A tragic, yet family-oriented, Christmas

On December 10th, the day before my birthday, I was at home when I got a text from Glen saying, "If you're not at home, go home because I need to tell you something in person." My heart dropped and I immediately felt sick to my stomach. When he got home, he tearfully told me that his younger brother, Roman, had committed suicide. Of all the horrible things I imagined that he'd tell me when he got home, I never could've prepared myself for this. We were devastated. We sat on the couch and sobbed together. We talked to our family members and tried to cope with this shocking news while feeling completely helpless since we were thousands of miles away. We were supposed to be leaving for Utah in a week (for Christmas break), but changed our flight so that we could be with Glen's family as soon as possible. On the 12th, we left for Utah.

Glen's older brother, Ben, was able to fly to Utah the same day we got the news, so he picked us up from the airport. We had so many questions for him since he had already been there with the family for a couple of days. We tried to prepare ourselves for the state we'd find Glen's family in when we arrived at their house. When we arrived there, we were amazed at how well everyone seemed to be holding themselves together. I started crying the minute I hugged Richard, Glen's dad, but I honestly didn't see Troy, Glen's step mom, cry once until the viewing before the funeral. It is amazing to see the comfort that the Plan of Salvation can bring to family and friends at a time like this. Within minutes of arriving at the house, Sailor asked where Roman was and Richard calmly responded, "He's with Heavenly Father." Such a touching yet heart-wrenching moment.

The viewing and funeral were really emotionally difficult, but beautiful. They both provided some closure that I think a lot of people needed. Roman's siblings each got to stand up and talk about Roman and some memories they had of him. It brought back so many wonderful memories that everyone had of Roman.

Some of my memories: Roman was such a gentle soul. He had a special way with Sailor (and all of his nieces and nephews) that made him the favorite uncle. I remember when we were living in the guest house, I would bring Sailor over to Richard and Troy's house and Roman was often the only person who could get Sailor to stop crying. He loved her so much and she loved him. Even once we moved away and only came back for short visits, I think they had a special place in their hearts for each other. Roman also had a wonderful (and unique) sense of humor. There were many a days when I'd be in the kitchen making something to eat and Roman would be at the kitchen table, playing chess on the internet or downloading music that no one else in the house had a taste for. He always had something funny or sweet to say to me. Even though he wasn't very open with a lot of people, he was one of the first of Glen's siblings to make me feel totally comfortable and accepted. I will never forget when I came out of the temple on mine and Glen's wedding day and Roman told me that I looked really pretty. For those of you who know Roman, this is both completely shocking and completely expected all at the same time. Roman also had amazing will power. Before his mission, he lost 80 pounds using the Weight Watcher's program. He was also a phenomenal chess player and a great athlete, despite the disability in his arm. Something I will never forget about Roman, though, was the incredible amount of hard work that he put in before serving a mission. In addition to the weight loss, he turned in his papers without his parents knowing and adapted the missionary lifestyle (waking up early, scripture study, etc). He made a remarkable transformation in order to serve the Lord on a mission. Everyone who knew Roman can testify to his amazing will power.

The next few weeks in Utah were a bit of a roller coaster. Glen's sister, Rachelle, and brother, Ben, and their families were able to come to Utah for the funeral and Christmas. Despite the unfortunate circumstances that brought us all together, it was so great to be with everyone. We all couldn't help but note how much Roman would've loved to be with all the family for so many days. My family was also able to come to Utah for Christmas, and it was really fun to spend some time with them too. Between the Young, Eaton, and Klumker families, we created a lot of memories over the few weeks we were in Utah.

On our way to Utah!

The day after we arrived in Utah, which was just days after finding out about Roman, we heard the news about the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. This picture started floating around and it seemed perfect for both situations.

Watching TV with Uncle Christian (AKA Justin Bieber)

Grandma got matching jammies for all of the granddaughters.

Glen's best friend from highschool, Kellen's, son Beck. It was love at first sight. 

He fell asleep while watching ESPN on his phone. Go figure.

Sailor got really sick shortly after suffering a pretty bad fall at Grandma Oakey's house. Grandma Klumker took the opportunity to cuddle.

I have the coolest mother-in-law(s).

We had a combined birthday party for Sailor and Samantha (Rachelle's oldest) while we were in Utah  for Christmas. Sailor wasn't feeling well, but everyone else had fun :).

You know she's sick if she won't eat pizza :/

She stacked and unstacked these hats for most of the party.

Poor baby. Look at those red cheeks.

My family, Glen and I took Sailor to Chuck e Cheese for her birthday. I'm pretty sure we all had more fun than she did.

Of course we had to have a few of these while we were there.

That's my girl.

Christmas morning:

Showing off one of the few presents she got in Utah since she got her trampoline  while we were still in Texas.

Glen and I decided to separate for New Year's Eve in order to accommodate all the families. This is the picture he sent me at midnight. HAHAHA!!! 

While my family and I were on the BYU campus, we decided to try to find my picture on the wall  (for winning the "I am Beautiful Because" contest right before I graduated).

Everybody took a picture with me in an effort to  persuade Sailor to do so. Justin was the least excited.

On the airplane home. Such a fun trip but also exhausting on so many levels!