Special Sisters Series: A Christmas Wish

*Written by Tracey Christensen

This is our daughter.  In this image she's receiving physical therapy for her cerebral palsy.

When I see this photo, I'm overcome with sadness for her pain - both physical and emotional.  And I'm overcome with love and pride because of her determined and brave spirit.

The man who took this picture has dedicated hundreds of hours to telling the story of these little fighters with special needs.  It means a lot to me, because he didn't have to do it.  And he didn't have to love the kids.  But he did.

Mike Ririe is trying to publish a beautiful 120 page book with images of 18 children and submissions from several parents.  I believe it will be an inspiration to many, and will also provide opportunities for Now I Can to help even more children.  I want people to have the same opportunity to feel what I do when I see these images.

If you will visit www.nowican.org and click the link on the home page, you can see more kids' images, and learn how you can pledge just $1 or more on Kickstarter, to make this book happen.

Mike only has until December 31, 2011 to raise the funds needed to make this happen.  I am hopeful that 'what goes around will come around' - and that his good works will be rewarded with much support.  Thank you for any help you can give.

I know there are so many worthy demands for your resources and I think you in advance for your consideration, and also for passing this on to your contacts.  If many of us give a little, the $12,000 goal can be reached and this "Now I Can" book will become a reality! Merry Christmas!

Click here to help with our Kickstarter project by December 31^st!  

Watch a short video to learn more… or just pledge $1 or more.

A Temporary Solution

Dear Big D,

I know I called you around 4:45pm in tears.  It was a rough moment because our boys were fighting relentlessly and I was getting pinched and hit in the middle of it.  I felt completely frustrated and helpless as a mother.  What was I supposed to do?  After we hung up, I went downstairs and found a temporary solution.

Here it is:

T Bear was quarantined to the couch and Cub was left on his own.  This did temporarily eliminated the fighting and allowed me to at least load the dishwasher.

After a day like this I wonder, "Why did we have more than one child?"  and "How did my mom have 6 kids?"

Finally bedtime rolled around and I snuggled each one of my boys.  I read to them, sang to them some songs and told them how much I loved them.  Which I really do love them, even when I wonder how I am supposed to be a patient mother to these boys.

I am doing much better now that the boys are asleep.  Tonight I will get on my knees and pray for more patience.

Love,
Miss T

Who Needs Toys For Christmas?

KK -


Who really needs toys for Christmas when you can have some cardboard boxes?  My boys love playing with boxes.  They make trains, cars, houses and even TVs out of boxes.  Tonight they just spent a good 10 minutes hitting a box with a paper towel roll.  They thought it was hilarious (me too).

T Bear is beyond excited for Christmas.  He talks about how he is going to get a "beautiful" present from Santa because he is being so nice.  Although he is excited about Santa, his most favorite thing about Christmas is Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.  He sings this song about 10,000 times per day.


Last Sunday, I took T Bear caroling with some of the older kids from church.  The kids were singing "Away in a Manger" when T Bear started singing "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" at the top of his lungs.  He would not stop trying to sing over everyone else even as I pulled him away from the group.  All the kids giggled, and T Bear loved the attention.


So for your personal enjoyment, I have recorded T Bear singing "Rudolph" to Cub.





And if you want more T Bear, Rudolph, and Cub, click here to watch.


-Miss T

Destination Wedding

 KK & Mr P were married today in the Laie Hawaii Temple.  It was beyond beautiful.

Love from Hawaii,
-Miss T

Trying to Make Grandma Katie Proud

KK -


I was glad to hear you had a fun Thanksgiving, even though we were not together.  This year we hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our home with some friends.  In an effort to make Grandma Katie (she is the QUEEN of classy entertaining) proud, I set my table the day before and made little treats as place cards for all of our guests.  I used baby food jars and filled them with candy.  Then I glued on paper and wrote "Thank you" in a different language for each guest (17 total languages).  In my head, it was incredibly simple and cute.  Unfortunately the simple part remained true, but the cute part did not.  They did not look very cute at all but they worked.  Needless to say I will not be sending them in to Real Simple Magazine.  


