Happy Valentine's Day

Hi,

The holiday seasons have come and gone. I'm not sure about our winter. It has been so mild. Not as much snow as we had expected and certainly not as cold. The people here say the temperature (30-40 degrees) is normal since we live in a desert. The Utahans are very disappointed with how little snow we have received. The ski resorts depends on the snow to bring in travelers from all over the world and of course the more snow the longer their season will last. Hey it's only February!

Keegan came home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was so different for her, because the last time she was in SLC we were still sleeping on air mattresses. My goal was to have everything unpacked and in place by the time she came back to visit.

The 4 of us had a nice relaxing Thanksgiving. It was fun just hanging out with Keegan and catching up on what was new in her life. A few days later she flew back to St. Louis. I guess knowing she was coming back in 3 weeks for Christmas made it a little easier to say goodbye.

Besides Keegan we had another visitor during winter break. Dawson's best friend from Wichita stayed with us for 2 1/2 weeks. The boys did so many different things. We drove to Antelope Island, they took lessons and skied for the 1st time, attended 2 pro basketball games (they watched Utah Jazz beat the Lakers). They played paint ball, went to a trampoline joint, Dawson drove him all around the city showing off his new school and surroundings. They even worked out at the gym every day. It was sad when the boys said their goodbyes. Who knows...this may become an annual get together for them. Our house was so quiet when both Keegan and Mastan left.

Keegan and her boyfriend had a great time in Florida during their last week of winter break. In just 3 days they went to Disney World, Harry Potter's World, saw a movie and went out to eat a few times. She really liked Dan's family. They were very welcoming and kind to her. I'm afraid she had more fun in Florida for 3 days than the prior 2 1/2 weeks with us! That's OK, such is life.

The 1st semester at Wash U Keegan loved all of her classes and professors. She said it was hard to see them end, but now she is equally happy with her 2nd semester. This week she is required to claim her majors. Same as before, English and PNP (Psychology, Neuroscience and Philosophy). I'm not sure when she has to claim her minor, but I don't think she has made a decision yet between creative writing or Irish Literature. I'm hoping for creative writing, but I don't want to influence her.

Dawson is my bud. We hang out together after he comes home from school/gym. Unfortunately David has to work every evening, so Dawson and I have dinner together. In the meantime we watch a few repeats of "Cheers" or "Everyone Loves Raymond", then off to his room he goes to do his homework until midnight or later. I usually go to bed before him or I fall asleep on the sofa until David comes home.

After Fall Ball, Dawson joined an indoor lacrosse league. They just played their last game yesterday. His team came in 1st, so I think he plays one more week for the championship. I love watching him play lacrosse in SLC. It's entirely different than the league Wichita was in. You've heard me complain about how rough the sport is, well not here. It's like watching a college or pro team play.

He is now meeting with his high school team twice a week for "conditioning". They are getting ready for the spring league to start in a couple of weeks. He comes home exhausted and complaining about every muscle in his body hurting. I really don't feel sorry for him. (Ha ha!) He is in a weight lifting class in school, he goes to the gym 4-5 days a week, now a conditioning program. I think he likes the pain!!

I am very happy to report that David's blood test this week was very good. We have been praying that after his 44 days of radiation, the cancer would be in remission. I'm not sure if it's in remission, but his numbers were extremely low, so they don't need to do another test until June. Thank you for all of your prayers. It was very hard watching him get sick at the end of every week during his radiation.

Work for both of us is the same as usual. My hours are down this time of year and David gets an occasional day where they want him to work overtime. It all works out.

Keegan will be coming home the second week of March for Spring break. Then the 1st week of April, the boys and I are going university shopping. Dawson wants to check out a few colleges in California. I've got to start praying for scholarships again, otherwise it won't happen. He said if he doesn't get accepted at one of the big Universities in CA, he will be happy going to the University of Utah, which also has a great medical school.

As usual I got carried away writing. I hope you enjoy the pictures that I have attached. Sorry for any misspelled words, poor grammar and wrong punctuations. Writing is not my strength even though I enjoy it. :(

God has blessed our family in so many ways this past year. I am eternally grateful. I hope you too have had a blessed year. Stay strong in your faith.

Love and miss you as always,

Marjie

A Change in the Season

Hello,

The weather has been quickly changing these past few weeks. Today huge snowflakes are falling from the sky. They say that Utah has The Greatest Snow on Earth. Surprisingly I'm excited to see if it's true. I will probably regret saying that! I have a few pictures attached. Unfortunately you can never see the snow falling very well when it's photographed.

Dawson and I drove across the mountains to Park City yesterday where there are a lot of ski resorts. Many of the Winter Olympic games were held there. We went to a museum that displayed the 2002 Winter Olympics in SLC. It was a nice view on the mountain, but it will be much prettier when they have more snow.

Most of you have already seen Dawson on Facebook all dressed up in his Halloween costume. He was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. It was the last game for Fall Ball league. The team scrimmaged against themselves. It was hilarious to watch the boys running around the field all dressed up. Dawson made the 1st goal. Everyone shouted "Good job Dorothy"! He made 3 goals total and won 1st place for best costume. The team told him he wasn't in Kansas anymore! Next up..Dawson will start playing on an indoor lacrosse team for the winter months.

It won't be long and Keegan will be here to visit us for Thanksgiving. I absolutely can not wait. I miss her so much. She said she loves her 3 suite mates. (They don't share bedrooms, but they share a common living room.) The girls have all become very close friends. She is still enjoying hanging out with her boyfriend, and she said her 1st semester is hard. She mostly loves her Creative Writing class. (Anybody not surprised?) She sent me one of her short stories to read. It was so sad, but so good.

David is in the middle of his treatments. He is holding up well. Only a few times he has come home from work feeling sick. He spends his free time checking out our new location. He has jumped on the train, hiked some trails and driving around the area. He is the explorer of the family. When he finds something he really likes, he will show Dawson and I.

I'm still working at the big orange store! I would like to find another part time job to take up the extra time that I have. I used to drive my kiddos everywhere with that extra time. (Did that make any sense?) Lately I have had a lot of creative ideas of things I would like to try. Always thinking...we'll see.

There are 24 new pictures attached on the side. I'm sorry if I am boring you with more pictures of our house. They are mostly for Mom and Dad, since they won't get a chance to come out and visit. I'm hoping the rest of you will come out one day to beautiful Salt Lake City.

Hope all is well in your home. The holidays are nearby, so please be safe.

I will continue to pray that God is with you everyday.

Love and miss you,

Marjie

Our New Home

Hi Everyone,

I'm finally back!

It's been so long since I logged into my Blog account. I couldn't remember my password to sign in. (Old age memory syndrome?) I have just spent an hour on the computer trying to convince the program that I was really me!! I thought for sure I was never going to get into my account again.

So much has taken place with our family this year, I have no clue where to start. Don't stop reading, I promise I won't recap everything from the last time I wrote!!

Salt Lake City (SLC) has been a nice place to live so far. It is beautiful here. The weather has been surprisingly wet/rainy. Not the same thunder storms we had in Wichita. Just nice rain that falls straight down with NO wind mixed in. The rain will last maybe 15 min, stop, then rain some more. It will continue like that all day. Now the cooler weather is starting to set in and the leaves are changing color. The past few weeks it has been snowing in the mountains. Gorgeous scenery.

Dawson is doing fabulous. I believe he absolutely loves it here. He has a lot of friends and he loves his new lacrosse team. (Why did I spend one moment worrying about him?) His junior year in school is extremely hard. He is taking very difficult classes and having to stay up late every night doing homework. I think this school is so much better for him compared to the high school he attended in Wichita. It will definitely prepare him better for college.

He is blending in so well with his new lacrosse teammates. Thank goodness the entire team was so welcoming. I can't say enough good things about them. His team is so close. They hang out together before and after their games. They have gone hiking, they go out for breakfast and lunch together. During lunchtime at school they meet at a boys home that lives close to the school. I am a happy mom.

Dawson is still working out at the gym on the days he doesn't have practice. One of his lacrosse teammates "Lane" has become his workout buddy. They are very compatible. They both love to work out, play lacrosse and eat healthy!! He has found his match. Now Lane wants Dawson to learn how to ski. Oh boy, here we go.

Keegan calls me often, but for me never often enough. I miss her terribly. I remember last year at this time I was lonesome for her. Needless to say I can't wait to see her during Thanksgiving vacation. Once again she is having a great time in college. Very hard classes this semester, so she is spending a ton of time studying. At the end of her sophomore year she will have to declare her major. So far I think she is planning a double major in English and PNP (Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology) Don't ask me!! She is uncertain what her minor will be. She is considering Creative Writing or Irish Literature. I think she inherited all of the Irish genes our family had to give. The Gaelic language and Irish culture comes so natural for her. She loves that she can keep her own name in her class, because it is already an Irish name (means "fire/small flame"). I think it's so neat.

