Pregnant Life: I swear I'm pregnant not just fat!

I have a friend who posts updates of her pregnancy and baby bump! Because I live so far away from the majority of my family and many of my friends I figured I would steal her idea so I can share what my pregnant life is like.

Currently I am 17 weeks and 1 day pregnant! I feel really great thankfully! Here's a quick glimpse at my pregnancy experience!

Due Date:
May 4th, 2017
May the fourth be with you. Now you will never forget!

Pregnancy Symptoms:
Thankfully I didn't experience any nausea and never puked. Hallelujah! However, I have been exhausted and that has still not changed. I have been slightly anemic, but not so much to be super concerned. I've had lots of heartburn and bloating. But besides that I've been feeling really great!

Cravings:
Coca-cola. It's not a healthy option so of course I'm craving it. I've also been eating a lot more eggs than I ever have in my life. In fact, I went out for dinner a couple weeks ago and decided that quiche would be the best option... Yeah I don't understand what is happening to me haha! Other than that I really haven't had any cravings. I've just been starving. I made Spencer get me a banana at 3 in the morning haha!

Aversions:
Thankfully everything sounds delicious now! But the first trimester was rough and I didn't want to cook anything. The thought of cooking was repulsive to me! Mexican food also sounded disgusting. And spaghetti. Glad that weird phase has passed.

Weight gain:
I'm right on track for weight gain and have gained about 7 pounds. I'm still waiting for my baby bump to show up, so I'm just in that awkward chubby phase. I feel like baby has been growing a lot this week though so hopefully my belly will pop in the next couple weeks! I gotta say that I'm really loving the few maternity clothes I've bought so far. Old Navy is the best! Photo on the left is me at 14 weeks and 6 days, photo on the right is me at 16 weeks and 4 days. The one on the bottom is 16 weeks 6 days. Because I'm obsessively waiting for any sign of my noticeable baby bump.

Gender:
It's a girl!!!! Spencer and I are so excited! Also very surprised! We both thought for sure it was a boy, then last minute I changed my guess. Spencer was very excited but shocked when the doctor showed she was definitely not a boy haha! He was really looking forward to a hunting buddy, but lets be real; boy or girl this kid will go hunting whether they want to or not.

Nicknames:
We've been calling our little baby Pansito, because it's our little "pan" (spanish word for bread) in the oven. But now that we know it's a girl we will have to call her Pansita! I've also been calling it "Mijo" (Mi+hijo for you non-spanish speaking folk) which I'll also need to change to "Mija!" I also refer to her simply as baby.

Adventures we've been on:
Since we got pregnant Spencer and I have had a few fun adventures!

1. Baby experienced the mind blowing vibrations of the Coldplay concert. Too bad she couldn't hear how awesome they were!

2. I road in a 40 mile bike event in the pouring rain when baby was 8 weeks and two days old. That was awesome! I miss my bike, but it's taking a break until baby makes her debut. I already signed up to bike in a 60 mile event next September :)

3. Spencer refinished a dresser for baby! We found this fixer upper at habitat for humanity and got it for $10! Now that we know baby is a she we are going to pick out some cute knobs! He is very talented :) Here's a before and after picture. Hard to see in the before but there were scribbles, scratches, and nail polish all over this thing! We removed the finish, sanded it down, and repainted it with grey chalk paint.

Mostly we just can't wait for our little girl to get here! We already love her so much and can't wait to meet her :)

Fertility Treatments

Life has been such a whirlwind lately! I started my new job as a Kindergarten teacher in August. It has been such an amazing adventure so far. I have made such incredible friends there and love the kids I work with so much. Not to sound cliche or anything but those kids are amazing and they have really changed my life. Spencer is working a ton at the pharmacy still and is trudging through school. He has about a year left before he finishes his Bachelor degree and he is very excited to finish so he can get working on his Masters degree.