Sally made the extremely long table runner and then I added candles, but candles make everything better right?  For a beginner I think it turned out nice.  We'll have to see what Grandma Katie thinks.

I would like to extend a couple of "shout outs" to our guests.


-B Family - Thank you for letting us take over hosting this year.  I think it was a full and fun day.  There was a spontaneous jamming session (piano, guitar, hand drum, maracas), puzzles, murals made, ornaments painted, pool games, thank you cards and more.  Most importantly, thank you for letting us participate in making the bracelets with your family.  We made 85 bracelets to give the patients at Seattle Children's hospital.  Claire received a beaded bracelet at one of her visits and loved it.  This time she loved making the bracelets to give to other children.   The day after Thanksgiving, we asked T Bear what his favorite part of Thanksgiving was, and he said making a little bracelet for a tiny baby.  


-Higg Family - Thanks for the delicious food.  T Bear was thrilled that your little guy came along to play.  They obviously are close friends because when I went looking for them at dessert time, I found them in the bathroom.  T Bear was doing his business on the toilet and your guy was just sitting on the edge of the tub chatting away.  Also, Big D could not stop talking about Jed being amazing when they played Scum on the pool table.


-Newm Family - Thank you guys for doing the TURKEY!!!! It was delicious.  Did I tell you what T Bear told me about turkeys?  He said that first you "die" the turkey (I think he means kill it), then you take off the eyes, rip off the feathers and ground up the brown part.  Was it really like that?   Either way it was delicious and we owe you big time.


-Jones Family - I can not stop thinking about those sweet potatoes.  I need the recipe.  I want to eat them all the time.  Seriously, they were good.  Please share the recipe.  And besides bring great food, you were all great company.  Every time I turned around you were holding or helping one my boys or the other kids.  Your kindness is priceless.  Also, you also win the award for making the cutest bracelets.  

The men doing dishes so they can head downstairs to play pool.

Women and children making bracelets.  

Just hanging around with friends

Initially I was sad that I couldn't be with family on Thanksgiving, but as our day progressed, I was really thankful to have friends that can be our family.  Our boys played like they had cousins, and I chatted with my "sisters."  At the end of the day, our stomachs were full of delicious food, and our hearts were full with gratitude.


Lovingly,
-Miss T

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Miss T,

We played some wicked tomato ball today. Be excited for amazing pictures to come. :)


So, in other news, I'm not with you this Thanksgiving. I'm not grateful for that. BUT I am grateful that you are my sister. And today when Mr. P and I were talking about some of our personal successes (and failures) in life, I thought of this blog.

I feel like this blog is an accomplishment that I love (that's the success). I only do a moderate job at contributing (that's kinda the failure), but truly it is something that I love to be a part of, and I love to look back at and read. As I look back and read, I can't help but be grateful for the good memories, funny stories, hilarious pictures, classic moments, horrible experiences with good endings, and so much more. What a way to be thankful.

What have you been thankful for in your heart today?

Love, KK

Happily Engaged

As many of you know KK is preoccupied with her engagement so I thought I would write an update about my life her life.


Tonight is the Engagement Party for KK and Mr. P.  It sounds like it is going to be wonderful.  I guess when you do a destination wedding without a local reception, you get to have Engagement Parties and fun things like that.  I will not be going.  If I were going I know exactly what I would wear.  My black and white striped dress with leggings, tall boots, and a cute salmon colored cardigan.  I would look so hot that Big D would want to have an Engagement Party with just me!  


Next Saturday is my birthday KK's Bridal Shower.  Our lovely aunt is hosting a huge bridal shower in Utah for her.  I will not be able to go because I will be at home celebrating my birthday with my boys.  What should I wear on my big day?  


Every time I talk to KK, she is getting more and more excited to go to Hawaii.  Every day I am getting more and more excited to go to Hawaii.  I have ordered this dress for me to wear to the wedding.  Hopefully I will look as good as that South Pacific model...... it's questionable. What I am worried about is looking like a sparkling white vampire in Hawaii.  My white, vitamin D deficient skin is going to experience the harsh beautifulness of the sun in Hawaii.  Should I go tanning before we go?  No, I will just put on my swimming suit and be proud of my blinding white skin as I run around the beach.  But trust me, I will be using massive amounts of sunscreen so that I do not burn while I am there. 


