Willow Park, Lehi Utah
October 15, 2022 5:30 pm
We invite all families to our Check In table to receive your take home gift. Children (and children at heart) are invited to the pavilion where you’re invited to decorate a luminary and put it along the walk path. Pick up your pre-purchased merchandise next to the boutique tents and then find a place to sit in front of the stage.
Introduction: Tiffany Lindstrom, President Share Parents of Utah
Welcome: Clint Pulver
Dove Release: Trent and Kirstin Adams family
Dove Release: Stephen and Jane Rollins Family
Song: Madeline Mikelle Best performs Somewhere over the Rainbow arranged by Tim J. Spencer with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg.
Poem: Teresa Card Grandparents Grieve Too by Natalie Calvert
Song: Cry With Me written and performed by James Thorup, and Broken Halos written by Christ Stapleton and Mike Henderson performed by James Thorup.
Poem: Elliot Breinholt Broken Chain by Ron Tranmer
Poem: Dewi Poulson- Oh Precious, Tiny, Sweet Little One– Author Unknown
Song: High Hope written by Patrick Droney and performed by James Thorup
Name Reading
Leading us in our WALK: Verle and Shanna Patterson family
Song: Visiting Hours written by Ed Sheeran and performed by James Thorup
Names will be read in alphabetical order
Dove Release Focus Family: Trent and Kirsten Adams
Hi! My name is Kirsten, my husband is Trent, and we have a family of Angels. We have two lovely living boys, Tanner (10) and Tate (6) As for angels, our first angel is Jordan. We lost him January 1st of 2014. We found out at our 19 week gender ultrasound that his heart had stopped beating. Until I had lost a child, I didn’t know my heart could experience such pain. After Jordan’s loss I went on to have a miscarriage and another sleeping angel, our pure Zion. At 16 weeks, his heart too, had stopped beating. Our Tate made it here safely. Then we went on to face another long road of loss. It includes 2 more boys in the second trimester, our strong Alex and our sweet Todd. Along with them we had another 3 miscarriages. Our most recent Angel is our sweet Kaitlin. I delivered her sleeping at 16 weeks on September 16th of this year. If you did the math, that’s 9 little angels. We so wanted, and dearly love, every single one of them. I am so thankful to Share for the support they have given us in the hard moments of loss and delivery. I am grateful that they have brought us into this community of amazing parents and families. I know our family would not have managed this hard road without them. Thank you!
Madeline Mikelle Best- vocalist
Madeline Mikelle Best was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. She is currently a high school junior at the Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts, SLSPA. Her love for music and singing began at a young age, as she began studying with Suzanne Ferry when she was just 7 years old. Throughout the years, Best, now 17, has been vocally trained in classical and musical theatre techniques. She has a wide classical repertoire, including arias and songs in foreign languages, such as Italian, French, and German. Her love for musical theatre and acting was sparked when she played the titular role in Annie in 2017 with Cottonwood Heights Community Theatre. Other notable roles include Glinda the Good Witch and Aunt Em in The Wizard of Oz, and Katherine Plumber in Newsies. Best has earned superior ratings in the local vocal
Federation festival for 8 years, awarding her 2 trophies for musical theatre and 2 for classical art songs. She has also competed in the National Association of Teachers of Singing, NATS. In the annual regional competition, she won first place classical in her divisions 4 times. The NATS competition has allowed her to perform solos at winners’ concerts, in venues such as the Assembly Hall in Temple Square and the Vieve Gore Concert Hall at Westminster College. With a scholarship from her NATS winnings this year, Best even recently attended SummerSong, a music camp at Westminster College. She believes in the power of music and is truly grateful for the opportunity to sing for a good cause. As an artist, she is a true and passionate storyteller. She hopes to allow audiences to escape reality, free from their worries, whether it’s for a few
minutes or hours.
Elliott Breinholt – Fathers Poem
Elliott Breinholt of Spanish Fork, Utah, is married to Lisa Breinholt and is the father of Jayden Elliott, Baby Breinholt, Hayley Marie, Mason William, Asher Thane, and McKenzie Joy. He and his wife joined the Share Parents support group after losing their son Mason, twin to Hayley, at 36 weeks in November 2019. Just nine months after losing Mason, in July 2020, the Breinholt family experienced a miscarriage with their son Asher at 17 weeks. These two losses were preceded by an early miscarriage in 2018 after a successful IVF treatment. For his job at Hunt Electric, Elliott is an Electrical Designer that designs power distribution systems and lighting layouts for commercial buildings. In the evenings and weekends, he is often volunteering his time by helping bereaved families replicate their angel baby’s plaster molds by 3D scanning/printing them (My Angel Prints LLC). He enjoys spending time with his family and going fishing with his son Jayden.
