October Newsletter & Slideshow

Below is the slideshow for both October & McKinley's baptism pictures, as well as the newsletter. Enjoy!

https://picasaweb.google.com/sunkist640/2013_10Slideshow?authuser=0&feat=directlink




https://picasaweb.google.com/sunkist640/2013_09_McKinleyBaptismPics?authuser=0&feat=directlink

FAMILY:

October was full of cooler temperatures and changing leaves. It was a busy, beautiful month. We had 2 big, fun events – McKinley’s baptism & Kezi’s 4^th birthday, and one very sad event – the death of our friend, Andrew Strand.  The first weekend in October was spent enjoying conference. The girls had fun coloring big pictures while we listened. The 12^th was McKinley’s baptism, so that was a wonderful time for family & friends to come support her. It was a full, crazy, wonderful house & so fun to visit with everyone and feel their love for McKinley. She was truly beautiful. The evening of the 12^th, Grandma Potts threw a Halloween Party/Kezia’s birthday party. The cousins all dressed up and had a lot of fun with the games & activities. Aunt Cindy made Kezia an adorable Mario/Luigi birthday cake that Kezi loved. The Simons, Grandma Potts, and the Edwards went to church with us on the 13^th and that was wonderful to have them there. On the 15^th, there was a wave of light event for the international infant loss day. We joined with about 100 other families to honor our babies that died by lighting candles, talking about them and letting go of balloons. It was really neat. On the 16^th, Heidi & Jason went to the funeral of their friend, Andrew Strand. It was a sad day, but we were thankful to be able to be there for Jen, Anna & Ella. The 18^th to the 21^st was the girls’ fall break. We had a good time going to 5 little monkeys, the park, and playing with friends. On the 19^th, we went to some pet shops in the morning, swimming in the afternoon, and the Judd Pumpkin Patch in the evening. We went to the pumpkin patch to get some pumpkins and pet the farm animals, but we ended up not getting any pumpkins because most of them were rotten. We did get to pet the farm animals & run into our friends, the Daniels, but instead of getting pumpkins, we got a pet bunny! Kezia had been wanting a bunny for her birthday for such a long time (or a kitty or guinea pig) & we had been looking that morning & there was a purebred Dutch bunny there at the pumpkin patch– the last one left. So cute – black & white. So… after some thinking about it, we decided to go ahead & bring him home. Kezia originally named him rainbow (even though he’s black & white), but after mom reminded her that the bunny was a boy, she changed it to “Rainbow Truck.” We have had a fun time with Rainbow Truck since he’s joined our family. He entertains us with his crazy jumps and sprints (binkying), and we love to cuddle with him and his soft fur. We are still working on potty training him & he does make lots of messes, but overall he’s been a lot of fun. Mom had to put a bell collar on him because he would get out & no one could find him! The 26^th was Kezia’s big day! She turned four this year, so she got to have a friend party. Read her section to hear all about her birthday fun! On the 30^th, we carved our pumpkins, which was a lot of fun! McKinley was old enough to do hers all by herself this year & the other girls drew the plans for what they wanted & mom & dad helped. Dad did a really gross puking pumpkin this year. The girls had fun on Halloween – they got to wear their costumes to school this year! Ireland was a queen, McKinley was a rock star and Kezia was a mermaid. After they got home from their fun school parties, they got to go to the Klassens in the ward, where there was another party with homemade root beer and games and book-reading. It was a lot of fun. Daddy took them trick-or-treating this year. It was cold, but they each came home with filled buckets!!

JASON: Jason was furloughed for about 2 weeks out of the beginning of the month. He sure took advantage of the time! He built the stairs off the bottom deck with Jeff, stained the deck and the stairs, fixed our garage door opener (we had to order a new part & he installed it), fixed the stove (it wasn’t heating properly – we had to order 2 expensive parts to fix it), and worked on the retaining wall & drainage for the backyard. So – needless to say, he stayed busy & didn’t get bored. We were thankful for that extra time, even though it was stressful, not knowing if he would get back pay. Thankfully, he did and is now back at work J In scouts, their focus has been on indexing. Jason stayed up many late nights putting in names & information. He got up to 200 names. Great job!!!

 HEIDI:  Most of the last half of October was spent nonstop working on Link’s birthday book. Some days, she didn’t even get dressed! She was a bit obsessive since Link’s bench wouldn’t be done by his birthday & she knew if she worked hard, it could be completed. It was about 220 pages long, but she did complete it & can’t wait to see it! She enjoyed seeing family & friends for McKinley’s baptism & having them come to church. She started re-reading the Hiding Place & has already learned so very much that is helped her gain perspective and makes her want to be a better person. She has tried to help & support Jen through the shock and grief of losing her husband. She knows it isn’t easy. 

