Bri

This past weekend was a whirlwind. I took my last final on Thursday morning, my family got to our house friday afternoon, then we all went to Drew's show, then shopping in the morning, then I graduated. Then dinner, then dessert.. Then Saturday came, we went to the Carl Bloch show, then to the Flowrider at the "Provo Beach Resort" in Riverwoods where I then sprained my ankle on my last ride, then home to figure out what to do.. bought tickets to the BYU volleyball game, got ready to go..Then my mom gets a call from one of her (11) best friends Dana. She told us of Bri & Ian's car accident in Payson, and how Bri didn't make it. We were shocked. You just never think that someone so close to you would pass like this. It was all a whirlwind. Then Drew & the boys get home and we start planning our night and making the trek down to Payson to be with Ian in the ICU, and his sister Candice while she was waiting in the waiting room with other family and friends. It was hard. Luckily a lot of the (11) friends of Beth were here from CA for their kids graduation, so they were able to come to the hospital. My parents decided to stay an extra day to be there at the hospital until Brent and Beth arrived. Later, we spent Easter dinner with them and their extended family in Highland. So many good stories of Bri and happy thoughts were surrounding us. She has so many family and friends that love her.

Briana was a few years older than me, so I looked up to her as a kid (and still do!). Our families hung out a ton and she was always the one I wanted to be like. I remember writing in my journal about how beautiful she was and how I wanted to be just like her. My mom had my little sister Bree, and loved the way Beth would say her name "Bri".. so she named Bree after Briana. Kinda cute. I haven't seen her in a very long time. In fact, I can't even remember the last time I did in person. She's been living in SLC and working as a midwife in her own practice "Fern Midwifery". I watched this documentary about 2-3 months ago about natural births and midwifery called- "The Business of Being Born" and so I started researching people I knew that were midwives and who I would trust if I were to go that route. Bri was the first one I thought of. It's quite beautiful what she started. She hadn't had kids of her own, but she had such a motherly presence and made the woman feel so comfortable and at ease in such a stressful and monumental part of their lives. I love how soft spoken and gentle she was. Her partner was there at the hospital with Ian, and later came a woman who was sent by her two daughters that had used Briana for their births. It was emotional for her because she was part of the family. She was trusted by so many women in bringing about the lives of their babies and putting their own lives in her hands. It's really a beautiful thing.

See this video of her talking about being a midwife. It's quite beautiful.

She was an amazing woman and will be forever missed. She accomplished so much at such a young age, it is unreal. Our prayers and thoughts and tears are with her family at this time.

Her memorial is tomorrow night:

this Wednesday, April 27 @ 7-10:30pm

LDS Chapel: 951 East 100 South 

Salt Lake City, UT 84102