She is still dating "Dan" just over a year now. He too is very devoted to his studies. Keegan says they spend weekends hanging out, but not much time during the week. We think he is a great kid. He seems to be very considerate and kind to Keegan.

David is doing well at work. He actually knows more people here than he did in Wichita after four years. Many of the people he worked with in Arizona transferred to SLC instead of Wichita. So he immediately knew his past AZ co-workers.

Today David starts his first radiation treatment. All together he will have 44 treatments. Every day Monday through Friday for 15 minutes. Please keep him in your prayers. He is doing well, but I'm sure these next few months for him will be very strenuous.

I'm doing okay. I like the Home Depot that I'm at. Everyone is very welcoming and nice to me. I'm just missing my friends and family like crazy. Sort of homesick maybe? I have been looking for another part time job since I have more time now that I'm not driving my kids around. Our townhouse is keeping me busy. Believe it or not... I'm still unpacking. I quit when I get bored, then I get another wind and start up again. I'm telling myself there is no rush. Just take my time and enjoy it!! ha ha This week I think the garage will be done, so we can pull 2 cars in before the snow starts. We have 3 cars now, so one of us will be unlucky and have to park outside. (It won't be me!!) I figure if I have spent so much time unpacking boxes in the garage, I should get some kind of reward, right?

That's all the news for now. I hope and pray all is well with you. I'll try to do better keeping in touch.

Remember God loves you and wants to be with you every day.

Love and miss you so much,

Marjie {{{{hugs}}}

Happy New Year!

Hello everyone,

Not ready to blog. More to come after Keegan goes back to Wash U on the 14th.

May God bless your new year.

Love,
Marjie

Merry Christmas

Good Morning,

Nine days before Christmas. How is that possible? So much has taken place this year, yet it seems like it flew by.

Thursday morning we head for Kansas City to pick up Keegan at the bus station. Poor thing has to get on the bus in St. Louis at 5 AM. We will be picking her up around 10 AM. She will be traveling with a friend from Wash U that lives in Kansas City. I don't imagine they will be talking much, probably sleeping on their bus trip. She will be home for 3 1/2 weeks this time.

It will be nice to have Keegan home for Christmas and the New Year. This week she has her final exams, so I know she will be glad when that is finished. Although I'm sure she will be missing her new friends and ready to get back to college and her TempurPedic bed by the time her winter break is over!

Dawson is so ready for his winter break and counting the days down. He also has his final exams this week. His school used to not make them take finals if they got mostly A's. Now they have changed the rules and all kids need to take final exams. Naturally he didn't think that was too cool!

We really don't have anything special planned for the holidays. Both David and I will be working. David has been getting a nice amount of overtime. A few days last week he worked 12 hr shifts. Home Depot has also been giving me plenty of hours. I'm afraid that will change in January.

Hopefully today Uncle Orville and Aunt Gretchen will be arriving in Wichita before they continue on their way to Arizona. They were supposed to be here yesterday, but they have come across some rain and fog. I hope the weather will be better for them today.

No more news for now. I will blog again after the holidays. Please be safe and stay healthy.

I know you are all praying for the families in Connecticut. I can't even comprehend what they are going through. I remember so clearly Keegan and Dawson at that young age. My heart is so filled with sadness.

I pray you will all invite God to be with you and your loved ones during this Christmas season. He wants to be in the very center of your life.

May God bless you and have a very Merry Christmas.

Love,
Marjie

Happy Thanksgiving

Hello Everyone,

Today is a beautiful fall day. It's in the 50's, the sky is clear and we have a nice cool breeze. The leaves are falling off of our trees faster than you can count them. Plus I have the day off, so that makes it especially nice.  And....KEEGAN IS HOME FOR THE HOLIDAY :D

She arrived last night (Tuesday) around 7 PM. I had dinner ready. Homemade macaroni and cheese, deviled eggs and pumpkin pie, her 3 favorite foods. We enjoyed the evening talking and catching up on a silly TV series we were watching during the summer.

The kids were so funny to listen to. They are truly best of friends. I absolutely love their relationship. Every now and then they would give each other a loving smack on the shoulder or a quick hug. It was so awesome to watch. I wish I had a hidden video of them.

Today Keegan is going to go apply for a passport. It won't be long and she will be traveling to Ireland with her Irish Lit class during Spring break. Plus we have to shop for some warmer cloths for this winter. She also wants to go to the grocery store and stock up on some more food for her dorm.

I will write again soon. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for. May God be with you and your loved ones. Enjoy all the yummy food this week and football games!

I am very thankful and love that God has blessed me with you in my life.

Love and miss you all,

Marjie

A Special Birthday

Hello,

This was a very challenging week. I'm not sure I could possibly cover all of the details. Plus I'm sure you would rather me not try. Sorry I need to write all of this down, so one day I can look back and laugh! If you don't have time to read this blog I will understand.

Last Saturday night, late in the evening we took off for St. Louis. Our van was so packed full with Keegan's belongings, we could not see out the rear window. Poor Keegan hardly had room to sit. We took all of the seats out except hers. We arrived at Wash U early Sunday morning. We realized that the handle on the hatch door had broken. Probably happened when we put the bike rack on the van. Needless to say...we had to unload everything from the side door!! (not cool) BUT it gets better...Keegan and I went to check out her dorm before we started hauling everything in and found out she is on the 4th floor and NO elevator. "WHAT?? You mean it doesn't work today, No... there is no elevator in her building!!" Luckily a few very nice students helped us carry her stuff up to her room.

One thing good, Keegan won't need to join an exercise program, she will be keeping in shape by running up and down all those stairs umpteen times a day and riding her bike all over the campus.

Her room is an ok size. Not big, but not too small. Wash U furnished the room with a temprapedic bed, a very comfortable office chair with arms, the closet has a built in dresser, a large desk and a couple of book shelves. We raised her bed up about 4 feet from the floor, so we were able to put those plastic drawers and cubicles under her bed for extra storage. We also bought a stand to put her printer on so she can wheel out the printer when she needs it. It was amazing how much she could store under her bed. She shares her room with 1 other girl (Valeta from Cincinnati, Ohio). She has a very soft voice, sweet, tiny and beautiful. She is also a Christian. There are 4 other girls that are her suite mates. All 6 girls will share a good size, double sink bathroom and a very large furnished living room. On 1 side of the living room it is all window with a sliding glass door. They can go outside and sit on their deck if they want. A cleaning lady will clean their living room and bathroom, also keep their toilet paper supplied. The girls have to clean their own bedrooms. How nice is that?

I had ordered a refrigerator while I was in Wichita from Walmart to be delivered to the Walmart in St. Louis. I was so proud of how smart that seemed at the time. The only thing is it wouldn't be delivered until Fri that week. We were crossing our fingers it would come in before we had to leave the city.

Keegan went to Camp Wyman about an hour from SL with 21 other Wash U scholars. They had a fun time. They went rock climbing, and Canoed down the river. In the evening they had several events planned. One night they were put into groups, they had 1 flashlight and had to follow a map to find many hidden locations in the dark. It was a race to see what group could finish 1st. She said it was very creepy in the woods and they got lost several times. But it was still fun!

Meanwhile we were still in SL buying necessities for Keegan that I hadn't bought in Wichita. Plus returning items that I did buy, but couldn't use in her dorm. Poor David, I don't think he will ever want to go shopping again. We drove so many miles. It will probably get easier each time we are there and know our way around. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, for some stupid reason both back side doors on the van quit working. They are power doors, so they were extremely hard to open and close by hand. By the end of the trip we could only open one door with very hard force. Ugh :/

After Keegan and her group came back, Wash U had invited the 22 students and their parents to a very nice restaurant for dinner. We met her Dean and many other people. They definitely accomplished their goal sending these kids to a camp to get to know each other better. It was so neat to see all of these new friends that Keegan had made. I was so proud of her I thought I was going to burst. I just sat back and thoroughly enjoyed watching Keegan. I knew then, for sure she was going to be ok.

Once they were back on the campus, their schedules were filled with activities. So filled that Keegan didn't have much time to be with her boring parents anymore!! Do I sound pathetic? Should I call the Whaaambulence? I think so. We felt like chopped liver :( It was pretty hard just waiting around for our daughter to want to hang out with us. We would have left SL, but that stupid refrigerator hadn't arrived yet. David and I did have a good time together when we finally decided to pay attention to each other instead of our little Matilda!

We decided to cut our trip short. But only by one day because Keegan said she wanted to hang out with us on her birthday (Saturday). Okay, Okay we will...

