Virginia and North Carolina

Well, our time here in Spanish Fork is quickly disappearing. I know that we will be back in six months, but my heart still hearts a little. We are leaving a wonderful neighborhood family behind. One that has helped us through our toughest time yet, and one that will always be in our hearts no matter where we end up. I never thought a place in Utah could grow on me so much.

If you are wondering what I mean by leaving (because we have been terrible about tell everyone), our little family is off on an adventure to the East Coast. Jason will be helping a Nestle factory in Virginia on a six month mission, and our little family will be living in North Carolina. We will be leaving our home this Wednesday.We are going to miss so much during our long trip, but think it will be a good breath of fresh air from all that our little family has had to endure this past year.

Our house…a painful yet wonderful memory of what we once had here. Our neighborhood… a wonderful reminder of friendships and faces who have been there through our hardships. Spanish Fork Utah… A place we will ever hold dear to our hearts. Places that hold so many emotions. Why not a new adventure? Why not a little get away to let our hearts heal a little more? Nestle has provided that opportunity for our little family, and we take it with excitement, nervousness, and maybe just a little relief from the moving itch that we’ve been feeling a little bit lately.

Jason

Jason just finished his real estate class, and will be getting his real estate license this month! He is so excited to have new experiences with a new factory for Nestle in Virginia. Along with all his hard work, he has be able to train for and run 2 half marathons, and loves his little boy with all his heart. I love watching them play, wrestle, and giggle as they make every second of their time together memorable. They are my world, and I love them.

My BEST FRIEND! <3 him!

First half of the season!

Jason beat us by a long shot!

Carter

Carter seems to get older and older as every second passes. He is becoming such an independent little man, which can be helpful and not so helpful at the same time. He is loving his time with preschool, and loves to spend every second he can with his friends. As his mommy and daddy have been training for races, he has learned to love running. He ran his first race at the Haunted Half Marathon! He loved running the kids run, and I’m sure there will be so many more to come!  We sure love this little boy, and all his character.

First snowy day and he spent it in style!

Silly boy sleeping.

He loved Las Vegas!

I love spending time with this silly boy!

Yep, that's my shirt!

Clarissa

I ran the Provo Haunted half and I just finished my first Ragnar in Las Vegas. I loved every second of my Ragnar, and hope to do another one in the near future. The thing that made it so great was my team, they were just like a family. Each one of them did amazing and we supported each other through everything. We had a pretty hard core team member who broke her leg 1 mile into her third leg, and she still finished! I sure miss my awesome Ragnar family, and hope we can run together again soon. It was so awesome to have Jason and Carter there at the finish line with me! Do to my over enthusiasm for running, I am now in a boot from having tendinitis throughout my left foot. It has been driving me crazy to not be able to run for a few weeks. I can hardly wait to start training for my next race!

Our awesome Ragnar team!

My van for the Ragnar! Best group of people EVER!

My favorite people on earth!

Carter was my biggest fan. He asked me, "mommy, did you win?" at least a million times

My lovely boot, I have to wear for the next 3 weeks!

Our family

We are doing OK. There are times I find us laughing and loving life together. There are other times we think of our sweet little Shanna girl. I miss her desperately every minute she isn’t here with us, and often think of what she would be like. She would have been 7 months this month, and it’s hard to think she’s gone. Nights are still hard for me, as I yearn to hear her in our room again, and my mind often turns to that terrifying moment when our worst nightmare unfolded before our very eyes. My heart will forever be haunted by that day. 

Tiffanie White is amazing! She is a great photographer!

Many people have asked me how I do it every day. How I deal with the loss of my baby girl. Honestly some days I don’t know. One thing that I do know however, is that a man named Jesus Christ lived here on earth. He lived a sinless life and was the most extraordinary example of so many things. People hated him, killed him, and he rose again. He followed his father’s plan to come here to earth to die for all of us so that we could return to our heavenly home and be with our family for forever! That means we will see Shanna again! We will hold her, and love her, and raise her again someday. It doesn’t come without a price, for I need to do my very best to be worthy of being with my sweet baby again.  But I know that through the atonement of Jesus Christ, that I can have this wonderful blessing! I can do it! I can make it! I will not give up! 

I miss this little with all of my heart.

She's mine FOREVER!

Until next time… Happy Reading!