This is our Christmas letter...

It was more fun before I copied it here, because some on the words were colorful and fun, but I guess that can't copy over.   Merry Christmas!  Hope you enjoy this wonderful season.



Dear Family and Friends,




Tis the Season to procrastinate and now there are only 4 days left until Christmas. If I don’t get this letter written today, I’ll have to use a sharpie to cross out our “Season’s Greetings” and write “Happy New Year”. Wait, does “Season’s Greetings” include the New Year in it? Maybe I’m okay, then!



We’ve had an eventful year. The main thing was moving. Last May we thought we were at the end of our efforts to sell our house. We took it off the market, our realtor accidently put it back on, and that day(!!) we got a call to show it to the people that eventually bought it. Lucky for us, the house of our dreams was on the market and we could afford it (mostly?). We figured in extra money for heating and water bills, but not that we would have 40 extra mouths to feed. We are in a great neighborhood with lots of other kids who are constantly coming over to our house where our children generously offer them food! We also have a cow farm behind us, so we spent the first few months feeding them as well. Then we got our first bills and decided to kick the cows out of our grocery bill. We actually love that the kids come to our house and feel so happy to be here.



I am sad to report that Brandon is still in his MBA program. The end is in sight, though! Next June or July we will be only 6 months away from repaying his loans. It has been a long road with him either at school or doing homework. But he has been doing great in school and is bound to get his dream job after all of this effort. He sure does deserve it. He is still with the State Auditor’s office and it is as unfulfilling as it sounds for him.



Riley is in the 4th grade this year. He just recently got to be one of the town’s folk in his schools production of Tom Sawyer. He had a lot of fun with it until they told him he had to wear makeup for it. Luckily, his cheeks are naturally rosy, so no one noticed much. He really has enjoyed his dad being his coach for baseball and basketball this year.



Anna is really enjoying 2nd grade. She has made some new friends. We are close enough to where we used to live that she still gets to attend her Tap dance class. She is so cute when she’s dancing. This year she has discovered Taylor Swift and knows all of the words to her songs.



Evan is growing up so fast. He’ll start Kindergarten next year! He is enjoying preschool this year and spends the rest of his time killing all of the bad guys that are constantly invading our home. They must be invisible, because I never see them. But he is always shooting something.



I’ve been keeping busy with trying to keep this house clean. I’ve also been working with the Cub Scouts that Riley attends. That has been quite an adventure. The kids keep me busy with all of their activities and homework. I am starting to think about what I will do next year when Evan starts Kindergarten. I’m thinking Bonbons & Lifetime Movies! Maybe I’ll take a class or two. We’ll see.



Well, this is probably going to be late, but I’m going to try to get this out today. Hopefully, this will get there in time to wish you a Merry Christmas, but even if it misses the 25th, we hope you enjoy this wonderful Season and that the Spirit of Christmas will fill you long into the New Year.



With love,

The Kirkwoods

Brandon, Pam, Riley, Anna and Evan

Getting better...

That is my goal.  To get better at keeping up with life.  After moving in here, life started getting ahead of me and I've been fighting to keep up.  New school, new callings, new friends.  Mixing those with all of the old stuff and old friends has been difficult.  But we are starting to settle and adjust and have been loving it here. 

The kids have made friends in the neighborhood.  Brandon is so excited that Riley has two friends that come over all of the time to play football and baseball.  Riley is at the end of a really great soccer season.  He got a perfect score on the math section of the 3rd grade standardized test. We were so proud about that.  He actually asked his teacher to give him extra work during math time, because he was finishing too quickly and having to read during math time. Anna has been loving the new school and making some nice new friends. We live close enough that she still gets to do tap dancing.  Evan gets to attend the same preschool as last year and he loves it!  He is doing soccer for the first time and thinks that it's so fun. He still loves having his own room and has been coloring pictures that he tapes up on his walls. So cute.

Brandon is taking a really hard class right now, but after this he only has a few more classes and one big research paper before he's done!  He is coaching Evan's soccer team and has a lot of fun with that.  I enjoyed a really fun birthday last month with a house full of friends.  I've been trying to figure out how to keep this house clean. I've never been really good at that, but I love this house so much, I'm trying. I can't believe that we are heading into the holiday season. I love it.  Life is going so fast, but we are enjoying it! And I'll try keeping up with this blog.