Besides all the wonderful things happening in our academic and professional lives Spencer and I have been so blessed as we've tried to start our family. While it wasn't a secret, we didn't publicly broadcast that we were having a difficult time trying to get pregnant. We started talking about planning a family Summer of 2015. Soon after that I went off birth control and we started trying. My family history of getting pregnant seemed pretty promising; all of the women in my family, that I was aware of, didn't really seem to have a problem getting pregnant and in fact they got pregnant pretty quickly. I expected it would be the same for Spencer and I, so when month after month passed I became very discouraged.

It's hard to describe the roller coaster of emotions you feel every month while trying to conceive. When each month started over a new hope consumed me that that month would finally be the month when we would be blessed with our little miracle. Each month usually ended with me thinking that maybe I was pregnant, dropping money on a pregnancy test, seeing a negative result, hoping that maybe it was just too early too tell, anxiously waiting for my period to come or not, only to be disappointed again. The first few months of negative results were discouraging but bearable, but as time continued to pass each time my period would start again it was a devastating experience for me. I don't mean to sound dramatic, but it is hard to describe the immense sadness you feel when you want a baby so badly but for whatever reason it just isn't working out for you.

After almost a year had passed a friend of mine referred me to a fertility clinic in Pleasant Grove, Utah. So many miracles happened so that Spencer and I could go there. When we first called to schedule an appointment they were booked out 3 months. We added our name to a cancellation list in case someone's appointment fell through, but they told us not to count on that happening. Meanwhile, as we waited for our appointment, I got hired at my new job as a Kindergarten teacher. The school I teach at happens to be 2 minutes away from the fertility clinic we would go to. My job started the beginning of August and our first appointment wasn't scheduled until the beginning of September. I was uncertain how we would be able to make our appointments work with my new work schedule, but miraculously someone cancelled and we were able to get into the doctor a month and a half earlier than we planned.

For fertility treatments you are required to go into the doctor very frequently so they can track your cycle and measure your hormones. Spencer and I both had some tests done. After some ultrasounds our doctor determined that I didn't appear to be ovulating regularly. So the doctor prescribed me clomid. I also had to do an HCG injection, and then after that I had to take progesterone daily. After all of this we waited a couple weeks before I went in for a blood test to see if the treatment worked and if we were pregnant or not. I went to work right after they drew my blood. A few hours later I got a phone call saying that everything looked great and that the treatments had worked. So I didn't find out the traditional way, but that was one of the best phone calls I ever got. I seriously can't describe how blessed I feel that fertility treatments worked so quickly for us.

I know our experience can't really be compared to everyone who has struggled with infertilty. In the big picture our trial was small in comparison to what many other couples have gone through. But our experience really opened my heart to the pain and longing that many couples experience. It can be such an isolating and ugly trial to go through. It's difficult when your friends become pregnant so easily or your see family members with their babies and you are filled with guilt because you feel so jealous of what they have. Through this whole experience I learned so much about the atonement of Jesus Christ. There were so many days when I felt so hopeless and alone and listening to hymns or reading my scriptures was the only thing that could bring me peace. This whole experience also tried my faith, but I really do know that God has a plan for me and Spencer and for whatever reason this trial was necessary for us to go through together. I don't know who goes through and reads my posts, but if anyone happens to read this who has struggled or is struggling with infertility know you are not alone. Know that I am so sorry that you are experiencing this heartbreak. Most importantly know that even on your darkest, loneliest days I know God is aware of you and loves you. All will be well and your hearts desires will be met one way or another.

Summer adventures and back to school! #Kindergartenerteacherstatus #whaaaaaaaaaa?!?!

This Summer has flown by way too fast! Spencer and I have optimized on our Summer vacation and have gone on lots of fun adventures! Here is a list of some of the fun things we got to do this Summer!

1. Drives through the mountains. It's so nice living so close to them! This was the view from Squaw Peak, just a mere 15 minutes from our house.

2. Yellowstone and lots of camping!! We've been so lucky to get out so much this Summer. We had some extra motivation because Spencer drew out an elk tag for the hunt this fall for a BIG elk. He is so excited and so we have gone up to his hunting area a few times and camped, explored the wilderness on the four wheeler, and seen lots of animals! I'm not a hunter myself, but I'm supportive of Spencer's hobbies. But I do love to go see the animals so it's fun to go with him. 

