Tessa's Decision

Tessa was baptized last Friday... on the 26th. Just before sunset we went down to a private beach on Oahu and she walked into the ocean with her daddy. Our friends Kevin & Chase Cottle were the witnesses. Chris read us some scriptures and gave a small talk. It was such a wonderful experience for all of us! A lot of the pics look like it was totally dark, but really we had plenty of light and it was absolutely beautiful! To keep in form with Hawaiian custom, when Tessa came out of the water, we put leis around her neck and kissed her precious face. Congratulations, our Tessa - we love you so much!

These pictures are the ones we had taken on Tessa's birthday:







P.S. More of our Hawaii pics will be coming soon!

Merry Christmas!

Our prayer for everyone this Christmas is that you enjoy every single magical second with one another. We are extremely thankful to have family, friends and neighbors that bless our lives and teach us through example every day. Most importantly, we are so blessed and grateful that our Savior was sent to earth as a perfect little baby. That God's plan is perfect. That Jesus Christ lived His life for us, allowing us to have the miracles of forgiveness and eternal life.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

I thought that these letters were so cute, I just had to share.... thanks, Lyds, for sending them to me!

Grandma's Christmas Party

Every year Mike's mom and dad throw a great Christmas party at their house. My kids call it 'Grandmas Christmas Party'... and they look forward to it all year long. My mother-in-law literally starts shopping for the next year's party right after the holidays... and she shops all year long. She puts a ton of thought and love into each and every gift, always looking for the perfect item for each little personality (the look on Tessa's face shows she nailed it again this year). You can imagine how much time this takes, as she now has 20 grandchildren and counting!
Every year we tell her, "You did too much..." and every year she gives us her biggest, most beautiful smile and says, "Oh, it's so fun! One day I won't be able to do it, but today I can!" You can see from these photos that she is the epitome of a doting Grandma... and that each one of her Grandchildren (and children) adore her!

Stay Out of the Doghouse This Christmas!

Our White Elephant Gift...

We sure do love 'Yapper'...


HE (yes, I'm guessing here) came complete with his name, bowl, food, and even a pooper scooper. The kids think he's great, and Tessa was so excited that she told me, "I'm gonna teach him to do tricks!"
I hope he survives.
Thanks for a great party, Laurie... and whoever gave us Yapper!

Ice Skating at the Gallivan Center

Ice skating highlights:

*being outside in the freezing cold, all bundled up, with the Christmas lights twinkling all around us

*watching Trevor 'bust a move' out in the middle of the rink

*all the falling down... and all the helping up

*the hokey pokey (boy, it's been a long time!)

*my youngest saying, "let's skate together, mom!" and then saying, "uh, you can hold on to the rail if you want" because I must have been going too slow for her

*the fire pit and hot chocolate when we were all done... the perfect ending!

Eight is GREAT!

Our baby girl turns 8 today!

Some things to know about our Tessa Anne:

Favorite color: blue, because she thinks she's outgrown pink

Food: pizza, chinese, or anything with sugar

Holiday: Christmas, "because it's so fun to watch everyone else open their presents"

Book: I Love You Forever

Toys: Webkinz or her babies

Things to do: anything as a family, doing art and making things for people, playing with her friends

Nicknames: Tessie, Annie, Penelope, Lambie, Baby Girl, Princess, Munchkin Mouse

Her real name: Tessa Anne - 'Tessa' means 'fourth born' and Anne is after her GranDebbie, my mom

Her strengths: reading, writing, drawing, and especially loving

Dislikes: if it's possible to dislike it as much as her mother does... being the center of attention - we both hate it

Likes: Being the baby of the family - she reminded me last night before she said prayer that it would be my last time to hear my seven year old say it, and that I should make sure to tuck her in, because it would be the last time I got to tuck in my seven year old. Ouch, those tugs on my tender heart strings!

The following is because I'm such a sentimental sucker on my kids' birthdays... you really don't have to read it. But I've got to write it.

Eight years ago, I was at the hospital again after having been there twice already that week to get my labor stopped. The most important thing to me was that my baby was ready to meet this world. That she was fully developed and healthy. But I couldn't help hoping they would keep me (us!) there this time. We still had 17 days until her due-date of the 26th. And yet, her personality shone even then... she'd get here when she wanted to, and she wasn't going to wait around for anyone to tell her when that would be.

Although I'd had Katy and Trevor completely natural with no pain meds... (was I crazy!?!?)... I think there hadn't been enough time between Trev and Tessa for my mind and/or body to complete the time warp that makes us forget that pain and decide to do it again. As soon as they said I was staying, I asked for the epidural. Besides, it was already a late night to a long day, and we were just getting started... I think it was about midnight when I was admitted. 

I'd had a horrible epidural with Chris (a whole other story, but just so you know, it was bad enough that I had those next 2 without one. 'nuf said.) and so I was fearful of having another one. But more fearful of that pain again. Boy, is there a big difference between a 'bad' epidural and a truly WONDERFUL one! I was watching that machine with it's peaks going almost completely to the top of the screen with my huge contractions, and saying, "wow, I hardly felt a thing!"

So Mike pulled up one of those rock-hard reclining chairs that for some reason look as inviting as a feather mattress in the middle of the night... and we both slept... for a little while, at least.

I woke up because I heard a huge GASP from the nurse standing by my bed. I sat straight up... Mike jumped up out of his chair... every hair on my body stood on end. From the look on the nurse's face, we knew something was wrong. After her initial shock, she calmly turned to Mike and said, "go get the midwife... this baby's head is already out." 

So Mike runs (no, he did not walk... he didn't even jog... he full-on RAN) into the hall, in the very early hours of an otherwise quiet morning, and yells at the top of his lungs, "GET IN HERE NOW! THIS BABY'S HEAD IS OUT!"

