Updates May 2012

The Month of May had a lot of Ups and Downs, but overall I would say that I am grateful for all that I learned in May 2012! At the end of April, my sweet Grandma Carma Jean Cole found out that she had a very aggressive bladder cancer. She wasn't very old, which made it hard on a lot of the family members. I remember going up to visit her at the Huntsman Cancer Institute one evening after work, and as I walked in the doctor explaining the treatments that she could receive and all the side effects that she would have to deal with. I stood there holding my grandma's hand as the doctor went into gruesome details, I got so weak in the knees that I had to leave the room. I went into the hall and waited for them to finish. I just remember crying uncontrollably because I realized that she probably wouldn't make it, and I was going to miss her so much. After the doctor left, I went back into the room and sat there, I wasn't sure what to say to anyone. What can you say to comfort others, when you don't feel comforted yourself? I said a little prayer in my heart that I would be able to understand the feelings and help those around me. Almost immediately after my little prayer, I felt a feeling of peace, and all at once I knew that my grandpa would be okay and my grandma was ready to go. I can't explain the feeling other than peace, I felt that peace all night as I sat in the room at the hospital and I didn't want to leave that room. My family and I had planned a vacation to the Dominican Republic, and we felt that we should still go even with grandma's worsening condition. The hospital sent her back to her home in Wyoming with Hospice care to pass away, and my mom was able to make it back to see her and help as she passed. 

The funeral was beautiful and it really showcased the amazing grandmother, mother and friend that she was. She was such an amazing person that would always share her testimony, she cared so much about others and their happiness, she was the best cook and would always make animal shaped sour dough pancakes for her grandkids and always had a few of "Grandma Hatties Chocolate Cakes" whipped up and ready to go when we came up to visit! She would always give me big bear hugs, kisses and lots of love whenever I saw her, and would send me letters of encouragement while I was in high school and college. She was an incredible artist and painted me one of my favorite pictures of all time. Some days I look back and realize that I took a lot of her love for granted, but no matter what I knew that she loved me and I am so blessed to have the knowledge that I will some day see her again. It took Jer and I about 7 months to get pregnant and I like to say it is because Grandma Cole needed to spend time with them and give them lots of her big hugs and kisses before he came to us! 

This is one of the many paintings that Grandma painted. She was so talented!

 We were so happy that JB came out to the funeral so we could have the whole family back together for awhile! There is really nothing like family and I am so blessed to have one of the funnest, and craziest families on the block!

The Muir Family back together for the first time in almost 3 years!

A few days after the funeral, Jordan and Alli decided to get married, he proposed shortly after that(not sure when). I was so excited to have sister in-law.

Like I mentioned earlier, our family took a trip to the Dominican Republic. It was such a relaxing and fun vacation. We stayed in an all-inclusive resort where we mainly laid in Cabanas, swam in the ocean and ate food. One day we took a trip down to the 27 Waterfalls. It was INCREDIBLE! You had the option of doing 6,12 or all 27 waterfalls. We chose the 12, and we were so happy. We hiked up about 2 miles and came back down through small and large waterfalls. We would jump off some and slide down waterfalls that had a natural rock slide. I was so proud of my mom who is scared of heights, but jumped off some seriously large waterfalls! I would highly recommend going to the Dominican JUST to experience this. Next time we go, we will be doing all 27 waterfalls(even though it is a much longer hike, it will be worth it!) P.S- if anyone goes, I would highly recommend taking bug spray and your own water shoes.

Jer Jumping

Rach Jumping!

After working for National Benefit Services for 2 1/2 years, I finally decided that it was time for a change! I found a job where I could work as a Full Time Nanny, which is something I love doing more than any other job! This picture is of some of my team members that I worked with at NBS. Some days I miss it, but mostly I have decided that I am not much of a desk job person.

L to R: Me, Kristina, John, Andrew, Sarah

I don't even think that the rest of the year was as action packed as May 2012!

Updates January-March 2012

Since I've been terrible at updating our blog I wanted to put a few of the highlights from 2012 and start 2013 off on the right foot!

Zhongwei(left), Satoshi(right)

 Here is January-March 2012!

In January we said goodbye our Japanese exchange student, Satoshi! We found out that we had been saying his name wrong the entire time, but he was too polite to correct us. 

In May, Zhongwei (the boy on the left in both pictures), went back to China. Both boys were with us for almost 10 months, and I have to say that I miss having them around! They would always help around the house and they were always happy and grateful to be here! They both said they would come back to visit in the next year!

With Jeremy's business, he works a lot of hours, but sometimes he doesn't have to work as much and we can getaway! Jer planned a fun weekend getaway to Logan. He found this place in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest called Hardware Ranch, it's only $5 and you take a sleigh(or trailer on wheels when there is no snow) out to this field where the Elk graze. The rangers said that if it had snowed, then the Elk would have come right up next to us! I'm hoping to go back when there is snow, so I can see this!  

W

Zhongwei is a skiier, he said that back in China he would ski all the time, but it is MUCH cheaper than Utah. We finally found a good deal on skiing and went up in March. He loved every second of it, compared to China we have HUGE hills, and he conquered them! Such a fun day!

Our cute little dog is now full grown and turned 1 on March 7th! He is our little pal, he likes to be near us all the time and sleeps most of the day, he can do tricks like Sit, Squat, Shake Hands, High 5, Roll Over, Lay Down, hold a treat on his nose and speak. He is one smart dog!