The viewing for Grandpa Hadfield was Sunday, February 21st at their church building. We met early to help set things up and for the grandkids to rehearse the song medley we were going to sing for the funeral. Brian and Melody graciously opened their home if anyone needed a break or needed somewhere else to take their kids for both the viewing and funeral. The also provided dinner for the family on Sunday. Those Hadfields sure make for an awesome family :D
This floral arrangement had each family grouped with everyone's names on seed packets. Grandpa was well-known for his gardening.
Grandpa's kids sure did an amazing job with the display. It was definitely apparent Grandpa's many skills, talents, and passions. He lived a full life.
Display - family photos, quilts, crafts, music, and so much more.
The grandkids spend most of their time in the nursery. Melody also came prepared with some crafts to do.
Part of the Family Night song that is tradition in the Hadfield family, which was included in the medley during the funeral. This recording is the third verse.
Matt and I with his Great Aunt Karen.
Henlie finally decided to make a frame. Matt picked the generation picture we took at family camp when she was just a baby.
Grandpa touched many lives. The line extended down the hall, around more halls, and through the chapel. We heard of people who actually came in and then left because the line was so long.
Waiting during the viewing prior to the funeral.
Henlie finishing off some cookies from Peru
Devan and Michelle reading to Henlie and Charlie.
Daddy and Andrew taking silly selfies :)
After the funeral, we headed to the cemetery to lay Grandpa to rest. It is also the cemetery where Matt's stillborn brother, Joshua, is buried, so we visited his grave as well.
After a lot of family and such a tender time, we wanted to still keep our family close. What turned into a couple siblings over for pie turned into the whole family joining us for dinner, pie, and FHE Monday night as well. It was good to hang out with them all a little more, even though it wasn't anything "special" per se. Hanging out with family is what makes anything special.
We are so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful family. We are also very blessed to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ to guide us and offer us comfort with the knowledge it brings that our family can be together forever.
We had tickets to go to the Provo City Center Temple open house on February 20th. We were going with Jason and Camile. We were supposed to go through the 3:15pm tour, but that did not happen. Holy people, Batman! It was like 4:15pm or so I think by the time we went through. Fortunately, my kids were pretty well-behaved. At least during all that waiting, we got to watch a fun little movie on Aunt Camile's phone....that told us we're getting another cousin! Woot!
Andrew and Me in front of the the Christus statue in the gazebo.
Never mind our ultra-smooth faces. My forward-facing camera has a feature to soften skin tone, and Andrew had turned it all the way up....
♪ I love to see the temple... ♪
Daddy and Henlie looking back across the grounds at the temple.
It was fun to tell Henlie about our experiences with the old Tabernacle. I also loved the elements they were able to save and reincorporate into the new temple. Going just three days after we lost Grandpa was especially poignant as we could talk to Henlie about sealings, being a forever family, and the Plan of Salvation on a very applicable level.
Family selfie
Of course, since we walked clear down to the end of the grounds, Henlie decided she did want to go up to the fountain haha
This is my favorite.
Henlie wouldn't look at me for a picture, so Daddy told her to look at him instead.
How CUTE is this?!?
Andrew and Mommy in front of the fountain.
My family put up with me to stand in line for the free backdrop picture.
Thankfully, Henlie is smiling :)
I'm so grateful for the temple and the opportunities we have to be together as families for eternity. I am grateful for a loving Savior who provided the atonement for us so we can have a means of returning to our Heavenly Father and our families again. I am so grateful for my family and the strength, support, and love they give. We truly are blessed to have so many temples around us here in Utah. Thankfully, the rest of the world continues to get more and more temples closer to them as well. The Gospel is true and we have a Father in Heaven who loves us very, very much. Our big brother, Jesus, truly did come to earth to provide the ultimate example and offer Himself as sacrifice to atone for our sorrows, pains, afflictions, and sins. I don't partake of His gift like I should, but I know as we try to do better each day and repent when we fall, He will have grace sufficient for us all.
On Monday, February 15th, we were able to take the kids up to Murray to say goodbye to Grandpa Hadfield. Being Monday, it was Family Home Evening. Larry and Carrie were taking Jennifer back to school in Ephraim and had sung the Family Night song in the car and suggested someone sing it to Grandpa. Since we were heading up for family night and Kevin and Karrie's family were heading over for their family night, we both said we'd sing it to him.