Family Home Evening

We had a really fun FHE tonight and I thought I would share.  We made playdough at the beginning of family home evening and each child got assigned one thing to add to the pot.  One put in a cup of flour, one added the bowl with 1/4 cup salt and 2 teaspoons of cream of tarter.  One added one cup of water that contained 1 tablespoon of oil and Koolaid to it's color. We made two colors, so Brandon and I each had a pot to stir, over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes until it turned into a lumpy ball. As we were stirring, we took the opportunity to talk about how this playdough was like Heavenly Father's church.  The kids tried to guess why they were alike.  Evan thought it was because it smelled good!  So I explained that we each had a specific part in making the playdough so that it works.  We couldn't all have the water or it would just be wet.  We couldn't all have the flour or it would just be dry.  We had exactly the right stuff and put it together in just the right way.  Then we took the playdough off of the stove to let it cool, pretty quickly, and then showed them how it was all together, but still pretty lumpy.  We had to knead it and work it in order for it to be smooth.  I explained to them how this is like the church, because Heavenly Father has given us all talents to help make His church work smoothly.  Some of us are creative, some of us are friendly, some of us are natural leader, some of us are doers. Just having those talents is not enough, though.  We must mix them with the talents that others have and use them.  We set the playdough aside and went into the living room for Riley's portion of the evening.  He had come up with the idea of talking about talents.  Here is his talk:

"WE NEED THEE EVERY HOUR


Did you know we wouldn’t be very talented if we didn’t believe in God? Well we wouldn’t. All of our talent comes from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father has given talents to each of his children.

Here is a story I read that talks about this:

Wendy watched her sister Shelley draw a beautiful picture of the mountains behind their home. Wendy was discouraged because she couldn’t draw as well as Shelley did. Shelley played the piano too and was smart in school. Wendy thought about all the things that Shelley could do well. She wondered why she couldn’t do those things well also. One day Wendy’s teacher asked her to give a talk in Primary. She worked hard on it and gave a good talk. The bishop heard Wendy’s talk and told her how much he enjoyed her talk. He told Wendy that she was very talented.

A warm feeling came over Wendy. The bishop’s words helped Wendy discover something important about herself. Wendy soon discovered that she had other talents too. She made friends easily, and other children always wanted to be with her. She loved to read and write. When she went to church, she was reverent and listened to her teacher. Wendy had never thought that these were talents because they were not like Shelley’s talents. Now Wendy realized that she did have talents, but her talents were different from her sister’s.

I bare my testimony that Heavenly Father has given us all our talents. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."

After Riley gave his talk, we went around and told what we thought our talents were .  Then we each told what we thought someone else was talented at.  We talked about how we could use these talents to serve Heavenly Father and how we needed Him all of the time to help strengthen our testimonies about our talents and to help us use them.  We ended our FHE by singing 'We need Thee every hour'. After the prayer, they got to play with the dough that was ready for them.
 
I have to say, this was one of the most fun FHE's we've done in the past few months.  Hearing all the kids tell me one thing that they think I'm talented at was neat.  Hearing them compliment each other and talk about how they could do things to help at church just made me feel good inside. It feels kind of formal, but I want to bare my testimony that Heavenly Father has given us all special talents.  They are for His work and His purposes, not just ours, and we need to pray to find out where our talents can best be used. It's not always were we imagine them to be needed, but we need to be open to the path that He has us on, because it will only lead to blessings.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

The wait is over...

I know that there are a few people who have been waiting to see what our new house looks like inside.  For those who do not live close enough to come and visit we have uploaded videos on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. 

There are three separate videos to view.  They are located at the following locations:

1. Outside

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEFvgEvbRvc

2. Downstairs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIvyyxygtmA

3. Upstairs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45NNxjlXjA0

We are really enjoying our new place.  We are so blessed. Love you all!!

Doing one of the things I hate most....