Big D and I have started talking about things we would like to do in Hawaii.  I think we would be happy to sit on the beach and read a book most of the days.  We would like to snorkel, hike, go to Pearl Harbor, Temple Visitors Center, and eat some shaved ice.  Mostly we are excited to escape the grey weather of Seattle.  An ugly storm moved in last night, and it is supposed to rain everyday for the next week.  Boo.


Well, time to get off the computer and get dressed for the day.  What to wear.... most days I wished I had someone to just dress me in adorable clothes.  That is why I love this blog: The Cardigan Empire.  Check it out!


-Miss T


PS - You can get 15% off a dress at Shabby Apple by using this link.  Happy dress shopping!

Missing Socks at Target

 KK-


How many missing socks do you think there are in the world?  If someone was to gather up all of the missing socks scattered in dryers, stores, closets, forests, and lakes around the earth, how many would there be?  Millions, I would guess.


I can not keep socks on Cub.  Not for the life of me.  I am constantly having nice strangers tell me that my child is missing a sock.  Frankly, I have given up on trying to keep socks on him, and if I do put socks on him, they rarely match.  

So today, I took my boys to Target.  I did not have anything that I was specifically shopping for, more like I was just perusing Target and checking out boots for you to buy (I am your personal shopper).  My boys were riding in one of those ridiculously huge shopping carts that are difficult to push.  Half way through our shopping trip, I realized that Cub was missing a sock.  T Bear started to panic, he wanted to go find the missing sock.  We had just gotten in the elevator to go the next level in Target, and I did not want to go back to look for a sock.  I told T Bear no, Cub was ok with just one sock on.

We finished our shopping, and as we left the check-out stand, I noticed that Cub's second sock was now missing.  This pushed T Bear over the edge.  He insisted that we had to go back and search for Cub's socks.  I said no.  T Bear continued to LOUDLY yell and cry about finding Cub's socks all the way through the parking lot to our car.  I tried to ignore him.


When we got to the car, I realized that T Bear was not giving up on finding the missing socks.  So this is what I told him,


"T Bear, it is ok.  I want to buy Cub so new socks anyway."


"No Mommy.  He NEEDS his socks."  (more crying)


"T Bear, we are so blessed because we have enough money to go buy new socks for Cub.  Some people don't have enough money to buy new socks for their babies.  Maybe there will be a baby riding through Target today and he will find Cub's socks.  The baby will be so happy that he found Cub's socks because his mommy didn't have enough money to buy some for him."


The crying stopped.  T Bear compliantly climbed in the car and started talking about a baby finding Cub's socks and being so happy about it.


Is that terrible?  I made us sound like rich snobs living in a third world country.  I just went with it and it worked.  I don't know what that will do to mess him up psychologically.  Hopefully it all works out.


Once again, I am striving hard to win that "Mother-of-the-Year" award.  Yeah right.


With love & two socks on my feet,
-Miss T

P.S.  Do you remember our sock drawer growing up?  I bet there were a lot of lonely and missing socks in there.


P.P.S.  I also saw Lily Jang from Q13 Fox morning news at Target.  I think she is adorable.  I totally got start-struck by seeing a local celebrity.  

Corrina, Corrina

Hey Miss T!

I watched a cute movie last night. For about three years now I have owned this movie called "Corrina, Corrina" but never seen it. It was a $5.00 special at Walmart, and when you are Walmart at midnight I guess sometimes it just seems like a great idea to purchase a random DVD. At the time I was fairly obsessed with Whoopi Goldberg because of Sister Act...now that's another great movie for another day.

At any rate I finally watched it last night! It starts off really sad, and I kept saying to my friend, "Oh, I don't like this movie, it is so sad." She kept telling me, "Oh, it has Whoopi in it, it's going to be funny. It will get better!" I tell you what. This is not your typical Whoopi humor movie. However, it did get better. It was humorous and sweet, but it also touched some deep issues, such as discrimination, second marriages, believing in God, and mourning over death. Whew! Now that's a lot to pack into a chick-flick.

