Thanksgiving in Colorado

The holidays are such a big deal to the Peaden family and we have been looking forward to them with excitement but also a little wariness. This will be the first holiday season without Sue, and it just feels like things will never be the same. She was so much of the magic, the gathering force, behind any holiday celebration with her family.  The thought of trying to gather like we regularly do with the absence in her bedroom like a void felt almost too much to bear. When we were visiting Bruce on our way home from Nauvoo, the idea was thrown out that maybe we should celebrate Thanksgiving there instead. It was a big change, for sure - but I think it was something that we really needed this year. Here are the reasons that I loved celebrating Thanksgiving at Bruce's home in Colorado: 

-It turned a 3 hour dinner into a weekend full of togetherness and connection. 

-It was fun to be at Bruces's house with everyone. 

-The weight of Sue's absence was present but not overwhelming. We were able to talk about her: about how much we loved her and missed her, without it being quite so acute. The different location eased the pain. 

-We finished almost all of our Christmas shopping online but still hit the stores for some Black Friday shopping.

Things that I didn't love as much: 

-The Renchers were planning to come with us to Colorado, but they had to stay home last minute. We really really missed them. 


The food was delicious, a real traditional Peaden Thanksgiving Dinner with lemon jello, homemade mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. Bruce ordered a smoked turkey this year, we got pies and rolls from Kneaders and Marie Calendars, and even though it was more store-bought than usual, everything was great. 

Bruce's house was plenty big enough to host us all. We were grateful that he has invested in so many air mattresses and blankets so that we could all stay together at his house. 

It was just so nice to be there all together, especially Cal. He hung out and did his stuff, while still being a part of everything. He spent time with each of the kids, interjected his thoughts while we were playing games, and was a steady presence the whole weekend. The drive to Colorado was worth even just this one thing: that he didn't have to go home to an empty house after a short Thanksgiving Dinner. 

We ate dinner, black Friday shopped, watched football, and played LOADS of games. Lydia and Austin were in Heaven. Lucy got a new "Go Fish" game and we played round after round after round of Go Fish on the rug in the great room. 

It was a lovely weekend and eased a lot of the worry I have had about the upcoming holidays. We have so much to be grateful for and one of the biggest things is this Peaden Family. We were so glad to celebrate together. 

Bonus Trip to Canyonlands National Park

We drove home on I-70 instead of I-80, because of the snowy conditions through Wyoming. As we were crossing the Eastern Utah border, I mentioned that I had absolutely NO idea where we were on the Utah Map. No clue. We started looking up exactly where we were and how close we were to certain things. We realized we were less than an hour away from Canyonlands National Park! "Should we go?", David asked? I am almost always the one to initiate and push spontaneous things - but this time it wouldn't have happened without David! We only had about 5 minutes until we hit the fork in the road that would take us to Canyonlands instead of home, so we stopped for gas, talked about it and decided to go for it! I'm so glad that we did. 


We have never been to Canyonlands as a family, and I've never been at all! It was beautiful. We explored the main area, went to the visitors center (and got Jr. Ranger packets/badges), and went on a hike. It was warm enough to hike comfortably but still cold enough for snow to be on the ground. The snow was covered with these incredible ice crystals and we just loved this bonus adventure. Plus it was beautiful! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sue McAllister Peaden - Funeral (January 26, 2024)

Sue's Funeral was tender and beautiful and joyful and heartrendingly sad and incredibly peaceful. 

We came on Thursday night to help set up, then held a viewing Friday morning before the Funeral Services. I don't know how to put into words the feeling of having Sue there, without her Spirit there. Just a tender sense of missing her and being grateful for her all at the same time. 

The displays were beautiful though. All of the things that she loved most in life and the things that were special parts of her. There were family pictures and items she made for her family. There were things like her spoons and bells, her hat, Ovaltine and Sees chocolates, books, old movies, and pieces from her Christmas Village. It was a lovely tribute to her and her life. 

There were a lot of people who attended, including Scott and Lori Walker, Zuriel Knowles, Matthew (and Juniper) Walker, and Melissa Larson from my family. Eide Bailly also made a large show of support, with many of David's coworkers and several of the Partners coming to support. Just a few days before the funeral, it was announced firm-wide that David will be made a partner in May. We decided not to tell anyone, or even to celebrate, until after the funeral - but having the Eide Bailly crew there meant a lot to us. Sue had family and friends from near and far come to show their love for her and it was beautiful to see.  

I'm glad we got to take these pictures before the family prayer. 

(Left) The Cal and Sue Peaden Family:  Jeffrey, Amy, Bruce, Wendy, Cal, Sue, Matthew, David, Kevin

(Right) Kaylee, Jeff, Jacob, Josh, Amy, Bruce, Wendy, Sam, Cal, Matt, Kevin, Zachary, David, Shantel, Nathan, Jaycee, Ryker, Logan, Aubrey, Lucy, Lydia, Austin, Caleb. 

Those who attended the family prayer: 

The program was as follows: 

David and Kevin did a beautiful job speaking about their memories of their mother and the impact she had on their lives. 

David was a pallbearer and Austin and Caleb were listed as Honarary Pallbearers. 

Sue was buried in the West Jordan City Cemetery

(7925 South 1300 West, West Jordan, Utah)

Cal gave a brief but sincere dedication of the gravesite. 

The flowers were beautiful and with the dedication of the grave there seemed to come a sense of finality. Not that Sue's death was final, but that this was the final piece needed to close this chapter and to wait until the next act. An easing of breath and a feeling of peace. 

I don't know if David would agree with that. He can insert his thoughts here: 

The funeral was beautiful and the happiest thing for me was just being with my family. I loved doing the display table with my siblings and feel like that was really connecting and was so good to remember so many things about my Mom. I think the funeral did help to make it so we could move to the next stage of grief. I was happy that I could share memories of my Mom at the funeral with Kevin and I think she would have been happy listening to our stories. I am so grateful for my siblings, who were there to support me. I hope we were all good supports for my Dad. I was really grateful for the many co-workers who came to the funeral. I am not much for socializing, but I was able to talk to many of the neighbors and friends who my Mom lived by and had friendships with for such a long time. 

They moved the display tables into the cultural hall for the luncheon and I snapped a few more shots of them. So many things on this table are personally meaningful to me. The blessing dress she made for Lydia. The blankets she sewed for each of my babies. The chocolates she hand selected at Christmastime making sure your See's box was filled with your very favorites. The beautifully wrapped presents and pictures of her family. I love this woman so much and am incredibly grateful for the impact she has had upon my life. She took me in as one of her own and often called me her "daughter-in-love" or "an angel". I adored her and am grateful for every single minute we spent together. 

We came back to the house after the funeral was finished and everyone received a small See's chocolate wrapped in a baggie. We sat around the house for the rest of the day just resting and talking. We were grateful to be able to visit with Matt who flew in just for the day and was leaving early the next morning for a flight back home. It was an emotional but peaceful day and we are grateful that there weren't any rough spots (i.e. no family drama, no one getting stuck in traffic and missing it, no other emergencies). We spent the day remembering and celebrating Sue and I think she would have been really, really happy.