Chad Shannon and Family

Well, after several months of planning and preparing, the big move has finally come. After Christmas, we headed back home to Hyrum and packed up our house. We were so grateful to Chad's brother Blake who stayed with us for a couple of nights and helped Chad move out all of the big stuff. I seriously don't know what we would have done without his help. This was definitely the most difficult move we've ever made. When we've moved in the past, we would just kind of toss things in a box and go through it when we unpacked, but this time, we had to go through things before boxing it up and we also had to decide whether or not it should go with us to Denmark. Everything we wanted to take to Denmark was piled up in a room and then sorted through towards the end. So many things that we had wanted to take were left behind. We looked into shipping boxes of items over, but it was just so expensive. So, we will be going to Denmark with nothing but 5 suitcases and 4 carry-ons. It seems like a lot, but considering that's all we are taking for 3 years, it's not that much. Mostly just clothing, some electronic equipment and a few kids toys and books. We had hoped to be completely done and have the house cleaned by the afternoon on Dec. 31st, but at 11:00pm that night, we still several hours worth of work to do, so we packed up the kids and headed down to my parents. On the 1st, we Chad and I headed back up to Hyrum for another 4 hours of packing and cleaning before it was finally all finished. What a way to spend my birthday! It was really nice of my parents who prepared a nice steak dinner and got an ice cream cake for me. So, once we got all settled into my parents house, it was time for all the good-byes to begin. We had a very busy week, taking care of last minute business things. We went and visited all of our Grandparents and said good-bye. This was so very hard. We know that several of our Grandparents may not be back around when we get back from Denmark. It was so very hard to say good-bye knowing this. So many tears and high emotions. I just can't even describe how hard this was.
On January 6th, we had a going away party for any of our family and friends that wanted to come. Our friends Bobby and Meredith were so kind to set up and arrange for this. It was great to see many friends and some family before we left and to say good-bye to them. Once again, another hard night. Luckily, the fun environment of just hanging out with friends made the good-byes a little less emotional, but still difficult.
On Saturday, we went down to Springville to say have lunch with and say good-bye to our dear friends, the Days. Once again, a very emotional and hard time. Janelle has been my best friend for the past 5 years and it was very sad when we moved out of Logan, even sadder when they moved out of Logan and this was the saddest of all. Our kids have all been such good friends and I know we will all miss each other so much.
Monday was once again a sad day of good-byes. Chad and I had a ton of errands to run, including taking our car up to our friends house. Hopefully he has good luck selling it. That evening, we went out to dinner with my parents and my sister and her family. This was the last time we would see Bre, Danny, McKenzie and Makai. Once again, a time of sadness and tears. As we planned this move, I just never imagined how hard the good-byes would be. I will miss my sister very much. Tuesday morning, we got up early and headed out. First saying good-bye to our little dog, Nena. My parents took us and our luggage to the airport and then we prepared ourselves for another good-bye. This one was particularly sad, which left us all in tears for quite a while throughout the day. I hate saying good-bye. It's hard to fathom the thought that I won't see my parents for 3 years. I feel so bad that we are taking our grandchildren away from them for so long. I'm just so glad that we have skype and will be able to keep in touch with one another through a variety of ways.
So now, we are in Florida, and in 3 days, we'll be saying our last good-byes. I'll be glad once we are in Denmark and all the good-byes will be over, then we can start saying hello.

