July July July

July 2, 2016

Sheesh! I need to write a lot more than I do. Sorry! I started that last post a long time ago. I figure I need to be better. So Here we go.
So 6 months ago when I started that post we were deciding what to do with my Dad. In December he seemed to be doing so well, then January 1st hit he just went downhill. We spent a lot of time praying as a family, going to the temple, and fasting to figure out if we should put him on hospice or not. The answer finally came to my mom that it wasn't up to her. It was in God's hands and he would let us know when it was his time to go.

A few weeks before he died we decided that since his quality of life was poor. We decided to let him enjoy life a little and eat (and drink some Diet Coke). He did enjoy that.

We also decided that if he got another infection that we weren't going to treat it. We were just going to help him be comfortable.

So... The Friday before conference he got a bad infection and we decided to just let him be comfortable. And Hospice came in and kept him comfortable for the weekend until Monday. 

We are so grateful for the messages of conference. It was all about overcoming our trials and challenges. We felt like every message was for us. 

Especially Elder Hollands Talk and here are a few of his words--

"...but the fact of the matter is none of us want tomorrow, or the day after that, to destroy the wonderful feelings we have had this weekend. We want to hold fast to the spiritual impressions we have had and the inspired teachings we have heard. But it is inevitable that after heavenly moments in our lives, we, of necessity, return to earth, so to speak, where sometimes less-than-ideal circumstances again face us."  

Click here to listen to more of his talk or any other General Conference talks. 

We weren't excited for Monday to come, but we are so grateful for the gospel and the knowledge we have of the Plan of Salvation Whatever he was dealing with here- no mobility, no taste, no smell, horrible hearing, brain injury, and all the other problems he faced would be made right, and he wouldn't be in any more pain or suffering. 

Monday morning came and he was taken off the vent. A few hours later he took his last breaths and was gone. It was a beautiful thing to be together with an amazing home teacher as well as his brother to watch his spirit leave his body. 

We obviously were sad to see him go, but We know that he is in a much better place.

We're grateful for all of the love and support our family and friends gave to us during that time and after. 

And the funeral was a happy celebration of life. We, again are SO grateful for the gospel and the knowledge we have of the great plan of salvation. 

Anyways....... New subject... I graduated! YAYYYY!!!!!

Last time I wrote I had 44 days of student teaching. My kids at Lincoln were so great! We had some great times and I definitely learned a lot. I'm grateful to Becky Page who was my Amazing mentor teacher. 

I also student taught at Millcreek Elementary in Dual Immersion. That was an interesting experience and I learned a lot at that school as well. 

I am excited (and nervous) to be teaching first grade in the fall at Mountain View Elementary in the Salt Lake City School District. 

In June we took my mom on a relaxing beach vacation. All she wanted to do was sit on the beach and relax. Which is what we did.

We spent 4 days on Coronado Island and then 3 more at a beach house in Oceanside.  It was in incredible time! NICE AND RELAXING!!

We think that it's about time to go back again. 

Life is great! My birthday is in 10 days! I'm going to girls camp next week with Jesus. It will be his first girls camp experience. 

I'm sure there's a lot more to life, but i'll stop here. I'll be better about writing more often. 

Decisions Decisions...

Another 3 months has gone by again. Time. Flies.

Another football season, Christmas, and a new year have all come and gone.. As of today (January 24th). I have 44 student teaching days left (who's counting, though). I have to decide what i'm going to teach, and how i'm going to teach it. I'm going to start having to make decisions about where I want to work in the coming months. AHHHH!!! I'm graduating in about 3 months! ahhh!! finally! 

14 weeks have passed since we got married and 14 weeks have passed since my dad fell down the stairs.

The changed lives.

Oh man. It's almost beeen 3 months since the last time I blogged.. Life has changed quite a bit since then. And forgive me! I haven't taken a lot of pictures for what i'm going to write about. odd, right? so.. mostly words this time. Sorry.

Since July 30th I have started student teaching. I'm in a 3rd grade class at Lincoln Elementary. It's pretty great. I do miss my old friends at Stansbury, but I'm loving my new friends at Lincoln.

So I kind of just want to share with you all how our lives dramatically changed 2 weeks ago.

