2013 Year in Review

JANUARY. Jarom and I had a mini-vacation in Salt Lake. We saw the first Hobbit movie (it was awful) and went antique shopping. Then, back to real life.

FEBRUARY. I offered to do a lot of custom invitations to use to build my portfolio, so to speak. Unfortunately, I bit off more than I could chew and fell behind! We traveled to Southern California for Jarom’s grandmother’s funeral. Evan turned 4 and had a really amazing birthday party. He also started being much, much nicer than he had been as a 3-year-old.

MARCH. Our world turned upside-down when a routine 20-week ultrasound revealed that our third baby wouldn’t live. We spent the rest of the month reeling from the shock and trying to adjust.

APRIL. Most of the focus was on preparing for Christian’s birth and death. We were able to have our parents with us in the hospital and spend a short time together with Christian. He was buried in Springville a few days later.

MAY. Lost to grief.

JUNE. Lost to grief.

JULY. Lost to grief, except the surprise birthday party Jarom threw for me.

AUGUST. The week of my due date, I hosted a baby shower for my dear friend Bridget, who had moved to Alaska in May. Despite my good intentions, it was just too much and I had to run off to the bathroom to cry partway through. On the plus side, I made some really great carrot cupcakes for the shower. And once I was past my due date, the baby shower, and the birth of several friends’ babies, I started to feel more like myself again. Jarom and I even went on our traditional date to the law school Founders’ Day dinner and mini-vacation overnight.

SEPTEMBER. Evan started preschool! I put a lot of work into my Etsy shop (which is currently closed, sorry). We found a lost dog and held onto him for a few days until his owners contacted us.

OCTOBER. I spent a week and a half in California visiting my parents. It was incredibly relaxed and stress-free – almost like a real vacation! Jarom got a much-needed and much-deserved raise at work. Junebug turned 3. Evan was Superman for Halloween; June was a mermaid.

NOVEMBER. Evan watched The Princess Bride and became obsessed. Both kids got croup, and then I did, too. Our blog posts about Christian were adapted into a story and published. Also, Jarom crashed my car.

DECEMBER. Jarom got another raise! My parents and sister came for the holidays. We saw real reindeer at Thanksgiving Point. Christmas was full of good food; Jarom and I had to forgo presents for ourselves so we could save up for a new (to us) car. We had two meetings with a grief counselor to see if we’re grieving appropriately (basically yes). With fingers crossed, we look forward to 2014 and hope there are NO deaths in our family next year!