me and my good friend sally--both feeling ready to pop.
we had a great time in utah! we stayed at jordan's parents' house since his sisters (the current tenants) were planning to spend thanksgiving with those cute missionaries in canada. the girls did great on the drive--a definite tender mercy. i was a little nervous about how they would do, newly potty-trained and everything, but it turned out my pregnant self had to stop the car way more than the girls did:) we also scored some great weather on the drive, which made for a smooth trip.
we arrived the evening before thanksgiving and celebrated the next day with jordan's family first. since his side of the family is so huge, jordan's sister, kenni, reserved her church so we could have the party there. we had a great time catching up with family and stuffing ourselves to the brim. our sister-in-law emlyn also arranged a "sprinkle" (not quite a shower:) in honor of the new babe, in conjunction with thanksgiving--since we were all gathered anyway.
it was such a cute little addition to the thanksgiving feast. later that evening, we headed to my sister's house for thanksgiving round 2. it was just as delicious and the company was also a pleasure. we were so grateful that we were able to spend that time of reflection and gratitude with so many people we love.
cute little cousins showing off their gingerbread christmas trees
the second day we were in utah, we received a call from jordan's dad telling us that his mom's health was declining and that we might want to go visit her right away. we were very glad we did. when we got to her home in provo she had already been moved to a hospital bed and she was in obvious discomfort. as we would talk to her and ask her questions, she would begin a sentence, but not be able to finish it because the pain was so great. our hearts ached for her, but we were so glad that we were able to see her while we were in utah. because of her condition, jordan's parents and sisters decided to start driving home to be with grandma. although the circumstances were not happy, we were so glad that we were able to visit with mom and dad--we miss them so much!
the next day we went to visit grandma again, to basically say "good bye." that was heart-wrenching, but i am so glad that we were able to be there. our girls LOVED their great grandma stutz so much. while living in jordan's parents' house, we would visit her every sunday after church. the first few sundays we had after we moved to reno, the girls would tell us it was "time to go see grandma" after church. we were glad that their young minds have so many wonderful memories of grandma.
unfortunately, because jordan had school, we literally stayed for just the weekend and then headed back home. when we arrived home we received the call from dad that grandma had passed. we were sad, but at the same time we felt much peace, knowing that grandma and grandpa were finally reunited. our next step was making plans to return to utah the next weekend to attend the funeral. we were kind of nervous about how the girls would do having to make that drive two weekends in a row, but they were complete troopers--which made our lives a lot easier. we attended the funeral, which was lovely, and during that second trip to utah, we were also able to attend the sealing of jordan's brother and wife to the last three of their adopted nine children. they are an incredible family, and we were so happy that circumstances allowed us to be there for that event.
even though the end of november seemed like a complete roller coaster, we were so grateful for the timing of everything--it all seemed to fall into place for us. we are grateful for the blessing of eternal families and we are so grateful that we are "stuck" with the people that we are, forever:)
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