Birthday #21.

My 21st birthday was a few weeks ago.

Honestly it was an awful birthday! I was still in the process of having a miscarriage. So that was hard to manage, emotionally and physically.

However, the next weekend we went out to dinner at Red Robin with a whole bunch of wonderful people and that was a blast! 

Another year older and wiser, too. 

I think about where I was at this time last year. 

I was still reeling from a miscarriage that had taken place about 2 months earlier (our first), constantly sick with grief, unemployed due to said sickness, NOT dealing with our loss well and in a really really dark place. I don't know if I would peg it as depression but it still wasn't a fun place to be. Not to toot my own horn, but I feel like I truly have grown so much in the past year. 

I've learned that I am in control of my life. Nothing, not even despair, sorrow, or grief, can run my life unless

I allow it to. I've learned to be a better wife - my relationship with my DJ is better than it's ever been. I've learned to listen to others and sympathize with them in their times of need.

I've learned that the Atonement of Jesus Christ doesn't just apply to sins but also to sorrows. I've learned that my Savior felt all of the pain that I have ever felt or ever will feel and that by relying on Him, my burdens can be made light. 

Although it has probably been the most difficult year of my entire life, I am thankful for the struggles that I have faced. I can see how they have molded me into a better, stronger woman than I was a year ago. 

I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for me!

Sisters.

Well, as I mentioned, this past week was a wild one. And I'm afraid that it wasn't the "good" sort of wild.

Last Sunday we almost lost my sister.

I didn't find out until Monday morning when my mom called me to tell me that my sister was in the hospital.
I left work as soon as I could, but unfortunately by the time I got back to Mesa, my sister had been moved to a facility that doesn't allow visitors for the first day or so that a patient is there. All I could really do was comfort my family and try to make myself useful. We were able to visit with her the next day, at which time she was stable and doing much better. She stayed in the hospital for 5 days and was released last Friday.

Thankfully my sister is here and well, although the doctors informed us that it was a close call, and that we are lucky. This experience got me thinking about how much I truly need my sister in my life. Sure, we grew up picking on one another (like most siblings do) but ultimately, when it comes down to it, there would be a huge hole in my life if she wasn't here. As I heard the news and then had time to ponder while waiting to hear from the hospital, I realized just how much I regret every mean thing I have ever said or done to hurt her. The guilt was overwhelming. I love my sister, and while our relationship is now SO much better than it was when we were teenagers, living in the same house, in the same bedroom, I look forward to and am so grateful for the many years I have ahead with my sister. I need her to know what a beautiful part of my life she is, and just how much I need her.

Jaws.

So before I go ahead and post about our incredible vacation to Colorado 

 (which will be quite a doosy of a post), I have a seriously hilarious story to tell. 

Sunday night before we left on on our vacation, my mom invited us over for dinner with the missionaries because Dad was out of town and they needed a Priesthood holder to be present. Rules rules. 

*We went mostly for the free meal, but let's pretend that we are a righteous couple who loves to serve.* 

So we go and meet the elders, who are HYSTERICAL, by the way.

 Like the funniest missionaries I have ever met. 

We talk, laugh, stuff our faces, etc. After dinner and dessert, we part ways.

DJ and I had to take Benny to the amazing Kirkland's home, where he would stay for the duration of our vacation.

 {Shoutout to my main girl Kylie for being an amazing friend and keeping our little monster for us.}

 By the time we were done dropping puppy off, it was like 9:30. Spontaneously, on our way home, we decided to stop back by my parent's house to grab some luggage because we didn't have enough of our own. 

*Again, we are going to pretend - let's all pretend like I am a great wife and 

didn't wait until 9:30 the night before we were going to leave to begin packing. Okay thanks.*

We absolutely weren't planning on doing so, but like I said, spur of the moment, we went with it. 

We go back to my parent's house and what do you know, about 10 minutes after we arrive the missionaries return as well. 

My grandpa had cooked some of his delicious to die for barbecue and the elders were coming back after a meeting to get their leftovers. So we are all talking and somehow the conversation turns to weird things that we can do with our bodies. One elder could turn his knee completely backwards (resulting from a football injury years before) and invert his pinky finger. Well, the other elder thought he would demonstrate his party trick and 

UN-HINGES HIS JAW. 

Yes, you read that right, the kid was like a snake. 

Apparently he has some jaw condition that allows him to pop out his jaw and pop it right back into place.

I forgot to mention that this elder had been out in the field for less than one week. He was on his way to Brazil but was waiting for his visa and some paperwork to be completed.

Again, less than one week. 

So he does his nasty trick and after a few minutes of laughing and being totally grossed out,

 he tried to pop it back into place. 

Except it won't work.

I kid you not, the elder can't get his jaw back into place. 

Like it's not physically possible.

At first we thought he was kidding. I remember telling him something along the lines of, "If you are messing with us I am going to knock the Holy Ghost right out of you."