So, if you need a cute flick, random and from the 90's--hair, clothes, and everything!--I recommend Corrina, Corrina. Getcha some good gospel choir singing in too.

And just because I'm curious, and always looking for a good flick to put on the list of movies that I rarely find time to watch,
What's the best movie you've seen lately?

Love, Kk

1st Birthday

KK-


Today was Baby Cub's 1st Birthday.  


Last night, T Bear woke up around midnight to go to the bathroom, which woke Baby Cub up.  I got T Bear back in bed, then picked up my crying Baby Cub.  I rocked him back to sleep in the brown chair and realized that it was almost exactly a year ago to the minute that he was born.  It was a special present to be hold my big baby at that time.  I held him for quite awhile, contemplating the first year of his life.  It has gone by extremely fast.  


Baby Cub has grown more than I imagined in his first year.  He has developed an easy-going personality with a quick smile, and a huge adoration for his older brother.  He loves balls, toothbrushes, pencils, his special blanket, music, and trains.


Today was a simple celebration, really a part 1 of his birthday.  Since Big D was out of town, we will do the part 2 of his birthday this weekend.


It was special to have Miga here with us, since her birthday was today as well.  She reminded me that last year when I had past my due date of Oct 25th and was starting be vocally angry, she had said to me, "Maybe you will have this baby on my birthday!"


"I better not have this baby on your birthday.  No way," was my answer back.


Alas, Miga was right and Baby Cub was born on her special day.


We all went out to Red Robin for lunch, since that is what Miga did last year with T Bear to celebrate.  This year T Bear was much more compliant and excited to go get his corn dog at Red Robin.


After putting my 1 yr old to bed, we got the "adult" party started for Miga.  The party was on Google+.  We had a hangout.  It was so much fun to see you and Mr. P and all the rest of our siblings.  Isn't it amazing that we can video chat with 7+ people at the same time.  It was the best Family Night we have had in a long time.  Let's do it again.

Miga's virtual Bday party!

Here is to November birthdays!

-Miss T

Baby Cub took his first steps with this walking toy today!

The Super-Hero's True Identity

KK- 

Tonight our church hosted a "Trunk-or-Treat."  Everyone parked their cars, opened their trunks and handed out candy to the kids in costumes that paraded along the parking lot.  Some cars were decorated with all sorts of Halloween gear, but most importantly, they all had candy.  

T Bear was so excited to go "Trunk-or-Treating."  He put on his Super-Hero costume easily.  Big D took him around the parking lot.  Big D reported that T Bear figured out how to do the trunk-or-treating quickly and soon he could not wait for his friends (Snow White & Tinkerbell) any longer.  He started running between cars to get more candy.

After T Bear finished the circuit, he came back to show me his loot.  He said, "Mom, I know the name of my costume." Slightly confused, I asked him what it was.  T Bear answered, "Robin, like Batman and Robin."


I sighed.  The Super-Hero's true identity had been reveled.  Up until this point I had been clinging to the hope that I could keep my son in a bubble that did not have commercialized super-hero's and action figures.  The longer I could keep T Bear in the dark about these characters, the longer I could keep him as my little innocent boy.  


In September I sewed T Bear a cape with a big letter T.  The only reason T Bear wanted a cape was because he had seen the show "Super Why" and "Wonder Pets."  Those PBS-like characters were the only kind of super-heros T Bear knew.


As Halloween approach, I made T Bear a ghost costume which he refused.  I told him if he did not like the ghost costume, then he could wear a costume he already owned.  He chose his super-hero cape.  Big D convinced me one night that T Bear needed more than just a mere cape to wear on Halloween.  Reluctantly I went to a thrift store and found the perfect super-hero outfit.  It was a Robin costume.  Expect, I did not tell T Bear that is was a Robin costume.  I just told him it would go perfectly with his cape to make him look like a REAL super-hero.  He was thrilled.


He started off Trunk-or-Treat as a generic Super-Hero.  Then person after person commented about his Robin costume, T Bear figured out the true name of his costume.  He also learned about many more super-hero/action figures such as Iron Man, Spider Man, and Batman.  Tonight, I lost my little boy a few steps deeper into the world of super-heros and action figures.  My heart is sadden because that means he is growing up.


