Dance Recital

Kenzie had her first dance recital. She has been excited for weeks about dancing on the stage. She was so cute and full of energy. The lights were so bright that she couldn't see us so she kept saying mommy...daddy...where are you and when she finally saw us she would wave. It was so cute. She loves to go to dance class. At the end of the recital the kids got a surprise...Santa and Mrs. Santa showed up.

Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer

Jingle Bells

Away In A Manger

Decorating Our Tree

Kenzie was super excited to help decorate our Christmas tree this year. She even asked if she could put the star on top of the tree. Her favorite Christmas movie this year has been The Polar Express. She watched it daily.

Turkey Day

For Thanksgiving we decided to take a trip to Burley, Idaho to spend it with my grandpa. My aunt made a wonderful turkey dinner. It was her first turkey and she did an amazing job with dinner. We enjoyed staying with my grandpa and being there with him through a very difficult time. There will be a lot of firsts for my grandpa without his sweetheart but we will all be there with love and support for him. We had lots of fun playing Dance on WII and having competitions with who had the best moves. Kenzie had lots of fun in the front yard at my grandparents house jumping in the leaves that Paul was helping to rake up.

Kenzie and Great Grandma

There was always a special relationship between my grandma and Kenzie. She adored her and thought Kenzie was such a smart little girl. She was always amazed by the things Kenzie did or would say. The day my grandma passed away I knew I needed to tell Kenzie. She kept asking why I was so sad and why I was crying. I wasn't sure how to tell her that her great-grandma had passed away. Paul thought we should take a drive up the canyon and so when we got there and started on our walk I took Kenzie's hand and knelt beside her and looked into her eyes and said Kenzie I need to tell you something...your grandma with the hurt leg (that's how Kenzie would refer to her)went to heaven today and I miss her so much. She looked up at me and said it’s okay mommy, grandma is up in heaven with Jesus. She gave me a big hug. It brought tears to my eyes and my heart just melted. I've always felt that little kids are close to the spirit. When we got to Burley for the funeral I was a bit worried about how she would do at the viewing seeing my grandma. I talked to Kenzie on the way to the viewing and tried to prepare her as best I could. I felt like it was a good teaching opportunity about the Gospel as well. I told Kenzie that each one of us has a body and a spirit. When it’s our time to go live with Jesus our bodies stay here and go to sleep and our spirit (I pointed to her chest) is inside of each of us and the spirit goes up to heaven to live with Jesus. When you see grandma she will be sleeping and she won’t wake up because her spirit is in heaven with Jesus. I was afraid she would either be scared when she saw grandma laying there or that she would try to wake her up. When we got to the funeral home and walked up to the front of the room to see grandma, Kenzie looked at her and said mommy she's so pretty. I said yes sweatheart she is. Then she said mommy don’t cry it’s okay my grandma is so happy. I said why is she so happy, Kenzie said because she’s in heaven. In fact, Kenzie kept wanting to go stand or sit on the chair by the casket. All she wanted was to be close to her great-grandma. She just had a special relationship with her that nothing could break. It didn’t matter that grandma was in heaven, Kenzie still was connected to her. The next day as we were in the car on the way to the funeral, Kenzie said mommy I want to fly up in the sky but I'm sad because I can't fly. Not knowing what she was talking about I turned around in my seat and said Why do you want to fly up in the sky? She said because that’s where Heaven is. There have been a few times over the last 4 months that out of the blue Kenzie will say mommy I'm sad today and when I ask her why she says because I miss my grandma with the hurt leg. Kenzie has taught me a lot over the last 4 months and I know that even at the age of 3 a child feels the spirit and feels loss just as we do as adults.

Grandma

We little knew that morning that God was going to call your name, in life we loved you dearly, in death, we do the same. It broke our hearts to lose you, you did not go alone. For part of us went with you, the day God called you home. You left us beautiful memories, your love is still our guide, and although we cannot see you, you are always at our side. Our family chain is broken, and nothing seems the same, but as God calls us one by one, the chain will link again. Ron Tranmer

