Forgiveness

The last week or two I have really been humbled when it comes to forgiveness. 6 years ago in June, my sister-in-law was killed by a 16 year old boy from Idaho. She was the passenger in her friend's car. They were going through a green light, she had her seat belt on. The truck with the 16 year old boy hit her side and there is no way she could have survived the accident. It was really, really hard on my husband's family. I remember having to call their family and friend's to let them know what happened. I remember being the spokesman for the family at the funeral and giving a talk that I didn't think I would make it through. I remember somehow the father of the boy got ahold of me to apologize and say they would fight against their own insurance when things got ugly between the lawyers and the insurance company. It was hard. Matt and I were young and it took alot of strength from us. Moving to Hawaii was a very good thing for us. We were able to get away and let go of some hard feelings and frustration we had.

Matt's parents bought a house 2 blocks away from the cemetery where Silicia is buried at. It has helped his mom alot. She is able to go over there whenever she wants. She has really had a hard time though. Silicia was the oldest and the only girl in the family. She was very close to her family, but especially close to her mom. I too am close to my mother-in-law and I have heard for years that she is ready to move on from this world. She has had bitter feelings and rightfully so. No one can know what that is like unless they have experienced it themselves. I love my mother-in-law and I joke with her often that she needs to quit trying to "Check Out" of this world! We need her. We love her.

This past week she has shown me something so amazing, something I wasn't sure she would be strong enough to ever do, and yet she has. She was contacted by her neighbor that a therapist had called her and asked if she was my mother-in-laws neighbor. ( my in-law's number is unlisted.) How did she know that lady was my mother-in-law's neighbor? The Internet:) She told this neighbor that someone needed to make amends with my mother-in-law.
My mother-in-law wasn't sure who she had wronged in the past, but was curious and called. She was told from the therapist that Tye the boy who hit Silicia needed to make amends. He is on drugs right now, and is down from Idaho in therapy for a month trying to change his life. The accident really messed him up. Of course it did. He was only 16. He is now married, and has a daughter that is 2 1/2. I asked my M-I-L how she felt. What would she do? For me this was so heavy to deal with. She said that all she wanted to do was hug him and tell him it's o.k.
This is coming from someone who couldn't believe things happen for a reason anymore. She hard a hard time understanding that it was Silicia's time to go.

She received a letter from Tye a few days later. He said he was sorry and told a little about how he was and that he wanted to talk to them on the phone or in person. My M-I-L called the therapist and they are meeting tonight at my In-Laws. My husband will be there tonight to meet him. I do believe that everything happens for a reason and sometimes we just don't understand why they happen. The therapist also told my M-I-L that Tye and his daughter were driving through the intersection where the accident happened one day and his daughter said to him"Dad there is a girl who is dead in the road and you did it". He said that Silicia has visited gim a few times. His daughter's name is Oakley. Same as my youngest. Coincidence? I am not sure. Is is coincidence that I got pregnant with Oakley unexpectedly while in Hair School and was due with her 1 year to the day Silicia died? I really don't think it was coincidence.

I am so grateful for this lesson that my M-I-L has taught me. She is so amazing. I hope that I can always remember that life is too short. That nothing is worth not having a relationship with your family. Family is all we have.

Flashback Friday!

My Flashback pic is from last year when we moved back to Utah. We went to Gardner Village so Matt could take pics of my brother Matthew and his wife (fiance at the time) Rachel for their engagement pics. My parents were there too so of course my dad made Matt and I get our pic taken too:) Surprise!!

I love Matt so much! He is such a great father, husband, and friend. I am so glad to be married to him! He keeps life fun! Love ya babe! (as if he reads this:))))

Parkerism

So our little puppy who is 8 months old has been doing some weird things lately. I won't go into detail cuz it's gross. Anyways last week my daughter said Bella had poo stuck on her, I went and looked and down under did not look right at all. Our other dog had a belly button hernia that was fixed when she was fixed. I thought "Oh my gosh, Bella has a down under hernia!!" I took her to the Humane Society to get her shots and asked them what was wrong. They said it was a hernia and that it could be fixed when she gets fixed, but it would have to be at a Full Service Vet. I love my dogs, but there is no way I am paying for a Vet. Way too expensive! So I took her over to the Salt Lake Spay and Neuter where our other dog had been fixed. They took a look at her and said that it wasn't a hernia, that she was in heat! Thank goodness that is all that was wrong~! We had no idea that it would happen to her being that young. So I took her home and told the kids.

