Very Emotional Two Weeks, Father’s Passing, Funeral, Missionary Setting Apart, Mr. Awesome, Homecoming, P-Day Call

So MUCH has happened since I last posted.  Here’s a not so quick catch up:

Matthew was able to participate in the Mr. Awesome pageant.  Every year a Ms. Amazing pageant is put on for special needs girls so they can participate in a pageant.  Matthew’s special needs group home wanted the boys to be able to participate in their own pageant so they came up with the Mr. Awesome Pageant.  Matthew was really excited to participate.  They did a slide show to showcase his GPS direction talents.  It was fun to watch.

Matthew bypassed the microphone and just yelled his answers at the crowd because he was so excited.  He was a pretty funny guy.  I got to be his escort, but he didn’t want to hold my elbow he was too excited for that.  He just ran out and did his thing.  I must have been crimping his style--haha!

There were three categories the Young Mister, Mister, and Senior Mister categories.  Matthew was in the Young Mister category.  He had so much fun participating.  However, he didn’t win in his category, but was still excited to participate.  His old high school teacher and her daughter even came to support him.  It was so awesome!!

After we got home from the cruise Daniel has been enjoying his last bit of freedom.  We did take advantage of him being the only kid at home and took him out for sushi for lunch one day.  It was yummy!

In preparing to go to the MTC they offered a virtual tour for upcoming missionaries.  It was fun to watch and see where Daniel was going to end up after he finished his Home MTC experience.

A few weeks ago the Youth had a mud volleyball activity.  I think Noah enjoyed the mud part a lot more than the volleyball part as you can see from these pictures.  When he got home I wouldn’t let him in the house until he got sprayed down by the hose.

They did do this last year and everyone loved it.  I am glad Noah remembered to take his phone out of his pocket this year before he hopped in.  Last year’s phone didn’t survive the mud bath....

We had a very emotional few weeks.  Early Friday morning, August 30 I got a call that my Dad was being taken by ambulance to the hospital.  Aaron and I immediately drove over to the hospital.  They were trying to stabilize my Dad in the ER so they could transfer him up to the ICU.  His blood levels were really low and they had to do mass blood protocol to get him transfused with three units of red cells, a few units of platelets and plasma.  Finally they were able to get him stable enough to transfer up to the ICU.  It was pretty chaotic in the ER.  It was hard to see him so sick.  When they got him up to the ICU it was decided that he had an active GI bleed most likely from an esophageal varice. He had been diagnosed with slow growing liver cancer and liver disease back in March.  He had also been battling Parkinson’s Disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis.  His health had not been great, but he had been doing okay until this morning. It was decided that an esophageal scope needed to be done to try and tie off where it was bleeding.  They did the scope Friday afternoon. He was really sleepy after the procedure.  We all took turns at his bedside.  I spent the night at his bedside all night Friday night and into Saturday morning. I came back Saturday afternoon and he was still not waking up.  They thought because his liver was struggling it was taking longer for him to clear the anesthesia from his body and that is why he was so sleepy. They also checked his ammonia level which was really high.  They started treating for all these things. However, his body just couldn’t handle it.  We got the message in the middle of church that he was fading. We headed right over.  He ended up passing away shortly after. The ICU let us all come say our goodbyes in the room.  It was so sad and hard.  

Later that evening all of us met at my Mom’s house. I was so grateful she was able to receive a priesthood blessing for comfort by these guys:

It was doubly hard that Sunday.  A few hours after my Dad had passed Daniel got set apart to become a missionary.  It hit extra hard when they said Daniel’s full name at the beginning of the prayer--Daniel RUSSELL Mancil.  Daniel is named after my Dad.  I was a bit of a mess throughout that whole time.  We did get some pictures, though.

The new missionary:

Matthew had been struggling that day so he wasn’t able to attend the setting apart of Daniel, unfortunately.

Starting Home MTC just like Josh--with no toe prisons (aka socks/shoes) on:

 We did sneak downstairs to check on him a few times that morning to see how Home MTC was going:

I spent the rest of the day and next day over at my Mom’s house.  It was so hard to split my time to be with my Mom vs being with Daniel during Home MTC.  Thankfully Aaron was able to take a few days off to be with Daniel at home. We did manage to sneak in a quick Pickleball game Tuesday morning with Josh, Aaron, me and Daniel.  Tuesday was Daniel’s P-day.  I wanted to do something with him before I went back over to my Mom’s house.  He had a devotional at noon anyway so it really worked out.  On the way back home from Pickleball we stopped by to grab a FIIZ drink. That’s when we noticed they have a Missionary Wall. Anyone in the area who is serving a mission can put their name and mission location up on the wall.  We decided to put Daniel’s up.  I drew a Cornhusker with a missionary name tag and Daniel’s mission.

