Here are pictures from Bryce's graduation. We're grateful for all of the family that could be there, your support means so much to us. Thanks for taking pictures, Aubree.
In other news, life doesn't always work out how you plan it will. You probably already know that for yourself, but everyone has to learn it, right? Here are a few tidbits from some of our experiences. In 2012, we were basically newlyweds and we had high hopes (and I mean very high hopes!) that Bryce would get hired to teach seminary immediately following his student teaching in the program. We also assumed that we would be able to announce exciting baby news along with the exciting job news that summer. Nope. Bryce found out that he hadn't been hired and we obviously didn't announce any baby news either. We were pretty devastated. Life was turned upside down and everything that we had felt confident about was now a failed plan A. We jumped on plan B eventually and we both enrolled in school and looked for different work opportunities. Bryce had been unsure whether to get his Master's degree or not, and the plan change helped him to decide. To our surprise, Bryce got another opportunity to student teach, which is extremely rare in the program. We felt good about it, but we also worried that Bryce wouldn't get hired again. We almost quit to avoid any bad news, but Bryce decided to finish out the semester. {If this try didn't work, we knew that we would need to move on to a different career.} We're grateful that Bryce stayed because he got hired a couple months later. We were ecstatic! Bryce decided to stay enrolled in school as well, and he did the online program from SUU. We're really grateful now that he was able to do his degree, because he might just be starting if he had been hired the first time like we had originally planned.
Fast forward to 2016 and throw in there some normal life trials. It's still evident to us that things don't always work out as planned, but we're realizing more that we can trust God's timing. We can trust that He has a better plan for us than anything we can imagine. I can't say that I always understand why things happen or that I've accepted all things either. Life can be painful and it is hard when our plans have to change. Yesterday was a reminder of that. June 14th is the day that we had planned to tell everyone our good news. Unfortunately, we miscarried our good news on Mother's Day.
After years of not being able to have children, we witnessed a miracle when we were able to get pregnant. We celebrated with family just a week before we miscarried. A lot of us happy-cried or smiled like things finally made perfect sense. You better believe I had finally made a Pinterest board for baby stuff. Our office was finally going to be the nursery we'd envisioned since we moved in. There were names thrown around. We were ok walking past the baby section of stores. I wasn't dreading Mother's day like every year before. We were treated special like expecting parents are. We took a few self timer announcement pictures. The numbness of not being able to have children had finally disappeared and we allowed ourselves to hope like we hadn't done since 2012. Then yeah. Mother's day hit us like a brick wall. Loss is never easy. We're so grateful for the kind friends that brought over flowers, helpful books, and meals. We wish we could repay you. I don't know if I could have gotten through the first couple of weeks without the Priesthood blessings I received as well. I'm so grateful for Bryce. This experience has helped us to rely on each other more, and it has also helped us to appreciate what we do have. Even though miscarriage was obviously not in our plans, we have seen the hand of God in our lives during this difficult time. We know that He is there. God loves you and will not leave you comfortless if you will ask Him for help.
"At times we may even feel insignificant, invisible, alone, or forgotten. But always remember—you matter to Him!"
-President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
"Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever." -Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
♥/T