We also got to go spend a few days up in Yellowstone National Park. On our way to Yellowstone, we spent one night in Rexburg with some friends from our mission. The rest of our trip we camped in the park and had a blast! We did a lot of hiking and exploring. We even had some visitors visit our campground. A buffalo walked right by our tent! It really startled me! Also Yellowstone is the Disneyland of nature. There were SOOO MANY PEOPLE!

Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler. Yummmm!

3. The long anticipated air show. If you know Spencer at all you know he loves airplanes! He has been waiting for almost 4 years to go to an air show again. And his dreams came true! We went to the airshow with Spencer's cousin Dalhn and we had a blast! We were able to watch the Thunderbirds fly plus so many other incredibly talented pilots! 

4. We did so much!!! We road bikes a lot, we went to Zion National Park again, we planted a garden, Spencer built me a coffee table, I made a quick visit to Colorado to see my family, and I got hired as a Kindergarten teacher! Whhaaaaaa?!? 

It's true. I am a Kindergarten teacher. I still am disbelieving! I got hired to be a Kindergarten teacher at Spectrum Academy in Pleasant Grove, UT. It is a school specifically for kids diagnosed with Autism. I have been working as a registered behavior technician for the last year and a half also working with kids with autism and I absolutely love it. I am so excited to start this new journey and I'm so excited for all the things I am going to learn. I started training August 8th and school starts for my kindergarteners on August 29th. So I have a lot to learn really fast! I'm nervous, but also excited! I have met most of the kids that will be in my class and their parents. I already feel so much love for these awesome kids. It's all still new but Spectrum Academy is such a special place. I really love working with such amazing kids and I feel so privileged to work at a school especially to help them succeed.  

Spencer and I are both looking forward to starting another school year together! He started classes again today at UVU and is facing a tough semester, but he will rock it (as he always does!).

It's sad to see Summer coming to an end, but it has definitely been a great one!

Springtime happenings: Graduation and Disney World

It has been a very eventful couple of months for Spencer and I! Spencer and I both celebrated our birthdays in March. Spencer turned 23 and I turned 25. We had a lot of fun celebrating together. 

My hip recovery is going super well! I'm still regaining my flexibility, but I've been able to jog a little bit and I have been going out on my bike a ton! It has been so fun and I've really been getting into it. I’ve been saving up and plan on buying a road bike in the next couple weeks. For one of my birthday gifts my parents registered me to participate in my first official bike event. It's called The Goldilocks. It's a women only joyride bike event and participants can bike anywhere between 20 and 100 miles. I registered for 20 just because I wasn't sure what my hip could handle, but I think I'll plan on going 40 because I've been feeling so great! I’ve made some goals for things I’d like to accomplish in the next year and a century ride is what I’m working towards! I can’t wait! But first I’m excited to do my first bike event.

April was also an exciting month because I was able to walk at my BYU graduation. I officially graduated in December, but it was fun to celebrate all my hard work from the last five years with my awesome family. I felt so loved and supported by my incredible in laws and my parents, who flew out to celebrate and spend time with Spencer and me. Spencer also finished another semester at UVU and did an outstanding job! He is so smart and works so hard. He really does inspire me because he is so incredibly diligent. He took a break for the first part of Summer, but he starts classes again at the end of June. I've enjoyed his break too! It's nice for us both to be homework free. 

The real highlight of our Summer so far has been our family vacation to Florida. My parents took us and all of my siblings, their families, and my grandma Bonnes to Disney World. It has been a truly magical experience! We were there for a week and got to visit Hollywood Studios, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, and Universal Studios (where Harry Potter is!!). It was so fun to get to experience Disney with all of our family and it was especially fun to see our cute nieces and nephews experience the magic of Disney. There were so many fun memories made. Here are a few of my favorite trip moments.