Finally Friday we went to pick up the refrigerator at Walmart. Before leaving the store we lifted the box up to make sure there was no damage. David held the box up while I walked around it looking for dents or any kind of damage. No way did we want to haul that thing up 4 flights of stairs and have a problem. We got back to the dorm, got a hand truck, David pulled the hand truck up each step, while Keegan lifted it from the bottom. (David said there were a total of 55 steps!!) We went into her living room lifted the box completely off....GUESS WHAT? The last few inches at the top of the fridge was crushed. AARRRRRHH.... I thought David and I were going to loose it. When we checked it out at the store, we didn't lift the box all the way off so we didn't see the damaged area. Maybe it would have worked, but we didn't want to take a chance since Keegan would have no vehicle to take it back. So you guessed it, back down the 55 steps, back to the store to return it. Of course because I ordered it Online, they couldn't give us our money back, it will be processed back to our bank acct in 3-5 days. So we decided to go to Home Depot instead. I befriended someone there and he promised me if Keegan had any problem at all he would help her get a new refrigerator. I was trying to save $50 by going to Walmart instead of Home Depot. What a valuable lesson. Whatever... now Keegan and her roommate have a new fridge. Her roomie bought the microwave!

Keegan called us on her 18th birthday and said she could have lunch with us. She wanted to be back to her dorm by 4 pm because her new friends wanted to throw her a party. We asked her where she wanted to have lunch. She said "The Cheesecake Factory". That's what we did and that's all she had. I have attached a picture. These are the only pictures I took on this trip. Whaaaaa.... I hate myself. Keegan would not let me take any pictures of her room. She claims she will send me some pics after her room is organized, yaw right!

After her birthday lunch we went back to the university. It was raining, so we walked together under my umbrella to the outside of her building where we hugged and said our goodbyes. I didn't drop a tear. I bit my lip as hard as I could, smiled, said I love you, and have a great time.

The drive home was very quiet. It rained most of the way. We picked up Dawson at his friends house around 11 pm. I missed Dawson soooo much and I think he missed us too. We went home and was greeted by Nike (our cat) who was VERY happy to see me.

I am missing our baby girl like crazy, but I am so happy for her. She has waited for this moment in her life for so long. She has dreamed about college I swear since she was in Jr high school when she made the decision to be apart of the International Baccalaureate Program. This was the reason why she worked so hard all these years. She is finally living her dream. I couldn't be more thrilled for her. I don't want to feel sorry for myself, nor have a pity party. I just want to enjoy her happiness. When your kids are happy so are you, right? I do have my moments, but then I think about the opposite, We did not raise our kids to sit on their butts and live at home with their mom and dad. We want them to explore, find out what's important to them, have adventures, make great memories, and who knows... maybe make a difference in other peoples lives and make changes in our country/world that it could be a better place to live.

Too much? Sorry, just had to vent/boast! Lots of emotions right now. I'm sure I will get used to this emptiness. Keegan has text me everyday to ask me what top to wear with the shorts she has picked out for the day! LOL, Oh and during this blog, she text me and said she cut herself and what should she do! (FYI-it didn't sound too serious) Funny huh? She will always need her mommy. I still call my mom with crazy questions. Wisdom is a gift!!

Keegan just called. She is between events and is walking back to her dorm. I'm so thankful for cell phones and that she thought of me to call. Although in the middle of our conversation she said "Oh I see someone I want to talk to, I'll call you back". Oh well, it was nice to hear from her for a little bit :D She said she is having nothing but fun so far. She even said she was hanging out with her friends last night until 3:15 am. Also said that she is not looking forward to school starting. She is perfectly content with waking up, going to breakfast and hanging out with her friends all day. Now the school has to go and ruin everything by making her go to class and start a rigorous routine. Oh-Oh, hope she gets that out of her system! I know I just sounded like a mom, huh? Can't help it, I am. She also said she just got an e-mail and has homework in her Irish Lit class that is due tomorrow. (1st day of school) Here we go again...

Because Keegan is always so busy, I have never asked her to read my blog, but one day she might. So this note is for her in the future. Happy Birthday Honey, I know you will always remember your 18th birthday as a very special day. I am so excited to see what you do with the rest of your life. This adventure is as much for your dad and I as it is for you.

Yes, I'm teared up :')   That's my happy tears picture.

There I'm finished. I think this is my longest blog ever.

Love to all of you. Thank you for your prayers. Please, plz, plz continue to pray for Keegan. I especially pray that she invites God to be with her every single moment during her exciting journey.

God bless you.

Love and miss you,
Marjie

Count Down To College

Good Morning Everyone,

I'm going to TRY and make this blog as short as possible! I have the day off and I need to get soooo much done today.

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and preoccupied these days. My bedroom is starting to look scary. Covered with boxes, half packed suitcases, folded clothes on my bed to be packed, stuff from shoes to blankets. Getting Keegan ready to live on her own has been a non-stop project. Plus trying to get everything done from getting her a passport, filling out college forms to getting her banking and medical shots in order. I'm starting to feel very anxious :/ this is the feeling I was trying to avoid. I need to stop and pray.

I have been enjoying the summer with the kids. We have been hanging out a lot. Nothing special, just hanging out. Oh my gosh, I am going to miss my baby girl like crazy. I keep having these sentimental moments, and it's happening more and more the closer we get to separation. I remember when she was little, she would have separation anxiety when I would drop her off somewhere, now it's my turn.

Two weeks from yesterday we will be in St. Louis moving this girl into her dorm. For the 1st 3 days she will be going to a camp with her fellow scholars group. They will be getting to know one another. It sounds like a fun time. Although I had to sign a paper that I would not hold the camp or Wash U responsible if she were to drown, get struck by lighting, break bones, etc!! I'm not kidding. Good grief, I'm going to be relieved when she gets back from camp. They will be going down some river, plus they will be doing that zip line thingy. Meanwhile David and I will be waiting at the hotel for her to come back to Wash U to finish moving her in. They have a dinner planned for parents and students before we leave. We will be saying our goodbyes on August 25th, Keegan's 18th birthday. Weird huh?

It was so fun watching Dawson play lacrosse this summer. The only thing I hated was I felt like I was in the Phoenix heat, it was so hot every game. Poor Dawson would be exhausted, he would play one game then referee the following game. There were 4 teams competing. His team was tied for 1st place until the last game and lost. So they came in 2nd place. Dawson was the lead scorer on his team. He made 14 goals in 8 games. He is getting better every time he plays. I don't have many pictures attached, except a few more of Dawson playing lacrosse. I'm going to try and attach a video of him. Hopefully it will work. At the end of the video you will see Dawson make a goal (watch the net, you will see the ball hit inside). You have to keep your eye on  #27. Most of the time he is the player on the right side of the screen facing the other players. He tries to score the 1st time then misses. He jumps up and throws a little temper tantrum when he misses the 1st attempt. Then he gets the ball back and scores. I just watched the video, the quality isn't as good as my original, plus it is so small especially on your iPads.

David and I are plugging away working as usual. Mostly just enjoying our summer with the kids. Both kids are driving us around everywhere. We just ride along. Pretty cool.

Love to all of you. Please pray for Keegan's new adventures around the corner. Pray that God sends His guardian angels to watch over her and keeps her safe every single second. Thank you for your prayers.

May God bless you.

Love,
Marjie

Summer Is Here

Hello,

It has been so hot this week. I have to say that at times I am very grateful for our Wichita wind. Although the last few days there hasn't been much of a breeze, it feels very similar to Phoenix at times.

This past week our family had fun on a mini vacation. We spent 5 days in St. Louis so Keegan could attend a weekend seminar and pre-register at Wash U. Meanwhile the three of us cruised around the city checking things out. One day we went to their zoo. It was very big and free of charge! Luckily the weather that day was cloudy, still hot but bearable. The rest of the weekend we tried to stay in the air conditioning as much as possible.

Our goal was to find places around the university for Keegan to shop, ways to travel, banking, etc. She will have free access to the Metro bus and subway transit system. It looks like she can get anywhere in the city. So when she needs to go to the airport from the university it won't cost her anything. There is every kind of eating joint you could possibly imagine and all kinds of things to see and do. I don't think she will ever run out of places to go. This is exactly what she wanted, a big city like Phoenix. She has felt very confined in Wichita. I don't care; it was still a blessing for her to go to high school here. Plus it is a great place to raise a family.

She is very excited about her class schedule for the 1st semester. One of her classes is Irish Literature. They will be reading many books (approx. 12) written by Irish authors. It is a class for freshman only. There will be about 14-16 students in the class. During Spring break they will be going to Ireland!! Leave it to Keegan to find a way to travel her 1st year of college. When she enrolled she didn't even know how much money it would cost. Needless to say I'm still trying to find out about these minor details!! :-x The good news is she will be receiving a Home Depot Scholarship that might pay for most of it, I HOPE. Otherwise she will be waving to her classmates goodbye as they fly off to Ireland! As most of you know Keegan's dream trip would be Ireland. She thinks she is full-blooded Irish. Because of her hair and eye color, complexion, and name, you could drop her in Ireland and she would blend in with the rest of them.