Christmas this year was so crazy. Because of everything we had going on, I felt like it was just a blur. In between kidney stones, surgery, work training, a wedding, a funeral, and packing, it's hard to believe that Christmas even took place. I just never felt that I really got into the Christmas spirit during the month of December. We did get a Christmas tree and decorated it and I decorated a fun Ginger Bread house with the kids. We also did have a nice couple of days around Christmas. We came down a couple of nights before Christmas to spend time with Chad's family. They had rented a condo in the valley so they could spend a while here while Jordyn was getting married and spend time with family for Christmas. We stayed with them for a couple of days, playing a couple of games, watching movies, bowling, the guys went curling and just enjoying one anothers company. It was really hard leaving, knowing that we were saying good-bye to most everyone for 3 years! Chad's family is all spread around anyway, that we really don't get to see each other very often. It's just hard knowing that with the move, we definitely won't be around for any get togethers. It's crazy, Chad's parents live in Florida and they have 5 kids in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Idaho and Denmark.
After leaving Chad's family Christmas Eve, we headed over to my parents house for Christmas. We did a quick Christmas Eve there, with opening PJ's for the kids, putting out cookies of Santa and reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas." The next morning we had a fun time opening presents. We did a really small Christmas this year, which I thought was actually perfect. They really don't need a lot to be happy. Santa has told the kids that he is going to bring them a bigger present in Denmark. They are really excited about that. Later that morning, my Grandma, Uncle Hal and Carlos came over for breakfast, along with Bre and Danny and their family. Then later, we opened more presents with my family. That afternoon we went out to my Grandma's house for dinner and to visit. It was a busy day, but I was grateful for the chance to say good-bye to most of my Aunts and Uncles and cousins.It was certainly a very different Christmas this year, but we enjoyed being with one another and our families.

On December 19th, my Uncle Gary passed away. He was such a great guy, that was able to always find the good in everyone. He will be dearly missed:


Garileo Pedroza
Hubs and Dad
Kearns, UT-Gary was born September 6, 1956 to Frank and Beverly Pedroza in Murray, Utah he married Ann in 1981 and they have two wonderful sons, Philip and Issac. He is the third of four brothers. Although he is free of the pain of arthritis, it was not a peaceful passing. He fought like hell to stay as he felt that he had work to do and that he needed to take care of his little family, multitude of friends and cohorts. His passing has left a large hole in many people and places. He left us all way too early. He is preceded in death by his parents. Survived by his wife, sons, brothers and a multitude of aunts, uncles and cousins.
Gari grew up in Kearns, Utah. He attended Kearns Jr. High and was student body president, inspiring many, and helping transform the Kearns High graduating class of 1974 into one of the closest classes ever. Gari went on to graduate from the "U" in planning, working as an intern for SLC and then as a planner at Price, Utah. As the arthritis began to take a toll on his body, he worked from home turning his "avocation" into his "vocation", consulting and connecting people on various projects relating to his geometries with the intent of helping the world.
Gari loved camping and the mountains. Because he could no longer hike he had to content himself with driving to the various vacation areas, speeding by rest areas with a vengeance! Everyone learned quickly not to drink any beverage while on the drive with "G"!
Gari always honored Christmas and kept it in his heart the whole year. It is appropriate that he left with the angels this time of year.

On December 19th, Jordyn - Chad's youngest sister - was married. It was a beautiful day. She was a beautiful bride and we are all so excited at having Ben join our family. They looked so cute together and I really enjoyed watching them throughout the day, just staring at each other and sharing little kisses. What a wonderful couple!
The sealing was beautiful, we had a great luncheon at Toscano's grill and the reception was a lot of fun. The kids had a blast wearing their cute matching clothes and dancing around at the reception. It was a fun day and I'm sure that Jordyn and Ben will have a wonderful life together!

