Michael & Amanda and chicklets to call our own: A Little Close to Home

I'm not quite sure whose reunion this actually is. All I know is that it's for Michael's side of the family and a lot of his mom's side were there. And since there is a Jenson and a Pyper reunion every year, that both happen to be Michael's mom's side, I'll just put it all together. I really like Michael's family. They are pretty great. And he has a TON of cousins.

This year I had the opportunity to go to the reunion by myself. My real driving point to that was to see my friend Tami. When Tami and her husband Andy were living in Rexburg, we hung out all the time. I seriously love this girl. I haven't felt like I've had a best friend in a long time and when me and Tami finally hung out, it was bestie love. Her daughter Ellie is only a month older than Ivan and they are seriously in love with each other. He still talks about her even though they moved to Utah in April. Tami's kids and my kids are very close in age, so it was really easy for us to get together for play dates often. This was especially nice when I would coordinate a play date with our church and no one but her and I would show up. Oh well, the kids still loved it and I didn't have to worry about those few people that were more difficult to get along with. Tami was pregnant with her second, a little boy named Thomas, who would have only been 3 months younger than Charlotte. Seriously, our kids are the same age. Tami had the unfortunate experience of having a stillborn birth with Thomas about a week away from his due date. Thankfully we still live close enough to one another that I could go visit her and attend Thomas's funeral. He is such a beautiful baby. Well, of course he's cute, he's Tami's and she makes dang cute kids! The funeral was 2 weeks before the reunion and while it was nice to be there for her so close to when everything happened, it was especially nice to be able to visit with Tami one-on-one a few weeks after just to catch up. So I went down Friday night and spent a few hours with her. Ivan and Ellie played great together, as usual. And Ivan kept asking for Ellie for almost a week after that too. It was so good to see Tami. And not just that, but is was so good to see Andy taking such good care of his wife. These two are such sweet spirits with a special role to fill in life. I know bad things happen to good people for good reasons, but it's not always that easy to see Christ's role in our lives when we are enduring such trying times. I know that God has given Tami to Andy and Andy to Tami so that their faith can continue to be built up in the Lord. And while losing a child is probably the most painful, terrible, faith-shaking event to ever go through in your entire life, I know that these two will make it through and be able to see the big picture the entire time. They have such strength in the Lord that he is able to bless them with peace of mind and the comfort of the Spirit. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, through His gospel, and through the sacred ordinances performed in the temple, that families are forever. Tami and Andy were married in the temple and sealed for time and for all eternity. What a blessing that is! Not only were they sealed, but any and all children they have, to include any miscarriages and stillbirths, are sealed to them as well. To be sealed means that they will have the opportunity to immediately find one another in the life after this one. There are tons of people that have lived and died and without being sealed, they could search forever after this life to find each other. When you're sealed, everyone you're sealed to is waiting at the gates of Heaven to great you and embrace you like you'd never been gone at all. And all the while that you're apart, they are in Heaven watching you, watching over you, and waiting for that glorious day when you can be together again. No one will ever be able to comprehend the sorrow that a mother and father feel when they lose a child so close to gaining his first breath. No one other than the Savior. It may be easy for onlookers to say that a child that never gains any more life than that his mother provides is meant for greater duty in Heaven. Or that all he needed was a body and never needed to be tried on this earth for he had already proven his worth in the pre-existence. Or even that God has deemed this mother and father worthy of such a trial because greater people come through hotter fires. I think that, if it were me, none of those things would make me feel better. All I could do is rely on the Lord and turn to him. Sorry for the soap box. I love Tami so much, and even if she might feel that our friendship was short lived to the time we had together in Rexburg, she gave me something that can never be taken away. She gave me the meaning of true friendship. She taught me what it is to be a mother with absolute, 100%, unconditional love for your children. I will never be able to understand what she is going through and I can only imagine how this trial would totally rock my world. I am so grateful for the redeeming love of Christ. I'm so glad I believe in something bigger, something better than this world. I know that families can be together forever and that if anything were to break a family apart on this earth, the Christ has the power to make us whole in the afterlife. I know that God lives and loves each of us. And that He is mindful of our needs. In fact, He is so mindful of our needs that he places specific people in our lives at specific times to aid our individual needs in ways that no one else can. I know that Tami's friendship will never leave my heart and I will never forget the faith that she has. Good luck in Florida you guys!

So after visiting with Tami, I went to Heather's bridal shower then to Ogden for the night. Brenda road down to Utah with me and boy was she a nice companion to have on the road! I love Brenda. I cannot believe how well her and I get along and just how similar we are sometimes. We stayed with Michael's aunt Shelley that night. Here's a picture of their house. Holy cow, it's awesome.

And here's a view from their front porch.

No wonder why the Saints stopped in SLC. The views are gorgeous and who would want to cross over those mountains! Not to mention finding a way around them.

The reunion was up a canyon somewhere and it was real purdy. We got there and had potluck lunch with all of the extended family then went outside to play. It was pretty hot that day so I was really glad there was a creek running through the park we were at. Not at all like A River Runs Through It. Thank goodness. And for some reason, all of Michael's cousins, and even Brenda were like "hey, let's go play frisbee." And I'm all like "hey, that's pretty lame. let's play soccer instead!"
Nope.

I guess they have something against soccer at this park. Oh well. I chose to play with Ivan on the merry-go-round instead. Man those things are dangerous! It was so fun though to push Ivan around on it and make him walk soon after. Talk about a drunk baby! He had a blast playing on the swings and watching a couple dogs. One of Michael's cousins, Kimberly, loves babies. So she wanted to hold Charlotte. That made things a lot easier. Since it was so hot, Charlotte didn't want to be stuck in the sling and carried that way. But I had to have 2 hands to go after Ivan every time he fell in the creek. Thank you Kimberly!

Ivan's brand new bike. Thank you DI!

This sweet girl holding Charlotte is Miia. She was our flower girl for our ring ceremony in TN!

We had lots of fun playing and hanging out with family. But boy was I glad when we left. Ivan didn't sleep very good the night before and was up at 6 that morning, so getting a nap a couples hours after nap time was not pleasant. Then there was the drive home... Brenda stayed another night and road back with her parents which left me with 2 small children by myself. And when I had come to Utah 2 weeks before that being just me and the kids, it sucked! This time was not so bad. They both slept almost the whole way and made my drive that much better. And here's some more pictures to end it on a happy note. :]

Proof that a persons really does fit in the middle of the backseat. Although, I'm not sure Brenda is the best example of a normal sized person. She's small like me. But she's tall so that has to mean something, right?