Dawson is enjoying his summer every single day. He is a work out machine. He is so devoted to his body and still eating healthy. He plays on a summer lacrosse team. Because it is not as competitive as his spring league, I actually enjoy watching the game. No one is out to hurt anyone. It is a mixture of all players, JV, varsity and the men's team combined on each team. Dawson is also a referee for the lacrosse games before or after his game. Plus they pay him pretty good for doing it. Besides the activities I mentioned he spends a lot of time with his friends. He has a new girlfriend that I approve of. They only see each other maybe once a week. Her mom is stricter than I am!! (I love it) Her name is Molly and she's a real cutie. Because of Dawson's last experience with his x girlfriend (her wanting to be too serious) he is glad this girl seems completely different. I hope Dawson is always a gentleman and respectful of others.

David is still working and both of us are grateful for his job. Hopefully the US Postal Service will hang in there. Home Depot has been giving me plenty of hours, but just this week they started sending people home early because of over staffing. The summer months are always the worst.

I have the next two days off, so I'm hoping to get a lot accomplished. I just wish it wasn't so hot outside. My poor flowers are taking a beating. I can't imagine how the farm crops are doing with this heat and no rain.

You have probably noticed that my spell check is not working. Blaaaaa. :/ I am lost without it. Thank goodness my kids did not take after my little brain!!!!! I am so frustrated with my spelling inadequacy. ahrrrrrrrrr..... There I feel a little better.

Better go before I make a bigger fool of myself.

Love to all. I wanted to come visit everyone this summer, but it just is not going to happen. Our several trips to St. Louis are going to take a bunch of our time/vacation, and money. So until next year...everyone please stay safe/healthy and know how much I love you and will continue to pray for you. Take care and keep cool.

God loves you and wants you to spend time with Him. I would die if I could not turn to Him with all of my thoughts and concerns right now. I have a feeling the next few/many years He will get tired of my millions of prayers.

Miss you all,

Love,

Marjie

Keegan's Graduation 2012

She did it, Keegan is officially an International Baccalaureate (IB) high school graduate.

She took her final IB test the morning during graduation practice. None of the IB students were able to attend the practice, so they had to just follow the group during the ceremony. It wasn't too difficult since there were over 500 students in her class. In the IB group there were 77 students.

The program took a long time with each graduate going across the stage, but it was very organized, so it wasn't too bad. I was glad that we didn't have a party and expect our guest to sit through the long program. It was held in the stadium at Wichita State University. It was packed and loud. I couldn't hear for quite awhile. We must have sat in the area where there were a bunch of high school kids. They were {{{Screaming}}} every time their friends walked across the stage. At least a hundred times or more!

Afterwards we met our graduates outside. Trying to find Keegan amongst all those students was not easy. Later we went out for ice cream along with Keegan's best friend and her family.

I have attached many pictures. Some pictures are of Keegan's IB ceremony, where they received their stoles (the blue sash they wore over their shoulders). Only the IB students wore stoles, so they were easy to pick out. Then I have pictures at graduation where they received their diplomas. The high school will have better pictures for us down the road since no one could get close to the stage. They had photographers taking close up pictures the entire time.

I'm so glad Keegan is finished with high school. We can all breath now. Her last week with exams was painful.

Dawson is also ecstatic! His last day was Friday. Next week he doesn't have to go back the last 3 days to take any exams because he has straight A's. His school rewards the kids who do well. I think that is such a great idea. It really helps the students to do their very best in school.

We are ready for an exciting summer. I wish I could take off  this summer to be with the kids. I know they are probably happy that I have to go to work so they can sleep in and hang out with their friends, right?

God truly blessed Keegan with a great high school and excellent teachers. She will have so many fond memories and friends forever.

Remember God loves you and is with you every single day.

Love,
Marjie

Happy Mother's Day

Good Morning,

Happy Mother's Day to those of you women who have children, pets or feel like you have taken on the role of a mother at some time in your lifetime. I love Mother's Day. It is one of my favorite days of all. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful children and to think that "only" God knew how much I would love being a mom. I remember there was a time that I was totally content knowing I would not have any children. Now I honestly believe that being a mom is my most favorite thing I have ever done.

I am also blessed to have a beautiful mother. She is beautiful from the inside to the outside. Maybe one year I will make it home on Mother's day so we can celebrate the day together, "I love you Mom".

Today is also Dad's 80th birthday. "Happy Birthday Dad, I love you too." Needless to say I'm feeling pretty homesick today. It would have been a great day to be in Wisconsin to help celebrate this double event. Thank goodness for telephones, right?

We had some excitement this week in our family. Keegan came home from their annual high school Thespian awards banquet with 4 trophies. (Thespian simple means anything to do with theatre on or off stage.) She was nominated in 5 categories. She won 4 of them. "Best Actress" in a leading role. (This was from the last play she was in where her character had leukemia.) She also won "Best Actress in a One-Act" and "Best Student Writer", (she wrote and directed a play that was performed in front of an audience, I thought it was excellent). The award she is most proud of is for "Best Senior Thespian". All of the nominations and awards were voted on by her peers. We are so happy for her, she worked very hard this past year in theatre. Actually all 4 years of high school, especially since she has been in Wichita. I have attached several pictures.

The other excitement this week was that yesterday our whole family decided to travel to Oklahoma to watch Dawson play in his last lacrosse game/tournament for the season. Because it is a traveling league, half of the games were out of state. Keegan and I have not yet traveled with the boys. I could tell Dawson was so happy that his sister and I were going along with them.

They played 2 games. The first game was good, the second game was a nightmare. The other team was so mean, just flat out mean. A couple of times I think David had to hold me down so I wouldn't run out on the field to beat the crap out of the player who kept knocking Dawson flat on the ground. I was getting mad and I was afraid that someone was going to get hurt. Sure enough one of our players got hit so hard that they had to call 911 for an ambulance/EMT. Shortly after his friend was hit. The same kid who hurt his friend, then hit Dawson right across his chest with the stick while he was running. Dawson flew up and fell backwards on his back. It knocked the wind out of him. We watched him walk off the field very slowly. When he got over to the other side of the field I saw him take off his helmet and he was walking around really weird. I told David to go over there to see if he was okay. A few minutes later I saw Dawson laying down and a bunch of people were around him. When I got over there he was shaking and having a hard time breathing. He kept saying his fingers and arms felt numb and tingly. At this point I was scared. Some of the men from the EMT and the firefighters that showed up for the 1st boy came over to help Dawson. He had about 4-5 paramedics trying to calm his breathing down. They even had to put an oxygen tube in his nose to help his breathing back to normal. He was fine after they calmed him down. One of the paramedics told me that he believed that Dawson was hyperventilating and possibly had an anxiety attack. I didn't know this, but I guess when you hyperventilate it affects your neck and head, it also makes your extremities start to tingle and feel numb. Here is my medical opinion, I think Dawson got scared when the wind was knocked out of him, he said he was very dizzy when he walked off the field. I think he started freaking out thinking something was very wrong with how he felt, then his mind took over and he started to hyperventilate. I also don't think it helped him when he saw his closest friend being worked on by the EMT. I found out later that another friend of Dawson's had a concussion in the 1st half of that game. I hope they do something about that other team. Someday they are going to severely hurt someone. By the way, after that kid hit Dawson the referee threw him out of the game. Too bad he wasn't thrown out when he hurt the 1st kid. I'm sorry if that was all very hard to understand. We had a safe trip home. I am also glad I was there. I told Dawson "no more lacrosse", he just laughed at me. Whaaa.....!

This Thursday we will watch Keegan graduate from high school. There are almost 550 students in her class, so it will be a long program. The 4 of us will probably go out for dinner or ice cream afterwards. The following weekend Keegan has been invited to several graduation parties. I just can't believe it is even possible that my baby girl is graduating from high school.

May God bless you always.

Love,
Marjie

First and Final Choice

Hi Everyone,

I know it seems too soon to hear from me already, but I had to let you know our exciting news.

Keegan has made her final decision on where she will be attending college in the fall. Washington University in St. Louis will be her new home for at least the next 4 years. Last night she made the final commitment in writing and we paid her "non-refundable" deposits. It's a done deal. No more looking and no more waiting. I know that David and I are so relieved, so I'm sure Keegan is. Dawson is happy too. He was just as involved and encouraging his sister every step of the way.