Monday after my Dad passed away Johanna, my mom and me decided to take a driving tour of all the local cemeteries in the area.  My Mom didn’t like the Syracuse cemetery and she wanted my Dad to be buried somewhere else that was in a better location that was serene, peaceful, and close by.  We drove all the way from Clinton to Kaysville.  She decided the Clinton cemetery was her favorite. Aaron and I were asked to pick out a plot from the city to help my Mom. Aaron and I walked around and tried to pick the area close by the big trees, away from the main road, and with parking close by.  Here is the view from the plot we ultimately decided on:

Later in the week we needed to get out so Johanna, my mom and I went shopping to get my Mom a dress for the funeral.  We found a cute one in my Mom’s size, however, it was still on the mannequin.  I had to try and undress the mannequin to get it off which took some finagling.  When I finally got it off the mannequin, I couldn’t leave the mannequin naked.  I grabbed a different dress and tried to redress the mannequin.  I am sure this whole situation looked pretty bizarre.  What made it worse is that I couldn’t get the new dress over the mannequin’s shoulders.  I really tried. I ended up having to tell all of to discreetly walk away and not look suspicious because the dress just draped over her shoulders not covering the bare essentials--haha!  I tried to fix it, but it didn’t work. I can be embarrassing sometimes.

My Sister Jennifer was able to fly in Wednesday.  Wednesday afternoon we were able to all meet (Bryan, Johanna, me, Jennifer, my Mom) with the mortuary to plan the funeral and make the arrangements.  Although it was sad, I was grateful we were able to reminisce about my Dad and all things crazy and amazing things he did in his life.  After we finished at the funeral home we all went over to my Mom’s house to write the obituary together.

Thursday the rest of Jennifer’s family was able to fly in.  Jennifer helped my mom get some displays of my Dad’s life put together to put out during the funeral.  Saturday morning was the viewing and the funeral.  Daniel was still doing Home MTC so he came to the church early with me so he could continue his classes until the funeral started.  I was glad he was able to still be here for the funeral.  When I got to the church it was hard to see my Dad that morning.  I am grateful my mom had so much support during the viewing.  We all stood in a receiving line of sorts.  Some people came to the viewing and funeral that we had not seen for years.  It was nice to see such support. I was grateful for those that came to see me as well. It really meant a lot.  My Dad served in the Special Forces as a Green Beret.  I was also grateful his service was recognized with a flag on his casket.

Here’s what the displays of his life looked like in the hallway:

Early life with his chemistry set:

His mission book, mission call to British South Mission, Scarf from England, and his newspaper announcement of his service in the Special Forces:

His engagement picture, Green Beret Uniform, combat boots

Wedding pictures:

His lifetime fishing license, family pictures, fishing reel, toy motorcycle:

Later life pictures:

His life books/history he has worked on in the last few years:

The mortuary recorded the funeral program.  I will add that in another post later.  After the funeral all the pall bearers (8 of the 10 grandsons) helped move my Dad out to the hurst.  

My Mom, sister Jennifer, sister Johanna, brother Bryan and me rode to the cemetery all together in a limousine behind the hurst.

The pallbearers moved the casket from the hurst to the cemetery.

My Dad was able to have military honors done at the graveside.  They played The Army Goes Rolling Along and Taps as well as a Three-volley salute.  Afterward they folded up the flag on the casket with utmost respect and gave it to my Mom as well as the spent shells from the three gun salute.  The grave was then dedicated.  

All the pallbearers left their boutonnières on the casket after the graveside service.

It was hard to say goodbye.

Afterward we went back to the church and they had a luncheon ready for us.  Here are some of the decorations they used to decorate for the luncheon:

Interesting side note is that my Mom’s Relief Society President is one of the NICU nurses that took care of Noah when he was in the NICU.  I also work with her, too.  Anyway, it was nice to eat lunch together afterward:

After the luncheon we all went back to the cemetery to see his burial site and the flowers that were left there:

It was a really hard day, but good, too.  We were able to really celebrate his life and truly remember him. He will truly be missed.  When I got the call that my Dad was getting taken to the hospital, Aaron, Daniel and I had just returned home from doing Sealings together at the Layton Temple.  I was so glad for that reminder that what is sealed on earth will be sealed in Heaven. I am grateful for eternal families and know that I have the chance to see him again.  The day my Dad passed Daniel got set apart as a missionary.  I would like to think my Dad got set apart for his heavenly mission that day, too.  I am grateful for that eternal perspective.

It was an incredibly hard week emotionally.  I still have tears that are near the surface.  I am so grateful for the help and support that was given to me and my family.  

In putting together pictures for the slide show of his life we found early pictures of my mom.  My sister in law Michonne said she thinks that Sarah looks like my mom.  In comparing these pictures I can see it, too:

Amongst all the funeral planning we also had to plan for Daniel’s mission farewell.  He wanted to give his girlfriend, Katie, a personalized gift.  He asked me to make a pillow from one of his favorite T-shirts to give to her to hug while he was gone on his mission.  I didn’t have a pattern so I had to wing it.  Here’s how it turned out:

Amongst all the chaos of the last few weeks I forgot to add that Sarah got asked to Homecoming.  Here’s how her date, Jerrick, asked her:

Here’s how she responded (good thing Josh got asked in a similar matter when he was in high school.  I just looked back and saw how he responded and sent a picture of it to Sarah.  She decided to use that idea, too):

Daniel had his mission farewell talk the day after my Dad’s funeral.  Feelings were still a bit raw.  Daniel did a great job on his talk.  He wouldn’t let me or Aaron read it beforehand.  I was a little nervous of how it would be, but it was good.  Afterward we had a luncheon at the park.  Aaron had smoked some pork shoulder and made a really yummy taco bar.  Aaron was amazing the previous week.  He stepped in and covered all the things I couldn’t--like putting together this whole meal by himself.  I am grateful for him.  Things turned out well.  I forgot to take a picture until it was half way over and half the people had already left.  

