Saturday morning, bright and early, we were up to fly out of Albuquerque, straight to Salt Lake City, to be picked up by Hannah, grab a quick shower at the Mecham's, and drive to the Provo City Center temple to see our friend, Shawn Clark, get sealed to his second wife, Holly. The Clarks were part of our family vernacular almost as soon as we moved to State College because I was Elisabeth Clark's visiting teaching (Shawn's first wife). But he went through hell over the next few years as she basically went crazy and divorced him (but wouldn't divorce him for a long time). He met Holly online (she lived in Utah with her two daughters), and they were finally being sealed. While John was a good friend to Shawn during all the divorce mess, checking in with and calling Shawn a lot, the tables have turned and Shawn is now offering invaluable support to John. In fact, it was Shawn who put us in touch with his realtor in State College (we should have gone with her) who researched realtors in our area in Michigan and matched us with the realtor who got us a full-price offer on our current hours. But more than that, Shawn calls John every few days just to listen and to offer advice about going through hardships. Shawn calls John "his angel" but I think the roles have reversed.
So when we were invited to his wedding, of course we had to go. And how surprised we were to see a few other members of the State College ward! In fact, something was VERY recognizable just I the parking lot! #ILoveHandBells
The Covingtons were there along with the Gardners (yay to see Bishop Gardner, but boo to see Sister Gardner again). Sister Covington (Relief Society president when I broke my ankle, and who pulled me out of a deep depression with some really wonderful advice) and I picked up right where we left off when we said goodbye as bell-ringing friends with her moving to Utah and me to Michigan. We caught up on our kids' lives and packed every detail we could while waiting for Shawn and Holly to come into the sealing room.
And it was a lovely sealing although once again, I wish those three minutes wouldn't go quite so fast. The promises and blessings are eternal and magnificent and incredible, but I guess we don't need to hear anymore because it takes an entire lifetime just to process those!
The wedding luncheon wasn't for another hour and a half, and I had Gap Cash that was expiring in two days, so we booked it back towards Salt Lake to an outlet mall to get Hannah some new clothes. And in a turn of events, Hannah actually liked the clothes we bought...and so did I! #miracle She looked so trendy and cute and comfortable--I can't wait to see her actually wearing them! But it made us a few minutes late back for the lunch.
The lunch was held at Rodizio's, a Brazilian steakhouse. All the State College people were sitting together, but schade, there wasn't enough room for the three of us to sit by the Gardners....so we sat at our own table. The buffet was amazing, but the meat wasn't that terrific, but the dessert made up for it! The best part though was that all the SC peeps that we liked came up and talked to us. Like, sat down and spent some quality time with us. It was good to realize that there were some people there who liked us!
And afterwards, we headed back to the temple to take some pictures (yay for new Boden dresses!) and to pick up some Sweet Tooth Fairy cookies, because what kind of road trip is it with the girls and Mommy without some kind of crazy food to cart around?? I mean, we already had a fruit bouquet from Ethan and Rebecca--why wouldn't we want to add a giant box of cupcakes and two gratis cupcakes for being mothers?
We took off our painful heels, changed into comfy clothes and drove down to Arches. But not before one glitch in the plan.
Three weeks ago, when Brother came to visit, he brought me the gift of a spring cold. While he just had a runny nose, I ended up with a fever, chills, congestion, achiness and a sore throat. After being sick for two weeks, John started me on an antibiotic that tore up my bowels but apparently got rid of the infection. Well as soon as we went back to the Mechams' to change into our comfy clothes, I could feel the sickness descend on me like a weight. I was literally sick about it knowing that we still had over a week of fun and activities planned before heading back home to pack up the entire house and move.
Unfortunately, I haven't had much luck with the medical system in Michigan (my allergist won't even help me with my raspy cough and breathing) so I didn't know whom to call for help. John suggested I call my PA allergist, Dr. Davies. What a blessing that he was willing to help me (and was hoping that our call meant that John was moving back to Central PA to work again--he delivered one of Dr. Davies' babies). He put me on a huge dose of steroids, another dose of antibiotics and hoped for the best. So before leaving American Fork, we had to stop by CVS to pick up a boat load of medication. I spent the drive, miserably hoping for a miracle in the back seat of Hannah's car. But we were off!
So when we were invited to his wedding, of course we had to go. And how surprised we were to see a few other members of the State College ward! In fact, something was VERY recognizable just I the parking lot! #ILoveHandBellsThe Covingtons were there along with the Gardners (yay to see Bishop Gardner, but boo to see Sister Gardner again). Sister Covington (Relief Society president when I broke my ankle, and who pulled me out of a deep depression with some really wonderful advice) and I picked up right where we left off when we said goodbye as bell-ringing friends with her moving to Utah and me to Michigan. We caught up on our kids' lives and packed every detail we could while waiting for Shawn and Holly to come into the sealing room.
And it was a lovely sealing although once again, I wish those three minutes wouldn't go quite so fast. The promises and blessings are eternal and magnificent and incredible, but I guess we don't need to hear anymore because it takes an entire lifetime just to process those!
The wedding luncheon wasn't for another hour and a half, and I had Gap Cash that was expiring in two days, so we booked it back towards Salt Lake to an outlet mall to get Hannah some new clothes. And in a turn of events, Hannah actually liked the clothes we bought...and so did I! #miracle She looked so trendy and cute and comfortable--I can't wait to see her actually wearing them! But it made us a few minutes late back for the lunch.
The lunch was held at Rodizio's, a Brazilian steakhouse. All the State College people were sitting together, but schade, there wasn't enough room for the three of us to sit by the Gardners....so we sat at our own table. The buffet was amazing, but the meat wasn't that terrific, but the dessert made up for it! The best part though was that all the SC peeps that we liked came up and talked to us. Like, sat down and spent some quality time with us. It was good to realize that there were some people there who liked us!
And afterwards, we headed back to the temple to take some pictures (yay for new Boden dresses!) and to pick up some Sweet Tooth Fairy cookies, because what kind of road trip is it with the girls and Mommy without some kind of crazy food to cart around?? I mean, we already had a fruit bouquet from Ethan and Rebecca--why wouldn't we want to add a giant box of cupcakes and two gratis cupcakes for being mothers?
Three weeks ago, when Brother came to visit, he brought me the gift of a spring cold. While he just had a runny nose, I ended up with a fever, chills, congestion, achiness and a sore throat. After being sick for two weeks, John started me on an antibiotic that tore up my bowels but apparently got rid of the infection. Well as soon as we went back to the Mechams' to change into our comfy clothes, I could feel the sickness descend on me like a weight. I was literally sick about it knowing that we still had over a week of fun and activities planned before heading back home to pack up the entire house and move.
Unfortunately, I haven't had much luck with the medical system in Michigan (my allergist won't even help me with my raspy cough and breathing) so I didn't know whom to call for help. John suggested I call my PA allergist, Dr. Davies. What a blessing that he was willing to help me (and was hoping that our call meant that John was moving back to Central PA to work again--he delivered one of Dr. Davies' babies). He put me on a huge dose of steroids, another dose of antibiotics and hoped for the best. So before leaving American Fork, we had to stop by CVS to pick up a boat load of medication. I spent the drive, miserably hoping for a miracle in the back seat of Hannah's car. But we were off!
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