It seems very ironic to me how this was the very first university she looked at a year ago during Spring break and it just happens to be her final choice. She fell in love with WashU back then and all year long kept thinking about her 1st love. In less then a year we visited 14 colleges in a total of 7 states. She applied at 5 colleges and loved all of them. Each of them had something unique that she liked. She kept wishing she could find one college that had everything. It finally had to come done to what school would give her the best scholarship. WashU (nickname from now on) has offered her an extremely generous financial award for the next 4 years.

Keegan worked her tail off throughout her high school years, she is now going to reap the rewards. We are so unbelievably proud of her accomplishments. In the meantime she has encouraged Dawson to work just as hard through his high school years so he can hopefully benefit too. He is already reading about certain colleges and making big goals for himself.

Her plan is to take the summer off and do a lot of reading and writing. She will continue to apply for more scholarships and she wants to enter some of her stories and poems into several contests. Hopefully she will keep making money to put towards her cost of living. Every little bit of money helps, right? I think she needs a break before she starts the whole school thing all over again. She will be in another honors program at WashU, it is considered to be very rigorous. Yikes, here we go again! :b

It's kind of exciting to think of all the things we need to do now to prepare her to be on her own. I get a little nervous when I think about how much she depends on me for doing probably too much for her, but I know Keegan, she is very mature and ready for the challenge. She has already grown up so much. Plus we will do a lot this summer to get her ready. I too didn't know how to cook, do laundry or a million other things when I left to be on my own. Huh, I guess I still don't know how to cook very well!!

I only hope she calls us and still will find time to keep in touch. Did that sound pathetic? Yes, I'm going to miss her like crazy, but not so much that I would want to keep her from her dreams and goals. I know it will be hard and I'm sure there will be lots of tears on my part. I just wouldn't have it any other way.

Not much more to tell except Dawson is going back to his lacrosse practice today for the 1st time after hurting his tailbone. He is doing so much better. I'm sure he will be sore tomorrow after being out of the game for so long. This summer he plans on playing on the lacrosse team, high school soccer starts up again. I'm sure he will be spending a lot of time at the gym and hanging out with his friends. Oh, and driving a bunch so he can get his drivers license next year.

Sorry, I didn't think this blog would be so long. I'm just so happy the college search is over, at least for a couple of years!! :/

The kids are almost out of school for the summer. Dawson has about 17 days left of school and counting down. Keegan only has like 7 days left, but in those 7 days she will be taking 4 very hard IB test. The day before the test date, the school gives the IB students the day off to study. She will even miss her graduation practice because one her IB test is scheduled during the same time and can not be changed. She said the only reason IB would reschedule a test, is if the country/world went into war!! No kidding. She will just have to follow the person in front of her on graduation evening!

Love to all of you. Thank you again for all of your prayers.
God Bless you,

Marjie

♫♪ It's Raining, It's Pouring ♪♫

Happy Easter everyone,

I hope you all had a nice Easter day. We didn't do much. The kids still don't believe there should be an age limit on finding eggs and baskets. The good thing is teenagers don't wake up early!

I'm only scheduled for 20 hours this week at THD, so I thought I would catch up on my blog. As you guessed by the title, it is raining outside. It has been off and on all week. My flowers are starting to bloom. Especially my roses. I picked a few this morning and put them in a vase. Our grass is so thick and green. I think we have had more rain these past few weeks than we got all last year. Everyone in Kansas is very happy about the rain. Hopefully this year the farmers crops will survive.

Crazy week for Keegan. I know what you are thinking...what's new, right? Most kids are happy that school is almost out for the year. Instead Keegan gets this sick look of anxiety on her face. I can tell she is thinking about how much school work, projects and IB tests that are scheduled yet. Each night she has been getting very little sleep because of homework due each day.

The Spring play that she is in starts this weekend.  It is called "Marvin's Room". Rehearsal has been late every night this week. Last night at dress rehearsal, I had to learn how to put an acrylic bald head on Keegan. It was not fun to apply and less fun for her to wear. During the play she has to wear 3 different wigs. I don't know much about the play, but I do know her character has leukemia. Keegan won't tell me if she dies or not. Regardless I'm taking a bunch of tissues. Keegan has expressed how sad she will be to perform her last play in high school. Personally I will be glad when this weekend is over. Needless to say when she doesn't get much sleep she starts to feel sick. She's been fighting a cold and a froggy voice all week.

I know you are all wondering if she has made her college choice yet. I think so, but you never know what could happen in the next 2 weeks. Her favorite place at this point is Washington University in St Louis. They have presented the best financial package so far. It won't be long and the final decision has to be made by May 1st.

Dawson has been out of sports the past few weeks. He fell hard on his tailbone! The 1st night he came home from practice after hurting it, he was in excruciating pain. We were going to take him to the emergency room but then we started reading about it online. According to what I've read, the tailbone usually has to heal on its own. It takes a long time, but it will heal. He is moving around rather slowly, but at the same time he is doing much better than when he first got hurt. His lacrosse team has not been doing so good lately. They seem to be on a loosing streak. I don't think it is because Dawson is out, but I'm sure it doesn't help his team either. This week he was supposed to play lacrosse in Arkansas. He's pretty bummed out that he can't make the trip with his team.

Dawson is really looking forward to the end of the school year. He is counting down the days and saying he is almost 1/4 of the way through high school. I'm not sure what he will be doing this summer. He wants to get a job. Although there aren't many places that hire 15 year old kids. He has also mentioned playing on a summer lacrosse team and possibly going out for the high school soccer team again.

One thing new with Dawson that I almost forgot to mention,  he just got braces put on his teeth. The 1st week was hard for him. Not so much because of the pain, but because his food was limited!! He is now back to normal and eating enough for 3 people. He is sad because he can't have his daily apple and almonds in his lunch bag anymore. You can hardly see his braces. On his top teeth his braces are clear. On the bottom teeth they are silver, but you don't notice them when he smiles.

I will attach a few new pictures along the side bar. Hopefully I will get more pictures during Keegan's play this weekend to send at a later time.

I will continue to keep you all in my prayers and please do the same for us. I know that I say this often, but I just can't say it enough. So many times a day I turn to God for help. It seems like lately not just day to day, but even moment to moment I have to stop and ask for help to not be feeling so much pressure and full of anxiety. God brings so much peace into my heart and mind. Thank you for your prayers.

I'm not sure where our travels will be taking us this summer. I think it will all depend on when and where we will be moving Keegan into college. If we do any visiting this summer we will probably be mooching off of everyone "AGAIN"!!

I love and miss all of you,

Marjie

Happy Spring?

Hello,

Where has the time gone? My last blog was "Happy New Year"! It seems like our winter flew by so fast. I think we had 3 or 4 dusting's of snow this year. The kids didn't have any snow days. Now our trees are starting to bloom. It's hard to believe that Spring is just around the corner. We have had some nice rain showers these past few days. I just hope the summer isn't as dry and hot as last year.

We are busy as usual and trying to keep up with the kids. I have a few days off, so maybe I can catch you up on what's new with the Hughes family. Sorry that it is old news for some of you.

Dawson has been in his glory. He is in the middle of his Lacrosse season and loving it. He was playing 7 days a week. Monday-Friday practice, Saturday games, and Sunday night, indoor Lacrosse games. His indoor team finished in 1st place. They were undefeated! I went to a few games and it was definitely exciting to watch. The ball stays live most of the time because they play off of the walls.  The game is very fast paced, so it's hard to always see who has the ball. Plus the indoor ball is a lot lighter weight. Almost turf ball weight. It's so light the guys would continue to run thinking the ball was still in their net, meanwhile the other team has picked up the ball and running the other direction. Kind of comical to watch. David was able to attend all of the games and was even their score keeper once in awhile. I think he wishes he could play Lacrosse too.

Dawson is the only freshman on the varsity team and he is a starter. He was pretty excited about that. His practicing has paid off. He spends a ton of time at the YMCA in an indoor racket/hand ball court. They let him take in his lacrosse stick and ball and hit off the wall. Because it's not a real common sport, it is not unusual for Dawson to have an audience watching him since the entire court has clear walls.

As you all know I hate how rough the sport is. Already Dawson has sprained his ankle, possibly broken a finger and has been knocked down silly a couple of times. Like the Energizer Bunny...he keeps on going! I was finally able to watch him play in 2 games this weekend. After one play, there was a huge pile up of guys, after each of them got up, I saw Dawson stand up from the bottom of the "pile" and walk away. YIKES!! Did that make any sense at all?

David can keep taking Dawson to the games. I will watch occasionally. It is a traveling team, so when they aren't playing at home, they are at another state. Last weekend they traveled to Oklahoma. The two of them have a good time together. Plus Dawson has been getting in some driving time. :b

Keegan has been buried with everything you could possible imagine. Maybe the worst yet as far as having too much on her plate. Since my last blog instead of semi-finalist for National Merit Scholar, she is now a finalist. She has also been nominated as a Presidential Scholar, which is quite an honor. We won't know the final status of each award until the end of April. We are proud of her no matter what happens.

