2021 Report:
January:
-Found out New Years Eve that Shayla had been taken in for emergency surgery. She went to rehab after that and her cancer matastizied.
-Between everything happening with Shayla, we went up to Brianhead with our Nature Co-op for our winter over night outing. They played in the snow like crazy and went tubing. Brent came with us this year! The kids had a blast, like we do every year. What a gift to be part of this group.
-We took a quick fast trip to Idaho to deliver a greenhouse and brought the kids with us. Gabe went to Boise with Papa for a fast trip and to see Tate get ordained. After Papa got back from that trip he told everyone that Shayla wasn't going to make it and he gave her a blessing of release from this life.
-Mesha, Kalea, Jonathan, Dad and I all were able to go spend time with her through the rest of January and beginning of February. I had seven days with her. I helped her to finish writing her final letters to her kids. I witnessed someone in the process of dying for the first time in my life. She taught me so many things watching her as she was dealing with such pain. The lessons I learned while being a witness to everything she was going through changed me forever.
-The whole of January was spent on traveling, supporting and talking with family, receiving support from Dani (she came and stayed with my kids while I helped Shay), Brent was amazing while supporting me during the whole process. Everything else in January is a little bit of a blur honestly. The kids were doing their normal classes, piano, ninja warrior, parkour, choir, homeschool co-op... everything else like that.
-And we got Ginger Dog! She turned out to be more for me than for the kids. My comfort animal this year.
February:
-Went to Secret Garden with Talia for a mom and daughter date.
-Shayla passed away on February 15th after a week of severe strokes. It was a relief when she passed on so she didn't have to be in such pain anymore.
-Her viewing was in Boise Wednesday night Feb.17th. The funeral was planned for Thursday February 18th. Then the burial was February 19th in Montpelier Idaho. We made the whirlwind trip to Boise for the viewing and funeral, then back to Idaho Falls to spend the night and then go to the burial on the 19th.
-We stayed in Idaho with mom and dad for a week after that, then Brent came back up to get us. We went to the aquarium while we were here. We made it back to St. George around the 29th of February. The kids missed a lot of their homeschool activities during this month.
March:
-Talia and I went on a girls trip to Phoenix AZ. She had earned money to go on a trip like three months earlier, but we had to put it off because of everything happening with Shayla. We stayed with Amanda and Emily Noxon down there and had a great time! Just what the doctor ordered.
-End of March was spent helping with "Anne of Green Gables" at with a homeschool academy. Both Talia and Gabe were involved in it and they had a great time!
-Also spent quite a bit of time with planning the mom's retreat in April. The kids did their regular classes and homeschool routine for this month and it felt really nice not to miss anything because of travel.
April:
-Jeff and Julie Noxon came for Brent's Birthday, and also Krista and Al. We got Brent a "dad chair" (that we had to pack up after!). Julie and Jeff stayed for about a week and we went hiking with them, swimming at the hotel and had a great time.
-Dani and Gavin came for Easter! Jonathan visited St. George and got to see him, Denise and the twins.
-Talia and Elijah involved in a few spring parades with the Epic Children's choir!
-Went and helped to build a greenhouse for Dani and Alan in Tooele.
-I headed up the "Women Who Know" Mom's retreat up in Pine Valley. This experience was phenomenal and just what I needed in order to feel God working through me for other people. There were so many spiritual experiences during this retreat and I could feel the way God was working with me to help the women who came. I planned it together with Shirlyn Wanlass, Katie Vrajich, Connie Losses, and Maren Jones. It was a beautiful experience.
-Kalea and her family came to visit.
-Brent for the last month (since the beginning of the year) has been steady in helping with everything inside of the house and his work responsibilities. He had been still singing with the quartet and meeting every week to practice his songs with them. He was enjoying that quite a bit.
May:
-Elijah started baseball (Dani came to watch him, which was amazing!). The kids had their piano recital. We did "Pioneer Days" with the nature co-op in Washington. We started going to the lake for rest and relaxation. We went to a few stage productions (Brent and I) for date nights. Talia did her princess party this month.
-At the beginning of May is when we found out that we had to move out of the house in Washington and we started getting answers about getting rid of EVERYTHING and hitting the road. We spent a large part of May getting that process moving forward.
-Kids had their Epic Children's Choir end of semester concert. We went to Veyo Pool for the final party of the semester with the nature co-op.
-I turned 44 years old and we went to Mesquite for Bingo with Holly and Cory! Perfect date night. and Colleen came to visit with Boyd and I got to meet him for the first time!
June:
-We planned a family camping week about three months earlier. We had a lot to do to get everything ready to move out, but we knew that we had to keep our promise to the kids and go camping... so we went up to Baker Dam area and camped for a week. The kids had a great time!
-Ginger Dog got a huge "owie" on her head and I thought she was going to die, but she didn't and she made it through!
-We spend the majority of June packing up, going to the dump, doing a garage sale, and getting the house cleaned and moved out. Dani and Alan came and helped us A TON, and they took our food storage back to Tooele with them - that was a hard thing.
-Talia had an early birthday party with her friends before we left town. We said goodbye to everyone and everything we knew in St. George and left with our "wagon full" and understood the pioneers so much more.
July:
-Spent the month at Dani's house in Tooele. Got passports applied for. Went hiking with Lynne Allred (my mission comp) and her kids - we went and visited her a couple of times. Talia did her birthday at Dani's house. We went to the Tooele City Pool almost everyday. Gabe and Elijah went to the rodeo with Krista and Al.
