October was a rough month for Owen. He missed out on going to the big cross country race in Kennewick Washington by one spot. There are only so many seats on the bus, and the best times get to go. He was beat out by one boy, who has now become his cross country nemesis.
And then during his last race of the season he got two stress fractures in his shin. I wasn't at the race, I was out of town at my Aunt's funeral (more on that later), and John watched him finish in pain. After a trip to the doctor and some x-rays it was determined that Owen would be on crutches and in a boot for 6 weeks. Which put a bit of a damper on our upcoming trip to Cabo. But more on that later as well.
Ainsley, Owen, and I took trip back down to Utah to go to a BYU tour. It was a quick trip. Highlights of the trip were getting disgusting Wendy's frosties in Tremonton. They were literally vanilla froth that were perhaps frozen vanilla frosties in another life. The disappointment will stick with us for years. We spent some time on BYU campus and then hit IKEA before heading home.
Also, Ainsley submited her BYU application, but BYU won't send out acceptance letters until Fabruary. She was also accepted into Utah State for a full tuition scholarship. Exciting times.
We also finished painting our house. Almost. It took us three months, but we tackled it bit by bit and finally finished. Except for the laundry room. Which at this point might never get painted.
My Aunt Melody (Dode) passed away from complications due to Covid on October 15. When she was admitted to the hospital her daughter Aubri and my Aunt Kelly were there with her around the clock while her husband cared for their grandson (Ali's son) at home. It was all a confusing time. Dode had blood clots in her lungs and was having a hard time breathing. And even though everyone knew if she went on ventilators her chances of survival were low, she needed the oxygen and chose to be intubated. My mom drove down and spent hours with her at the hospital, but after several days it was determined that she would never recover and her family decided that it was time to take her off life support. She passed away peacefully on the morning of the 15th surrounded by her children and siblings.
I took a trip to St. George with my mom a year or two ago and we stayed with Dode. I'm so glad that I had that time with her. We spent time shopping, walking around her neighborhood, talking, and helping with Carson's wedding. I have great memories of time spent with her that weekend. She needed a new skirt...so she just sewed herself one! She had my grandma's paintings hanging in her house. We went to the craft store to buy supplied to make Chloe a corsage for prom. She had the idea to use sage from Kelly's yard in the boutonnieres, and they smelled wonderful Dode had some hard trials in her life. And I remember her talking about her sadness about some of her kids not being members of the church when I talked with her, but that didn't change the way she felt about them. Dode had a gift for loving her children and for being able to work around the clock to make sure they were taken care of. And she wasn't afraid to reach out to the family to ask us to pray for her kids with her.
I have a lot of memories of Dode. She sewed Aubri's wedding dress. She sent a text to everyone in the family every holiday to let us know she was thinking of us. She had the most contagious laugh. And I always loved that she let me come to laundry at her house when I was at BYU and she was living in Orem.
On the morning she passed away I was texting with Tifani. I was at home at the time and really struggling. We both felt a little helpless just waiting to hear that she had passed away. So I decided to make my families recipe for wheat bread, since I remember Dode often having that bread at her house and her often baking it. I had a dream about Dode the night before she passed away. She was in a hospital room but she was up and walking around, and everyone was stopping by to visit her. My dream was vivid and I remember being happy that I was able to be there to have a chance to hug her and say good-bye.
I drove down for the funeral with my dad. In hindsight I wish I would have taken my whole family, but at the time it seemed like a lot. Syd had just had her baby, so my mom left St. George after Dode passed away to spend a few days with her. Kort flew into Vegas and my mom drove back up to St. George and picked up Kort on the way and met my dad and I there. It was so sad to be there, but so healing to be with my mom's side of the family. I love being with them so much, and there is always fun and so much laughter when I'm with them. The weekend was full of crying and laughing and was a wonderful celebration of her life.
We got home from the funeral and life picked up right where it left off. It's funny how life has a way of doing that. There was YW, corn mazes, soccer, and Halloween.
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