Matt comes home from work a little later and Parker tells him " Dad! Poor Bella saw the Dr. today and she is in Warm!!!"

LOL We were totally laughing how he mixed up the heat with warm! Gotta love kids:)

Good Times!

Yesterday I met up with my girls for lunch. We all went to Jr. High and High School together, some as far back as Elem. We try and go every month, although the Holidays made it hard to get together. I am so glad that we have all stayed friends throughout the years. It is so fun to see everyone, and even more fun to see people who haven't come before! I love that Kristy and Ang keep us all going! I love these girls! I love that we can reminisce about the old days and catch up on what we are up to these days. I love that some of us weren't friends in school but now have become friends from going to the Girl's Outings! True Good Friends are so hard to find and I am so grateful that I have all these girl's in my life! I know I am a better person because of their friendship! Love ya girls!!!!

(Jenny I swear we will get you down here one day:) We miss you!)

What a Man!

I just had to post about what a great guy Matt is. I started a small kitchen renovation while Matt was out of town, and poor guy it has turned into a BIG one! I found beautiful Mosaic Tile on KSL that a guy had used on a job and had 4 boxes of left overs. They were only $35.00 for the 4 boxes which is a steal!!! I hurried and called Matt and he went and picked them up right after work. Then he said in order to do the back splash we had to do the counter tops (YAY!) so we went to Sutherlands and scored a great deal on Granite Tiles. My Aunt called us and gave us her Appliances because she was getting new ones and we were really excited because ours are SO old. So Matt has been working non stop on our kitchen. The tile is laid, some of the back splash is going up, the appliances are installed and as we speak he is putting in our new sink and faucet. Seriously the guy is amazing! He does such a great job on everything that he works on! I am so grateful for him! Somehow I will have to figure out a way to let him know how grateful I am..... maybe Jazz tickets:)

Oakleyism's

Oakley says some pretty funny things. Here is one she said to her dad the other night. She is sick and was coughing. She came in our room to his side of the bed (thank goodness!) and told him she needed medicine. He dragged himself out of bed and took her into the kitchen.

Matt starts picking up the medicine....

Oakley:"Not that one"

Oakley:"Not that one either Dad!"

He finally grabs the right one and stares at it..

Oakley:"Daddy, I'm 4."

I could hear the whole conversation in our room and just cracked up. How sad is it that she had to tell him which medicine and how old she is so that he gave her the right amount. She cracks me up!

Yay! Matt's Home!

We are so excited! Matt came home home Sat night. We were so excited to go pick him up at the Airport (poor Parker was too sick to go). He had a great time in Tonga and was able to see alot of things. He said that it made him very grateful for all that we have. He said a Policeman in Tonga makes $100.00 a week! How hard would that be to live off of that!! We love the Polynesian Culture (that's why we lived in Hawaii) and it was great for him to see another part of it. Matt brought us home alot of neat things. He got the kids Mask's to hang on their walls, carved pigs, turtles, and dolphins, tiki statues, and a really neat swordfish that has a neat carving on it. He brought me alot of beautiful jewelry and a few bracelets for the girls. We are so glad to have him back!

When he arrived at the airport in L.A. they had to grab their bags and check them in at Southwest. A lovely person on his flight had packed wet fish and it leaked ALL over Matt's bag. It smelled so bad that as they were walking up to Southwest, the agent said "Eww! What is that smell?" !!! It was pretty bad, and our car didn't smell to great on the way home, but it is now washed and sprayed a million times with Febreze and smells alot better!

I am so glad I had my friend Charese ( her hubby was there too) to help me make it through! We talked, IM'ed and hung out a ton! Thanks for making the long trip down here so much girl!!! I miss our late night chats:)