church callings

Now if you are new to our faith, there is one thing that seems to be continuous. That you serve in a church calling. Usually in the same one until you die. Well, Almost. Take me for example. I have been in some form of Church Activities planning for ever. I almost always expect to get this calling at some point. And I love it. I like doing it and it comes easy (unlike Primary Chorister which was a stretch for me). Now Andy has always worked with the youth. In particular, the Young Men. In some form or another for 10 years. Except when we moved to Missouri. It's like the Lord just can't figure out what to do with him. He was in the Bishopric for a few months and then wasn't. He was a Seminary teacher for awhile and then wasn't. He was in the Ward Young Men's Presidency for like 4 months and then wasn't and just recently (say 2 months) he was called to the Stake Young Men's Presidency and as of last night is no longer. They just reorganized the Stake Presidency which meant that Scott Pulley got pulled up to be a councilor. He had been the Young Men's President but with him moving upward, the YMP is dissolved leaving Andy once again with no calling...Would anyone like to hazard a guess what Missouri has in store for him next???

A Bit of Brillance

This story begins on Saturday morning. As always, Heather and I are trying to convince our children that cleaning the house is a fun and exciting activity that every child wishes they could have. And as always, our kids weren't buying it. Instead my little stow away sat downstairs and invented a game that she could share with her mother and father. It was hard for me to be angry with her when she was being so creative. For those of you that are interested, please play along. If we get enough interest I will be contacting Milton Bradley and informing them that we may have a prodigy on our hands.

Just in case you cannot see the image clearly, the two boxes at the bottom that are labeled "M" and "D" are for scorekeeping purposes. Katie understands how much Heather and I enjoy a good competition. The directions are written along the left side. While some of her spelling is off I am constantly amazed at how much Katie can create and figure out in her own mind, without needing assistance. You'll notice the game even comes complete with a beautiful, maturing tree. So the basic premise of the game is this: you take the little red drawing at the top, which represents the top of an acorn, and you try to figure out which drawing on the right accurately completes the picture. This is probably the third or fourth game that Katie has created from scratch, without any prompting. I'd love to see the inner workings of her mind because some of the things that she does fascinate me. Needless to say, at times I have a hard time keeping up with her intellectually. Luckily, I think she will take after her mother in that regard!

(Thank you Andy for that fun post and as her mother may I just add a little bit of news regarding Katie? She was asked to take an IQ test at school. Based on her score, we now know she takes after...drum roll please....both of us of course. She is brilliant and has been placed in the talented and gifted program. She is indeed a smarty. My miracle baby that we weren't supposed to be able to have, one who was born early, had many doctors working with her to walk and talk and I remember being so proud that she could say moo when she turned two. Way to go and show us all!!!)

and it will all be coming...

I have been so busy at the end of 2008 that nothing has been documented. (lament, lament). But never fear, the big update will be coming shortly. So stayed tune for...fishing with the Deppongs, Halloween with the Kneses, The Ward Fall Festival (my calling as Ward Activities Director) the Ward Christmas Party, Katie's Class parties (Halloween and Christmas...though you can't call them that), Cats the musical, Thanksgiving with the inlaws and friends, visiting with Shelby and Jim, fun pics around the house, our annual Christmas devotional with the Goodmans and Keetches, and then our fabulous trip to Florida for Christmas...Thanks for allowing me this major backlog of pics, Love to all, Heather

At Katie's class party this year I came dressed as a witch. We hunted up all the ingredients to make a witches brew that the children then ate. It was so much fun and the kids really liked it. here were all the ingredients that went into the brew...

For Halloween this year, Andy went to AAMFT conf in Tennessee. So we were on our own. Left we despair, the Knese's stepped in to be our official Grandparents of the evening. They came, carved our pumpkins, walked the stroller with Griff inside and allowed me to trick or treat with my children. Thank goodness for extra grandmas and grandpas when the real ones are so far away and miss out on so much... Griff was a tiger this year because it was the warmest thing we owned. Although Halloween was such a hot day he really didn't need the extra warmth.
Here Linda carves our pumpkins and hands out candy.... She even came prepared with her own knife in her purse. Is that dedication or what. She then took the seeds home and cooked them for us. Could I get any luckier???
Katie making witches brew from her class party.
Bro. Knese walking Griff in the stroller during trick or treat time. and below are all the neighborhood children who joined in the fun... note that this year Baker wanted to be a moth. He pronounced it mop all evening much to the amusement of anyone who asked what he was.

