Never thought I would say it, but I wish I was still on bedrest. Not just because of all the pampering, service, compassion, attention, letters and packages you recieve, but because that would mean I would still be pregnant and we would still be expecting a little baby girl. Things are slowly getting easier. My milk finally dried up {is that a little bit TMI?} and we're making plans for the fall and for the future with just us two where before we were planning for three. No need for a 2 bedroom apartment in the fall. No need to coordinate our class schedules. No need for all the cute pink clothes we bought. Despite not having a new addition join us, we still have all the same bills-- and then some. Whoever knew that the price of two MRI's would be enough to take a nice trip to the French Riviera? Or that spending a few nights in a hospital after a delivery and surgery would be enough to get a new car? Don't even get me started on the price of headstones, cemetery plots, flights for a casket, and other various funeral expenses. It's a great business. The funeral industry that is. It's because no matter the economic situation, no matter the status of the National Healthcare Reform- people are still going to die. Michael Jackson proved that first hand. While other companies are being downsized and shutdown- the funeral business is one of the few not hanging on for dear life- get it? Anyway. We went to Utah for the week prior to July 4th for a number of events. Dropping off Nathan (literally curbside dropoff) at the MTC, Seeing Taylor (Spencer's brother) return from his mission to Germany, visit with family, see the Jonas Brothers at Stadium of Fire, attend 4th of July festivities, and bury our daughter in the Provo Cemetery. The weather was great the whole week and we packed so much in that it ALMOST made the 28 hour drive bearable. Dropping off my little brother Nathan wasn't as emotional as we all anticipated. There were no opportunities for those "moments". As soon as the car was put in to park the car door automatically opened as 3 missionaries ushered "THE ONE IN THE SUIT" out of the car while the fourth one unloaded the luggage from the trunk. One word. Efficient. We all got out of the car, probably much slower than they would have liked, and gave our final farewells as Elder Salmon entered the glass doors. The following day after saying goodbye to my brother, I gained a brother-in-law instead. Taylor returned from his two year mission spent in Berlin, Germany. It was my very first time meeting Taylor. We had a lot of fun that night visiting- especially when Taylor unpacked his suitcase and distributed the goods. Let's just say German chocolate is NOT overrated. The whole week was crammed with super fun things to do. We walked around the Freedom Festival booths, attended the Provo Parade, went canoeing, hiking, swimming had plenty of food, visited with lots of family and did a ton of other things. One of the more memorable things we did (as if stuffing my face with European chocolate wasn't memorable) was having the graveside service for our little baby girl held at the Provo Cemetery July 3rd. It was such an amazing feeling to arrive there with the tiny casket and to be greeted by so many people (many of which were dressed in pink) and to know of their love for us. Everytime I made eye contact with someone in the crowd I became speechless. The service was just perfect. It is 2 months today since our little baby joined our eternal family. 2 months and 1 day ago I would have never thought that this would have happened. I would have never imagined that I would be paying for an infant gravemarker. It makes me wonder what the next 2 months will bring.