Fortunately, T Bear was not upset with me for keeping from him the true identity of his Halloween costume.  His sweet childish nature took the new knowledge with enthusiasm and ran with it.  He loved the whole experience of Trunk-or-Treat. 


I gave my Robin Super-Hero a big hug and then squeezed my puppy dog (Baby Cub) while whispering in his ear that he should never grow up either.  Then we headed home to eat some sticky sticky candy.


Happy Halloween!


-Miss T

Special Sisters Series: friends, pizza and pizookies

*Post written by Andi at marshallstory.blogspot.com

it's 9:30pm, i just got home from a much needed night out with friends.
spencer and olive are asleep on the floor downstairs and harrison is snoozing away in his crib.
i think this is what they call alone time?

tonight was a rare treat. my favorite high school friends were all  together (except for kelsey, why is hawaii so far away?) for 3 hours of uninterrupted girl talk. we laughed and cried over pizza and pizookies at old chicago. i'm sure we were a spectacle, even the waiter piped up here and there with a few comments, but mostly we were too enthralled in the conversation to notice anything not at our table. nothing around us mattered (carbs included) because we were together again.

as we went around the table and each gave our updates; real updates, good and bad, i couldn't help but feel gratitude for these girls. the girls who walked beside me through high school, who shaped me in so many ways, and who have influenced me and continue to influence me throughout my life. 

they are good people...such good people, and they are beautiful, in the truest most sincere form of the word. inside and out. 
they are mothers, wives, and professionals. they are capable. and they are people of faith and conviction.

we talked about marriage, work, kids and family. we were silly and serious and sincere. throughout dinner i kept having the thought that women need women. God put us here together for a reason, but so often we're all too afraid to talk about the real stuff. we exchange pleasantries and small talk, and then go home to wrestle with the hard stuff alone.

crazy,

when there are people in our lives to relate to. people that lift and lead and inspire. in those years since high school our lives have taken us down different paths and we're scattered hundreds of miles apart:idaho, texas, washington, hawaii, but we are so very much the same, and we need each other.

Midnight Run to Winco

KK -


You totally missed out on a midnight run to Winco while I was in Boise.


It was after the Wedding Rehearsal Dinner at the house.  Btown asked me to run to Winco with him.  I asked him why.  He said that he had to use some coupons that expired that night at midnight.


Coupons?  Since when did Btown start using coupons?  I didn't have time to get the details because he was quickly dawdling out the door.  I really didn't want to go, but Big D was not around to go on this adventure with Btown.  I put on some flip-flops with my cute dress, told someone to listen for my sleeping boys and hopped in the car.


As we drove to Winco, I asked Btown why in the world he had coupons.  He admitted to being a reader of a coupon blog.  Laughing he said, "I am probably the only 22 yr old white male college student who follows the blog!"  


That is not true, because his roommates are in on it too.  Btown told me about how they found out about free jeans at Gap.  He and his roommates showed up at the mall early thinking there would be a line for the free jeans event.  No one was there.  But before they got embarrassed and fled, they hung around until the store opened.  They went inside and were one of the first ones to get a pair of FREE jeans.  Pretty sweet.  


Still giggling at Btown, we walked into Winco to find the shampoo.  I selected a shampoo called "Drama Clean" since I thought the name was fitting for myself.  Btown told me that you always have to select your shampoo by how it SMELLS, not by the name.  We then smelled several shampoos and I changed my mind and chose a lovely purple smelling shampoo.  


The cashier gave us some funny looks as we checked out with only shampoo, and then handed her a coupon that made the shampoo absolutely FREE.  I'm sure she was wondering "Who are these people dressed in fancy clothes buying free shampoo at midnight - crazies, I tell you." 


Btown was stoked because his two new bottles of shampoo were sure to last him for the whole next year and they were FREE!  It was hilarious.  


Thanks Btown for an adventurous night (and the FREE shampoo)!


-Miss T


Btown's coupon/deal blog is: Freebies2deals.com

Jeis

Jeis.  That is how T Bear sounded out, spelled, and wrote Jesus all by himself today.  Pretty good, right?


