Emma's Blessing

We were able to go down for Emma's blessing...
She is such a beautiful girl and we are so grateful

that she is part of our family.

Kimi is enjoying having a baby girl so much

and

Jared really loves his baby sister.

He is very sweet with her.

Matt is practicing his scary police face for all the boys

who will eventually want to date her!



The kitchen

 

 Well...

That went faster than I thought it would!!!

 

We have had problems with our countertop for years.
We had someone come in and fix it once,

and he told us then that they really needed to replace the counter.

Part of the big island was actually two different colors,

and it kept cracking by our stove top.

 

After yet another crack,

they decided to honor the warranty and told us we could even pick a new color.

We also chose to get rid of the cooktop and replace it with a huge oven.

Now I have my double ovens and this awesome beast of a range!

It's huge.

I can cook with my extra large pan..

and still have room for my other normal pans.

The lighter color turned out so well.
We have never had light counter tops here so this opened up the kitchen in a whole  new way.

 

It only took a couple of hours and the two men did a fabulous job.

I was so happy!

Happy with the service and happy with the way it turned out.

 

I am looking forward to an excuse to cook for the entire crew now!!!

 

Kimi's visit

 

We were so glad to have Kimi be able to come and spend a couple of weeks with us.  It was so nice to have her and the kids here.  We got to spend lots of time with Jared, and snuggling Emma and it was crazy, and fun to have all 5 of the grandbabies here one night when their parents went out.  Though I will admit that I am not as good as I once was.  At one point I am pretty sure we had every single child under the age of 6 in the house crying!  Thayne and I looked at each other and laughed... because losing our mind wasn't an option!  I do think I would have loved having twins.  Jared and Noah were fun together, and Noah adores his sweet little niece!  He would make Thayne help him pack her around!

Kimi and I went with Nate's preschool (and Ms. Kailee) on their fieldtrip and enjoyed a beautiful afternoon in the Grove.  The little boys loved it too, and it was fun to watch Kailee do her 'job' as teacher.  She is good with those little kids and they most definitely love her! 

Worst part of all is that Kimi lives much too far away from us, and that just isn't fair!!!!!

The Accident

Did I mention the accident?

The one that totaled the Durango?

The phone call that caused my heart to stop for a second?

 

Kailee had decided to go visit Kimi while we went to the George Strait concert

and asked if she could take some of the little kids.

They were all so excited to see Kimi that we let them go.

I didn't really like that they were going one direction,

while we were going another...

but I am always like that.
I know I can't keep them in a bubble,

but it would sure be nice if I could.

 

We got home Saturday, but they were planning to stay until Sunday

after church.

Sunday morning brought a promise of really cold, bad weather

and they decided to leave earlier than they had planned.

The road was fine until they were about a half hour from home.

Kailee called to let me know they were in the little town less than 30 miles away

and that the roads had been great.

I was getting ready to go back into Sunday School when my phone rang again.

I wondered why Kailee was calling me again so soon but stepped back out

to answer.

I could tell something was wrong...

she was very upset and crying and asked us to come and get them.

It took a few minutes to get her calmed down enough to tell me what had happened.

The tunnels were black ice.

She did everything right according to the police,

and I was more than impressed that she held it together for the little kids.

 

Everyone was buckled up and everyone was safe,

however Kalli had twisted in the seat to check on the little kids

and hit her head. 

She had a big gash on her forehead right at the hairline.

Kailee said after it was all said and done,

Kalli's flare for drama was quite funny.

When Kalli realized she was bleeding,

she threw her arm in the air and said, "I'm dying Kailee, I am dying!"

Of course that set off the other kids and they were crying and asking if

Kalli was really going to die.

Kailee told them NO, she was not going to die and did her best to stay as much in control

as you possibly can while  you are ping ponging through a tunnel!
Kalli, in shock, jumped out of the Durango when it came to a stop and stood

in the middle of the freeway waving frantically for help.

Oddly enough, 

a 7 car pile up happened going the other direction in the tunnels

and an off duty police officer was on his way home.

He was able to give them the help they needed.

The kids wanted us to come get them,

but I talked to the police officer and he told me that the roads were closed and

the kids would be sent to the hospital in the ambulance.

All 5 of them together.

 

Thayne and I went directly to the hospital and waited.

While we sat in the parking lot waiting, Kalli called us to talk.

I kept asking if they had given her medicine because she sounded like they had drugged

her up.

She was so funny telling us about what happened.

Then she started saying to Kami to hide,

explaining that Kami had to use the bathroom and they told her

they couldn't stop,

but gave her a bowl to 'pee' in.

It broke the ice and calmed my heart enough to wait for them to get there.