The first weekend of March, Keegan preformed with her high school musical group. Kind of like a glee or swing choir group where they sing and dance to popular songs. She was so glad when it was over and she has decided, that it is the last musical she will ever be in. (I really doubt it!) She has always preferred plays over anything musical. Speaking of which, she just found out last week that she got the lead part to the upcoming Spring play. She was so thrilled. She has gotten a lot of big parts but this will be the largest part yet. It will be a nice ending to her senior year.

Okay, back to Keegan's busy month of March. This past weekend she was invited to attend St. Olaf College in Minnesota. She had such a fun time. She met so many people and was able to do a lot while she was there. I don't know if that will be the college she selects, but it was a great experience. She said it was fun getting a taste of the college life. I was so happy that she kept texting and calling me to keep me informed of what she was up to. They even had a web-cam in one of their main buildings. So one day we were talking on the phone together, meanwhile I was also on the computer, then she walks up to this web-cam and I watched her talking and waving to me!! The web-cam is called "Hi Mom". How cool is that? It was so nice to have her safe at home on Sunday.

This week Keegan and her Drama Club are taking off for New York City and Chicago. It will be a 10 day trip. They will see 9 Broadway shows and a bunch of famous sites during their trip. Coming back from NYC they will stay in Chicago to see a few more shows. Before she travels back to Wichita, she will be flying out of Chicago to St. Louis, Missouri alone. Before the weekend is over Washington University in St Louis has invited her to attend their Scholars weekend. She will have another opportunity to check out a different University before making her final decision.

Keegan has until May 1st to make her decision. We were kind of hoping that she would get to feel the cold temp while she was in MinneSNOWta, but it was pretty nice there during her stay. It won't matter anyway, I would be shocked if that becomes the reason she decides not to go there. It will all come down to who gives her the best scholarship.

She is getting blasted with homework. She will be loaded down from now until the end of her senior year. It is very hard for her to fit in all of these trips on top of everything else, but we keep telling her this is her future now. High school is pretty much over. Do well, but don't miss out on any important opportunities.

I know I always carry on how well Keegan does academically and I don't say much about Dawson. It is not because Dawson doesn't do well in school, he is doing an excellent job. We couldn't ask him to do any better. It's just that sports is his life. Just this week the boys and girls basketball teams from his high school "both" won the state championship, naturally Dawson was a huge fan.

It seems like the older the kids get the less pictures I take. I have my camera in my purse at all times, but finding the right moments is half the battle. Although I was able to get several pics of Dawson playing indoor and outdoor lacrosse. Only a few pics of Keegan. I will try to better. :(

Nothing new to report about David and me. We still are thankful to be employed. We are loving being entertained by our children.

Take care and may God bless you. Thank you to those of you who have been praying for Keegan's safety during all of these trips she is doing on her own. I will never understand why people do not turn to our loving God for help. I have had to turn to Him so much lately and handing everything over to Him so I am not so anxious about Keegan stretching away from our comfy nest and Dawson playing his rough sport.

Love to you all and miss you so much.

Marjie

P.S. Update on Keegan since I started writing this blog. She is in NYC and having a great time. She has seen 3 musicals on Broadway and getting ready to see 2 more today. They get back to their hotel each night around midnight and they get up around 6 AM to have breakfast at their hotel, then off to the Big Apple to have fun. Keep Praying.

Happy New Year

Hello again,

I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas season and brought in the New Year doing something special.

I wish we had. I know that sounds terrible, but it's true. I still feel kinda bummed out. Our family was very lazy and didn't do or go anywhere for New Year's Eve. David and I were watching TV. The kids were off somewhere in the house doing their own thing. A few minutes before the stroke of midnight we all rounded up together, did the count down, said "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" hugged and kissed, then went back to doing what we were doing before our gathering. What does that mean? I think we were all just content and didn't feel like we had to make any big deal out of the occasion. I have to say it is very unusual for us, but that's what we did. At the time it seemed perfectly ok. Now I'm putting too much thought into it and wishing we had celebrated a little bit more. Last year the kids both had their friends over. Maybe that's the only difference. This year the kids chose to have a quiet evening at home.

Or...maybe we were feeling a little melancholy because our company had just left that morning. They headed back to Wisconsin and Illinois before the sun came up. We had such a fun time with my sister Linda and her youngest son, Daniel. Also my brother Steve and his wife Nancy. They all came out together to visit us. It was Steve and Nancy's first time here.

The first day they were here we gave them the grand tour of Wichita. After that each day we just hung around the house and played board games. We also had some good quality visiting time. Plus my sister and I stayed up late each night for hours catching up on everything.

I loved having everyone here. It just seemed like such a short visit. Although I must say our home is not very accommodating for many people. Oh well, it didn't matter, we made it work and had a great time. Except... I am so frustrated with myself. I usually take so many pictures that I annoy people. Nope not this time, I didn't take 1 stinking  picture of anyone during their visit. What the heck was I thinking. I just completely forgot about taking pictures until 6 am the morning they were ready to leave. I was too afraid to line everyone up and say "SMILE"! I am still kicking myself over this. So there you have it, no pictures of our company. WHAAA!!!  :'(

The kids only had 3 days of school this week. They were thrilled about that. They both immediately started their busy after school schedules. Keegan's rehearsals for an upcoming music program and Dawson started Lacrosse practice. Needless to say the vacation is officially over! It's now Friday afternoon and both kids are off doing whatever with their friends. I will probably do something fun tonight, like go grocery shopping! David is working tonight, so it is me, myself and I hanging out together.

That's all. At a later time I will post some pictures, but for now this is it. But not any pictures of my company...WHAAA :'( 

My thoughts and prayers are with each of you. May God bless your new year and show you His unconditional love every day.

Love,
Marjie

Merry Christmas

Hello again,

It's 6 am Christmas morning, not a creature is stirring except me and my cat! It used to be by this time I had 2 sets of eyes starring at me wanting to march downstairs to open presents. The last thing I said to everyone before I went to bed last night was..."let's sleep in tomorrow". I guess I meant everyone except me. I woke up at 5 am to start our traditional homemade cinnamon rolls. I'm hoping by the time my family wakes up the rolls will be ready to pop in the oven. Yummy :b 

A long time ago (before kids) Ben gave me one of the neatest gifts ever for Christmas, a bread machine. I use it all the time and not just to make bread. I use it for pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, bread sticks and dinner rolls. I have even found a recipe to make pretzels that I want to try. Now I think about Ben more than ever when I use my machine. I would definitely go out and buy a new one if something happened to this one.

You know what I really love about living in Wichita? I'm sure you are all curious about the answer to that question. I love that we have only lived here for 2 years and my brother Dick and his wife Cindy have been here to visit, my sister Linda and her boys Brian and Daniel have been here. My Aunt Gretchen and Uncle Orville have been here 3 times to visit. Now this week my sister and her son Daniel are coming out to visit again, along with my older brother Steve and his wife Nancy. That is exactly why we moved to Wichita instead of our other choice in Salt Lake City. I know Dad and Mom would visit if they could, but that's okay, because for Christmas they received an iPad and can communicate with us like they were here visiting. I know they are going to have so much fun with their new toy. I really want to thank my brothers for thinking of such a neat gift for them. I think I will benefit more than anyone in our family.

Today will be very quiet for our family. Our plans are to open presents, eat cinnamon rolls for breakfast, watch football then have our traditional Christmas dinner...steak and lobster. Then watch more football! I know some of you are thinking you wish your Christmas could be that quiet. I really miss my relatives and get somewhat homesick during the holidays. If I could I would travel every year to be with our families. The holidays are the worst time for David to get off of work. That is usually when the Postal Service needs him the most. Oh well, Keegan and Dawson will always remember our simple little family traditions.

You might also guess what I am thinking about, what next Christmas will be like. We will be bringing Keegan home from wherever she will be going to college. I know I will be so excited to have her home for the holidays. I know, I know, she will be off hanging out with her old high school friends, but that's okay it will still be nice to have her home.

Not much is new with our family. Both Keegan and Dawson are on their winter break. They were so ready for it. Because of their perfect attendance in school neither one of them had to take their final exams. So their last day was the 19th. I'm sure they will enjoy having a nice long break and well deserved. As soon as the break is over it will be back to chaos again. Dawson will start with indoor Lacrosse and Keegan will start rehearsals with a music program called "Nights of Broadway".

Thankfully David has been able to work over time. Even my hours have been okay this winter. Although I'm sure it will change. January is usually very slow for The Home Depot. I am so happy to also take a little vacation time between Christmas and New Years day. It will be nice to see our company in a couple of days. Hopefully the weather will allow them to travel to Wichita.