Jesus' family drove in on monday night. They were all pretty excited to be in Utah, but pretty tired from the long ride. So we took them to their hotel where they got a good rest for the upcoming week.
Tuesday morning we woke up early and took his mom through the temple for her first time. This was so exciting! This meant that she was able to be at the temple when Jesus and I were sealed for time and all eternity.

Before I continue this story let me tell you a little bit about my Dad  for those of you who don't know him well. In 2002 he fell off the roof and suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury. TBI is an injury different for everyone who experiences it. Some people come out of it and live the normal lives they used to, some come out and their lives are changed forever. They may not be able to walk again or even talk again. We feel pretty fortunate that although he did experience many health problems from broken ankles, shoulder surgeries, diabetes, intestinal problems, countless falls,just to name a few he was able for the most part to take care of himself pretty well. He couldn't drive a car, but he could do the dishes and the laundry  and he loved working on and building his N-scale trains. 

Right after the temple we came home and were enjoying some time all together. Jesus and I are living in my parents basement. So we were coming up and down the stairs putting things away and such. The Bailon's were about to head out for City creek and I was going to do my HW.. My dad was outside throwing something away and we all were going up the stairs for the last time. He was right behind Jesus. When Jesus made it to the top step we all heard some loud noises and as soon as I heard it I knew it was my dad. We found him lying at the bottom of the stairs unconsious with his head tucked into his chest.  I am SOOOOO grateful for Jesus and his friend, Ian. They were down at the bottom of the stairs in a flash so calm and collected trying to get him awake and to help him stay calm. 

If you know me, you know that I don't like those situations. I try to stay away when people (including my dad are injured) So that's why i'm the designated 911 caller. I call and then I flag them down when they come. 

The parameics came and rushed him to IMC because there was no room at the U hospital. 

At this point you might be wondering how we (my mom and I are feeling, yes?) Well... the normal person might be scared out of their mind for my dad. However, to be honest with you all, my mom and I get more frustrated that we have to go sit in the ER on uncomfortable chairs and wait for hours and hours. We have experienced this so much that unfortunately (or fortunately) we are kind of used to this, or numb to his pain. 

Although a wedding was happeing in 2 days not once did we think about cancelling. Life goes on even if important people in your life may not be there. I know he was at the temple in spirit. and he'll be able to see the video of our wedding day later on. 

Although this happened we are grateful it happened 2 days before, not the day before or the day of. He fractured his neck and had to have surgery to relieve the pressure on the spine. They were worried if he was going to be able to use his arms and legs again. Spinal cord injurys are serious stuff. 

I have a few people I need to thank right now. When the paramedics were at our house one of my neighbors Stacie Lawerence came over to see what she could do. I was so grateful. There was a lot of things i needed to do including decorating the tables for the wedding dinner on wednesday night and she went ahead and did that with my cousin Michelle and aunt Mairlyn and uncle Reed. So grateful for them!! The tables looked SOOO good!

And Jesus and I were so grateful for all of the love and support we felt on that night as we saw close friends and family, some traveling long distances to be with us.

After the dinner we went to see my dad. 

Family selfie! 

You have to stay positive in times of difficulties and trials.

Going to the temple and marrying my best friend was an incredible experience. If you wonder what goes on in the temple sealing you can click here to find out more :) Jeffrey Swinton sealed us (He used to be the stake president in my stake and is an incredible man. We are grateful for him and his wisdom. Anyways.. It was a beautiful day. 

I don't have many pictures back yet, but here are a few. 

It was a beautiful day! 

My mom looked incredible. Grateful that she was there

Grateful that Jesus' family made the trip down. 

So grateful for incredible friends who were there to support us. 

Grateful for this guy and ALL of his love and support. Wouldn't be who I am without him.

Want to see more? Click here

We had a great wedding reception! We couldn't have asked for a better reception. It may have been a little difficult to find, but once you found it, it was fun,

Beautiful view! 

chocolate and carmel fountains!

Aimee playing the harp!

And a beautiful cake made by my friend Alaina Wilcock

The honeymoon was great! It was so nice to relax after all the stresses we had gone through over the last week.  We spent 2 nights in Heber, came home on saturday to open presents. But first we had to make a stop at college game day. 

We were sad to be missing 2 Utah games. :( but we miraculously found it on the radio driving to California. We're happy for 2 wins.