We talked with Henlie a bit on the drive up about what was happening and what was going to come in the near future. She was pleasant for most of the drive. I told Matt I'd never been in this situation before, knowing someone is going to die and having a chance to say goodbye. When my mom died, it was unexpected. I've known of others dying, but no one I was close to. I was emotional and a bit anxious as we headed to the hospital.
We got there at the same time as Kevin and Karrie, so we all headed up together. Melody was just passing the torch to Laurie, so we chatted with them a bit. Grandpa was napping, but Kevin woke him and we all went in to visit for a bit. By this point, Henlie (who probably had fallen asleep in the car, but I don't remember, really), did not want to be there. She didn't want to sing to Grandpa (even though she knows the song). She was having a rough time and Matt had to take her for a walk once or twice because she was throwing fits.
I'm really glad Kevin and Karrie were there at the same time. I didn't have to speak :) We visited a bit and then I told Grandpa it was Monday night. He said, "What are ya gonna do about it?" I asked if we could sing the Family Night song, so we all sang. Sort of. It's hard to sing while crying. It was a special time. After we sang, Grandpa bore his testimony. He said, "There is a right way to go." He thanked us for coming and reminding him of that.
I think it was Kevin who asked Grandpa if there was anything we could do for him. He told us what we know he had told others who'd asked the same (thanks, GroupMe!). He told us to be happy. Love one another, and be kind to each other.
We took some pictures with Grandpa and then headed home. Turns out we parked right next to Kevin and Karrie :) We chatted and then got in our respective cars. The difference in feeling was stark. Going up, I was so sad and anxious. Heading home, knowing that was the last time we'd see Grandpa alive, I felt peace. It was an interesting feeling.
These two pictures are so tender.
Matt bent to kiss his Grandpa goodbye and Grandpa told him, "Thank you."
Matt says he doesn't know what he ever did to be thanked.
It was especially hard on Matt. The first time I ever saw Matt cry was when he told me about his Grandma ReNae (Grandpa's first wife). Seeing Grandpa in the hospital brought back lots of those memories for him.
I'm so grateful things worked out so we could visit with him on Monday. If they hadn't moved him until Tuesday, we wouldn't have been able to go up until evening, if at all. And, as mentioned in the previous post, we wouldn't have been able to interact with him really. It was a very tender mercy that we were still able to go up Monday.
Grandpa's influence will be felt for the rest of our lives. And as we sing the Family Night song every week, we will carry a bit of him with us and into future generations. We love you, Grandpa.
Originally this was just going to be some thoughts and feelings after we visited with Grandpa in the hospital, but time passed and I didn't write, so now it's going to be an overview of events.
January 27th around 10:30pm, Matt's grandpa, Carl Hadfield, had a heart attack and ended up in the new Mountian Point Medical Center in Lehi. He had surgery and had two stents put in. He had another heart attack while in the hospital and went back into surgery on January 29th. Both of the new stents were blocked. They placed new ones and a couple of others. Apparently Grandpa's veins were very enlarged. There was one place they couldn't fix, even if they would have had leg stents. However, I guess it was in the one place that if you're going to have failure, that's the place to have it as it's less important than the rest of the heart? Anyway, we were blessed in that regard. The enlarged arteries were to blame for the clotting because the blood couldn't move through the veins efficiently.
Our family has been pretty amazing through all of this, utilizing our GroupMe group to keep everyone informed and to coordinate visits and care for Grandma and Grandpa. Melody (Matt's aunt) shared something that I have found important. It is below:
On
a personal note, dad looks much better today and he and mom expressed that they
have had peace since the blessing and felt that he would come home and have
more time with us. That was their feeling. Just wanted to share that. I hope
that is appropriate to share. Love you.
While Grandpa's heart was doing a little better, he still wasn't feeling great and hardly had any appetite. When he did eat, he had a hard time keeping it down. However, he did get to go home the evening of February 3rd. From the GroupMe updates, I think Grandpa felt a lot better being back home and getting to shower and sleep in his own home. Grandma even gave him a haircut on February 5th :)
To me, this was a fulfillment of that personal revelation Melody shared. He did get to go home and have more time with us. However, that time was short-lived as on the evening of February 6th, he was heading back to the hospital, this time the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray. His blood pressure was low (they think that was a reaction to some of the medications he'd been put on), his kidneys weren't doing great, and he had terrible pain in his arm. They admitted him to the ICU. All of the life-upheaval wasn't helping Grandma, either. Around this time, she didn't want anyone to come over, save for Melody. I think that made it harder on everyone, too.