That's all for now. I hope you have all experienced and have felt the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. Last night when we went to church, right in the middle of an old Christmas song I felt  the Holy Spirit rush through my soul. I love that He is always with us wherever we are at in our lives. May God Bless all of you and fill your hearts with His unconditional love.

Until next time, have a very Merry Christmas. {{{hugs}}} and ***kisses*** to you.

Love and miss you,
Marjie

P.S. My cinnamon rolls are ready to pop in the oven. So everyone can wake up anytime!!
P.P.S. The kids just got up it's time to go. (8:10 am)

It's now 10:15 am, I decided to finish off my blog by writing a little bit more after we opened presents and ate our breakfast. We have had a wonderful Christmas so far. We all received gifts we've been hoping for, plus a few more things. The cinnamon rolls were superb. Now we are down in the basement hanging out watching Keegan play her new Zelda game.

Hope you can read this blog Mom and Dad on your new iPad.

Again have a Merry Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving

Good Morning,

I couldn't sleep this morning. I had "Twas The Night Before Christmas " song in my brain over and over and over! It was The Home Depot's version!! What? Yep, for the last 2 days starting on Black Friday, @THD they have been playing Christmas music. Blah.....Now don't get me wrong, I love Christmas music, but not so soon and not the same songs all day long. The really funny part is that the part of this song that is stuck in my mind is " While visions of sugar plums danced in their wee little heads... and ma in her kerchief and I in my cap... had just settled down for a long winters nap." How ironic huh? I've tried so hard to sing something different, but it keeps returning :(

Moving on to more important things. We had a very nice Thanksgiving weekend. Uncle Orville and Aunt Gretchen joined us for the holiday. This is the 2nd year in a row. I told them it is now a tradition and they need to continue this every year. They are snow birds leaving Wisconsin headed for Arizona, but their rest stop is in Wichita, Kansas. I'm so glad they have a nice RV park here and it is very close to our home. We had fun playing domino's and ate lots of food. They arrived here on Wednesday evening and I think they are hoping to head out today (Sunday) for Arizona. Yesterday it was so windy, that they were afraid if they left the wind would damage their motor home. Today isn't supposed to be as bad.

Not much has happened since the last time I blogged. Keegan's musical performance was last week. As usual it was outstanding. All of the kids are so talented. I was able to go behind the scenes each day and help some of the girls with their hairdos. They all had to have their hair swept up into a Gibson bun. The last day Keegan came down with something. She was so sick, but had to go on. I felt terrible for her. I think she said she had 6 or 7 costume changes. The musical was called "Ragtime". It was not your typical cheerful musical. It was during a time period when black people and immigrants were treated so poorly in our country. It was a sad story. Thank goodness she had this long weekend to get better and recuperate.

David and Dawson drove to Topeka yesterday to watch Dawson's high school (undefeated) football team play for the state championship. They lost in the last 3 minutes. They were winning throughout the game, so they thought they were going to win. Dawson was so crushed. Sometimes it doesn't pay to be undefeated...Yes,  now I'm talking about the Packers. Can they be undefeated AND win the Superbowl? What are the chances? I'm really cheering for them. I know that everyone else is too that is reading this blog, except for you Linda :#  Our family wants to know where WE went wrong...how can a Wisconsinite come out not liking the Packers?? Were you adopted?? (LOL) I'm just joking!!!!! Only Linda knows that I used to tease her when we were little and I was a mean sister and told her often that she was adopted. I know I'm bad :(

Only one more day of work until my day off. I plan to put up our Christmas decorations. I'm excited because I bought a new tree @ THD last year after Christmas. I hope we like it because I dought they will let me return it! Our old tree is as old as Keegan.

I guess I need to start getting ready for work. Every Sunday for the month of November I teach a tile class in the flooring department. I kind of fell into it one Sunday when nobody else in that dept knew anything about installing tile except me. Not good huh? I had never done it before, I had only told people how to do it.  I was so nervous the first time, because you have to demonstrate how to adhere the tile then grout it. I now really enjoy teaching the class. I have many people stop by to watch. Sometimes they even get involved and get their hands dirty with me. Although they never offer to help me clean up, which is of course the hardest part wiping the grout off of the tile and the tools.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

As you are preparing for the Christmas season remember to turn to God and invite him into your heart so you may experience the true meaning of Christmas.

During this time with the way the economy is hurting, most everyone is ok without materiel things for gifts. I challenge you to be creative this year. Think of what you can give that doesn't cost money or very little. You don't have to make something if you are not crafty, but you can do something like express your feelings toward your loved one in a letter or do a task for that person. I loved the coupon books my kids used to make for me in school. (ex: I will wash your car for you or I will do your dishes for a week). Just a thought. Have fun with it.

Remember God loves you more than you will ever be able to comprehend.

I love and miss you {{{hugs}}}
Marjie

Autumn Is Here

Hi Everyone,

I love the fall in Wichita. I still can't believe how much I missed the seasons when I lived in AZ. After such an unusually hot summer here, I promised myself I would not complain about the cold weather. Not sure how long it will last, but for now I love how cool the mornings and the evenings are.

The kids have still been busy, but it has slowed down some since the last time I blogged.

Dawson did a great job his 1st year on the high school soccer team. As usual his position was their goalie. I loved watching him play. Every time they had an away game, I would drive a van full of players since the school would not furnish a bus (budget cuts). I enjoyed being involved and cheering for the team. Unfortunately Dawson started using his head inappropriately (as my brother Dick put it)! Within 2 weeks he broke his nose and hit his head hard enough to get a concussion. The Dr decided he probably had 2 concussions by the symptoms he experienced. Needless to say he was out for the rest of the season. They were a little more than half way through the season. He was not happy, but he took the news well. He agreed he did not want to jeopardize another head injury. Although he was really disappointed it also meant he was out of PE, Lacrosse, working out at the gym and all other physical activities. He was a little bored with life. Gosh, I think his recovery time was for almost 1 1/2 months. He was able to play Lacrosse 2 times before that season was over. Now all of his sports are done. Hip Hip Hooray!! Now he wants to get on the indoor Lacrosse team in January. BOO!! He loves to go to all of the varsity football games. He's hoping like last year they will be state champs. So far they are undefeated. Otherwise Dawson is doing excellent in school and has a ton of friends. I think high school is going pretty well for him.

Keegan is still busy, busy, busy. She finished many of the projects that I had mentioned the last time, but still has new things on her plate. The play that she was in "You Can't Take It With You", was so hilarious. Keegan's character was the funniest. She was a ballet dancer that thought she was good, but was a terrible dancer. Through the entire performance she was dancing around the stage in her tu-tu. Making everyone laugh. Now she is in a musical called "Ragtime". I think they had 1 day to rest between the two shows. Knock on wood...so far her classes have been fairly easy and the teachers are not giving as much homework compared to last year. Maybe because they know how much work they have to do applying for college? Speaking of college...you don't want to mention the word around Keegan. She is so tired of constantly being reminded of everything she needs to do to apply for college. From her counsellor, teachers, and here at home, we are all asking her if she has this or that done before certain deadlines. I want to leave her alone, but it's only natural to want to make sure she is on top of some very important due dates. Everything is all scholarship related. Otherwise it wouldn't be so crucial.

Okay I am about to brag big time. I'm sorry if it is overboard.

Most of you know this already, but we are very excited about Keegan's achievement of becoming a semi-finalist for the National Merit Scholarship Award. The last time I wrote we knew she was a candidate, but since then she has advanced on. They started with 1.5 million students. Now she is in a group of 16,000 students. We are praying this Spring she will be selected amoungst 8400 winners. This award could have a huge impact on her future college opportunity.

Just a quick second to tell you about David and I, we are doing well, still happy to have employment and starting to already feel like empty nesters at times! The kids are off doing their own thing. Many times we find we are alone comenting on how this will feel one day just the two of us again. David talks about retiring, I think about getting 2 jobs to keep me busy!! Maybe I will adopt a baby...
I AM JOKING!!  (LOL)

Please keep in touch. Hope you are all doing well. It's hard to believe the holiday's are just around the corner.

As always, know that God loves you and wants the best for you. I will keep you in my prayers.
Love and miss you,

Marjie

College Search

Hi there,

I knew once school started it would be hard to find time to blog. I'm pushing myself to make the time to write today.

In less than 1 year, my daughter (one of my closest friends) will be off on her own to college. I have to start making myself do things for me instead of filling all of my time taking care of the kids none stop. Yes, even Dawson is so busy that it seems like my only time with him is literally being his "Soccer Mom"! I drive him and some of his team mates to the away games and sometimes his friends need a ride home. I must say, Dawson and I have had some pretty neat conversations while we are driving. I actually look forward to our time in the car together! Do you think he feels the same way?! I'm probably fooling myself by saying yes, huh?