We went on a cruise to Catalina Island and Ensenada It was beautiful!! We also spent the night at a beach house. Can you say Paradise?

 We also had a wedding reception in California. My mom flew down. I'm grateful that she did. It was probably a nice relaxing break for her which was much needed. Wish we could send her back to the beach for a month.

 My absolute favorite part of this reception was that my best friend in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD was able to make it. 

CATHERINE!!!!!!

My other amazing friends Rachel and Mindy came. We had to have girls night at the beach!

Oceanside Pier

They held me up at the end of the night when I had no idea what was going on. (They didn''t either...)

Jesus and I really are so grateful for all of your love and support. We feel so blessed.

Ok ok. so now enough about my life. 

How about back to my dad. He's out of ICU and now at the U hospital in Rehab. He has been labeled as a quadrapalegic. He has a little movement in his arms and legs. So we're hoping for a miracle. He's a tough guy and has been through so much. Right now His white blood count is a lot higher than normal and he can't talk because he has a tracheotomy. So he's going to have to learn how to talk and swallow all over again. 

You may ask what can you do?  Well... Prayers are greatly encouraged. We're hoping to see a miracle. We've been trying to define "miracle" in his sense, is it that he goes back to the way he was before? that would be incredible.. Is it that he is ok enough to come off of his trach and be fine using a wheelchair? that is probably another miracle. 

For right now we have plenty of food in the fridge. :)

When he does get a little better we ask that you take a little time out of your day to go visit him and if you do write down that you visited in the little book so we know you stopped by. 

A lot of people have told us we are handling this so well. and have asked why? 

Well.. This is nothing new to us. Yes, it is a new experience and trial, but these things supposedly make us stronger.

We are also so composed and calm because we know this life isn't the end. We have a testimony in the Atonement of Jesus Christ  We are grateful for the Book of Mormon and the scripture in Alma 11:43 

"The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in itsperfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now..."

We know that whatever trials or difficulties or pains or sickness in this life will be taken away and we will be perfect one day. We're grateful for that knowledge. This comforts us every single day. This happened and it is part of Heavenly Fathers plan. We know that every experience given to us is for our good. There is still more he needs to do while he is here and still more that we need to learn. 

Life goes on. You just have to have a good attitude in all aspects of life. it's hard sometimes, but totally worth it in the end. 

We wouldn't trade these experiences for anything. We are grateful for all that has been given to us and grateful for all we've learned in the last few weeks and the last 13 years. 

We love you and are so grateful for all of you.

If you read all of this. wow! i'm impressed. thank you!! 

Anxiously engaged

I've been back from Spain for almost a month. um crazy! time flies!

So for all those who need some wedding details and maybe a few pictures this is probably a good place to see them :)

Anyways.. Jessica Davies is my cousin. and she is one AMAZING photographer. We took our engagements at the U (of course!) and we love them!

You can check out more of her work at http://jessicadaviesphotography.com/

We're getting married on October 8th and we're pretty excited! We are also having a reception somewhere in California on October 17th. It's during UEA which is perfect because if you live in Utah, lets be honest, you'll probably be there anyways.. 

Speaking of receptions. we are registered at Target and Bed Bath and Be 

Jesus and I have seen a ton of tender mercies and small miracles in wedding planning It's been such a cool experience. I remember when I started this blog I talked about how we were moving forward with faith and Yeah! Faith takes work for sure. I read an article that one of the Sister missionaries in Spain actually sent me recently that I absolutely love. Moving forward in young adult years can be scary and often times you just want to feel 100% sure with Heavenly Fathers approval on everything you do. But He trusts us enough sometimes to make our own decisions and then later we receive the witness we want after we prove our Faith.