Teresa Card- Grandparents Poem
I became acquainted with Share Parents of Utah September 19th, 2018 after my first granddaughter was delivered to my “baby” and her husband on September 18th. Melanie, Erin and Heather came like angels from heaven to do pictures and molds so we’d be able to keep something from our beautiful Hazel. It was such an unexpected and painful time, Hazel was 32 weeks over 5 1/2 pounds and looked perfect. I can’t imagine trying to navigate this time without the support from Share. Our first walk was only a few weeks after we lost Hazel and it was overwhelming to me how many other losses there were, the overwhelming sadness but also the overwhelming sense of hope. I appreciate the grandparents group that I involve myself with and try to help when possible.
Leading Our Walk- Verle and Shanna Patterson Family
Verle and Shanna got married and wanted to start a family right away. However, that wasn’t happening for them, and after several years of infertility they became foster adopt parents and looked to help other families as they continued to try to grow theirs. They were surprised (and happy!) to become pregnant spontaneously while fostering. However, that was the beginning of another journey – one of grief and loss they never imagined – as they miscarried Aaron. He was so loved and missed! But he also brought hope to their hearts! It took a while but they had another surprise pregnancy which sadly also ended in loss and heartache. Allie was born sleeping way too early – but they loved meeting her and holding and kissing her perfect tiny body!
They adopted two siblings (Sage and Eddie) later that year and were able to get pregnant again as well. Xander was born just before his angel sister’s first birthday. Hearing his cry and getting to keep him was the best feeling! He helped heal their broken hearts and added much joy to their family.
Avery and a chemical pregnancy brought grief to the forefront when the next two pregnancies ended in loss again. What a rollercoaster for their hearts! Hope and the joy in their children kept them going, and they were blessed to have Ammon join their family on earth!
They thought they were done but were nagged by impressions and feelings and dreams that they had a daughter still to come. Maybe she did come. Maybe the tiniest perfect body was all she needed. But it felt impossible to say goodbye to Angela and then Annalee within a few months of each other. Two more miscarriages were of course devastating and also marked the end of trying to grow this family. They turned more intently to raising the children who still so needed them and worked to heal the broken pieces.
Saying hello and goodbye to their Angels was the hardest thing they’ve had to do but they are able to now feel joy in all of their children and look forward to being able to be all together again one day! They know they are blessed to have their family, whether earthly or heavenly, and have grown and learned so much on the journey.
Shanna is able to serve and give back to our baby loss community that helped them for so many years (and still continues to do so!). She joined Share Parents of Utah after all of her losses had occurred but found a home here. She is the chair over the facilitators who run the support meetings and has volunteered with hospital companion visits, the call line, and walk committee. It feels healing to serve others as she was so lovingly helped through so much grief herself.
Dewi Poulson- Mother’s Poem
Dewi is a the mother of 4, 2 boys and 2 girls. She is also the bonus parent to 3 additional children. She works as a truss designer and also as a Realtor which she loves. She has so much passion for this organization and support group. She became a member of this “club” 17 yrs ago at which time she decided to give purpose to her daughter’s short life and began going to hospitals and visiting with families going through such a difficult time, as a way to honor her daughter Erika.
Clint Pulver- Emcee
Clint Pulver is a professional keynote speaker, author, musician, pilot, and workforce
expert. Known as the leading authority on employee retention, Clint has transformed how corporations like Keller Williams, AT&T, and McDonalds create lasting loyalty
through his work and research as the Undercover Millennial, and is also the author of #1 bestselling book “I Love It Here: How Great Leaders Create Organizations Their People Never Want To Leave”. He has been featured by Business Q Magazine as a “Top 40 Under 40,” and, as a professional drummer, he has appeared in feature films and on America’s Got Talent. In 2020, Clint won an Emmy Award for his short film Be a Mr. Jensen, which tells the story of how a single moment in time—and one particular mentor— can change the course of a life.
Dove Release Family Focus: Stephen and Janes Rollins Family
Garrett Jack Rollins was Stillborn May 29th, 2020. Two days before, Jane and Stephen Rollins, his parents, learned there was no longer a heartbeat at their 39 week appointment due to a genetic condition called Trisomy 13. Garrett was their third child, following Paige (then 5 years old) and Connor (then 3 years old). While the family grieved, Share Parents of Utah was invaluable. “Julie’s support at the birthing center was like an angel showing up to guide us in what to do with the precious but limited time we had with Garrett’s body.” In the following months, Share’s support continued, and so did Jane’s involvement. She began volunteering with Share on their social media team in December of 2020, and beginning in 2022, Jane became both a co-facilitate for the Draper support group and the Social Media Chair for Share Parents of Utah. “I try to use the time I would have spent parenting Garrett to instead serve others,” Jane says, referring to how she and her family now live their life in ways that will #HonorGarrettRollins.