I do have some new goals for myself that I'm excited about. Like finally starting to scrapbook my kids, baby/childhood pictures! I have been wanting to work on a project that I have planned for a long time to help military families in need. I will tell you more about my project after I begin. I also have a new "anonymous" blog idea! Are you all curious? ;o Plus now that it is nice outside and hopefully no longer over 100 degrees record breaking summer, I am back outside taking care of my poor flowers. Many died this summer because of the heat. My knock-out roses were the hardiest. They are about 4x larger than last year when I planted them. OK enough about me, now back to the kids.

Where did I leave off on my last blog from the last time I wrote?

This summer was the year to travel to different colleges to help Keegan find one that would be best for her. She is hoping not to attend anywhere in Kansas. They have good Universities here, but she has it in her mind to attend an out of state college. I think she is still rebelling against our move to this state. She knows we can not afford much, but we have also told her if she can find a college that will give her a nice scholarship than she can go wherever she wants. Most of you already know about our summer adventures, so I won't go into a whole lot of detail. We traveled to Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Minnesota. She did fall in love with a few colleges. The trip was also good for Dawson, he was able to decide on a few he was interested in and a few not to bother checking out again. I had no idea what a big deal the college search would be. I do hope Keegan will be at least within 1 days driving distance from us.

During our travels we were able to visit my family in Wisconsin and Illinois. As usual we spent a restful vacation on my brothers farm. The hospitality, food and weather were perfect. It was so nice visiting with everyone. I wish our stay was longer, but I was thankful for what little time we had together. It had been a long time since David was able to go to Wisconsin with us. I know he enjoyed himself, especially eating the yummy curd!

Besides traveling we didn't do a whole lot this summer. The kids hung out with their friends. Dawson had soccer practice in the mornings, preparing for the high school team. Keegan enjoyed reading and writing. Oh, I almost forgot, they both got their "learners" driving permits the same day. It was a happy day for the 2 of them!

Dawson is now a Freshman and really enjoying high school. So far he likes his classes. He said none of them are very hard, but it is still early in the year. In high school they are required to have an "art/music" class for 1 year. For the heck of it he selected Stagecraft. Where they build sets for the Theatre Dept. (Keegan was so proud of him.) He is actually having fun with it. He is also happy his school has a winning football team. Last year they won the state championship, so he's hoping this year will be the same. I think he loves watching sports as much as playing. Everyday after school he practices with the soccer team. He is their Goalie. I am a nervous wreck watching him. I wish he would play in-field, so he wouldn't have to be responsible when the other team makes a goal! The parents are brutal on the bench when he misses the block. I think I will sit on the other side, at least THEY will be cheering for him!! (LOL) So far they have won 1 game (against Keegan's high school) and lost 1 game. Don't get me wrong, Dawson is good and I love being able to attend his games. On Sunday's he's back to playing Lacrosse, his favorite sport of all. I will have to work most of the time, so David will get the pleasure of driving him across town. That's okay, they don't get much time together. Dawson has recently become our "health nut". He is always reading labels and only eating what is good for him, plus he exercises regularly. I only wish I had a portion of his motivation. He is my inspiration. What a smart kid to already have figured out how to treat his body. Don't think for a second he doesn't eat much. He burns so many calories, he is constantly eating! Now I just have to get him to fix his own meals.

Keegan is already going bonkers with her schedule. I have mixed emotions on what I am about to say. On one hand I will be so glad when this IB Program is over, but at the same time I can't wish time to go faster because then she will be leaving us soon. Already this month she has way too much going on. Last week she had to write a rough draft on an Extended Essay for the IB Program (4000 words). She has to turn in her college folder this week and a National Merit Scholarship folder next week, both requiring a lot of work. Plus she is in a play the last weekend of Sept, so she still has to memorize her script. The first week of Oct her Extended Essay/final draft is due. I know you are probably thinking that she doesn't have time to be adding extracurricular activities. Seriously, without her Theatre she would go crazy. She has so much fun with the cast and tech crew. It really is her outlet/release of all the chaos in her life right now. Senior year is supposed to be fun. I hope Keegan will look back one day and remember it being a great year. I have to make myself back off and leave her alone. I can hardly peak at her calendar, I go crazy looking at her schedule. Although I have a feeling Keegan's life may always be like this, huh? During the next few months she will be applying to several colleges. She will be so busy writing essay's to each place. She won't hear back from any of them until next Spring whether she has been excepted or not. I understand the waiting period can be the toughest part, but honestly I am looking forward to the application process being over with. A lull would be welcome right now :) Luckily her classes are not too difficult yet and she does have her New York City trip to look forward to next year during Spring break with her Theatre group. Which just reminded me, that Dawson informed me that his Spanish class is going to Spain next year!! ("Phew") David should have been a Lawyer, so we can afford everything. You didn't really think I was going to say "I should have married a Lawyer did you?" tee hee :b

David and I are still thankful for our jobs. We both are doing well. At The Depot my hours are up and down. Mostly up, so I'm happy about that. I have finally come to realize unless I were to get laid off, I'm probably a Home Depot life'er! There is not many opportunities around here that pay well enough to start over again with another company. I like the people I work with, they have become good friends.

I still like it here in Wichita after 2 years! I guess it feels like home, but at the same time I don't think any of us feel an attachment here. As hot as it got this summer and breaking all heat records, I don't miss Phoenix. :Q Ask me this winter how I feel!

I have new pictures along the side, so check them out.

I think I have told you everything up to date. We miss all of you. We are busy, but never too busy for guest. We just might make you drive the kids around while David and I relax!!

Huh! This second Keegan just called me and wanted me to pick her and her friends up at 5:30. I told her I had to pick up Dawson between 5:30 and 6:00, so they would have to hang out until I could get to her school around 6:30! (Normal everyday stuff!)

I will continue to pray for you and please keep us in your prayers.

God loves you all so much.

I love you too,

Marjie

Happy 4th of July

Hello everyone,


Oh my goodness, I had no idea it had been so long since I last blogged. You have probably given up on me by now. So much has happened since the new year. I'm afraid it will take too long to catch you up, so I will break it up into several blogs.


Before I go any further. Most of you know my dog Luna died a couple of weeks ago. She was getting old and I think her heart just couldn't take another storm. For almost a week after she died we continued to have storms every night. I will miss her like crazy. She was my little furry blessing from God. Luckily we still have our cat "Nike".


The kids had a great school year, but both are so happy for their summer break. Before I go into what we have been doing this summer, I need to brag a bit about their accomplishments during the school year.


Dawson was in 3 sports at 1 time!! (I know I was glutton for punishment.) He started with a new Lacrosse team this year, it was a high school team. They traveled as far as Oklahoma. He and David would make the trips in 1 day. I think they always had good quality time together. I was only able to watch 1 game. That's ok, I have a hard time watching Lacrosse. I think it is too rough :# It's very similar to ice hockey without the ice & skates and the ball is in the air. Dawson did very good and had a great time. Plus he made a lot of friends. At the same time he was able to fit in soccer (he is still the goalie) and track & field for the 1st time. I was able to make all of his track meets and loved it. He told me he was the fastest white kid on the team!! I was shocked at how fast he could run. Dawson has grown so much and has become quite the athlete. He was able to maintain excellent grades along with all of his sports. We are very proud of him.


Keegan really flourished in theatre. She got some exciting parts in the school plays and musicals. Towards the end of the school year they had an award banquet. She was nominated for 7 categories. She won 4 awards. Wow, we were so happy for her. I know I'm her mom and all, but really, she is so good. You would not believe how well she acts unless you saw it for yourself. I wish the profession wasn't so hard to get into. She could definitely have a career at it. Besides theatre she didn't have much of a social life. Maybe once a week she would get together with her friends on a weekend night. Otherwise the poor thing really was bogged down with homework and test, test and more test. BUT, she made it through her Jr year with outstanding grades. In the IB program it is known as the hardest year. Next year will be more crazy, but hopefully her classes will be a little easier. On top of taking her IB test this year she also had to take her SAT & ACT test. At one point she became very sick. She refused to miss any school. We were so worried about her. I guess her body was exhausted. Now she is back to normal and having a fun, yet busy summer.


David and my jobs are still going well. We are both thankful to be employed. Mostly we have been driving our teenagers around. Trying to enjoy them before they are off on their own.


My Brother Dick and Cindy came out to visit us in April. One day it rained and was so cold, the next day was sunny and beautiful. We gave them the grand tour of Wichita. Their time here was short, but we really enjoyed them.


I will continue later with what we've been doing this summer. Be sure to check out all 18 new pictures down the side bar.


Love to all of you. Miss you a bunch. Please come visit us. We are never too busy for company.


God bless you every day,


Marjie


P.S. Give your furry friends a big hug. Their love for you is so unconditional. We need to all take lessons from them.