This is out of order of events, but it's captured anyway!
Hello Elder!
A most Merry Christmas it was because of talking with
you! It brought the whole family together and that makes my heart sing with
joy! You looked great, sounded great, and your spirit of testifying of Jesus
Christ was glowing from you! Camrie just
loved meeting you and said, "yep, he's a Durocher!" :-) Morgan arrived back from Hawaii late
Sunday night, but stayed in Ogden with LeBarons then came back Tuesday to get
their Bridal/Couples pictures taken at the Temple. It was so good to have them
done then as the time pressure was off and a crowd waiting and watching in the
cold.
Morgan and I had a nice talk later that night and then he
went to hang out with Kyler Lopez who just got back from Vancouver Canada.
Early preparation in the week had me ready to head to
Logan on Wednesday. I woke early and packed the car and then worked till
noon. Arriving in Logan I visited with
Dave and Lindsay before they went to a family party in Ogden. I hung out with Mike and Adrienne a while
then they went to do some Santa errands and I stayed with the kids. We played a
game of dice when they got back and then I headed back to Dave's. At 3:30am I heard some movement in the house
and was delighted to learn that Lindsay's water broke and they were preparing
to head for the hospital. Dave quickly
had Lindsay open a couple gifts he had for her as it was Christmas morning and
she was glad to for the serger he gave her along with a rotary blade and mat.
They departed by 4am and my sleep was done for the night so I joined them a
couple hours later!
She labored for a total of 21 hours and baby Dalton
Augustus Durocher was born on the 26th at 12:27am. For part of the day I went
to Mikes house to help prepare the Christmas meal and soon Annie and Apollo
arrived then Nick and family, then Dan.
We were getting Mikes Skype set up to show on his big screen TV and Mike
the wiz kid figured it out even after issues with his Skype account. As soon as Ethan chimed in I started to
squeal! Then David and Lindsay joined
the Skype from the hospital while she was in labor! So glad we could all see
each other and share in the conversation! It was so good to see you Elder! If I could thank the inventor of Skype I
would! I loved hearing his stories and of his investigator who had hoped to be
baptized on Saturday. When the call was
reluctantly concluded, we gathered to open gifts. Mike had to leave to pick up
the girls from Malad, so I presented my year long project. It was such a relief to explain the process
and function. Then other gifts were
exchanged and we had the meal as Mike had to go and it was delicious! After
things were cleaned up, I left for the hospital and rejoined David and Lindsay
and her parents to wait out the slow progress, but by 12:30am and with the
assistance of the doctor, she delivered and cries were heard. With lots of well
wishes and a few photos, the grandparents left and I was glad to get in bed at
1:30am. It had snowed all day long so it really was a white Christmas.
The preparations for Mikes wedding were underway as
A&A and Morgan and Camrie helped Cindy, Adriennes mom with a surprise (to
Adrienne) of decorating the RS room and the gym. I brought a big pink bouquet of flowers and
she was delighted with that. All
arriving at the church at 10am and the Bishop married them with all their kids
standing beside them. The brunch
prepared by Cindy and her sister who also sang a lovely song, was delicious.
Cindy was the rock star here for making it a lovely setting and sharing
food. The only damper was Mike had come
down with a flu on Christmas Day and wasn't feeling well.
Oma was arriving at the SLC airport at 2:30pm so I went
to the hospital for a quick visit with David's family, and headed south. The timing was perfect and we arrived back to
my house at the same time as A&A. The wedding cake had to get built and
Annie did a beautiful job with it! The snowflake theme was a fun way to decorate
the cake. Soon Nick arrived with his
fifth wheel and parked in front of the house.
He had it in Ogden as well as Logan for his family to stay in.
Morgan and Camrie made it back and had to pack up things
from Camries Provo apartment.
At 11pm no energy remained to output on the cake so we
all went to bed. Morning arrived all too
soon and Apollo and I packed my car and his truck with wedding decorations and
we headed for the church with the LeBarons. Morgan picked up a Scissor lift
from Timp Rentals and used it to get the guide wires hung for the lights and
tulle from the ceiling level. The
LeBaron boys loved operating the self driving machine. The moms and sisters worked on tables and the
backdrop, but had to leave by 1:30 to get to the Temple in time. As we waited
in the sealing waiting room, to my utter surprise I saw Layne Lloyd! I squealed
a dumbfound noise and then saw Shanda behind him and grabbed her! They had
driven up from Arizona and surprised me! Oh my is made some noise in the temple
and was shushed by a worker. So I just cried.
It was more like bawling as quiet as I could while hugging Shanda! After
being seated in the beautiful Sealing room and it filled with family and
friends, it was great to see Worthens and Jan & Margie Anderson! The fellow officiating the Sealing was the
former mission president of Jeff LeBaron, Camries Dad. He conducted a beautiful
sealing and Camrie squealed with delight after he called her Mrs. Durocher!
Pictures were taken in the frigid temperatures outside (19*) but rather quickly
and we headed back to the Stake Center to finish the decorations. Dan ordered pizza for the group and it was
good to eat before the next phase of the evening. The set up was actually quite
complicated, but it turned out so very beautiful. We took more pictures and
guests started to arrive. I'm guessing
there were 250-300 guests as there was a steady line for an hour and a half. We
had the gym such that the guest book was in the foyer, with the thumb print
tree that Annie painted, (the guests all put their thumb print on the tree.)
then as they waited, they could place their gifts and look at the amazing
wedding cake. Then they were greeted at
the line and then over to the hot chocolate bar with flavorings, cookies and
donut holes. We had a picture display
set up and tables to sit in the center.
It looked so amazing! The happy
couple saw lots of family and friends then departed in the Jeep Wrangler that was
well decorated with silly string and filled with balloons. The task of taking things down was upon us
and it was done at 11:30pm. Whew! It
seemed that our items had multiplied as it was hard to gather and repack!
Sleep was not ever more welcome that night! Oma and I
enjoyed a quiet and slow tempo'd day with church and show n tell of Christmas
items and baby and wedding photos!
I'll work a half day tomorrow then head up to Logan so
Oma can see where Dave and Mike live and especially to meet Dalton. We will stay till Tuesday and I'll take her
and Conner to the airport by 4pm. I'm
off on New Years Day and will prepare for round two of the open house in South
Weber on Saturday. I've been telling
people I'm ready for a long winters nap and I'm not kidding! Well, maybe a
little as busy seems to be my friend!
Christmas is filled with anticipation and relief and this
year that was an exponential effect! Lots of great events and joy filled family
gatherings! Of course I took lots of
pictures but since they are on my big camera, I need to download and reduce
them, so the picture here are from my cell phone with a couple of Oma's. Thanks
everyone for your contributions to a wonderful week!
Families are Forever!
I love you Elder! Have a great week!
Love, Mom