....for one of the best reasons. We are packing! We will officially be out of this house by June 28th, which is coming up really fast. The only thing that makes that bearable is that we have an awesome new house to move into! I can't believe what the Lord has brought us to. It is 2700 square feet! It has a small yard, but overlooks a farm. Anna already is dreaming about owning a baby cow. Although this means a lot of small changes and a few really sad big ones, we are SO excited. Here's a picture of our next house. I can't wait to live there. Today is the inspection, so we get to go back today and see it a little more! Hurray!

Facebook update.

I made a comment on my Facebook page about our weekend and it left people wanting. It said "Pamela Schilling Kirkwood had a long weekend filled with tons of houses, rain, vomit, assault rifles, mud and mice. Doesn't that combination just make everyone jealous? I need a few days to recover from the weekend..." So here is a very long update.
We sold our house to the people that came to see it from my last blog. Yes I know, it's amazing. So this weekend we sent the kids out to the family cabin near Elma with the Grandparents while Brandon and I went shopping. I've been making lists of favorite houses for a year now, so you must know that the excitement level was very high. We dropped the kids and our van off at the in-laws at 9:30 Friday morning and headed out. We got to see about 10-12 houses on Friday and I tell you, I was so exhausted. Emotionally, it was crazy. Brandon and I had planned to go out to eat and maybe see a movie without the kids, but we ended up eating a quick meal and falling asleep in front of the TV at 9. We were up bright and early to go out and finish our house list on Saturday.
When we were finished, we packed up our stuff to head out to the cabin. It had rained so much on Friday, but Saturday had been good. We figured the kids were excited not to be stuck inside. When we started down the drive that leads to the cabin, we felt the mud right away. Usually you drive up a small hill to park on the other side of the cabin, but as we made our way slowly towards the cabin, we saw the mass of tire tracks in the mud that used to be the road and all of the cars parked in the meadow before the cabin. Everyone that saw us coming motioned for us to pull up there. What a mess that place was! We gave all of the kids a hug and I noticed that the mud on Evan's boots was an inch thick! Crazy.
We had fun telling everyone about the houses we had seen. Brandon's cousins were out with their 4-wheelers and had made some new trails, so Brandon and I got to go for a ride in the woods. That was fun. Uncle Tom has something of a gun collection and he will bring them down once in awhile for fun. The men go down to the river to shot and the women stay to chat. Well, not this time. I joined the men and took my turn shooting first the assault rifle and then the pistol. Riley came down for towards the end and took a turn with the pistol. For some of you who are shocked (MOM) that I would let Riley shoot the gun, Uncle Tom is very good at the rules of shooting at the river and we were all very safe.
We had a fun dinner late that night and then marshmallows around the campfire. All of us, except the Delahunty's, were sleeping in the cabin. Our kids and Tanner, 2y, were bunked up with my in-laws in a bedroom. Brandon and I were on a mattress on the kitchen floor. Meri and Dustin were in the living room on a mattress with baby Gracie ,4 m, and Jake was on the couch. Lesha and Jeff were in the other bedroom with the twins, 3y. A few years back, we had worked hard to move the mice out. I found a great repellent that really worked and we plugged all of the holes so that they couldn't get back in. Well, the repellent doesn't last forever and they can chew new holes after awhile. So as I tossed and turned on the LOUD plastic mattress, I heard the mice living in the attic, making new holes!
After a hard night's rest, we woke up to rain. Lots more rain. It was very tight in that little cabin. Some people made the best of it, while others (ME) plotted our escape down the muddy path to sanity. I talked over my plans to leave early with my husband who agreed at first, but then stole me away to the woods to give me a lecture about accepting some things and trying to make the best of it. I thought of how I could get my way, briefly remembering the assault rifle from the day before, and then decided to try the "make the best of it stuff" that my husband had laid on me. So I made a really big, wonderful fire and sat by it with lots of the children under an umbrella in the rain.
The evening turned out nice, family gathering for dinner and a spiritual lesson. We watched a movie and sent the kids off to bed. Anna was missing us though, and had a crying fit over us sleeping in the other room. I finally got her calmed enough to fall asleep by 11 and went to bed. At 1 a.m. Lesha ran out of their bedroom looking for a pan to catch vomit in. Kayleah had gotten sick. She continued to get sick off and on for a few more hours. Poor sweetie. I felt so bad that they were stuck in their little room with one sleeping child and one vomiting! By 8 a.m. we were all up and we started packing. We were headed home by 10:30. Anna started getting what I thought was carsick by 11:30, but it didn't go away once we got home. We were supposed to take the kids to see a few of our favorite houses, but we canceled that. By 3 Anna gave in to the nausea and Riley had started feeling sick. At 9, he gave in. We're taking bets on who will be next and when. My vote is Evan around 1 a.m. Brandon's is Evan by 4 a.m. I hope neither of us win, because that would mean very little sleep. So that is the very long story that goes with my very short facebook comment. Hope you all enjoy and had a great weekend, too. Love, Pam