They found Grandpa had cellulitis. The infection had made its way to his blood stream. He was put on antibiotics and was expected to stay for 3 to 5 days to finish the course of antibiotics through his IV. They found infection in his elbow, so Grandpa had to undergo surgery again to clean that out.
We got some not great news on February 10th. I'll copy down what Brian sent in GroupMe.
They said that he has acute kidney injury as well as acute liver injury. The sepsis is now in the stage they cal septic shock. I looked it up: “septic shock, when blood pressure drops significantly. This can lead to respiratory, heart, or organ failure and death.” They did seem surprised that dad is as alert as he is, with this kind of sickness. Melody says he is more “with it” than he has been for a few days, even making lots of jokes. But physically he is probably looking a little worse.
They have some blood work in progress right now, but they will not have the results until tomorrow. That should tell them whether the organs are getting better or worse. I do not want to alarm anyone, I just want to make everyone aware of what’s happening. Melody asked the doctor privately what he thought, and the answer was that it really could go either way in the next couple of days.
The doctors were still trying to find the source of the infection as the bacteria continued to grow, even on antibiotics. On February 12th, Grandpa got a feeding tube as he still wasn't eating. The doctors found abscesses in his back and the different doctors consulted on which area needed to be focused on first (his kidneys, his back, or the bleeding he was experiencing).
February 14th, Valentine's Day and also Grandpa and Grandma's anniversary. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Grandpa called all of his kids up to the hospital to chat. He was facing dialysis and more drains being placed (he already had a drain in his elbow). Mom and Dad left church to drive to Murray. After their meeting, Dad texted us to tell us Grandpa decided to go on hospice. He was done. He had no regrets and was ready to return to his Heavenly home. Dad shared the doctor's estimate of four days. Grandpa was still in the ICU, so no one under 12 could go visit him. They talked of moving him to a regular room on Monday.
Monday, February 15th, was also a holiday, so Matt had the day off. We waited for word they had moved Grandpa so we could take the kids up to say goodbye. We got word that the hospital was full and they may not be able to move him until Tuesday. Thankfully, he was moved Monday evening and we headed up. I'll write more about our visit in a separate post. Earlier in the day, the doctors suggested staying on his blood thinners as long as he was able, and then just pain and anti-anxiety medications as needed. When they told this to Grandpa, he replied, "Who has anything to be anxious about?"
Brian told us later that he took his kids up early Tuesday morning to say goodbye and that he was glad he did because shortly thereafter, Grandpa stopped responding as he was preparing to return to his Heavenly home. Melody commented in GroupMe that there was a sacred feeling in his room.
Matt's Mom, Carrie, went up Wednesday, February 17th, to spend the majority of the day with Grandpa. That morning, Matt's Dad, Larry, called me at 10:26am to tell us that Grandpa had passed on and asked if I'd let Matt know since Matt was at work. It was sad, but it was okay. We knew it was coming. We had time to prepare and to say goodbye. We knew Grandpa was ready and that he was getting to be with Grandma ReNae again.
Carrie detailed her experience in the GroupMe chat:
I was with dad when he joined the angels. He was snoring away and the nurse came in to turn him a bit. She brought some Vaseline for me to put on his dry lips . I did that and was talking to rick Haney about dads influence in our lives. My hand was on dads shoulder. The snoring stopped. He swallowed once and that was all No jerking , no sound. Just peace. We waited afew minutes and then callled in Jamie. She confirmed that we were right, he was On his way. A good spirit was in the room. Just peace
That night, Brian and Melody hosted a wake of sorts with popcorn and ice cream in Grandpa's honor. There were lots of tears, but lots of laughs, too. We recounted stories and discussed what would be talked about at the funeral. It truly was a celebration of Grandpa's life. And like all of our family get-togethers, we shared the most memorable of Grandpa's family home evening lessons and sang our Family Night song.
Grandpa, we love you and miss you, but we know you were prepared. We will do our best to be happy and live so that we may be with you again.
We usually go to Matt's parents' house for Sunday dinner. The 17th of January I just had a few pictures, but I think there are a few too many to share in a Little Tidbits post. So instead, here are some pictures from a typical Sunday evening :)
Aunt Michelle is so good with the kids.
