All of them wanted to keep the night going, despite the chill of the wind.  On their last ride, Randy decided to take a different route so they could speed back to the car.  It was the only time they took this particular path.  That's Miracle #2.

As they were coming up, Randy saw something on the road that showed bright white.  As they approached, the kids yelled that it was a bunny.  Randy slowed and they all just watched the bunny for a second, sure it was going to run off.  When it just sat there, the kids were like, "I'm going to go see if I can catch it!"  And to everyone's shock and surprise, it let them pick it up!  Miracle #3.

As they cast their eyes around, they found THREE more bunnies huddled around a bush.  So, as you probably guessed, they went to see if they could pick those up as well.  YEP!  As they stood in that road, lit by the Rzr lights in the pitch black, they looked at one another in shock and glee-- Four bunnies held in their arms, not trying to escape at all!  Randy had seen a truck just a few minutes before in that area, and thought to himself that they hadn't stayed long at all.  And now he knew why-- those four sweet and innocent bunnies had been abandoned!  They packed up ALL the things and came home.

I was reading in my room with the door closed when they got home.  Randy walks in and sits down, waiting for me to notice what's in his arms.  It was so random, so exotic, so out there, that my mind literally couldn't comprehend what I was seeing.  He repositioned himself so the bunny was closer to me, and I kid you not, I almost expected the bunny to disappear!  When it didn't, my mind was so confused, I asked, "Is this real?"  It is weird how PTSD affects my brain sometimes.  It felt more real that the bunny should have disappeared than that it didn't.  It felt more real that it COULD disappear than that it didn't.

I walked out to see four bunnies sitting on four teenager's laps, not trying to get away, not being "trapped," just allowing them to snuggle. Miracle #4

In shock, I text Keilie-- she came right over even though it was 10:30.  When I told Ashlee and Danielle about the bunnies, Ashlee text back, "Don't let Keilie know, she'll hid one in her drawers."  While we were in Hawaii in 2010, Ashlee was babysitting my kids.  Keilie, the master baby bunny catcher, caught one and they hid it for days in their drawer, she and Caden.  They were so made with Aunt Ashlee found out about it and made them turn it loose.  It's a fun memory for both Keilie and Ashlee.

Saturday night we had 10 teenagers sitting around our living room, passing bunnies back and forth.  Again, it just felt so surreal that these bunnies allowed it!  At 11:00pm, Amy took home the black one, Riley Byrd took home the gray and cream ones, and we put the white one in the kennel for someone to come grab her today. Mircale #5

It was SO MUCH FUN watching them hop around the back yard.  It was SO MUCH FUN watching the dogs interact and play with them.  It was SO MUCH FUN holding them, snuggling them, and just having them.  But, the moment the last one went to a good home, I felt immense relief.  It was a blast while it lasted, but I'm not in a good mindset to add unexpected stress, no matter how cute and fluffy and snuggly that stress is.

Had they chosen not to go, Randy not taken that path, the kids not gotten out to catch the white one, not seen the other three, not brought them home-- I just can't imagine trying to live with with myself knowing I'd abandoned defenseless creatures in the harsh wild.  I'm glad those kids were lead to that mountain!

Nukes and Sandwiches

While sitting around the dinner table, celebrating Keilie's birthday, Shelby asked Tyson if he remembered walking in his sleep the night before.  He kind of looked a little contemplative and said, "I thought that was a dream!"  Then it all started to come back to him.

Tyson: "I went out to check for nukes and sandwiches, or something like that!"

Shelby: "I followed you downstairs and caught up to you as you were coming in.  When I asked you if you were sleep walking, you told me no."

Tyson: "Because I was awake then.  I'd woken up outside and couldn't remember why I was out there."

My boys have all had sleep stuff.  Caden had night terrors, and both Brennon and Tyson sleep walk.  Tyson more so, admittedly, and the only one that goes outside.

We once had to install a lock at the top of the door so our kids wouldn't go out the front door in the morning.  Perhaps we need to do that again, so our kid won't go out the front door in the dead of night...

Eagle Eye

Brennon went to a shooting range for Youth Activities tonight.  I got a video from Roman, showing me Brennon's wicked skills.  In all honesty, I had to watch the video a few times, because I didn't see anything-- he was that fast.  It was super impressive to watch.

When Randy and I were talking with Brennon about it, he told us that his instinct was to close his eyes as he was getting ready to pull the trigger, so he never knew if he'd hit it or not!  We laughed and laughed!  He truly didn't know how well he'd done, because his eyes had been closed each and every shot.

If that isn't a display of "natural talent," I don't know what is! Cutie!

Day Hike

 Randy and Tyson went on a day hike adventure with Matt Porter today.  Although I know why I didn't go-- thank you wrecked back for holding me back!-- that doesn't lessen the jealousy one bit!

Randy said the last few miles of this 8-miler were pretty steep, that he knew I would have really struggled.  But I'm wondering if these views would have negated the pain and made it all worth it!

Tyson was prepared with his swim suit.  The water wasn't as cold as he'd expected, but it was still pretty chilly he said.

I'm glad they got to spend this time together.  I hope it is a memory they'll have forever!

Mistaken Contents

 I was asked to sub for Singing Time today.  I was more nervous today than I ever was when I took that calling over when I was the Primary President, but only because I was afraid the kids would be disappointed in the girl I am these days.  We had a blast, though.  It was SO good to be back with them, to laugh and to testify of Jesus together again.

After, as I was cleaning up, Sister Nelson gave me an envelope and a cookie.  Mistakenly, I thought it was an invitation or a handout from the RS lesson that day.  I was unprepared for what was inside.

It was a card that had been passed around to the women in the ward, telling me of their love and support during these difficult times.  I was so touched, I just sat and wept.  I'm the luckiest girl in the world to be a member of the Hillview Ward.  They have been His hands since we moved here 11/2/2012!

Prison

 Since returning from Utah in July, Mira has been having some serious anxiety.  Major.  In fact, it was so bad, we took her to the vet and got her a prescription for meds.  Pacing, panting, scratching at the carpet, an occasional bark sesh, and just staring into a corner, night after night was really scaring us.  Since Randy was always the one that heard her and took care of her during the night, he began looking for a large dog crate to get, to contain her to one spot if needed.  She has never, not once, spent a night in a crate while living with us.  I was worried THAT would cause her to have anxiety.

I got a call this morning, asking if I'd help Randy bring a crate in the house that he'd purchased that morning on Facebook Marketplace.  "Now, it's much bigger than it looked online.  We'll try it for a while, and sell it if it is just too big for you."  Even I was unprepared for the size and durability of this beast!

The second I saw it, I giggled remembering Secondhand Lions for some reason.  It's not like this cage looks like the one they had on that movie.  In fact, the cage they had was a box.  But what is currently in our living room is cage enough for a lion!

Shelby wasn't home when we sent these pictures.  She FREAKED OUT!  "GET HER OUT OF THAT PRISON!"  We giggled.  "The door isn't even closed!"

And Mira loves it.  Max does as well.  Color me surprised!

I sure hope this helps our girl.  Poor thing is due a calm night.  It is hideous.  It takes up WAY too much space.  But Mira loves it, so I do too.