I've been a huge slacker in the blogging department lately, so it's about time to do a little update. The beginning of November Chad went to Denmark for a week. He met the people he'll be working with in his department, spent a little time touring the town and found us housing. It was a huge relief to have found a place to live. Housing is so different than here. We will be moving out of our 4 bedroom house with a huge yard into a small 900 sq. ft. apartment. It'll be quite an adjustment! Luckily it has 3 bedrooms, so we'll probably put the kids in the master bedroom, take one of the smaller rooms for Chad and I and use the 3rd room for a computer room/playroom/guest room, etc. I wonder how I'll adjust to a refrigerator, dishwasher, oven and washer/dryer that are all about 1/2 the size of what we have now.
November flew by very quickly. I had 3 large craft shows I attended with my business and online orders were very high for the month, so I was extremely busy. We had a nice Thanksgiving with my family coming up for the big dinner. Besides that, I barely remember November, so on to December where I finished up with holiday sales around the 10th. I sold my business to a great girl in our neighborhood, who I'm sure will do a great job with it. It has been a little sad to part with something I built up from nothing. But, I'm sure I'll come up with something new in the future. We just finished training last week.
And apparently I wasn't stressed enough, because I ended up having a kidney stone during the beginning of the month, which encompassed both the shortest and longest drive through Logan canyon to visit the ER, several doctor visits and ultimately surgery. Luckily I recovered fairly quickly, because I still had all of my online orders and business stuff to take care of during the middle of it all. Crazy!
Then, this past weekend, Jordyn (Chad's sister), got married. Her wedding day was such a wonderful and fun day for them, I'm sure, and for us as well. It was fun hanging out with family and sad saying good-bye to some people we won't see again for the next 3 years.
So, now, we just have Christmas and moving ahead of us. I'm almost ready for Christmas. It's been very hard to get into the Christmas spirit this year with having so much going on, but luckily the kids are around to remind me what it is all about. Once Christmas is over, it's a sprint to the finish. (the move)
We have purchased our tickets and will officially be flying to Denmark on January 18th. We are moving out of our house in Hyrum at the end of December (and yes, even though it's December 20th, we have nothing packed), will spend about a week with my family in Sandy, fly to Florida and spend a week with Chad's family, then we'll be off on our big adventure. We are going over with nothing more than our 5 suitcases. We've decided that it's just too expensive to ship over anything, so everything else will just sit in storage for the next 3 years. I think we are the most nervous about the first day there, having nothing in the house. It'll be interesting, and exciting, we hope!
So, there you have it. A quickish update. Hopefully I can blog a little more often now that I have a little more time. haha

Despite the kids being freezing cold, our photographer managed to get some great pictures. Thanks Chelsie!

The kids had a great time carving pumpkins this year! Nobody was afraid of getting their hands dirty and everyone came up with their own unique design. Great fun!
Then for Halloween this year, we got together with our friends, the Day's, for one last Halloween together. They were moving that week to Provo area - =(. So, we went to our old neighborhood to go trick-or-treating. It was the most perfect weather! The kids all looked so cute. It's hard to believe that this was our 5th! year celebrating Halloween together. Noah and Spencer were a little wary about going up to other houses and waiting at the doors, but they eventually got into it. About halfway through the neighborhood though, all the kids kind of pooped out and found that it was much more fun to just play with each other. After we finished trick-or-treating, we all went back to our house to have Taco Soup for dinner. We usually do dinner at the Day's house, but cooking stew in a pumpkin was just not a good option for any of us this year. Anyway, it was a fun night and I'm glad that we got to enjoy it together one last time before we all move away. =(

Noah was not happy about being a Lion for Halloween and the girls were some kind of Fairy Butterflies. Mostly, they were just ecstatic that I got color spray for their hair!


Lexi, Maddie, Myra, Camille, Rebecca, Spencer and Noah - Halloween 2011

A couple weekends ago, we went down to visit my family. We spent the morning at Thanksgiving Point, at the little farm they have there. They had a bunch of Halloween festivities going on, so we thought it would be fun for the kids. They got to enjoy petting the very friendly cows and horses, played a few games for suckers and fake tattoos, a wagon ride, feeding the goats, and a pony ride. Later that day, we all headed up to Heber to ride the train there. Now, a little explanation. My dad is VERY into trains. Growing up we would spend Saturdays sitting by train lines, waiting for trains to come by the track. My dad has set up an extensive small gauge train set all over our basement. And I've ridden the historic train in Durango Colorado, 8 times! But, I had never ridden the Heber Creeper. Crazy, huh! Funny thing is, my dad had never ridden it either. So, we thought it would be fun to go up and take a little ride. We also got to stop along the way and pick out pumpkins to decorate, eat cookies and drink hot chocolate. It was a fun little ride, the kids really seemed to enjoy it.