October Blues

It was a difficult October for us full of emotions. We lost our dear Grandmother which was very unexpected. My grandma had been experiencing some hip pain so after several consultations with a doctor in SLC who had done many surgeries using a less invasive procedure she decided to have hip replacement surgery. My mother and aunt came down to spend the days leading up to surgery and after with her and my grandpa to help in the recovery process. I was able to go to the hospital 3 days after her surgery while she was in recovery. She was doing so great that day. Apparently it had been her first day up and walking in the halls. As she saw me, Paul and Kenzie walk through the door her eyes lit up and she was so happy to see us. Kenzie took her over some flowers to help cheer her up. Mom said that the doctor thought she could be released in the next 2 days because she was recovering so well. Hearing this made me happy that she had made it through surgery and was now on her way to recovery and a better life filled with no pain in her leg and hip. However, I was still feeling emotional that day. It started from the minute I woke up and all the way down to the hospital. My heart was so full that day and something felt different. I couldn't figure out why I kept getting teary eyed and feeling inside that this might be the last time I see my grandma. Seemed kind of silly since the doctor was releasing her in a couple of days and she was in great hands. As I look back on that day I know why I was feeling those emotions. I believe that was the spirit trying to prepare me for what would happen in days following her release from the hospital. My grandma woke up early one morning and told my grandpa she needed help getting out of bed. She had been up earlier that morning by herself but this time was different she needed help. My grandpa quickly realized something was not right. He called for my aunt and mom who came to help. My grandma was rushed to the Burley, Idaho hospital and then life-flighted to Boise. She had a brain hemirrgage and sadly there was nothing the doctors could do for her. She was placed on life support till her family arrived. Everyone took turns holding her hand throughout the entire process of taking her off life support. My mom said that every time my grandpa would hold her hand my grandma's heart beat would start pumping harder. My grandma didn't want to go without her sweetheart. My mom says that grandpa kept telling my grandma how beautiful she is and how she is the love of his life. He held her till she slipped peacefully on to heaven. I'm grateful for the private time my grandparents had just the day prior when they went on their morning walk together hand in hand. Every one of her family members, all the grandchildren and great-grandchildren flew in from all over the U.S. to honor my grandmother and support my grandpa during this time. My grandmother was such an amazing example to all of us in so many ways. My cute grandpa misses her dearly and I know she is watching over him and all of us. I'm so grateful for eternal families and I know that we will see her again.

Fall Colors

I love Fall! The colors are always so amazing to me. I just wish that the season lasted longer and that winter was shorter. Today Paul took me and Kenzie up the canyon by our house and we went for a bike ride and then a short hike. We stopped along the way to get some pictures of all the beautiful leaves. It's always so peaceful up the canyon and a nice place to go as a family.

Pumpkin Patch

One Saturday we took Kenzie to the pumpkin patch in town. They had hayrides, corn mazes for little kids, a corn sand box, animals to feed and a pumpkin patch. Kenzie loved the hayride, playing in the kernels of corn and picking out her very own pumpkin along with mom's and dad's and of course feeding the animals. She kept saying how cute they were. It was also a really nice sunny warm day.

Halloween Pumpkin Carving

Kenzie picked out her very own pumpkin to carve at the pumpkin patch and she picked out ours as well. She loves helping to scoop out the insides and watch as daddy carves the faces. This year Kenzie wanted triangle eyes, nose and a mouth with 2 teeth. Unfortunately, by the time I realized I didn't get a picture of all 3 pumpkins on our porch the sun had already gotten to them and they were very droopy.

We Got Boo'd

Someone in our neighborhood Boo'd us by dropping off cookies at our door with a Ghost that we were to tape to our door. We then were to boo another neighbor who didn't have the ghost on their front door. We decided to get out our homemade sugar cookie recipe and whip up a batch of yummy cookies. Kenzie loves to help me bake so she got our her apron and went to work dumping the items in the bowl that I gave to her. Then it was time to decorate the cookies with icing and candies. She loved every minute of making each cookie a special little treat.

Daddy Daughter Night

Our ward had a special evening devoted to daddy's and daughters. This was the first year Kenzie got to experience this and she was so excited all day to have a date night with her daddy. The event included dinner and dancing. I was reflecting back to when I was younger and our ward in California had the same event. I remember the same excitement that Kenzie had that day. I too loved spending time with my dad and having a daddy/daughter date night. I think it's so important that daddy's have a strong relationship with their daughters. I hope that these events will always mean something special to Kenzie throughout the years and that she will always have a special relationship with her daddy.

Drawing with Chalk

This past Summer and Fall Kenzie has loved to draw with chalk on our driveway. She's had lots of friends over to help draw pictures and she's even gotten mom and dad involved in her cute projects asking us to draw houses, animals, stars, and her family and friends. We're sad that the weather is getting too cold for playing with chalk outside. Next year we'll have to stock up on buckets of chalk.