James Thorup– Musician and Vocalist
James Thorup is an up and coming singer/songwriter whose inspirations include names like Ed Sheeran, Panic at the Disco, Ben Platt, and Ben Rector. James has performed with big names including Peter Hollens, David Archuleta, Kristen Chenoweth, Colbie Caillat, Ben Rector, and others. While writing a mostly acoustic/pop mix, James strives to better the world with his music, focusing on messages having to do with family, character, relationships, and change.
James was raised in a musical family that sang often together, initiating his love for music. Believing for most of his life that music wasn’t a practical path for him to pursue, he ended up pursuing a degree in Electrical Engineering at Brigham Young University. While there, looking for outlets through which to channel his musical talents, James performed with the group BYU Vocal Point, traveling all over the United States and performing in China and Thailand.
Thank You To Our Walk Committee: Julie Card, Camille Jenkins, Kylie Harris, Leina Fitzgerald, Tiffany Lindstrom, Shanna Patterson, Hanna Thomas, Sarah Urcino .
We want to extend our sincerest gratitude to our Share volunteers for their countless hours of selfless service spent in honor of their babies- from hospital companionships, support meetings, workshops, social media, service projects, administration and all of the behind the scenes work that makes this organization run. The work and mission of Share Parents of Utah are successful only because of the dedication of these women and men. Your babies will absolutely never be forgotten.
We extend appreciation to the following groups/businesses for their services and generosity at this years walk.
- All About You Rentals
- Charisma Event Productions
- Clint Pulver
- JC Pro Design
- Starbucks District 3102
- Taylor Audio Visual
- Westlake High School National Honor Society and Key Club
Thank you for sharing this special evening with us! Don’t forget to bookmark sputah.org for upcoming events and resources. Text the phrase SHAREPARENTS to (855) 407-3205 to receive event and support meeting reminders.
Support Groups
Check our calendar/events page to see when the next Support Group meeting will be held.
Facebook Support Groups
Dads, please join other Dads on our private Facebook group! Share families can always find support on our public page. Private support for parents can be found here and here.
Upcoming Events
November 29- Saturday, December 3 Festival of Trees
CLICK HERE for up-to-date information.
You still have time to get your personalized Keepsake/Take-Home and Festival ornaments. Each year we give you the opportunity to add a keepsake ornament to your Christmas tree as well as have your baby represented at the Festival of Trees. By purchasing a second ornament, at a discounted price, it’s an opportunity you don’t want to miss! Ask any of our families how much it means when they attend the event and stand in front of a tree that represents their baby and you will witness precisely how meaningful it truly is. Not everyone can beautifully decorate a tree, cover all the costs it takes to do so, and then donate it to a great cause. We at Share Parents of Utah figured out a way to not only raise money for two notable causes; our organization, as well as Primary Children’s Hospital, but also turn it into a very very tender and meaningful experience for over 100 Share families each and every year. Seeing a tree decorated with ornaments representing and adorned with 100-200 angel babies’ names is equally heart-wrenching and incredibly touching to say the least.
2022 will mark Share Parents of Utah’s 8th year participating in the event. Over those eight years we have helped raise over $20,000.00 from the sales of our donated trees. A remarkable representation of all our babies stand in seven, going on eight, beautiful homes each and every holiday season. This year is the 52st Annual Festival of Trees benefitting Primary Children’s Hospital. Even if you do not participate in our tree, make sure you stop by and honor each and every baby who it represents.
December 6 The Christmas Box Angel Statue Candlelight Ceremony
The Christmas Box Angel Statue was introduced to the world in the book The Christmas Box, a worldwide bestseller and hit television movie by author Richard Paul Evans. In the book, a woman mourns the loss of her child at the base of an angel monument. Though the story is mostly fiction, the angel monument once existed but is speculated to have been destroyed. The new angel statue was commissioned by Richard Paul Evans, in response to reports that grieving parents were seeking out the angel as a place to grieve and heal. The monument was dedicated on December 6, 1994-corresponding with the date of the child’s death in The Christmas Box. (Coincidentally, Dec. 6th is celebrated in many parts of the world as Children’s Day).
On December 6th of each year (7 p.m. MST) a candlelight healing ceremony is held at the base of each Christmas Box Angel monument. After a few remarks, a moment of silence, and the lullaby of a children’s choir, the attendees are invited to leave a white flower at the base of the angel statue. The public is welcome and each year you will find many Share families in attendance. There are many statues throughout Utah including: Salt Lake City, Spanish Fork, Eagle Mountain, Vernal, St. George, Ogden, and Westpoint (this may not be a complete list-please visit http://www.RichardPaulEvans.com for more information).