Katie caught the biggest fish, the smallest fish and a crayfish (or crawfish?). This is her largest catch for the day. It is sad that her poppy lives so far away since I always imagined this to be his job. But luckily there are several grandpas in our church family who are willing to step in. Here Ollie Deppong steps in to teach Katie how to fish. He was very patient with both her and Baker. Especially since Baker really only wanted to throw rocks in the pond.
Not only was her our worm baiter, he was the official fish remover. Ollie and his lovely wife Debbie took us out when Andy was out of town. What a great way to spend a weekend alone with the kids. Inviting others to help entertain them.
Here we are trying to get a fish. I was determined and actually caught quite a few little ones.
And speaking of little, here is the smallest fish we caught. Looks like it could be in a fish bowl.

Griffith after scavenging on the floor for any food at all... Katie's unique way of traveling with Griffith when no one is watching....
Griffith eating the food he dropped previously from his high chair...
Fishing with Debbie...what a treat this was for us

Ollie showing us how to put worms on the hook (and even after all his showing, he was the only one who did it. I couldn't bring myself to inflict pain on the worm and Katie only liked to get them...so he continued to be our official worm hooker.

If you pray, they will come

Just announcing that Shelby and Jim are indeed taking a job in Cape Girardeau. They will be one and a half hours away exactly. From start to finish. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am. Except to add that my parents have announced they will be coming too. As soon as we find them a job :). But my dream of having family close is coming sooner than I ever imagined. I'm so excited I could pee my pants (good thing we know an extra special Keetch doctor for that kind of thing!) Anyway, have a happy exciting moment on me! My life just improved by leaps and bounds.

Have you ever been this tired?

So the other day, Griffith was sitting up and chatting to me and then in one instant he simply laid his head on the floor and fell asleep. Could you imagine bottling that up for all the insomnia patients? I know I have often felt this tired but am amazed at children's ability to sleep wherever they find themselves, whenever they need to. What an adorable little man! Of course, I guess that same reaction returns to you as you get older, just pay attention to any high priest in your ward the next time you attend church!

Baker Turns Three!!!

Happy Birthday Baker. These are out of order, just blame my late nights of no sleep! e of you who remember Katie'sy, you will not be surprised that Baker decided he needed to have a special birthday party too. Unfortunately, his birthday isn't until right before Christmas, so we decided to have an early party so that his best friend Abbey could attend.
Here is the after take of all his gifts

The special hot dog cars that his daddy, Andy made all the kids for lunch

The kids all racing their race cars into the cozy cone hotels

Now what we were thinking inviting 14 little 2-4 year olds to drop off party, I'm not sure. But what fun chaos we enjoyed for the 2 hours...

And of course, no Racecar "Speed" party would be complete without the ever lovable Lightning and Mater... Can't have the party without the cake. This was my attempt at a Lightning cake. I actually think it came out pretty well. Not a food Network challenge cake, but not bad... it

Baker attempting to tip tractors with his car... This was a hit game during the party. Can you feel the excitement now? A bunch of 2-4 year olds with permission to knock down any tractor they can?

am I a Smith?

so here's my funny story of the night. I felt that I was sitting in the Smith household listening to Matt and Missy...

it goes something like this... We are at dinner and had just sat down to a salad (Matt B would be proud) when Baker jumps up, announces that his belly hurts, grabs his hiney and runs for the toilet. Now two year old little legs can only go so fast so I quickly follow (did I mention he's potty trained?). You can stop Reading here if TMI gets in the way of you enjoying a good story.