McKINLEY:

-During conference, McKinley had a part of butcher paper – about 4 feet long. She decided to draw a fairy town – complete with tree fairy houses, fairy businesses, and fairies “walking” their flying pets. It was so creative and cute!

-McKinley’s baptism was really wonderful. She looked so beautiful in the ruffle white dress that Grandma Devenish gave to her & the flower made from mom’s wedding dress that Grandma Potts made. Everyone on dad’s side came & everyone but the Checketts came on mom’s side (Aunt Tiffany was really pregnant & in Minnesota!) – also the Benson’s & Bealers & Price’s came. We first went to the stake center where there was a talk and song and then her baptism. It was such a beautiful experience to see her walk into the water, have her daddy take her hand and baptize her. She said that was the very favorite part of her day – when her daddy’s baptized her. We went back to our church and daddy confirmed her (it was a wonderful confirmation & daddy even mentioned about a mission) and Aunt Cindy & Michael gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. Kalli, Tiarra, & Camri also sang “Come into the Water. “ It was so neat. Brother Pearson also spoke and Jocelyn Barnes. The primary presidency gave McKinley a thing of notecards with everyone’s testimony on it and everyone signed a frame for her. Then we came back to our home & had yummy food and McKinley got LOTS of gifts, including a hand-stamped necklace with her baptism date on it & “I promise” from Aunt Trisha, a “faith, hope & charity” necklace from Grandma Tew that belonged to her when she was younger, a Holy Ghost plaque from her Primary Teacher, sister Bybee, a Liahona from Aunt Cindy, a soft blanket from the Bensons, a journal from Aunt Kim, and of course her scriptures & CTR ring from mom & dad.

-Since she was given the Holy Ghost, she’s had a couple neat experiences, including a reminder to write in her journal about her baptism day and a reminder to be nice to a boy that others were being mean to.

-McKinley had her first “lateover” this month with MJ (Mary Jane). She got to go over & watch movies with her & drink punch & have pizza. Mom & dad let her stay over till 11 – by that time, MJ was asleep J

-McKinley has done so well in school! She consistently gets over 100% on her spelling tests (bonus words), and she got called down to the office to go with a few other kids and Principle Whittiar to walk to the gas station and pick a treat!! She got to go because she was such a great leader.

-Grandma took McKinley shopping for her birthday & she picked a crochet project. It took a while & some youtube videos to figure out, but she learned the basic crochet stitch! She said “How do you feel now that you have a daughter that knows how to crochet?”

-McKinley spent a lot of time writing thank you notes for everyone coming to her baptism J

-When we were looking for a pet for Kezia, we went to IFA & saw the white rabbits there. The lady told us they were meat rabbits. On our way out, mom said “those rabbits are for eating” and McKinley said “yeah…they just eat & eat & eat and then they just get too big to play with.” We just let her think that J

-McKinley continues to love activity days – this month she made a ghost pillow, and a popcorn hand J

-McKinley was a rock star for Halloween. We even spray-painted her hair purple & pink!

-McKinley lost a molar this month!

IRELAND:

-Ireland’s big news this month is that she lost her first tooth!! Daddy sure helped out J She was REALLY excited – jumping up and down. We had to call everyone. She had to wait over a year longer than McKinley when she was her age. She was pretty excited to get a gold coin from the tooth fairy!

-Ireland is into drawing mermaids lately. During conference, she was drawing lots of great mermaids. She held up her paper & said “Look mom! I’m an illustrator!”

-Ireland is still really cute about drawing & giving I LOVE YOU cards. She makes them for members of our family a lot. The other day, mom found one that said “I LOVE ME!” So cute!

-Ireland is doing terrific in school as well. We had SEP conferences and her teacher talked about what a good friend and artist Ireland is. Mom got to go to 4 different “centers” and got to do some projects with Ireland. It was a lot of fun.

-Ireland is also doing great with “Lime tickets” – tickets that they get for being a good leader & friend. Also, one day she came home with candy in her backpack. Mom asked her where she got it from & she said “I got it because I was famous in my class for doing all the sight words” J

-Ireland has been saying a lot lately that her tummy or her head hurts L

-A sweet woman from our ward, Brooke Schoppman, went to Ireland for a couple weeks. She was so kind and brought back a beautiful, thick, green scarf that says “IRELAND” on it for her, as well as a bumper sticker & magnet. She is so thoughtful. Ireland just LOVES her scarf from “her country.”
-Ireland originally wanted to be a ballerina for Halloween, but while she & mom were scrolling through costumes & she saw this pink queen dress & said “NO –mom! Wait! That’s the one!” and so we spent too much and bought a beautiful pink queen outfit, complete with a crown and wand. People would say what a beautiful princess she was & she would say “I’m NOT a princess! I’m a QUEEN!”

