Disney On Ice
For Meagan's birthday we celebrated with Princesses at Disney on Ice. All of us thought Ariel was going to fall to her death during the silk/rope scene but she did fabulously and the overpriced cotton candy was just a bonus.
Learning how to dive is hard, so is the water when you belly flop. Diving in the deep end makes it even more scary but this girl did it. Also, you can't say anything about her having a crush on her teacher because she gets super angry with you. One day, going to lessons, she walked by him teaching a different class and just stared at him. It was hilarious and she gets super snippy when you point it out. She does love to swim after her lessons though and insists on going down the slide 500 times at least.
Dayne Justin Thomas made his way into the world March 15th at 4:53pm weighing 7lbs 5oz and 19.5" long. He is adorable and we love him so much! Ty is one proud uncle! So glad we got to go snuggle him.
St. Patty's Day High! If you can't tell by the picture, I was struggling hard! Haha!
Brynlee's field trip to the M.L. Bean Museum in Provo. So cool. We got to see a cockroach, a toad and a snake. Brynlee refused to touch the snake but I thought it was cool. So glad I got to go with this munchkin. We ate lunch at the park after and she started climbing a tree. Pretty soon a bunch of kids started climbing too and she got down and they all got in trouble.
Heavy stuff....
On Tuesday March 27th, as I was pulling into the parking lot to go to work, Ty called me to tell me Krista had passed away sometime during the night. It was awful. She was found in the pasture behind Grandma and Grandpa's house. Her horse was saddled and her phone was dead. I didn't know what to say or how to respond. All I could say was, "Oh Krista". First thinking was maybe it was an accident with her horse but it was just speculation. I headed to G & G's to hug my family and watched the medical examiner take Krista's body away. It was numbing but at the same time my heart ached for her family. Her boots and phone were sitting on the grass and I took her boots to her room. It was like nothing was awry. Just your typical 20 year old young adult room, kinda messy, grad/wedding pics everywhere, unmade bed. Nothing was out of place but it all felt out of place at the same time. Ty showed up a bit later and we all spent some time there before leaving to pick Brynlee up from school. She didn't really understand, which I thought she would but it made it easier to talk to her about it.
The next few days were kind of odd. I decided to still teach High that night because I needed to release some pent up emotion, it worked. My chest felt lighter. We found out it was basically an aneurism. AVM, Arteriovenous Malformation. Blood vessels in her brain burst. She died doing what she loved, riding her horse.
Her funeral was over Easter/Conference weekend in Blanding. We took some Easter decorations and Brynlee's basket with us and told her the Easter Bunny could still find us. We mostly just hung out with the Grover's and talked, practiced roping, had an Easter egg hunt and ate. Oh they had tons of food, so much! The first time I saw her in her casket I just cried but she looked so beautiful and peaceful. Just like Krista, not just a body, she looked like herself, like maybe she was sleeping. We stayed for the entire viewing and there were sooooo many people it was amazing and even more people came the next morning. The services were beautiful, long and the Stake Center was packed to the brim with people. A short 20 years and that girl touched a lot of lives. All the cousins were asked to stand at the front and sing I Love to See the Temple. Yeah right, sing or choke out the words? Her family all spoke and I learned a few things from Krista that day. Things like she didn't believe the Lord only gives you what you can handle. She believes He gives you stuff you can't handle because He wants you to turn to Him for help. She bore her testimony a lot in her journal too. Everyone in the funeral procession was given a car decal and it was cool to be a part of that. We drove by the High School where they had decorated the fence, the High Schoolers were allowed to go outside and wave as we all drove by. Her whole town loved her! It was humbling and lovely and touching. The graveside was calm and peaceful. We all touched her casket and said goodbye, or rather, see ya later Kritta.
On Easter Sunday we went jeeping and Erik and Jannie took us to see a petrified tree and dinosaur bone. Such a beautiful place, mostly untouched by us humans.
At the viewing the evening before we found out Shaylee was pregnant with twins. It was the sweetest moment in a room of mourning, such a tender mercy. We all thought it was a gift from Kritta. However, a week later they told us she lost those babies. That was hard. How much can one family take? I was worried about Jannie. But they are strong and can see the positivity and silver linings too.
We ended our trip waking up to Brynlee being sick from both ends. Yep, so we stuck around for awhile. Once we were finally able to leave she only puked once and got it in the bag and we were good to go. Just a quick bug but still no fun.
It is worth mentioning that I am surrounded by amazingly fantastic people that are so willing to share love and support. We had loads of people donate to a GoFundMe account and also donate food and sent flowers.
Between finding out Krista had passed away and leaving to Blanding for her funeral, Crystal and I had been planning an High Fitness event. For March the High Society did a Women's Empowerment push and we ended our month with an event to help our participants feel loved. We had a photo booth which Tisha helped me make props for (love her) and I dedicated my attendance to Krista Grover (KG). We asked all the women to wear clothes, colors, etc that reminded them of something they've accomplished or made them feel awesome. We collected donations for a battered women's shelter as well. It was amazing teaching with other Lady Bosses and empowering other women. I love being able to do things like this to lift and spread love throughout the community!
Before we left for Blanding we went to the Jordan River Temple Open House and it was good timing to be able to walk through a temple and be reminded of the eternal nature of our spirits and the eternal blessings we receive as individuals and families. Plus I got to see Steph Cook and her cute pregnant belly and family.
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