Hollywood Studios

1. Going on the Tower of Terror with my mom and grandma. They didn't do too many of the rides, but whenever they did they did not disappoint. My mom became notorious for her awesome ride faces caught on camera.  
2.  My nephew Austin and niece Madelyn got to go to "Jedi Training" where they receive some special training with real Jedi Masters and get to practice their skills fighting against Darth Vadar, some evil girl from clone wars who I had never seen before, and Kylo Ren! It was amazing to watch them use the force! I can't believe I'm related to real Jedi's! ;)
3. We went to a Frozen sing-along with Anna and Elsa. I am pretty sure I enjoyed this more than any of the kids. I definitely did not hesitate to sing my heart out! Then at the end of the sing-along Elsa made her ice castle on stage and made it snow! It was AWESOME!

Epcot

1. Going on the Finding Nemo ride with the family. It was so cute and felt like you got dropped right into the sea with Nemo and his friends! It was so cute!
2. Eating lunch with all the Disney Princesses. It was so fun to see all the nieces and nephews give the princesses hugs and just be so excited to see them! I also got a little sad because I WANT TO BE A DISNEY PRINCESS!!
3. Exploring all the different places “around the world.” Spencer and I ate so many good snacks that day. My favorite snack was from France and was called the Croque Glace. It was AWESOME! It was a brioche roll sliced in half, with a scoop of ice cream in the middle and sauce drizzled on top of the ice cream. Then the roll was placed in a little waffle maker so the outside got all warm and soft, but the cream magically stayed frozen in the middle. It was amazing! 

Our beautiful creation on Fast Track

Quality niece and nephew time

Nemo and Friends

Croque Glace with Vanilla Coconut Ice Cream and Raspberry Sauce

Snow White's Wishing Well

Magic Kingdom

1. Going on the Seven Dwarves Mine Train. We went with all the little kids and the Grandmas again. It was SOOO CUTE!!! It played Heigh Ho from Snow White and took you through the dwarves mine with all their jewels. Then it takes you past their cottage at the end. I absolutely loved it!
2. Lunch at Be Our Guest restaurant. I’ll be honest, the food wasn’t that great, but the ambiance made it worth it. It is inside of the Beast’s castle. You can eat in the library, the west wing, or the ballroom. The ballroom has a large glass wall and it looks like it is snowing outside of the castle! It was so beautiful! Disney really knows how to transport you right into your favorite disney moments. 
3. Space Mountain with my nephew Austin. He was so excited to go on it and he sat behind me on the ride. Hearing him shout out with joy throughout the ride made me so happy!
4. Disney Parade. So. Magical. All the princesses, princes slaying dragons, dancing, singing, fireworks. Amazing. I LOVE DISNEY WORLD!
5. Spending the day exploring places from my favorite disney movies with my favorite prince. I loved spending all of this time with Spencer. He sure makes me feel like a princess every day :)

Snow Whites Cottage

Adult Picture

The Enchanted Rose!

Tale As Old As Time

The Coveted Disney Castle Photo!! At last!

Defeating the Evil Emperor Zerg

Splash Mountain: Don't Miss My Mom and Grandmas Bags Over Their Faces

Seven Dwarves Mine Train

Universal Studios. AKA HARRY POTTER! AKA THE BEST PLACE EVER!!!