Kailee also hurt her shoulder, but was so worried about everyone else

that she didn't even let them check her.

She did everything possible to keep them safe.

There were many others on the other side of the freeway that had much more

experience than she had, and still fell victim to the black ice.

(I HATE those tunnels by the way!!!)

 

The CT Scan was of Kalli's head to make sure nothing else was wrong.

She had several stitches and will have a good scar, but otherwise she was great.

Although for a moment...

everyone looking at the results were a little worried...

until they realized she still had bobby pins in her hair!

 

The first thing Kalli told us when we got to the hospital was that

Heavenly Father had protected them because it should have been a lot worse.

I have to agree, and thank Him for keeping His hand on them as the were flung

through the tunnel.

Kailee believes that she had help that day keeping it on the road.

I agree with her.

And I am grateful!



Bullies

 

What makes a bully?  What makes a person want to hurt someone else?  What makes a person care so little about another human being that they would do something like this, without a thought or care of the damage they could do?

 

A bully did this to my son.  For no other reason than he was stoned, and driving around town our little town looking for trouble.  He drove past more than once.  He parked and went into the gas station where 3 of my sons were buying pizza.  He watched them, he waited until everyone had left the area, and then he approached my boys and said some pretty vulgar things, and then, without reason, punched him full on in the mouth. 

 

This bully is 18 years old.  He wrestled at just under 300lbs (298) on the high school team.  He was stoned, possibly drinking.  He was a star football player, wrestled, golfed.  He has recently gotten into trouble more and more at school.  He bragged about it on Facebook and Twitter, by saying that he taught some boys a lesson for talking 'crap' about him. 

 

Boys... interesting word.  Boys.  My children are BOYS.  This boy, this incredible young man saw this MAN approaching.  Had heard him say that he was 'so stoned'.   He knew that this MAN was going to attack not just him, but his two younger, and much smaller brothers.  Together the 3 boys barely weighed as much as the bully.  There was another guy with him.  The other 18 year old is also the same size. This other guy is no less a bully because, while he didn't hit my son, he is a coward  He later apologized to my son, and said he would tell the truth, even though he was so 'messed up' that night that he only remembers sitting in the car waiting for people to leave.  When given the opportunity to tell the truth, he lied!!!   They are both about 300lbs, but it is not about their size... even though later the bullies, because truly they are not men, said that these boys called them fat.  They did not.  They were terrified.    (However even if they HAD called them fat, which I am CERTAIN they did not... um, hello.... these were two grown men!  The boys were truly scared when the bullies approached.  They were eating pizza at a park bench near the gas station.  When I asked them if they had, in any way implied anything negative about them, one finally said, "Mom, we are really not that stupid!  They were big and we were SCARED!") The bullies went out of their way to approach them, to call them vile names, and to attack them.   My son told his brothers to run, to call mom, and to hide.  He took a full on punch to the face to protect his brothers.  That is a MAN.  This young man protected his brothers, even in the face of great danger... and this WAS danger.

 

Why do we, as a society, let cowards like this get away with such behavior?  Because they can carry a football a few feet on the field?  Because they can take down their opponent on a wrestling mat?  These boys have bullied before.  They have bullied younger boys on the team.  They have pictures of themselves partying on Facebook.  They brag about it.   They KNOW they will get away with anything, and the school lets it happen.  Over and over and over!  The school 'claims' they have a strict bullying policy.  You can list them on a bullying website.  But nothing changes. 

 

It is kind of funny that the bully bragged about teaching boys a lesson at the gas station.  Teaching BOYS?  Who thinks that he is tough when he teaches 'boys' a lesson.  Little boys!  2 of them weighing less than 100lbs and one weighing 135lbs... soaking wet!  Tough.  That's a man, right???

 

The police were notified.  Reports filed.  At some point the DA will decide if charges will filed.  It will take months.  Basically they get away with it.  The school told us this guy has been in trouble many times in school... yet he is finishing up his 'senior' career at high school in all his glory.  A bully.  Will he learn?  Or will he continue the way he is going now?  Sadly, he will probably NOT change.  Why should he?  Society has taught him that he can get away with it.

 

However THAT night, my 16 year old son showed that he had what it takes to be a man.  He protected someone smaller than him, he risked himself for another person.  He didn't care about himself.  He cared about his brothers.  He showed courage.  Courage that the bully will likely never have.  Which is sad! 

 

The brothers?  They showed courage too.  They were most worried about their brother.  They were shaken.  They cried seeing their big brother hurt.  They ran to get help as quickly as possible and to get back to him to protect him.  The sad part is, what they have is what makes them courageous, and is probably what the bully is lacking... which is very likely why he is a bully!