January started out terribly!!!! We came into the new year with Steve in so much back pain that he could barely move. On Jan 8 he had back surgery and it turned out to be even more serious than we thought.  He had stenosis and a leak in his spinal fluid.  It required 4 nights in the hospital.

So I’m sitting in the hospital with Steve about 2:30 p.m. (in Provo, mind you) on Jan 11 and I send a text message to Kim giving her an update on Steve. She called me and informed me that she was getting married at 6:30!  WHAT!!!!!!! Mind you, 3 days before I got the word that they were dating A LITTLE!!!! So I had to make the ride home (about an hour) and get ready for a wedding!  The wedding was so wonderful.  Kim and Alan are such good, righteous people and are already best friends.  Alans little kids are “over the moon” to have Kim as a mom. She loves them as if they were her own. It struck me during the wedding that they were standing on the very spot in the Relief Society Room where each of their spouses had lain in caskets 9 months previously.

So the next January item of business was the notification that Barnes Bank, after 120 years, was going to be closed down by the FDIC. It has been like a funeral, like losing a member of the community. Kaysville people are very sad about it and it is indeed a sad thing.  So now I am unemployed!

The first day that we were closing accounts was totally crazy. I was under so much stress and I started having chest pains and pain and numbness down my left arm. I KNEW I was having a heart attack!  I had Brandon take me to the ER and it turned out that my heart was fine. It was probably just anxiety.

So January started out with a BANG! But by the end of January Steve was doing tons better, Kim is so happy she is ready to burst, I didn’t have a heart attack, my time off is allowing me to get my house organized, and Sharon and I have joined a really cool singing group called “Utah Voices”.

LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!!