1. Oh. my. goodness. I loved Disney so so so much. But my experiences at Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and Hogwarts literally transported me to my dream world; the wizarding world of Harry Potter. I can’t even put into words the pure elation I felt exploring Diagon Alley especially. When you walk into it, it literally feels like you are actually there. We got to the park about 30 minutes early, but they let people people start trickling in then. We went straight to Ollivanders wand shop to buy our wands and experience the magic. You can purchase special wands that allow you to interact with different things around Diagon Alley and cast spells. They do wand ceremonies with groups that come in. Our group went in and a little boy was selected to go to the counter and have his wand choosing experience. He pointed his wand at different things around the room causing bookshelves to fall, flowers to die, and glass to break. When his correct wand was finally presented the music from Harry Potter swelled throughout the room and a light fell on him. It was so wonderful and it literally brought tears to my eyes. After this everyone trickled out of the room, but Spencer and I lingered behind because I wanted to get a picture. I asked the woman leading the ceremony if we could take a picture with her. She said of course, then paused and said, “Why don’t you step in front of my desk. Both of you.” I almost died of pure joy. So Spencer and I, alone in this quiet, dimly lit room in Ollivanders wand shop, stepped in front of her desk. She pulled out a couple of wands from her collection and placed them in front of us. She had me point the wand at a bell and told me to make it ring once. I pointed my wand and the bell started jingling out of control. She mumbled something about that being curious then had Spencer point his wand at a light which she told him to turn on. The light swelled then turned off quickly.
   After both of our failed magic attempts she placed her fingers on her chin and stared at us then said “Ahhh, of course.” At this point the magical Harry Potter theme song started playing as she gave me the wand Spencer had been using and him the wand I tried. As they were placed in our hands the music swelled and the lights glowed around us. She then told Spencer that he was obviously a very powerful wizard and that his wand was excellent for performing spells of protection. She then told me that I was obviously a very joyful witch (I think this may have been apparent from my tears of joy and the fact that I had literally been grinning from the moment we walked into the room) and that my wand was excellent for performing charms. Then she told us that we were both very loyal to our friends and extremely loyal to each other and that interestingly enough our wands shared heartstrings from the SAME DRAGON!!!! I seriously was freaking out with joy because this all felt SO REAL! After that experience I am throughly convinced that I am actually a witch and Spencer is a wizard. There is no way that we aren’t. Haha!
   
   The day only got better from there. Spencer and I both wore Gryffindor Quidditch t-shirts and that definitely contributed to a very interactive day. People everywhere either cheered for us or booed us. In one instance our shirts and enthusiasm of all things Harry Potter allowed us to skip the line for the Forbidden Journey through Hogwarts. It was awesome! Gryffindor pride!!! Throughout the day we tried every form of butterbeer possible (multiple times in fact). Frozen butterbeer is THE BOMB! And Butterbeer ice cream is also incredible! I LOVE BUTTERBEER!!! The ride through Hogwarts and Gringotts also did not disappoint. Both made me feel like I was actually soaring through the tunnels of Gringotts and flying through Hogwarts. I made a point to do both of those more than once before we had to go. All the Harry Potter stuff was definitely the highlight of my Florida trip. I have been waiting for my chance to go to Hogwarts since my eleven year old birthday party where I sent out Hogwarts acceptance letters as invitations. It was definitely worth the wait! HOGWARTS FOREVER!!!!!

 

The Wand Ceremony

Enjoying a Delicious Frozen Butterbeer

Delicious and Magical

Enjoying Beautiful Diagon Alley

The Infamous Platform 9 3/4. There was a whoosing noise when you walked through the barrier!

Hogsmeade and Hogwarts

Hogwarts Forever!

We had a nice chat with Stan and the talking head. The head talks back to you!

Other trip highlights

• We definitely enjoyed our days at the parks, but it was also nice to just relax at our resort and hang out at the pool. Spencer and I were like fish and lived in the pool and hot tub when we weren’t at the parks or sleeping. We got lots of quality niece and nephew time playing at the pool. We also saw tons of lizards, a snake, and even got attacked by frogs! We were walking to the pool and a frog jumped onto my leg! I started screaming in terror and jumping around like a looney person. But having a frog jump out at you from the bushes is a really terrifying experience. A couple days later the same thing happened to Spencer. It was so funny! We definitely had a lot of laughs on our trip. It’s sad to see such a fun and memorable vacation come to an end but I am soooo grateful for my parents who allowed us all to have this experience together. I will never forget it! Especially the Harry Potter part haha! 

Bradfield Family Vacation 2016

So our vacation is done, but the Summer is just starting! Stay tuned for more of our Summer adventures!

January and February

It's hard to believe it's already the end of February! This year is flying by!

I had surgery on my hip the beginning of January. I was on crutches for a month and took the month off of work to rest and get back on my feet. It was a looooong month. I had a lot of time to watch Netflix, read, color, and do other sedentary activities. I'll make a list of some of my Netflix and reading recommendations at the end of this blog post for anyone interested!