Months gone by...

So I do realize that it has been months! since my last post. We have just gotten through all of our kids birthdays,a few cousins' birthdays, mother's day, a big ward activity that I got to plan and a pretty intense class for Brandon. (He got a B!) All of the birthdays were great, but we somehow let them have both friend parties and family ones. We had 6 parties at our house in the course of one month. Not a good idea. I have lots of pictures to update later, but they are on the other computer. We also just got done telling everyone that we are now off the market, but that turns out to be a lie. Our realtor got back from her trip to find that we had accidentally expired on our listing. It was supposed to be June 5, but somehow went off May 5th while she was away. The realtor taking her place talked to us about it and we just told her to let it expire. Well, our realtor realized the problem when she got home and just fixed it without asking. Luckily we found out about it, just minutes before we got a call to show the house. Otherwise, we wouldn't have know what to do. Well, the couple that came to see the house really like it and are coming back to see it tomorrow night. Crazy! I'm not sure what Heavenly Father has in store, but He sure is keeping us on our toes! I'll update about this and add pictures of the other stuff later.

Ballet Dancing

We had a special night. Evan went over to the Kirkwood's house and we took Riley and Anna to a ballet! I made the kids dress up a little, which Riley hates. Then we went to the Olive Garden, which both children were not excited about. But once we got there and insisted that they couldn't have pizza or chicken fingers, they started to realize this was special. They enjoyed the bread sticks and spaghetti, while Brandon took on the Tour of Italy and I had salmon with broccoli. YUM! We enjoyed the quality time we could get out of this. Then we headed off to South Puget Sound Community College to the theatre there where the Brigham Young University Theatre Ballet dancers were performing Fairy Tales and Fantasy. If you ask three of us, it was great fun. Anna and I got to go on stage during intermission and dance with lots of others. They performed acts from Don Quixote, Cinderella and Swan Lake, among others. Brandon took some pictures of us which I'll try to add later. He enjoyed Anna snuggling up to him during the performance and the amazing agility of the dancers on their toes so much. Riley would rather have been watching March Madness at home, but was a really good sport about it. When we got home and Grandma asked, "Did you like it?", he said no, but I think he still had a little fun tonight. Evan had a great time at Grandma's house playing with toy soldiers in fake snow. I love nights like these. I've been having such fun lately. Can't wait to go to Portland next Wed with friends to see another performance, this time Cats! ~Pam

Campout

Evan has a little friend named Abby. We always have fun every time she comes over. These pictures are probably a month or more old, but I thought it was so cute. They had a camp out in Evan's room. I gave them marshmallows and pretzel rod sticks and they came up with all the rest. If you look at the top picture, you'll even see a pile of Tinker-Toy sticks with a flashlight that was their fire.

Today, as I was thinking about love, I realized how simple and pure it can be. To love like children is the way Heavenly Father intended us to love. I watch these children laugh easily, share patiently, and forgive quickly. I aspire to be like them in the love I share with everyone.

1 John 3:18 - "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth."

Happy Valentine's Day! -P :-}

Happy New Year!

I can't believe that it is 2010! Life is back to normal. School, work, routines. We had a wonderful Christmas Vacation. It ended with a really nice party at our house with a lot of our friends and then spending New Years Day with Brandon's family. I am so blessed. In the New Year, I resolve to do many things, but the only one worth mentioning is growing closer to my Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, my Savior. Happy New Year! Pam