Andrew found Simba.
Switched areas, but still reading stories :) Henlie loves stories.
Daddy making faces at Andrew.
Kayla and Andrew showing off their tongues :)
Daddy sharing dessert.
Yum :)
Mommy and Andrew
Happy Thanksgiving!
Today is the day. Our countdown is complete! Before I outline the events of today, I want to point out the two best parts that were the highlights of my day. First was finding out that Michelle and Braden got engaged this morning! Since I first found out his mom was giving him her number, I have hoped for this day haha. Seriously, this news makes me so happy. Second was walking into my Granny and Grumpy's house and finding my cousin Mikey was there with his kids. He lives in Brasil and is rarely on social media (in fact, no one knew he even had a Facebook account haha), so it was super good to catch up and compare countries. :)
Anyway, the rest of the day was pretty good too, except for when I was trying to do Henlie's hair before dinner. But we eventually overcame that and had a good rest of the day :) We had dinner in Wallsburg at Matt's aunt's house. I had never been to her house, so it was fun to go there. We said we'd bring Peanut Butter Truffle brownies, or, as we like to call them, Kill You brownies. Fun story - that's also what we took to the McMillen's house last year for Thanksgiving in Peru :) Matt and Henlie made the brownies last night, so this morning they had to make the filling and topping. I'd already gotten her dressed, so we put Matt's old apron on her since it's on the small side. She loves helping, and it was so cute to watch him accommodate her desire to help. He's much better at letting her help and encouraging her to help than I am. The cutest part was watching her lick the spatula.
Eating chocolate chips from the topping bowl :)
Excitedly waiting her turn.
Helping Daddy mix.
This girl knows what spatulas are for!
Eventually we headed up to Wallsburg. Andrew took a nap, and napped forever! I had to wake up him because it had been so long since he'd eaten. Oh! That reminds me of another blessing. Yesterday I was starting to get a plugged duct. I tried to relieve it in the shower last night, but wasn't successful. I prayed that Andrew would be able to relieve it during his nighttime nursing and it wouldn't be an issue today, and that is exactly what happened. I'm so grateful because those things hurt! Anyway, that is why I woke Andrew up eventually because I didn't want to risk another plug. :)
Henlie also took a nap, but only 20-30 minutes. She woke up as we were getting to Lisa's. She was excited to see the snow up there. Unfortunately for her, there still wasn't enough for a snowman. She seriously asks every time it snows if there's enough :) Fortunately, Grandma was there and was able to offer the sleepy girl some snuggles.
Photo cred - Lisa
After chatting and sharing thankful bits and favorite memories of Grandma and Grandpa, it was time to eat! I ate so much food, but it was very yummy. The yams were to die for! Literally. The amount of brown sugar would probably do you in. But they were so good. Henlie decided she liked turkey and the red jello salad. Everything was pretty yummy! We had to wait awhile before we could do dessert. Even then, I probably should have skipped it, and definitely not had seconds. But, you know, #Thanksgiving and all :)
Look! I can still do make up! haha. I was quite pleased with it, too.
How Andrew spend his first Thanksgiving dinner, until Mom finally woke him up :)
Henlie had a grand time as well. Lisa has toys in her basement, and she took Henlie down to find some....twice. She had so much fun playing with new toys.
She does love dinosaurs :)
I love how Jenn and Henlie are pulling the same face :)
Eventually, it was time to go. Andrew was not a happy camper pretty much the whole way to Mapleton. We enjoyed looking at the Christmas lights on our drive, though. And the waterfalls (most of which were frozen) in the canyon. I particularly thought it was neat to see the layers of rock highlighted by snow.
We decided to stop by Granny and Grumpy's to see people, especially since we haven't really seen anyone since moving back. That was when we found Mikey and chatted with him for a bit. His kids have grown up so much! I didn't even recognize his daughter (who I saw in the window) until we walked in and I saw she was sitting on his lap. Henlie had a grand time playing with her extended cousins as well.
Photo cred - Kim
Andrew and Koreen
Photo cred - Kim
Andrew and Elisabeth
Photo cred - Kim
Henlie and Koreen
It is so good to be back and to be able to visit with family on these holidays that are steeped in family traditions. Even if Utah is cold :)
I hope you all have had a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!