Overall my hip recovery is going really well. It feels great to be on my feet again. On the flip side, surgery can be a discouraging process. Some days I'll feel awesome and then the next day it's very painful again. It's hard to find a balance between feeling good and overdoing it. But I just need to be patient with my recovery. It will be about another month until everything in my hip joint is fully healed and then after that I'll just be focusing a lot on strengthening and stretching the joint until I get my full mobility back. In total it will be about a year process of recovery. This whole experience has been very humbling and it has made me so so so grateful to have a healthy body.

Other than that, life for Spencer and I just seems to be in Groundhogs day mode. Spencer is a full time student and has had a very busy and stressful semester as he is taking chemistry, biology (both with labs), and an economics class. He is doing all of the pre-reqs for medical school and it is A LOT of work. On top of that he works between 25-30 hours a week as a pharmacy tech. He works so hard and is so diligent in everything he does. He is a great example to me. Even with all this busy-ness and craziness, in January we attended a meeting where we were able to practice sutures on pigs feet! It was awesome! And Spencer was a pro! So in the unlikely event we are stuck somewhere and he needs to give me stitches, I know I can count on him haha!

I'm back in work mode as well. I am a registered behavior technician and I work with little kids who have Autism. Currently I work with three families and I go to their homes to do ABA therapy with their kids. I love my job so much and feel so blessed to work with these incredible kids. It is so fun and rewarding to see them progress. And because I work with the same kids in their homes multiple times a week I have developed friendships with each of the families that I work with. I just feel so blessed to have a job that has allowed me to connect with such incredible people.

One exciting event that mixed up our schedule was Valentines Day. Spencer and I went on a double date with my lifelong friend Alyssa and her husband Beau. We went to the Provo City Center Temple open house and it was AMAZING! The temple used to be a tabernacle used for church meetings and community meetings, but the building was destroyed in a fire a few years ago and only the outside walls survived. Over the past few years the foundation for the building has been completely redone and the inside was reconstructed. It is more amazing than ever! I feel like I'm having a hard time describing how incredible it was so I'll post a video that talks about it briefly and also shows what the inside looks like now.

Outside the Provo City Center Temple

I am so grateful for temples. Temples are sacred places that literally are the house of God here on earth. In temples we can make covenants with God and learn more about His plan for all of His children. In temples families can be sealed together for time and for all eternity. Attending the temple has brought so much peace to my life. I can really feel God's love for me and my family when I go there. It is such a peaceful place.

Anyway, life is good and I feel like I'm rambling on! So until next time!


Netflix Recommendations:
Heartland
Okay seriously. This has become one of my all time favorite shows. It is so uplifting and beautifully filmed. It is about a family who owns a horse ranch in Canada. Amy, a young woman, is a "miracle girl" when it comes to working with horses. It's much more complicated than that, but that's the very very brief one sentence synopsis. If you are looking for a show that is clean, entertaining, and inspiring this is a great option! When I watch this show I seriously just want to just pack up my things and go live off the land haha! Here is the opening credits! Enjoy!

Book Recommendations:
The Malediction Trilogy by Danielle L. Jensen
I loved these! There were definitely a candy read, but right up my alley. They had elements that reminded me of Phantom of the Opera, and if you know me at all you know that I LOVE PHANTOM!! I felt like these books were a good mix of adventure, romance, and explored topics of equality and political turmoil. There are two books out in the trilogy now and the third one comes out in May. I can't wait!

Okay I wont go in depth on the other ones as much but here's a list of the other books I read that I really enjoyed.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson

Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman
I lied, I will say something about this one. It's based on a true story and it was so beautiful and had me in tears throughout the book.

First Blog Post Ever! Christmas Season and New Year Happenings.

Wow! I'm writing a blog! This is so exciting!

I guess before I get all crazy writing about life and stuff, I wanted to explain why I'm even writing this blog. There are so many people from Colorado, my mission in New York, and just friends I've made over the years who I struggle to stay in contact with. I hope that this blog can be a small gesture of trying to still be part of each others lives even though we may be far from each other.