So, I hate bathroom stuff. I pee and well, do everything in the bathroom alone. I don't need help, I don't need conversation, I don't need anyone looking and comparing notes. This is, I might add, different than my in laws who all love to sit and chat together, in the bathroom. So I quickly sit back down to enjoy my dinner once Baker's on the toilet. After a little while he announces that he's done pooping. I said, great, your dad will be right in to wipe you.

Andy takes a big bite of food and heads in. Now, when it's me, I simply bend the kid over, wipe and flush. But oh, not so when Andy's involved. He makes comments. So I'm eating and listening to a running commentary of ...."wow, Baker. good thing you made it. that's alot of poopy. did you get it all out?" at which point, Katie then decides she needs to join in and see this poop. So off she runs and the conversation continues. "Would it have fallen out on the floor if he had pooped in his underwear?" Katie asks. At which point I can only imagine Andy and her both looked and I heard "ummm, well not that kind of poopy, good thing he made it" and then it continues but I'll spare you the details. I had a good silent laugh that this was our dinner conversation. Andy tried to save it later with a brief catch up of what Katie's teacher taught her in Sunday school, but looking back, my kids are going to remember the time they discussed poop and who had the longest one. Is there an award for that? Because my husband actually took a picture of Baker's the other day. (and tempted as I might be, I won't put it on here) Oh my...HOW DID I END UP IN THIS FAMILY????

Good thing I love them. Heather

long lost Katie

So this picture was sent to us by our

dear relatives who live in Utah. It made me smile to think of how tiny Katie was. And this was probably 2 weeks after she was born. The memories of little Kate who never says "you're the meanest mommy" and stomps and slams doors and gives me the angry eyes. Ahhhhhhhh, yes....deep breath, look back and remember that one day, when they are in the temple getting married, she will not be shooting me angry eyes...and it will all be worth it!

The beauty of leaves

As always, I am loving the growth of this beautiful child I was blessed with. How could you not look at this perfect child and not believe that God designed him? What a doll. Can you imagine our next one? They only seem to get better... After all this time, we still are Texans at heart!

Here he is, enjoying the great weather, the wonderful photo shoot and lots of leaves.... leaning up on a huge pile from our house
As Katie throws leaves all over him...
more than a little bored of mommy's endless fascination with snapping photos.
that's all folks, see ya next time!

A New Do

After much tribulation and many screaming matches over tangled curls, Katie got a hair cut. What began as a disastrous Mullet was soon corrected. She now has what she self entitled "Wig Hair" like Grammy's hair wig :)

Please Pray with Me

For a few years of my life, there was only one man who occupied the spot of best of everything for me. He was sent from Heaven to be my angel when I needed it most, he was there to guide me through many hard nights, help me through a gazillion DTR's and would just play in the most honest sense of the word. He was one of my best friends. He occupied a spot in my heart that is still realistically his (and for those that worry for Andy, don't...Andy loves him just as dearly). He picked out my fantastic husband for me and danced the last dance in my wedding video with me. He was my love. Pure and simple. And he is suffering.
His wife was just diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. Her name is also Heather, and Andy and I had the privilege of spending time with their family when we drove through Colorado this summer. She just gave birth to their third baby and she couldn't be a better match for my dear friend. I can not imagine how they are coping, but I believe in miracles. I believe in God's will. And while His faith is struggling, I ask you to join with me in prayer for them. Pray that no matter what happens, He will have the strength to survive. Eldon and Heather, we love you and hope the angels are around your little ones and you tonight, holding you up.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/heatherkartchner

The day has come...

Thanks to the hard work of my husband (and lots of sacrifices on his part), the clever way I've saved money (like making us eat food past the expiration date much to Andy's dismay or cutting my own hair as my friend LeAnn mocked me for this morning), many nights of not eating out when Andy was dying to go to Roadhouse, Andy's incredible brother who has advised us and ran a marathon to boot :), fasting and praying for the ends to meet up when they didn't seem to, family members who have spent money on our behalf or sent it to us when it was needed, serving the Lord and using our incredible talents to bless the lives of others with the money he has blessed us with (like feeding the missionaries, donating to worthy causes and making meals for those who we feel need it), Instead of dates meaning dinner and movies (in who knows how long) we were content with long hikes, sitting in the free seats at the Muny, missing Wicked at the Fox, etc..etc..I could go on... IT HAS FINALLY HAPPENED!