If you need some guidance in your life with the big decisions that may lay ahead I encourage you to read this talk

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/anthony-d-perkins_nevertheless-went-forth/

Corie's version. 3:43 am

Let's startat JFK. My flight landed at 1:45 and my connecting flight to Salt Lake was supposed to take off at 7:40. 
I waited in JFK for a while, 7:40 rolls around and my flight isn't ready to leave yet. Minor mechanical problems. but we finally took off like an hour later. I was really excited to get home and see my family and Jesus and start this new chapter of our life.
Pause! side note. Jesus and I had talked about getting married for a while. One morning while right after I had hung up the phone with him before I had to go to school I decided to check my emails and I had an appointment reservation at the Salt Lake Temple on October 8th. I was like hmmmmm... Jesus... ha ha. I texted him and said Babe... It looks like you made a reservation for us.. He responded with "surprise!" He was hoping it would be a surprise to share with my a little later, but the temple is quick with reservation emails. :)
Anyways. So. My flight. After a few hours the pilot tells us there was a slight mechanical problem with the radar that the pilot had never experienced before. So we had to take "a quick stop" in Minnesota. So. an hour later we finally were ready to take off again.
I thought It would be easy to sleep, but I was so excited to get home. I couldn't sleep. our plane didn't have TV's for each seat so I couldn't see where we were or what time it was. It took FOREVER!! 
So I was wearing nothing super cute, I had jeans in my carry on and all day I thought about how I should put them on, but when i finally got off the plane, I was like nah.. I'll just go out like this. 
I got down to my family and it was just my parents. It was great to see them, but I wondered where Jesus was, he wasn't there. My mom said she had no idea where he was, and I thought that was a little odd because I thought they were together earlier in the day. So I called him and he was almost there, but I just told him to meet me at home. 
So when I got home there was chalk all down the sidewalk that said welcome home, love you, cute things. 
and honestly I was wide awake. 3 am Utah time is 11am Spain time, so i was wide awake and told Jesus to take me on a walk. he agreed, but instead of going on a walk we got in the car and he drove me to the Union at The U. I figured something good was going to happen. So we got out of the car and started walking down the stairs. There was a lot of chalk and a letter I was supposed to read. 
We walked down to the block U where there was another letter I read it and then he blindfolded me and we walked towards the waterfall (which happens to be one of our favorite places). I could tell someone was taking pictures. I could see a flash. 
He took off my blindfold and we were inside this heart that was lit up with lights and sparklers, he gave me one last card that at the end said marry me! He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him and Of course I said Yes! 
He then signaled a bunch of people to come down from behind the fountain to congratulate us. I was soooo surprised to see some brighton friends and ward friends, school friends and lots of Jesus' friends and my heart melted a lot knowing that they had probably been there since 11 or 12 when my plane was supposed to land and it was 3:45 in the morning. They are the best friends anyone could ever ask for! 
I am so excited to marry Jesus! He is my best friend and I can't wait to start a new life with him :) 

July 2, 2015 3:43am

Hey, everyone  this is Jesus! 

Well. um.. lets see. I've been planning this engagement for a while. First you need to know a couple of things. 

1. I decided that it needed to be in a place that had meaning to both of us.

2. It needed to be a memorable proposal.

3. It needed to be a surprise.

So about the time that Corie left for Spain in mid May, I began to think of places that were both memorable for both of us. I thought about the Rice Eccles stadium field, but it didn't work out, So I decided that I would involve some of our closest friends and plan out something memorable at the U waterfall at the U right behind the Marriot Library. 

I got 10 of some of her close friends and some ward friends to help me set up, of course I had them there at the original time and then when I told everyone that she was going to be about 3 hours late and that we could do it another day,our friends were so supportive that they wanted to wait it out, some slept in the grass, some prepared, some took pictures, and some chalked the sidewalk by the union.  

The original plan was to have proposed at around midnight- Corie's flight was supposed to land around 11:40pm on July 1st. 

But upon further notice, (what Corie and I like to call Plan B, or, not the original plan, which usually seems to happen.) Corie's flight was delayed 3 hours due to mechanical problems. 1 and a half hours at JFK and 1 hour in Minnesota. Instead of landing at 11:40, her flight finally landed at 2:30am. I was almost halfway to the airport when she called me wondering where I was, and told me she would just meet me at her house. 

So when she got home I was really excited to see her and to my surprise she was wide awake because of the 8 hour time difference of Spain. It was very beneficial to me. 

So I took her to the Union Building at the U of U, we went on a little scavengar hunt, she found a card she had to read that told her how much I loved her, Then arrows pointed the way to the next clue which was at the block U. I blindfolded her so she couldn't see the rest of the way to the fountain. 

