26 April 2011

Utah Visit

The month of April has been full of major ups and downs. I'm ready to get off of this emotional roller coaster. If you can bare with me, I'll share with you all of the joys and heartache that took place this past month.
On the evening of April 6, I got a phone call from my dad, telling me that my little brother, Adam had passed away. My heart has never hurt so bad. He was my dear sweet little brother that I love so much. The next afternoon, Chloe and I jumped on a plane and headed to Utah to be with my family. Riley followed a few days later. I never ever thought that I would be involved in helping to plan my little brother's funeral and pick out his casket and head stone. Needless to say, the funeral service was really beautiful. My mom and dad each spoke, as well as myself and all of my siblings. We all shared sweet memories and stories as we celebrated my brother's life. My little brother was laid to rest in Payson, Utah cemetery. I love and miss my little brother so much, but I know that he is finally able to be at rest and have peace. He is in the arms of our Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful for the knowledge that I have that I will see my sweet brother again. The following is my brother's obituary:

Adam Richard Jenkins
Born: May 2, 1989
Died: April 6, 2011

Adam was born on a beautiful spring morning to Linda Ann Gerdau (Jenkins) Gilbert and Wesley Delbert Jenkins on May 2, 1989 in Orem, Utah. He came home to Provo and was welcomed with a great deal of excitement from his five older siblings.
Adam was a sweet young man who was loved by all who knew him. His laugh was contagious. He had a quick sense of wit and a very bright mind. Adam loved and was loved by his family. Family gatherings were important to him and he loved to play games late into the night. He loved playing outside with his nephews and teaching them new things. He enjoyed cooking, computer games, and working outdoors with his father. Adam attended Wasatch Elementary, Farrer Jr. High, and he graduated from Provo High School in May 2007. He was a Junior at UVU in Orem, UT.
Adam is survived by his mother Linda Ann (Kent) Gilbert of Payson, UT, his father Wesley Delbert (Alyson) Jenkins of Salem, UT, his 3 sisters and 2 brothers; Tiffany (Mark) Anderson, Nathan (Ellie) Jenkins, Hillary (Peter) Van Akin, all of Salem, UT, J. Sean (Carma) Jenkins of Orem, UT, Chelsea (Riley) Nay of Painesville, OH, 2 nieces and 9 nephews, and grandparents Jan (Jim) Gerdau Nicholson, Richard (Lorraine) Jenkins, and Ruthele Edwards.
Funeral services will be held Tues, April 12, 2011. The viewing will begin at 10 am and services will start at 11 am at the Salem West Stake Center, 695 South 300 West, Salem, Utah. Interment will be at the Payson City Cemetery.

This was the first time that both my family and Riley's family got to meet Chloe. We loved showing her off. She was definitely a trooper as she was passed from one set of arms to another.
Visiting with family and friends was definitely one of the joys of our trip. Chloe has been blessed with several people that love and adore her, including 9 boy cousins and 1 girl cousin on my side and 4 boy cousins on Riley's side. Hello Testosterone!



L to R: Peter, Henry, Chloe, Garrett, and Caleb


Top L to R: Malachi, Benjamin




Bottom L to R: Caleb, Atticus, Beaumont, Gideon, Micah, Boston, Canyon, Millie, and Chloe


While in Utah, we had a movie night with most of the cousins at my mom's house and watched Tangled, went to the Carl Bloch exhibit at BYU; which was absolutely incredible, played outside with the fam, went and fed the ducks, and ate lots of yummy food. Riley and I had a long list of places that we had to be sure to eat at while in Utah, including: Pizza Pie Cafe, JDawgs, Jamba Juice, Cafe Rio, and Panda Express. They were all as good as we remembered.

Our cute little family out feeding the ducks.

Riley's cousin put together an Easter egg hunt at the park for all of the little kids. Chloe could have cared less about the egg hunt, but she did look like a rock star in her Hello Kitty sunglasses!



Riley and I took advantage of being in Utah with both of our families, and blessed Chloe. The blessing was done right after the wedding dinner on Friday night. We had lots of dear friends and family gather around as Riley gave Chloe a beautiful blessing. She's a pretty special girl. She slept right through the blessing, waking up at the very end to smile and co at all of her guests. She was blessed on her 3 month birthday.




Our pretty little babe in her blessing dress.






The night before Chloe's blessing, we tried the dress on her to make sure that it would fit. After admiring herself in the mirror for a few minutes, she spit up all down the front of it. I was in panic mode, but my mom helped get it all clean and beautiful again.

The actual wedding day was both insane and wonderful. Early in the morning, on his way to pick up the flowers, Riley's dad, Dave, suffered from a minor heart attack. Our little family rushed to be with him at the hospital, while everyone else was up in Salt Lake at the temple waiting for the ceremony. Riley kept communicating back and forth with the doctors and his brother and uncle at the temple, and was able to get the temple presidency to push back the time of the ceremony (it was the busiest wedding day of the year in SLC- 60 weddings). The cardiologist let Dave go to the ceremony, against his better judgement, making Dave promise that he'd come back to the hospital afterwards. They even left the IV in his arm. So, Kate and David were sealed about 2 hours after their original time. It was a very beautiful and emotional ceremony.



After the sealing and pictures, Riley took his dad back to the hospital, where he stayed until Monday. He is doing well now, thank goodness! Riley and his brother Tyler stepped up to the plate, and took turns standing in line at the reception in place of their dad. The reception was fun and beautiful, with yummy desserts and fruit.


Chloe was definitely the Belle of the Ball. She had a camera in her face all day!





Don't mind the spit bubbles on Chloe's lip. It's her latest trick!

There's nothing quit as fun as dancing with Daddy.


After our emotional Utah trip filled with ups and downs, we are happy to say that we are settling back down into our simple day to day life back here in Ohio. We loved getting to see so many friends and family. We love and miss you guys already!

2 comments:

Kelly said...

Chelsea, sorry to hear about your brother. My condolences. Chloe is beautiful. You must love her to pieces.

Tiffany said...

You must be so glad to be back. It was so good to see you. Mom told us you're moving again? Exciting place! We love and miss you. Hugs, hugs.