So out of the joyous news of my first entry, things unfortunately did not work out on all fronts. A couple of weeks later when we were all in the Temple for EmmaLee taking out her endowments Jacob let me know that Kristi had miscarried. I was so heartbroken, not only for their personal loss, but for the loss to the hopes of the family to have two grand babies so close together. I cried and I worried how the fact that Amber was carrying a baby would impact Jake & Kristi's recovery from their loss.
The doctor says everything is fine for Kristi to try again immediately, but there has been no new announcement yet. I worried about how Kristi would do since she has really never had any serious trials in her life and I have to say that she has done amazingly well, or at least appears so. I am sure she and Jake have mourned in private more than we know, but she has been very optimistic and even offered to plan Amber's baby shower. Still, it's difficult not to tear up at the thought of how painful this must be for them. A parent never wants to see their child in pain, and it's even worse when you can do nothing to help ease it. Some things just take time to work through.
We spent December doing a hasty preparation for getting EmmaLee off on her mission. We had a wonderful farewell breakfast the morning of Dec 28th and then dropped her off at the MTC on the 31st. Her first letters hinted at some surprise at adjusting to the MTC, and then all of a sudden we got a call a week later that she was coming home. After some episodes of anxiety, an emotional roller coaster, and some prayerful consideration with leaders at the MTC, EmmaLee's sense of where she needed to be was no longer on a mission. She was kind of lost as to where she was going to go next but has now gotten back on at Vivent Solar full-time and will be moving into an apartment in May. She will also start back in school this fall, but she will take school a little slower than when she first started as I think that was a little overwhelming too. She has always enjoyed working at Vivent though, so I believe that is a very good option for her to be focusing her energies on right now.
As for Amber, she and Kyle have had their own set of trials in spite of everything going well with the pregnancy. They finally sold their home in January and moved into a new apartment in Cedar City, but they have continued having to live apart as Amber finishes school. Her classes are on Kyle's days off, so even when she goes to Cedar City he spends a lot of the time working. She has also had a lot of discomfort with her pregnancy from morning sickness, to abdominal cramping every evening, to heartburn, to aching joints. She will graduate at the beginning of May, so I am hoping she can just spend her last month of pregnancy enjoying being with her husband full time, relaxing, and just being able to enjoy getting ready for her little son, Kasen. The time seems to be flying by so fast. We'll have a new bundle of joy in the family before we know it.
My take away from the events of the last several months reminds me of some recent posts on facebook about happiness and a quote by Gordon B. Hinkley:
“Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he’s been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to just be people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.”