-She had such a fun party at school & brought home lots of candy. She had a great time trick-or-treating with her sisters & daddy, tooJ

KEZIA

-Happy 4^th Birthday Kezia! We celebrated Kezia’s birthday early when everyone was here for McKinley’s baptism. She had fun shopping with Grandma & enjoying her Super Mario Brother’s cake that Aunt Cindy made. Her actual birthday (the 26^th) was on a Saturday, which made it perfect for her party! We had everyone wear their costumes & we piggy-backed onto the library’s Halloween activities. There was a cardboard maze, a sucker-ghost craft, a mask craft, a book walk, and pin the tail on the jack-o-lantern. Afterwards, we headed to the park next to the library for cake, ice cream & gifts. Grandma Devenish, Hayden, Canyon, Aunt Keeley, Daken, Mahina Vogt, Kyla Johnson, Paige Hillstead, Laura Spencer, Addison, Brecken & Jaxon Bealer, Rachel Corry, and Anna & Ella Strand (& your family!) came! She got so many wonderful gifts – lots of My Little Ponies (mom & dad even gave her a pony castle!), pretend make-up, nail polish, stuffed animals, a puzzle, books, & her sister McKinley even spent $10 of her own money to buy her a stuffed pony. It was a beautiful, perfect day for an outdoor party. Everyone played at the park afterward. She wanted pancakes for breakfast (daddy even made a #4 for her J), macaroni & cheese for lunch, and Taco Bell for dinner. Grandma & Grandpa Devenish, Hayden & Canyon, Aunt Keeley & Daken and our family all went to Taco Bell after the party & then we came home to play with gifts! It was a great birthday! Earlier in the day, daddy even took her swimming J

-Kezi’s preschool called to say she was missing an immunization. We had to head to the dr. the next day to get the shot. She was pretty unhappy about going & nervous about how much it was going to hurt. In the end, she cried for a minute, but was fine! – and happy to get her sucker J

-Kezi was coughing quite a bit this month. One day she said “I almost coughed out a booger cough.”

-Seems like everywhere we go, Kezi meets a new friend. And within a few minutes, she comes over to mom wanting our phone number for a play date (even when the “friend” is 10 years old J)

-It seems like every time we need to go some place, Kezi can’t find her shoes. One of these times, we were running late & mom was trying to get her to pick a pair of shoes. She looked over them & sighed “none of my shoes are clever.”

-We’ve had to try and talk to Kezia about being a better friend. When her friend Addi comes over, she runs from her and closes the door & says “I need some alone time!”

-Kezia doesn’t usually want to say her prayers at night L

-Kezia loves her new bunny. We really have to remind her to be gentle. She loves to squeeze it and love it. She also likes to take Rainbow Truck upstairs & dress it up.

-Kezi was telling one of her friends “Do you know what boy died in our family?”

-Kezia has really started getting good at writing her letters this month! Yay! She can really write her name and most names of people in our family. Way to GO Kezia!!!

-Kezia is constantly looking for someone to play hide & seek with her.

-When Kezi opened one of her birthday cards and found cash inside, she held it up and yelled “LOOK! I got tithing for my birthday!”

-One of the girls was saying “duh” & mom said there is never a time where “duh” is a nice word. Kezia paused & then said “Yes it is if you say duh! You can have my toy.”

-On Halloween we were talking about what the bunny was going to be. Kezia said we should spray it with the hair spray paint. Mom laughed & said “Hmmm – not sure that’s a good idea. How would we clean it off?” Kezia thought & then said “In the dishwasher!”

-Kezia wanted to be Princess Luna for Halloween, but we just couldn’t find the costume online. Instead we found a mermaid costume & she was pretty excited to wear it. She got to wear it to her birthday party & her preschool party. She had a lot of fun trick-or-treating!

LINK:

 Hello our sweet son. Mom re-lived the entire journey of your life – from the minute she found out she was pregnant with you, to the day you died while she was putting together your birthday book. And it was hard. Beautiful, sweet, miraculous, and so very painful at the same time. She re-lived a lot of the emotions, too, and in the end, she is just so full of love for YOU and gratitude that she got to be a part of your journey. We missed you at your oldest sister’s baptism. We missed you at your older sister’s birthday. We REALLY truly missed you on Halloween. Mom stopped by your grave that morning and sobbed beside your marker. She left you a few pieces of candy. Daddy also visited you that day. We both wish you were here to dress up and take trick-or-treating. We know you have been a part of helping daddy index names and work on family history. We know you watch out for your sisters and help protect us and guide us. Grandma Potts says you have been a part of her decision to serve as a temple worker. She has been working on family history as well & tells mom “I spent some time with Link today!” We still talk about you every day, our precious baby boy. We talk about what you’d be doing. Kezi draws you pictures & is starting to write your name. As we near your birthday, please please be with us. As the memories come over us and the emotions come, too, please be with us and help us to see the miracles and blessings instead of what wasn’t. We love you. We miss you. We are so thankful for you.