We are okay

I have had so many people calling, texting and messaging me, I am going to try to start posting updates on here. Hopefully, I can express the experiences, blessings and miracles of these past few days in a coherent way. Thank you so much to everyone for your prayers and well wishes. They mean so much! If I do not respond immediately to comments and questions, please forgive me and don't panic. We are taking this all a moment at a time. But Britt is going to be okay. We are okay.

Early Friday morning, Britt quietly got up and dressed, packed some gear for the next two days and headed up to Provo on his BMW motorcycle. He left in plenty of time to make the 4 1/2 hour drive from Blanding so that he could watch Rachel compete at the BYU Invitational track meet. I did not join him, because our youngest daughter, Olivia was running for Student Body Secretary at the middle school, and I was staying with her so she could go to school and then find out the results.

She won, by the way. And Rachel had some awesome races, getting a PR in both the 100 meter hurdles and the 300 meter hurdles. Britt was there and he kept me updated. Our niece, Hannah was also running in a track meet at the high school in Herriman. She goes to school in St. George, and competes in some of the same events as Rachel. Britt got to watch her run the 100 meter hurdles and 300 meter hurdles. She had awesome races as well, and it was a great day for Britt and his sister Jennilyn to spend some time together. After watching the races, Britt and Jennilyn went to eat dinner at Cafe Rio in Herriman.

At home, Olivia and I had a fun girls day, celebrating her achievement. I cut and died her hair, and we went out to Patio to enjoy a dinner out together, as well. Tyler had spent the past two days on a school trip in Salt Lake, learning about history and other cool experiences and watching the Broadway play Hamilton. She and her friends had a memorable time, and I couldn't wait to hear more about it.

At around 8:30, I texted Britt to ask if he knew what time Tyler and the buses of students would be getting home. He responded that he wasn't sure. Soon after, I heard from my sister, who told me the buses had just left Orem. I texted Britt to let him know, and he responded that he was just leaving Herriman after eating dinner with his sister, and on his way to my parents' home in Santaquin. The last message I texted him was "Okay, sounds good. Drive safely."

I did some laundry, read a book, and worked on a couple projects. It was a simple, lazy day. I waited to hear from Britt, but I was not alarmed when I still hadn't heard from him at 10.

At 10:11, my phone rang. The number was not one I recognized, from Salt Lake. A weird time for a marketing call, or whatever, but I didn't think much of it. I just answered.

I couldn't tell you his name, but he told me he was a social worker at the University of Utah Hospital. 

Then I knew something was wrong.

Summer Stuff: June 2013

 Caught your breath?  Here we go again!  June. . .

On June 1st, Britt and I enjoyed a gourmet dinner in the back country south of Moab with an amazing Israeli businessman and his wife and our good friends, Jared and Spring Berrett of Four Corners Adventures.  It was a gorgeous location, delicious food and fabulous company.

A few days later, Britt and I and the kids (minus Garrett, of course), went camping with some friends in the mountains near Mancos, Colorado.  It was a lovely place to stay, especially since temperatures were rapidly rising back home.  Luckily, Joe and Carol let us borrow their camp trailer for the excursion.

Preston Macdonald also joined us for the two days that we stayed out there (that's him on Garrett's quad).   I have always loved wildflowers, but who knew dandy lions could be so pretty.

Tyler and the other girls couldn't get enough of riding the four wheelers everywhere.  They loved it.

We also had our own little washers tournament.  Everyone had a ball playing.  Rachel and her partner, Shelby Fullmer were the winning team.  You'll see them hugging in the last picture.

And Tyler got a bit muddy.  Why?

This was our backyard for the weekend.  Isn't it lovely?

The following week we headed to St. George for Jennilyn's wedding.  Jennilyn got married to Ryan Davis.  He adores her, and they are really sweet together.  I was the unofficial official photographer.  I hope I got some decent pictures.  I am definitely not a professional photographer, and I am still much more at ease taking pictures of my kids than anything else.

The ceremony took place in Rob and Charlene (Britt's mom and stepdad)'s backyard.  Jennilyn wanted to keep it simple, but since Charlene's home and yard are showpieces, it was the perfect location.

Matt's wife Danalee was in charge of the food.  It was both elegant and delicious.  She did a fabulous job with both the food and the presentation.