-We went to Lagoon for the first time as a family! The kids had a blast. We road the train up there. We met with Julie and Jeff to go together with Jace and the kids. They had a great time. Definitely a great memory.
-Brent worked from Dani's office and it was interesting and a good learning experience to live at Dani's together. The kids said they would never under appreciate having a mattress to sleep on ever again. On the way to Idaho they said, "We are just grateful that we'll be able to sleep on mattresses!"
August:
-Got to Idaho right at the end of July for the Chuckars Game and the Kvarfordt Reunion at Papa and Mimi's house. Casey came with the kids which was awesome. That was the first time Mimi had seen the kids since everything happened with Shayla.
-After the reunion we got to work on Mimi's house. We took down all the Christmas trees and deep cleaned the upstairs. We painted her bathroom. I started on the craft room downstairs. We started organizing the herb room. We started on the five month process of cleaning out the downstairs area. We spent pretty much all our extra time working on the house.
-Went to the Zoo and the Aquarium as well. We had a field trip day every week. We exercised every morning. We got into a pretty good routine.
-Brent kept working from an office with Brian Karford, Papa's brother.
September:
-We were finally able to go to the temple to do baptisms with Gabe! We met Teague and Ben at the Star Valley WY temple.
-We spent as much time in the temple doing work in August and September as possible. Brent and I went sometimes twice a week. We felt an urgency to spend as much time there as possible.
-Went to the Butterfly Sanctuary in Blackfoot. Still did field trips every week at a museum or something fun. Did projector movies outside. Built forts and built planes. Played games with Mimi as much as possible. Went to Jackson Hole WY with Papa on a day trip, and got square ice cream cones.
-Finished cleaning out the garage and kept working on the house. Brent kept working at the office and Gabe started working at Fred and Waynes with Papa for his FIRST paid job! He opened a bank account.
October:
-Passports got in the first of Oct. The day the passports got in was the day that Mimi really started to decline and her health was in (more) jeopardy. I spend all day and all night taking care of her. Helping her, getting things for her. She became completely bed ridden. I was worried about going to Colleen's wedding. We had originally planned to leave for Guatemala, but after seeing what happened with mom we postponed our plans.
-I was able to go to Nebraska to be part of Colleen's wedding. I'm so grateful that worked out! It was Oct. 9th.
-When I got back from Colleen's wedding I knew that mom was on the road to death. I called everyone. Mesha was able to fly into town Thursday Oct 14th. Kalea got into down Oct. 13th. I didn't realize how much of a burden I was carrying until they go there. Jonathan was able to make it for Sunday Oct. 17th. We had the most beautiful Sunday ever with Mimi before she passed away early morning on Monday Oct. 18th. Then we planned the funeral all the week and had her funeral on Friday Oct. 22nd. What a whirlwind. there were so many people who came to her funeral, so many people who helped. So many family and friends who showed up.
-AND we had ALL the boys birthdays in October as well. I was gone to Colleen's wedding on Elijah's birthday. Gabe's birthday was just three days after Mimi's funeral. The Joshua's two days after that.
-Brent and the kids went to the Pocatello Temple Openhouse. We went to SLC for Halloween and saw and spent good time with Gayle. We went trick or treating with Julie, Jeff and Jace.
-I got into crypto at the beginning of October.
November:
-We told dad that we would stay through the holidays with him before going out of the country to Guatemala. He was very grateful. We tried to get back into somewhat of a normal routine after Mimi passed away. All the kids had lots of emotions to work through. We kept staying as grateful as possible that we got to spend the last two months of Mimi's life with her. One of the biggest tender mercies God has ever given to me!!
-Sang in Stake Conference as a family. Went to the "Inside Out Animal" museum, which was amazing.
-Finally finished the storage room project and got EVERYTHING DONE.
-Grandma Kvarfordt passed away on November 20th. Another loss. Another guardian angel. Heavy holiday seasons.
-Krista, Al, their kids and Nana came up to Idaho Falls for Thanksgiving, we did the meal at their airbnb house. Mesha was with us because of coming up for Grandma's funeral.
December:
-We started watching Autumn and Summer everyday! HUGE blessing for all of us to spend time with those little girls! And seeing the Merrells more often.
-Did the Christmas program with the Ammon 4th ward. Saw the light parade. Got the house all decorated.(Scaled back, just the living room decorated this year instead of the whole house). Gabe still working at the shop. He did lots of hot chocolate stands outside on the corner as well. Lots of homeschool routine days.
-Went to SLC for Palmer family pictures. Then the next weekend went to St. George for about 5 days to spend time with friends and family. Went caroling, live nativity with the Robbins, hiking, and enjoying as many people as possible. Stayed with Shirlyn and her family and Katie parked their trailer up there so we could spend as much time together as possible! Saw Shauna Little on our way back!
-Got back from St. George on Christmas Adam. Then it snowed for Christmas Eve and we had a wonderful Christmas day. We did service for 12 different families this year instead of 12 days of Christmas (we missed that tradition this year, but did our best to adjust... we'll do it again next year).
-Making plans for the New Year and hopefully heading to Guatemala in January!
-We watched the Merrell kids between Christmas and New Years and had a good time with them! Played, went sledding, watched movies, had lots of hot chocolate and enjoyed time together.
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