When we arrived to the fountain our friends lit up sparklers in a heart shape and I took off the blindfold. we walked together to the center of the heart where she found her last letter, and then I asked her to marry me. :) She said Yes "...at 3:43 am, July 2nd, under the full moon" - Kirsten Morrise. and then all of our friends surrounded us with sparklers and flowers and gave both of us lots of hugs and congratulations.

 

We are so grateful for our friends that stayed out till 4 am to help plan this special day for Corie and I. They are the BEST!

We can't wait for October 8th! 

See you soon Grandma!!

2 blog posts in 2 days! It's a miracle!! But I couldn't let this day go by without writing something.
Ok. So as all of you probably know, I'm kind of really far from home. 5,025 miles to be exact, so coming home for important events isn't an easy nor cheap task.

So when I heard that my sweet 102 year old Grandma died I was heartbroken that I couldn't be with my family, especially today- it was her funeral. I thought about coming home early, but if you knew Grandma, she would probably say something like, "Oh! lets not make a big fuss about it..." she would've wanted me to stay here and finish out the last week, so I stayed. However I have one amazing boyfriend who stood in for me- he went to the viewing and took pictures of what it looked like and sent them to me, he took pictures of friends and family at the funeral and sent them to me, he  made sure that I was still a part of it.
I'm grateful for my bestie Ashlie! She made sure she was there at the funeral and recorded the whole thing so I can listen to it later. You guys! I am so blessed to have such amazing friends!
I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to give a short talk about Grandma. I'm grateful for my Mom. I know that although it was difficult, she read my talk and I know she did an amazing job! There were so many more memories I could have shared like going for a ride with her in her green car, or hiding from her and then scaring her- she would tell me I couldn't have any more cookies if i tried it again, so i waited a month and did it again. (I thought I was pretty funny). playing with all of her cool really old toys, planting flowers, melting chocolate, so many memories with Grandma.

Here's my talk :)

There are so many incredible things I could share about Grandma. I wish I could be right here to tell you all about them, but I am grateful that even though I am a few thousand miles away I can still share my thoughts about Grandma and her life.

Grandma and I had a special bond. We lived around the corner from each other and so I was able to spend time with her growing up.

We spent a lot of time making cookies, because anyone that came by would need one of Grandmas delicious cookies. We would sing songs together, we would go to the store in her green car, and we would sit on the couch and look at the pictures in her national geographic. She taught me how to play skunk, dominos and other games. It’s because of Grandma that I love puzzles so much. She would also let me roll marbles off of her piano. I’m happy to have both the marbles and the piano so I can still do that on occasion.

 I was lucky enough to go to church with grandma so during church I would go sit by her and her friends like lily Anderson. I remember taking piano lessons at Grandmas house and I had to go over and practice every day. I can’t remember if she made me sit there for 30 min or an hour to practice, I just remember I didn’t like that she made me sit there and practice. But I would. And, Although, I’m not the best piano player, I’m grateful that she made me sit there and practice. Playing the piano has been a blessing in my life.

If you knew Grandma, you knew she was super faithful to her Utes and I knew she had become a pretty big deal when she was the superfan of the game one time.   In the past year whenever I would come by It didn’t matter if Grandma was in the worst mood, or if she was content, I knew I could get a chuckle out of her if I mentioned something about BYU.

It was hard to see her mind and body to not work like they used to in the last few years. You could tell she was frustrated at times because she couldn’t remember like she used to and she couldn’t do the things she used to.  No matter what kind of mood she was in if you gave her a hug and said I love you she would respond with the most sincere I Love you too. It was sweet. It was sad to leave her sometimes.

And although she didn’t remember much and her body didn’t quite work she still had some funny moments-

 I remember a few months ago she just wanted to get up and walk, We said Grandma, you can’t get up! You might break a hip, she casually responded with “It’s ok, I have 2 of them”

Even though we are sad today that Grandma isn’t with us anymore. How grateful I am to know that her mind is now clear again and her body one day will be in its perfect state.  I am grateful for Grandma and her lifetime of service to the church and dedication to the gospel. She can now receive the desires of her heart that she has shared with many of us over the last few years. To be with her mom and dad again. To be with her family, and to be with Grandpa. How grateful I am that the next time we’ll see her, she’ll be perfect- without pain, walking, and with Grandpa and others that have moved on before us.

Hasta Ver Grandma! See you soon Grandma!!