These two cute cousins were due to be born on the same day, but Ashley came a few weeks early and Rachel (like all of my kids) arrived a little late.  They are still close, and they love getting to see each other.

waiting for the ceremony.  That's Jennilyn's daughter Hannah on the left.

Three gorgeous sisters

The brothers who were in attendance that day.

lovely ladies. . . I am sorry.  I don't remember Ryan's daughter's name.

Carson, Ryan, Hannah, Jennilyn, Ryan's daughter and her boyfriend.  Bradley is currently serving a mission in Kennewick, Washington, and Ryan's three sons were with their mother at the time of the wedding

This is Alisa and her Ryan.  There are three Ryans in the family now.

We had a lovely visit.  I have several pictures of the girls swimming at the Washington Rec Center, when we were trying to stay away so they could set up for the wedding, and also everyone swimming in Grandma's pool, but I can post that another time.  We were so glad we got to be there for the joyous occasion, and it was fun, as well, to see family we don't get to see very often.


Then it was Father's Day, and the kids and I went all out to make it a special day.  Actually, Cole and I went to the store and bought a bunch of candybars and taped them to a poster.  But I think Dad appreciated the gift:

here are the girls, holding it up for him to see

"Dad, we were going to give a Big Honking 100-Grand for Father's Day, but the money slipped through our fingers.  We didn't have an Extra Whatchamacalit to sell and it wasn't PayDay.  We didn't have time to get a pet Kat or a trip to New York or an Orbit around the Milky Way.  We hope you have Mounds of Joy as you eat this card, and don't Rolo ver and get sick.  If you do, we promise not to Snicker.  So, Take 5 today!  Love, your favorite Airheads."

Right after that, the girls and I left to head up to Provo, so they could attend BYU Gymnastics Camp with their cousin Stella.  Eryka also came up with Grandpa Worthy.  Grandpa stayed in Spanish Fork to help Tim and Nancy move.  Eryka and I and the girls stayed in a motel.  Every day for four days, the girls participated in the mini camp for four hours.  They absolutely loved it.  It is definitely something we will want to think about doing again in the future.  On the third day that they had gymnastics camp, Eryka picked them up for me, as Britt had come up to bring Garrett his new truck, so he could have a vehicle to drive in Logan.  We had decided to sell Garrett's blue Chevy Blazer and got him a nice red Toyota Tacoma truck.  You can see a picture of it in our camping pictures.  Anyway, Britt and I made a quick trip to Logan, spent the night at Chrislynn and Richie's and made it back to Provo in time to watch the girls performing some of the new skills they had just learned:

They had such a great time, and Rachel and Olivia even won T-shirts for being teacher favorites.

On the way home from Provo, Tyler and I got dropped off at Blanding 2nd Ward Girls Camp.  We spent the next few days with the awesome young women and leaders.  I had been in charge of securing some of the craft and food supplies and also writing the camp skit.  While we were there, Tyler stole my camera and she and her friends took hundreds of pictures.  I am only posting a few of them here.

The theme was "No Place Like Home" from the Wizard of Oz, and that is Tyler as the wizard in the skit.  They had a lot of fun, and did a great job reminding the girls to remember their innate value and to believe in themselves and know they can make it home to our Heavenly Father.

The day after we got home from girls camp, Tim blessed his baby girl Zoe at our home.  And we all celebrated with yummy desserts afterward.

bunches of grandkids (just missing a few)

Then, on Tuesday, Stella got baptized.  And we all celebrated her special day with shakes at Patio.

Later in the week, we joined Drew and his family (they had all been visiting from Brazil. . . it's winter there, right now) out at Recapture.  Kd had rented some paddle boards from Four Corners Adventures, and the kids had a great time taking turns rowing out into the reservoir, including Worthy.  We also brought Aysia Pehrson along on this occasion.

And then June was almost over and one day my girls convinced me to join them at one of their favorite places this summer, the Wellness Center pool.  Olivia had sewn her own mermaid tail (actually, she made two this summer, but this was the first) and she was excited to show me how she swims like a mermaid.  I know with or without the tails, my girls are mermaids.  This was the only time I made it to the pool this summer.  I know, sad.  I will have to do better next summer.  We love lazy summer days.

Oh, yes!  There's much more in July, but I haven't even loaded any of those pictures onto my computer yet, so you will have to wait a bit. . .