After the luncheon we came home and just sat trying to comprehend all the events that had happened that week. Daniel didn’t have any classes so he was going a bit stir crazy.  One of his missionary name tags with the snap was broken.  He went outside to fix it with some tools.  He is aptly named after my Dad.  He had to modify his name tag because he couldn’t sit still and it was a project to work on.

Later that evening we played some games as a family.

The next afternoon he had off from some classes so we went to get some ice cream.  There is an ice cream shop by our house that gives free ice cream to missionaries.  They were even kind enough to give me free ice cream because I was the Mom.  Awesome.  I love living in Utah for these kinds of things.

During the week of Home MTC Daniel’s girlfriend Katie who works at Twisted Sugar brought by some pumpkin cookies for Daniel.  She didn’t want to interrupt Daniel so she just left them on the doorstep, knocked and left.  That was really sweet.  We will miss seeing her so much while Daniel is gone.  Interestingly enough her Grandpa was the one from the funeral home that helped us plan my Dad’s funeral.  He was a really nice guy.  HEre’s the cookies she left for Danny Elder Mancil.

The next day was Daniel’s P-day so we went to an early morning endowment session at the Layton temple with Josh.  It was nice to go one last time with Daniel before he left on his mission.

The last dinner Daniel was going to be with us we had Grandma T over for dinner.  After dinner Daniel gave her a big hug goodbye since he would be leaving for the Provo MTC the next day.

Daniel also hugged Matthew goodbye since Matthew had to work on the Wednesday Daniel would enter the MTC.

We took one last family picture:

Wednesday morning Josh had a full day of school and work.  He had to leave our house at 5 am to get to work.  He gave Daniel a goodbye hug before he had to leave for work.

Later that morning I got a few pictures of Daniel with his packed suitcases.  Then it was time to leave so we could have some lunch before the MTC drop-off in Provo.

We grabbed lunch at JCW’s.  It was yummy.

We did stop by the Timpanogos Temple in American Fork.  Since the Provo temple is torn down at the moment the MTC is bussing missionaries to the Timpanogos and the Payson temple to do some sessions there.  We decided to stop by the Timpanogos temple so he could see it.  Interestingly enough I was living close by this temple when it was built.  I got to help out with the temple open house.  My station was in the Celestial Room during the open house.  It was pretty awesome.  I was still single, living at home and hadn’t gone through the temple, yet, but I was glad I was able to participate in the open house way back when.  We did take a few pictures around the grounds:

Then we drove over to Wymount right next to the MTC.  This is where Aaron and I lived while we were married and finishing school.  I know at the actual MTC drop-off you don’t get much time so we wanted to get one more hug in before the drop off so we chose to do it here.

Here’s what the Provo temple currently looks like all torn down:

Then it was time for the MTC drop off.  It is in the lower level of the MTC parking garage.  It was dark and dreary. We grabbed one more round of hugs.  Sarah:

Noah:

Aaron:

Me:

One last family picture before they whisked Daniel away. I am trying to put on my brave face, but am failing miserably.  I was crying:

At least Daniel looked back one last time before he entered the building.  Josh never looked back when we dropped him off at the airport after his 6 weeks of Home MTC so I told Daniel he better look back.  Lucky for him he did look back--haha!

Afterward we decided to go over to the BYU bookstore just to look around.  Aaron found a massive toy hat on display.  Aaron has a bit of a large noggin so finding hats that fit him are a tad difficult.  This toy hat almost fit him, but was a bit big--haha!

We also found some crazy flavored sodas at the bookstore.  We let everyone pick out one to try back at home when Josh got home later that night.

Here are some of the flavors we got.  They weren’t very good, but still fun to try.

The day after the MTC drop off I had off from work.  Me and my mom hung out so we could have a sad day together.  It was to be together for the day.

With everything that has happened in the last few weeks everything else in my life has been put on the side line. In trying to get back to some normalcy I was able to bottle some tomato sauce before work to try and use some tomatoes from my Mom’s and our gardens. 

We got to talk to Daniel for the first time yesterday.  It was nice to see his face and make sure that he is doing okay.  He said at first he was having a hard time, but is now doing better.

Later on in the call Aaron and Josh were able to join us, too.  It was nice to visit with everyone. Technology is great.  All of us were in different spots, but still able to join up at the same time.

It was during school hours so Sarah and Noah weren’t able to join us.

Sophie is always excited when she hears the garage door open. She will eagerly watch and wait to greet whoever is coming home with a toy in her mouth. She loves her people.