So I guess I will give a quick blurb about the last month of mine and Spencer's lives. As always, the Christmas season went by way too fast. So much happened in December. We both finished another semester of school. Spencer is studying public health administration at Utah Valley University. I finished my final semester at Brigham Young University! I am a college graduate! I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Family Studies: Emphasis in Human Development. I actually had to just look up what my major is actually called haha! I just tell people human development. I am really excited and proud of myself to be done with school! It was also kind of anticlimactic because I don't actually walk until April. But my diploma is on its way in the mail, so even though I don't have the graduation pictures to prove it, I have the diploma! Spencer still has a couple more years to complete his Bachelor's so we will still be in the Orem/Provo area for a couple more years. After that, who knows where we will end up!

So this Christmas season ended up being very special to me for a few reasons. First, I was able to spend my first Christmas in Utah with my in-laws. On Christmas eve Spencer and I spent the night in South Jordan with Spencer siblings, their families, and his parents. It was really fun because I felt like we got to experience the kid magic of Christmas one more time since we all slept over and woke up together on Christmas morning. We were spoiled rotten! It also snowed all day! It was so beautiful and magical. There really is nothing like a white Christmas. It was a great day spent with family.

The Christmas season was also a difficult one because my Grandpa Bonnes passed away on the morning of Christmas Eve. He had suffered a major stroke a little less than a week earlier. It was very difficult to not be close to that side of my family when all this happened, but thankfully Spencer and I were able to fly home to Colorado for his funeral the Wednesday after Christmas. It was a beautiful service and I was privileged to sing "The Wind Beneath My Wings." My Grandpa was a wonderful singer and guitar player. That song was one that he was known for singing at funerals. He also was famous for singing "Let There Be Peace On Earth." So at the end of his funeral my 9 cousins and I sang that song together. The last few weeks have been tearful ones, but it has been fun to reminisce with everyone about how awesome our Grandpa is. He was a goofy, kind, loud, loving cowboy. I still can't believe he has died, but I am grateful to know that because of our Savior Jesus Christ and His atonement I will see my Grandpa again. I know that families can be together forever.  

Grandma and Grandpa Bonnes

Our Christmas break continued to be busy after the funeral. Spencer's family had a family reunion planned all year, so after the funeral we flew from Colorado to Arizona where we met up with family in Wickenberg. It was the first time I met a lot of Spencer's cousins and aunts and uncles. We had a great couple days in Arizona. The weather was beautiful and it was fun to get to know everyone better. We went four wheeling through the desert, played tons of games, visited a ghost town, had a family home evening, and ate lots and lots of delicious food! It was a very fun couple of days and it was sad to say goodbye to everyone.

Wilkes Family Reunion

After the long drive home to Orem from Wickenberg the craziness didn't stop. Spencer started another semester of school. I worked Monday and Tuesday and then on Wednesday I had surgery on my hip. I had what's called a cam impingement, which is where the head of my femur is too big for the socket and so my bones grind. I also had a labral tear, which is where the cartilage surrounding the femur wears down or tears. So I went to the hospital Wednesday morning, had surgery, and got home around 7pm that night. The surgery went well! The doctor shaved part of my femur off so it wont grind anymore, and stitched up my torn labrum. The whole day is a blur to me. It was kind of fun to talk to Spencer about all the things that happened that day because I seriously had NO recollection of anything that happened. He was surprised because he said that I seemed very with it. Anesthesia is some crazy stuff.

The last few days after surgery have been very humbling. I'm on crutches for the next three weeks and then I'll continue doing physical therapy for the next three months. I've been sick on and off because of the anesthesia and other medicine I'm taking. Although the past few days have been very difficult because I've been feeling very sick and very sore, I've also felt so loved. I've had multiple family members and friends bring Spencer and I dinner, take me to physical therapy, and just come over to keep me company. It brings me to tears to think about how grateful I am for the family and friends that I have in my life. But more than anyone I've been so grateful for my husband Spencer. He has taken such good care of me the last few days and I just can't begin to express how much I love him. I am so lucky.