Tonight we made the final payment on our final student loan. We still have other debts to pay, but for once, during General Conference, we can listen to the get out of debt talks and feel confident that the Lord has blessed us in so many ways to make this happen.

A Mammoth of a Party

Every year about this time I think...do I really want to do another theme party? And yet, every year I send out the invitations, plan and prepare and swear this will be the last year. But here we are again, almost a decade of theme parties to our name with a giant Mammoth ready to be killed in our back yard.Andy and I set up most of the games and the backyard and it seemed like it was going so well. I sent Andy off to play Volleyball and I went to the store for last minute items for the games and then spent some time praying for the rain from Gustav to hold off long enough for us to have the party. And my prayers were heard.
The cave men and woman arrived in true Caveman Spirit. We had everything from archaeologists, to silky leopard jammies, to the couple dressed as Geico business cards. From the geico caveman himself, to the Flintstones and the Rubbles. And as always, I'm reminded of how much fun adults can have when they let down their hair and let loose for a few hours. The teams were made, the laughter commenced and the memories began...And another year is done...and who knows, perhaps next year we'll do it again.

I apologize that from here on out the pictures will get darker, but I didn't account for it getting so dark, so soon. Here the contestants had to eat a chicken drumstick down to the bone and then try to chuck it into a red ladybug sandbox. You might think this sounds easy...but the bones were slippery and bounced quickly out...some never even came close to going in. I always tell Andy that we never get pictures of me since I am always running the show and then taking the pictures. So this year Andy took them and while he got some of me, we didn't get any of him. When will we learn?
Passing the Neanderthal skull around in our version of Hot Potato was a hit. I never saw those heads go flying more than when these adults thought they might end up with them and get out. It was fierce (perhaps only to be rivaled by our Musical Flower game at The Ugly Bug Ball when Andy's sister tackled a pregnant lady to get one of the last remaining spots).
Here is our hairiest chestiest Caveman throwing his spear through the Mammoth's Belly.
And here is our littlest caveman who decided that he didn't want to be with the babysitter watching Ariel's Mermaid New Beginning and so crashed the party repeatedly.

Fred stood out as one of our most cartoonish caveman. Along with his wife, Wilma (Amy), they reminded us why we loved being kids. The Parks have decided to move to Oregon. They will be missed for more than their ham :) ! We have enjoyed being around this zany duo who love to do just about anything we can dream up and never complain. We wish you the best of luck
Here is our archaeologist taking her turn at spearing the mammoth. Go Cathy. The celebration dances commenced with every style and action known to man. Who was I to judge what was the best. They were all unique and fun.
I wondered though with this team as they dragged their woman off the stage...

And as all cavemen will be cavemen, one team tackled and dragged out Trent Sigler and then did their hunting celebration dance with him being the catch.
In the darkness, the team members competed to draw the most items from the primitive caveman pictograph that was drawn on the cave wall overlooking the food. The we had what I considered to be the hardest game. The teams raced to put together a puzzle which told them to go to the dinosaur sandbox to uncover eggs. Once the eggs were open they struggled to put together a dinosaur without speaking...well, they were allowed to grunt. And as LeAnn, Brianna and Amy showed us, their grunts could be quite loud, quite primitive and definitely got the point across that someone was standing in their light. Definitely not an average submissive cave woman!
Here our resident daddy Caveman looks on while debating if he should grunt his wisdom to help this team along. After all, the Elder's Quorum leader stole the other eggs, lied about it and gave them a slow start :)
And when all was said and done, only one caveman was left. Our tribute to the modern age. One caveman who just couldn't understand why his cave woman was grunting so much about this task...until he tried to do it himself. What a fun night!
then the party ended and the backyard became just a backyard once again.