On the "Jesus" note, I have been feeling in awe of the beauty of the earth.  I love autumn because the leaves change into glorious colors.  The sunset is earlier but more rich and crisp.  I am thankful to our loving Heavenly Father, who created this beautiful world for us.  So that amidst challenges and trials in our lives, we can still find beauty all around us.


-Miss T

A nice thought.

A little piece of paper fell out of my planner today. It read:

"Be of good cheer! The future is as bright as your faith."


I thought that was nice. And worth sharing. I hope your cheer is sound, your day fulfilled, and your faith bright.

You are Welcome Costco!

Dear Costco,

As you well remember, my sister had a some things worth apologizing for last week. Well today I have something worth celebrating!

I am your newest Costco Member. It's official folks, and I feel like a true grown-up now that I have a Costco card and can get myself in those blessed doors.

I now say you are welcome, because here are some items I plan on regularly buying (aren't there just some staple Costco items necessary for a happy life?):

Costco gasoline





You just gotta love those long gas pump cords. They can reach around any vehicle. Did you know that the side that the little gasoline icon is on of your dash indicates what side your gas tank opens on? Tip of the day folks, tip of the day.

Costco Muffins

Now these muffins are just beauties. Chocolate? Poppyseed? That delicious apple-ish kind with brown sugar sprinkles, or the coffee-cake-like muffin? I even now love the blueberry muffin! Basically they are just like little cakes, wearing the title of muffin to make you feel like it might be a little bit healthier. :)



Raisins at Costco





Hooray for huge bags of raisins! Did you know these taste great on any breakfast cereal, especially oatmeal?? Another good combo I like is a good ole'peanut-butter and raisin sandwich. Who needs the J when you got the R? And a handful of these is almost a serving of fruit, or so the bag says.







I could go on and on with this list, so I say You Are Welcome Costco. I look forward to a long and happy, mutually-beneficial relationship.

Sincerely yours,
Kk

(and now I want to hear what your favorite Coscto staple is)

Sorry Costco

Dear Costco,


I am so sorry about our visit to your store today. We just came by to get some oatmeal, spinach, formula and pajamas. The pajamas were the problem.


First of all, if you had size 4T pajamas easily available the whole process would have been faster. While I started digging though the stacks, my 11 month old baby started pulling off pajamas by the fistfuls. Then my 3 yr old started digging through the piles. I asked him what he was doing. He said, "Looking for my size." I asked, "What is your size?" He answered, "BIG."


After I messed up 3/4 of your boys' pajamas, I realized that my boys had dumped even more on the floor. I picked them up and moved their grabby hands away from the pajamas. As I was doing so, I knocked off 3 more piles of pajamas. My 3 yr old yelled, "That was your fault mommy!"


I know, it was my fault. By the time I stuffed all of the pajamas back on the table, I noticed that several people were staring. I grabbed a pair of pajamas and pushed my screaming and whining boys away from the clothes while shoving a mini tube of toothpaste into my baby's hand (he loves to chew on them).


My apologies Costco and to whomever had to reorganize them tonight.


-Miss T

T Bear wearing his new pajamas OVER his clothes today.

Education Nation & Baby Cub

KK-

Last week NBC News presented Education Nation. Watch this video to see Baby Cub's appearance in Education Nation.

You only have to watch the first 4 minutes.... the rest is interesting as well, but doesn't feature Baby Cub. (To be exact go to 2:55 to see him fast).

Here is the back story:

Lately, the U of W has asked Baby Cub to participate in a few research studies. We were willing for him to participate because we take the money from the studies and put it into a college fund for him.

One morning, U of W called and asked if they could film Baby Cub. They said that a professor was having her work highlighted during Education Nation on NBC News. I didn't really hear what the research was about because I was excited about getting my cute baby on the news. Later I thought "I should have listened to make sure I agree with the research that will be presented." Oh well, it was too late.

We went to the Lab and the professor glanced at Baby Cub and asked if he was the toddler or the baby that they wanted to film. I said "He is the baby, just the size of a toddler. If that is a problem we are not offended." It was not a problem, so they filmed Baby Cub playing with toys and his mommy. They paid us $20 and said they would let us know if he made the cut.

