Wastlund Family

After the accident, Kody was terrified of the idea of moving up North and having to drive in the snow. He was ready to give up BYU. I prayed and still am praying for him to not be afraid. I am sure he will deal with anxiety about driving in bad weather for the rest of his life, but I thought I could help ease it by giving him the tools to succeed. To replace Bluey (his old car) we found him a Subaru Forester with All Wheel Drive that is know for driving great in bad weather. I am hoping it will give him more confidence to weather the storms.  

Chicken nuggets and fries is what Kody wanted for his birthday dinner, so I made a charcuterie board with nuggets, tator tots and 5 different sauces. And of course banana cake. It was nice to have something to celebrate! I printed Kodys mission into books for him as his gift, and all the family was there to celebrate him. I just kept thinking how grateful I was that he was still there with us.   

Kody humored me and posed for this photo. His acceptance packet from BYU came just a few days after the accident. He was in a lot of pain, and had so many things on his mind going back and forth from the hospital to be with Maddy while trying to heal himself, but I wanted to remember something positive that he had worked so hard for.   

Kody and Maddy came for the weekend to hear Colton Report his mission.  Kody spoke with him, and thy both did an awesome job.  After dinner Kody and Maddy left to drive back to Provo.  Around 6:00 pm I kept getting a phone call from a strange number and finally decided to answer.  It was Kody in complete shock. He wasn't making much sense, but said they had been in an accident, she's not going to make it, you need to come.  We finally figured out they were life flighting Maddy to the St. George hospital, but taking Kody by ambulance to the Cedar City hospital. Garrett and I jumped in the car to head to Cedar, and Jaden and Erica headed to the hospital to be with Maddy until her parents arrived from Highland. Jaden was able to give Maddy a beautiful blessing before they took her in for emergency brain surgery. Garrett and I kept expecting to run into a line of cars in front of us from the accident, but noticed cars backed up for miles across the median in the southbound lane and

Grace has found her sweetheart.  Their relationship reminds me a lot of Kimball and Ben's at the same age. Treyson Graduated from High School in May and left on a mission at the beginning of July to Mozambique, Africa (if his visa ever comes). Before they left they spent all their time together, he even invited her to his Family Reunion, which made her love him even more. It was very hard to say goodbye, especially since he broke up with her before he left hoping it would help her to feel okay about going to dances and enjoying her senior year.  It hurt her, and I’m sure him, but if he knew my daughters he would realize it wasn't necessary. My girls know what they want, and once they know they know.  She is happy to wait for what her heart knows is right, and plans to support him. 

We had guests for 3 weeks in July. I loved it! Aunt Brenda, Uncle Greg and Aunt Sallee came for their annual visit (I love this reminder of my mom). Molly and Mark Simpson friends of ours came from Georgia to stay for a week for a conference, and during their stay Krista and Kai came for 2 weeks so Kai could get his drivers license. They went to Pine Valley with us to celebrate the 4th of July. Elder weeks also returned from his mission and came by during fireworks to say hi. He walked through our whole house opening cupboards, grabbing a treat from the pantry, noticing all the things that we had changed. Our home was always his second home and he was happy to be there. It made my heart happy.