Matt was told that he can work remotely up to two days each week, so today, he worked from home. I'm super excited about being able to have the car two days a week. Today, Henlie wanted to go to school. She got dressed; socks, shoes, and coat! She wanted me to drop her off. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a school, so we convinced her to go to Grandma's School. I was able to drop Henlie off (and visit for a minute :)) then go to Wells Fargo to change the PIN on my debit card and go to Walmart with only Andrew. Andrew napped from Grandma's until a few minutes into Walmart, but he was quiet and content even after waking up in his car seat. :) I got to see my cousin Casey at Walmart as well, so that was fun.
I'm grateful Grandma's house is nearly always open and that she is always willing to watch my kids at a moment's notice :) I'm grateful Matt was home today so I could use the car and because he helped carry the groceries inside :) I'm grateful Grandma's School also doubles as Grandma's Restaurant where we can always find a meal.
I'm also super grateful to have caught up on my Thankful Thanksgiving Countdown posts before Thanksgiving! Moving sure throws a wrench in your plans sometimes :)
Bonus! I love my little Andrew Guy :) I gave him a faux hawk during his bath and had to take pictures. Then he was sitting in the rocking chair with me. Doesn't he have the cutest smile and adorable dimples? Love him!
Henlie has been begging to play with Play-Doh since she found the two pots we had from before we moved to Peru. I didn't let her play with them for awhile because I didn't want it on the carpet, and we didn't have anywhere in the dining room to play with it. I finally pulled the card table and folding chairs out a few days ago (because we sold our dining table), and while we've been eating there, I still didn't get out the Play-Doh. Well Tuesday, the 24th, I finally let her play with it. I love my hardwood floors. I hate Play-Doh less with hardwood floors haha. And she loved the Play-Doh. She contentedly played for quite awhile by herself. In fact, the first thing she made was a birthday cake, complete with candles.
Henlie's birthday cake.
I love her creativity and am glad I let her finally play with the Play-Doh for a bit. It gave me a break and let her exercise her mind a bit :)
Shutterfly had their free calendar offer that expired Monday. While I had set up a calendar folder to sort through pictures and find them so they were all ready to go, I did not do that until....the calendar offer was announced. So my biggest blessing on Monday was actually finishing my calendar and getting it ordered while it was still free! I'm super excited. I also love that you can now add your own events in and add pictures to the days if you so desire. I added pictures to a few holidays and our birthdays. Added birthdays and conferences. It was more time-consuming, but I love to customize things, so it all worked out :)
Sunday - we had our favorite caramel cinnamon rolls from Rhodes. I love Rhodes rolls. So simple! Matt also made scrambled eggs and sausage for breakfast. Benefits of 1pm church :)
Matt actually ended up staying home sick from church, so it was me and the kids. Andrew slept for the first two hours. Even though I forgot the church bag, Henlie did fairly well staying quiet during sacrament meeting. Even when she wasn't exactly being reverent and smacked her head (loudly) on the wooden back of the bench, she didn't wail and just sobbed quietly in my lap for a little while. That never happens.
Other awesomeness was catching up with my new bff Deanna before Relief Society. Un-awesomeness was finding out she's moving soon! It's okay, though. Kara is still in the ward, so that's cool. Now we just need to find condo friends again since they all moved while we were in Peru :(
Saturday morning, we took Cinco into the vet. I'm glad we did since Friday he started having blood in his urine. The vet informed us he likely had a dental infection along with a bladder infection. Poor kitty had to stay pretty much all day because he didn't have enough urine for them to get a sample. We got him back around closing time for the vet with some antibiotics, special food, and an appointment to check on him in a week. He also ended up having struvite crystals in his urine, which the food is supposed to help with. While we aren't wholly successful getting him to eat the new food and nothing else (hard when you have another cat around), he does seem to be doing better. Hopefully things are still looking up at his next appointment!
Matt also went with Jason after Cinco's appointment to help paint their new house, which gave Henlie and I some time to hang out and play with Camile, Charlie, and Danica. It's nice to have them so close by. While we're excited for their new house in Layton, it'll be sad when they are so far away. I'm glad Henlie has been able to get in some good cousin time because Charlie is one of her favorite people in the world. (Everett and Grandma Biggs are the others :))
Danica wanted to pick up Andrew :)
The girls playing.
Camile and Andrew matched :)
