Wow, what an eventful year this has been. Probably the most eventful year of our lives thus far. There have been times of extreme happiness and extreme sadness. But there is only good if there is bad, so we have learned to take everything in stride.
Braden and I were married in the San Diego Temple, an amazing experience that both of us are eternally grateful for. (if you want to read more about that, scroll down) We started our lives together in Salt Lake City. Both of us graduated with an Associates in Science at the LDS Business College and are extremely excited to be moving on to the University of Utah in January. I will be studying nursing and Braden is going into econometrics.
My best friend was also married in the San Diego Temple, Morgan and her husband Alex. I was so grateful that Braden and I were able to be in the sealing room with them. I will never forget it.
In June my grandmother, Marge Sendzik, passed away. The first death in our immediate family. Being in Utah didn't help me. I felt so left out and guilty not being able to be their for my family, especially my daddy. I can't imagine loosing my mother, no matter how old I am . It hit our family hard but it brought us so much closer together. I am sure that is what my grandmother would have wanted.
Our other best friends Larynn, her husband Darren and their beautiful baby girl Reese were sealed as a family in the Salt Lake Temple. The feeling in that room was very strong and it made an impression on me on the importance of families and their love for each other.
One that hit home for every American was the election of Barak Obama as President. It was a shock for me when Obama was named the new President. I was afraid of what he would do to our struggling economy. I felt the worry that he didn't have the experience to know what to do to fix this recession. As time as has gone on and I have watched him choosing his cabinet and appointing others. I am surprised at his willingness to reach all the way across from his far left wing and show us conservatives, that a union of the American citizens is most important. In his speech right after he won the election he said that even though he won the vote of 53% of Americans he still had to win the vote of the other 47% of Americans. I appreciated him recognizing the fact that half of America still doesn't like his policies and he was going to have to work hard to convince us otherwise. I am anxious to see what he can and will do for America. I am grateful to be alive in a turning point such as this in our history.
By the end of the year my brother, Andrew, will graduate from UCLA with his bachelors. Now if you only knew my brother, your jaw would drop to the floor after you read that. My brother has made such a turn around for good in his life. His value of education is impeccable. A kid who barely graduated high school is now graduating from one of the top universities in the nation with his bachelors and is heading to medical school next. What an example to everyone around him, especially his little sister. I couldn't be prouder of him.
This past week sadly, my grandpa, George Sendzik, also passed away of a heart attack. For a family who has never experienced death, or hospitals at all for that matter, two deaths in one year is a blow to the heart for all of us. After my grandma passed away, we all saw a whole new side of our grandpa. He was getting outside exercising, playing his drums more than ever before, and even started befriending women two weeks after his wife had passed! haha He was ready to get up and live life. Boy did he ever. Although I was never able to see him in his new state, I was able to talk to him on the phone. That phone call was the most I have ever talked to my grandpa. We were both laughing and relating to each other. I was in shock of how much we had in common that I never knew about until that moment. I couldn't wait to see him at Christmas and spend time with my new grandpa. Most of all I was excited for him to meet Braden. One of the biggest regrets of my life is not taking the time, the few times Braden came to California, to go and visit my grandma and grandpa. I know they would have loved to have met him. Even though my grandpa's passing was a huge shock to us just six months after his wife, I could not feel happier that he was able to live his life to the fullest in that time. When my time comes, I hope I can be like him and know that I lived and loved every second of my life.
On November 22, our sister-in-law, Jayme Harker, gave birth a little earlier than expected but surprises are always the best. Trey Merill Harker was born early on that Saturday morning and is absolutely beautiful. Braden and I can't wait to make a trip to CO sometime soon to visit our new nephew.
Now, Braden's Uncle Charlie is in the hospital. He is very very sick. The whole family is praying for him and hoping for the best. Day by day there have been small improvements, we hope for more to come. Braden and I were able to visit with Charlie at Thanksgiving and we couldn't be more grateful for that time. Uncle Charlie and Aunt Geri have always been great to us. They, and our Aunt Jo and Uncle Bill, traveled all the way from Utah to be with us at our wedding last March. I can't explain how much that meant to Braden and I. We know that Charlie is strong and he can pull through. We love him with all our hearts.
Close to Christmas we are expecting another new addition to our large family, Braden's sister, Marti Hawker, is expecting boy number 4!! Holy cow, how this woman does it we will never know. But she does and she is always more than welcoming to us whenever we come over. We can't tell if she just loves the help or the company?? haha. ;) Can't wait to meet our other new nephew soon!
Next week, Braden and I are heading to Cali for an early Christmas. Words cannot describe the excitement we feel, especially me. Not seeing my family for six months is the longest I have ever gone and it has not been easy. I miss them so much. Hearing about all the fun times they are having over the phone is torture. I went from the youngest, the one who was at EVERY family event, never missing one, to missing all of them. That's been pretty difficult for me. But all of my siblings have had their time away, I guess this is mine. I have grown up. I have my own life now. But no matter where we live, we will always have family near at heart.
This year has been full of new beginnings, new life, illness, success, happiness and death but having family near makes it all worth while. Braden and I have learned more about life this year than ever before.
The challenges ahead have nothing on us. Bring it on 2009.
For Easter Sunday we headed down to Fillmore, UT to visit with the Martin family. We had a great time visiting with everyone and enjoying a great meal from Grandma Martin. It was a beautiful day and we went for a drive up this dirt road to look at the irrigation creek for the farm. It was a fun, muddy, bumpy ride. It was a great Easter Sunday!
We have reached our one year mark. WohooO! We celebrated on Saturday the 14th even though it is really Sunday the 15th. We started off the day with a trip to the temple! It was a beautiful day here in SLC, there were tons of brides and grooms everywhere. It was fun to reminisce on our day one year ago. What an awesome year it has been and how it flies by. We then went out to dinner at this Japenese restaurant called Kyoto. It was a really fun experience and great food. At dinner I asked Braden what he has learned within the last year. His repsonse was, " I learned that women are smarter than men, women are cleaner than men and that I DO clean." Haha. I love his humor. We talked more about it and the list could go on forever. Here are just a few of the things I have learned about life, myself, Braden and marriage in the past year:
Apparently this is what one of our kids will look like. I don't really see it except for my ears :). I found this website that was really fun. Check it out! http://www.vw.com/vwhype/babymaker/en/us
Photoshop!
Braden got Killers concert tickets in Denver!
Christmas Pj's :)
Christmas Eve
Wicked
Family Fun at D-land