Obviously he made the cut. Doesn't he look so cute? Big D thinks the appearance was worth way more than $20.

-Miss T

Lady A is official!

Miss T,

Lady A is officially our Sister-in-law and I am thrilled about it.

I'm so impressed with how you managed the weekend. Two boys in Boise with you and no husband (but a Miga and Papa here and there to help you out). Wedding decorations to coordinate and place without the help of me who happened to be the one to commit to it in the first place. Out-of-towners and many relatives to entertain and prevent from heat-stroke at the rehearsal dinner. You did wonderful things to make this weekend wedding a success. Clearly this was meant to be in a magazine.


I just think this picture is perfection.

What a delight to see you. And to see our happy happy happy brother, and our lovely Lady A.

I think you have some entertaining details you could add to the story of this weekend. Any one agree that they need to be shared?

Love, KK

Women's Celebration (Where were you?)

KK-


On Saturday it was the Women's Fitness Celebration - where were you? Oh, that is right, you got your "dream" job at the MTC and have to work on weekends.  Well, we missed you and your Texas roomie terribly.   


This year we sported the green shirts since we registered so early for the race.  We had a pretty good group and we rocked it out at the starting line.  The new members to our crew wondered why we signed up for the "competitive" run & walk waves of the race.  We explained to them, that this race is not that competitive to us but those waves start the race first.  This way we finish the race sooner and get to the food faster.  The food and after-party is one of the best parts (especially for those who don't particularly like to run - ME!). 


This year Grandma Katie stayed at the party to receive a rose as one of the Over 70 year old participants.  She was lucky enough to have all 5 of her daughters walk the race with her this year.


It was fun, but definitely not the same without you.  Will you be there next year?  


-Miss T

Simplicity

Recently I started reading Daughters in My Kingdom, a new church book.  There was a quote from Sister Belle S. Spafford, the ninth Relief Society general president that touched my soul.

"The average woman today, I believe, would do well to appraise her interests, evaluate the activities in which she is engaged, and then take steps to simplify her life, putting things of first importance first, placing emphasis where the rewards will be greatest and most enduring, and ridding herself of the less rewarding activities."

I felt in my heart that right now being a mother to my young children is the most important thing in my life.  There are times that I wish I could be dancing professionally, or be pursuing a career or many other things.  But raising these two boys is such a special experience, that all those other desires will just have to wait.  My boys are going to grow up to fast.

I have also finished reading a book recommended by a wonderful friend, Simplicity Parenting.  The book has inspired me to simplify my life and preserve childhood for my boys.  I don't want them to grow up to too fast.  I want to choose to keep life simple and beautiful.

-Miss T

Well what do you know, I'm engaged!

Dear Married Miss T-

Well what do you know, I'm going to join the married club! Mr. P proposed and I just went and said YES!

Would you like to hear the story and see pictures? I thought so.

The other evening Mr. P picked me up for a date. That's always fun. He drove me to his house and asked "Do you wonder what we're doing at my house?" Why, yes I did wonder. We went through the gate to his backyard and I was transported to HAWAII! Flowers, grass strands, tiki torches, and SAND! Lilting Hawaiian music played in the background as we stepped up to the back deck and I saw the romantic table for two set up. The ambiance of the deck was incredible. I wish you could see the light coming out of the canoe. And the Hawaiian chocolates on the table. And the BYU lei Paul was wearing. And the hibiscus leis strung all around the perimeters of the ceiling. It was awesome. Perfectly romantic.

But thankfully Mr. P also knows I can only handle so much romance at a time, so he included some elements of humor. Our servers were as authentic Hawaiian as you can get in Provo:
The photographer just so happened to be my beloved Tere-z, and the surprise of seeing her just sent me into fits of giggles.
And then Mr. P said some lovely things, got down on his knee, and asked me to marry him. I went ahead and said YES and now I'm engaged.

So, get ready Destination Wedding here we come. A December wedding in Hawaii--I love it! And I hope you do too.

Love,
Engaged Kk