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
Salt Lake City, Utah
Picture taken on Thanksgiving weekend 2013.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Monday, August 27, 2012
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
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
Monday, August 6, 2012
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
Thursday, June 28, 2012
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
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
Sunday, May 20, 2012
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
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
Monday, May 14, 2012
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
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
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)