Turns out he wasn't kidding around at all and had actually completely dislocated his jaw.

It was horrifying and disgusting and hilarious all at the same time.

Here he is with his freaky snake jaw.

He seriously can't close his mouth.

Because he can't close his mouth, every time he talks, we all bust up laughing because he sounds so ridiculous. 

Stick your tongue out, grab it with both hands, and then talk.

That's what he sounded like.

So his companion gets a hold of the mission president's wife who calls one of the mission doctors.

Remember that I mentioned that my Dad was out of town?

That means that my mom isn't able to drive them to the mission doctor's home. 

So DJ and I offer to take them, because we felt bad for the poor guy and also because it would be pretty cruel to make him ride his bike six miles with his jaw unhinged. 

Also, we are a righteous couple who loves to serve.

By this time it was past 10:00. 

We were all absolutely exhausted.

But we drove to the mission doctor's home and he tried to fix Elder Jaws.

Watching him kneeling over the elder and grabbing and forcing trying to get his jaw in the right place made my stomach turn. It looked unbelievably painful.

And it didn't work.

He told Elder Jaws that he completely dislocated his jaw and that he was going to 

need anesthesia and a doctor in a hospital to get it put back into place.

10:30PM.

Heading to the emergency room.

We spent a looooong night in the ER with the elders.

Around midnight, after a lot of waiting and some X-rays, the doctors were finally ready to put Elder Jaws under and fix him.

His companion and I had to leave the room, we were so grossed out. 

But DJ, being the curious guy that he is, decided to stay for front row seats. 

It only took about 5 minutes, but DJ said it was gnarly.

Apparently the doctor had a seriously hard time getting the jaw back into place that he had to call in another, younger doctor to do it. And even his arms were shaking as he strained to piece Elder Jaws back together. 

Elder Jaws tried to grab the doctor and move him away in his sleep, which I guess was pretty hilarious.

WILD.

I'm so glad I wasn't in there.

Here's Elder Jaws making his way out of anesthesia.

Which was also hysterical.

Wanna get a missionary to "talk about poop in front of a girl"?

Watch him come out of anesthesia.

You can't see us in this picture, but his companion, DJ, and I are all busting up laughing at the things he is saying as he is waking up. I'm pretty sure the hospital staff was ready to kill us.

Elder Jaws was discharged around 1:15AM and we didn't get home until 1:30. Thankfully they live in the same apartment complex as us so we didn't have to go far.

All in all, a hysterical evening. Never had one like it before, probably never will again.

Elder Jaws and his companion are, as mentioned earlier, SO funny, and DJ and I had a blast getting to know them. 

Even though body parts had to fall off to make it possible.

Staying up late and packing until 4:00 in the morning (and waking back up at 7:00) was not very fun.

But that's a story for a different time!

The Wild.

Well we went to the cabin at Bear Flats this past weekend. 

DJ and I had been wanting to go to his cabin for months and months and after a lot of planning and coordinating of schedules we hit the road!

We were joined by the awesome Kirkland clan:

P.S. Most of these pictures were taken by the lovely Kylie.

Read her account of our trip here.

As well as the dashing Stratton couple and their wee little buddy in Sarah's tummy:

Two other couples left for the trip with us, but unfortunately their car broke down and they weren't able to make it up to the cabin. Talk about a serious bummer.

ANYWHO!

So we arrived at the cabin late on Friday night and unpacked and visited with one another for a few hours. 

We were all absolutely pooped, so we went to bed pretty early. 

It was still very cold at the cabin, so we all huddled in the living room, on couch beds and air mattresses.

On Saturday, we went shooting!

DJ inherited two .22's and a 1916 Winchester from his great grandfather. 

We shot all three of these guns for the first time in 30-40 years!

The Winchester was WILD, it was the coolest thing ever. 

Brock brought a pistol and boy that thing was beastly. It was teeny tiny, but it packed a punch!

Jon brought a crazy big shotgun and was an AWESOME shot. 

Watching him shoot the flying pigeons was so cool!

We forgot to bring earplugs, so I'm pretty sure all of our ears were bleeding by the end of it.

After shooting, we went to the Blue Hole and relaxed and went fishing.

(This is the part where I steal all of Kylie's great pictures!)

I wasn't a big fan of putting the worms on the hook, but I got the hang of it after a little while!

See: 

Sarah caught a fish literally like two minutes after she put her line in the water.

Nobody else caught a fish for a loooong time. 

"Fish-ay fish-ay."

Jon did end up catching one more fish, lucky dude.

We made a big fire that night and stayed up way too late watching a movie.

On Sunday we woke up and tried to go by Fossil Springs, but the road down to the water was closed and there was NO way we were gonna do the 4 mile (each way) hike.

So instead we ate lunch in the shade of a Wells Fargo drive thru and went and got Benny a little bit early.

Overall, a wonderful, memorable trip filled with laughter, fun, and amazing friends!

Again soon, please?