It all started last year with Kyle's crazy bike ride turned horribly wrong and him ending up in a full arm cast with a very bad fracture in his wrist. In October, I end up in the E.R. with severe back pain & stomach issues which led to an infection in my pancreas which resulted with surgery to remove a terribly full stoney gallbladder. During all of this Dan and I were in the process of purchasing a home. When December rolled around, we celebrated our 23rd Wedding Anniversary, signed the closing paperwork on our house and headed to Idaho for a 2 day quick trip to move the girls home. January and February, flew by pretty smoothly.
March and April brought a medical scare with Jessica...but thankfully with a small biopsy, everything is well. We were also so very blessed when Jessica and Lyndsie hit black ice coming back from Stake Conference weekend in South Dakota-they were driving Dan's truck when they hit black ice, and crossed into on coming traffic going into a ditch and almost rolled the truck. As the truck hit the snowy ditch, it slid sideways and thankfully, the tires of the truck came away from the rims and kept the truck from rolling. Besides a few screws needing to be replaced on the bumper and the tires put back on the rims, the truck didn't take a dent-but the girls scare will forever stay with them.
When May arrived, we anticipated the arrival of Dan's parents who were coming from California for Lyndsie's High School Graduation. On the morning of the graduation, we had gone to Church that morning and noticed a rather handsome young man sitting by the wall-now mind you, we live in Nebraska and there just aren't any young single LDS young men here, and if there are, they are usually young married interns for the Church ranch. So when Sacrament was over, I quickly went to find him when one of the ladies stopped me to tell me he was SINGLE and she was going to match make with one of my 3 available girls! I kind of had my own idea of match making so I walked over and introduced myself and made small talk, then invited him for dinner the next week. I then introduced him to Krystina...He was so handsome and so nice and had such a nice smile. All I could think about was a nice friend for the girls, someone to hang out with during the summer. My thoughts quickly changed and then I said, "Hey, you should join our family TODAY for Lyndsie's graduation and dinner"..he said "sure". The morning was going so nicely and we were all so happy and excited for the rest of the day. When I got home from Church, I noticed the answering machine light blinking so I clicked the button and soon realized that my day was changing, in a way I had not hoped for. After making a phone call, I learned that my Father had passed away that morning. Sad news. Very sad. As a Mother, you want to protect your children and make life HAPPY for them. I didn't know how I was going to be HAPPY for this special day for me wasn't so special anymore. Knowing as well that my In-laws were here, I had invited a guest, and we were hosting a High School Graduation dinner with friends. Honestly, I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry until I fell asleep. Somehow though, after talking with the kids, I pulled myself together and entertained a house full of people for the afternoon. There is only one place that my strength came from..a loving Heavenly Father...he loved me so much that he surrounded me with people and my loved ones even as difficult as it was.
June, we traveled to California for my Father's Services. A beautiful VA Inurnment and a memorial with all of his friends and family. I knew my father was a great guy, but I didn't know the impact that he had on other people. The stories we heard were so needed and I was so grateful for each and every one of them.
July, wow...where to start. We had love brewing right under our roof. Krystina & the handsome young man we met on Lyndsie's graduation was now a permanent fixture in our home. One Sunday dinner turned into every Sunday and dating my daughter. It was wonderful! And if things couldn't get better, they announced their engagement to be married. Life was good. As the month came to and end, we walked our daughter into the Denver Temple for the first time. It was an amazing day as we were surrounded with family of Tyrell's...how blessed we were knowing that in just a few short weeks, we would again enter the doors of a Temple for our daughter's sealing.
Well, as one would assume, the plans were in full swing...and everyone was excited to make the trip to Utah. August came altogether too quickly! But we made it. Our daughter was sealed to her Husband on August 27th in the Salt Lake City Temple for time and all eternity. What a beautiful sealing, and a beautiful day...many friends and family traveled to be with us for this wonderful day. We are so happy for Krystina and Tyrell!
Now that life is settling down a bit, September brought new changes as well. Dan was released as our Branch President after 3 years. It was bittersweet to say the least. I am so happy to have my husband back, to have more time as a family and to have more time with him myself. That might sound so selfish, but we had so little time with his schedule. For Dan, he grew so much while he served as Branch President and our family was so blessed, even through difficult and most challenging times...but I know that through faith and with the love of our Heavenly Father, he carried us through each and every hurtle, and for that I am truly grateful.
Big things are coming...we know it, we feel it. We know that it won't be too long now that we will get the opportunity to move-we have two picks, Fort Worth Texas, or Idaho...can you guess what our top pick is..? We'll keep you posted. Until then, we look forward to sharing more of our life with you and we hope you'll stick around with us!
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