The midwife chases him back into the room, pulling gloves on as she's running, staring wide-eyed at my 'place', and says, "okay, Tricia, I want you to take in a big, deep breath and give me one good push." So I huff, and I puff... okay, just kidding.... I actually started to inhale deeply and before I even let out a hint of air, she lays my new baby girl on my stomach and says, "here she is!"... wait, was I supposed to push?

And in true Tessa style... coming when she was ready, no waiting around, taking no guff from anyone, in total 'I can do it by myself' fashion... one huge spirit in that teeny tiny body (only 6 lbs 3.7 oz)... my life would never be the same. It had never been so wonderful.

I don't think I'll ever forget how blue she was from not being able to breathe. Or the fear that engulfed me when they pulled her off my stomach as quickly as she appeared there, to get her under the oxygen tube... watching all of them hover over her, rubbing her and gently telling her (begging her!) to breathe. My world stood still. 

My world stands still again today as I look at this miracle I've been blessed with. Today is our day. I've taken the day off work, and she off school... we're off to play! An entire day of snuggling, hair-doing, lunching, shopping, picture-taking, and if we can fit it in, ice-skating! 

She grabbed my hand super tight last night and told me, "I'm so excited for tomorrow... it's going to be the best day EVER!"

No, baby girl... that was the day you were born.

Caution: This Post Contains Spoilers

Santa Clause spoilers, that is...

We have been discussing with our kids that their Christmas presents will be smaller this year, and not as many of them. The reason is because the biggest gift, for all of us, is our trip this winter to HERE. We've been planning it for months, and finally surprised the kids with the news a few weeks ago. It was such a fun surprise, because as Tessa was running around the room hugging and kissing everyone, I realized that Trevor hadn't said anything yet. When I looked over at him, he was still just sitting there... frozen... with his big brown eyes as big as quarters and his mouth forming a perfect 'O'... it was prime!

Anyway, on to the spoiler part. Mike and I had already decided that we would tell Trevor 'the truth' this year. He started asking questions last year, but we just couldn't bear to tell. So we figured that if it came up this year, we'd be totally honest. It just so happened that we were in the car a couple of weeks ago - just Mike, Trevor and me. When out of the blue Trevor says, "some of my friends say that santa is your parents."
One quick glance between Mike and I, and we both knew this was the moment. My reply, "and what do you think about that, Trev?"
"Oh, I told them that they were wrong." At this point he stared intently at my face, obviously trying to read my thoughts.
And out it came, "Well, it's true". I just watched him as he processed this information.... that same frozen, eyes wide and round mouth look.
"It is?"
"Yes."
Silence. 

Quick 'what did we just do?' look at Mike.
More silence.
I don't know what I was expecting, but not the next question.
"What about the Easter bunny?"
"Us."
"The tooth fairy?"
"Us."
"You owe me money."
Mike and I couldn't stop laughing, because apparently Trevor still has a long, lost tooth somewhere in his room. See, this is another reason we just had to get the secret out... I stink at being the tooth fairy. Seriously, I've thought many a time that my kids will grow up warped because the tooth fairy either never paid up or was always so busy that it took her a week or two to get around to them. Then I'd justify it by telling myself that I was just teaching them patience. Sure.

Anyway, back to the story. After all of Trevor's questions, we laid down the law - the same law that had been laid down to Christopher and Katy years ago. There's only one rule. NO TELLING. No telling Tessa, no telling the neighbors, no telling your cousins, no telling your friends at school. If they bring it up, and they already know, you can talk to them about it. But you don't bring it up. You can talk to dad, me, Chris or Katy anytime you want, as long as Tessa isn't around. And the reward for not telling? Elf status. You get to be a helper. My kids have always LOVED being helpers. It takes away a little sting of 'the truth'. And call me corny, but Tessa is my baby, and she's been able to do 'baby' things for longer than the other kids... got her bottle longer, stayed in diapers longer, and she didn't even walk until she was almost two (which although she was in physical therapy for this, I still think it was in great deal because everyone else brought everything to her - she had no need to get up and walk). So I figured we could play along together and stretch her belief in Santa for at least a couple more years.

Fast forward one week. Tessa comes into the living room and announces to Mike and I that she wants a hot tub (of all things!) for Christmas. Mike says, "That's not happening."
"Why?"
"Because a hot tub is too expensive."
"Well, you're not buying it anyway. Santa's making it."
"Still not happening."
"WHY?!?"
"Because it's too expensive."
At this point she puts her hands on her hips, and screams, "WHAT ARE YOU TELLING ME?"
Mike and I exchange looks, his says 'what did I say?' and mine says, 'SHUT UP!', if you can say that with your eyes. Then we both just look back at her, at a complete loss for words, staring blankly at her angry and questioning face.
"ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT YOU ARE SANTA CLAUSE?"
Mike looks at me, as if the question wasn't directed at him. So I say, as calmly as I can muster, "Have you been talking to Trevor?"
"No."
"Have you been talking to your friends?"
"No." 

I think it was at this point that her anger turned to confusion, and her voice rose again, "WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?"
I honestly didn't know what to say. My mind was reeling. This was not happening. Not yet. And I am the worst liar in the entire world. So I did it.
"It's true."
At this point, she threw herself onto the couch, and just sobbed. My own tears were stinging my eyes as I leaned over and cradled her. No words were said for several minutes, as her precious little mind wrapped itself around this information. Then she slowly lifted her head and looked up at us, "So you bought my ipod last year?" (I know what you're thinking, but it was the only thing she asked for - and I got the one Mike won at his work Christmas party, so we just gave her my old one.)
"Yes."

"But that was expensive."

"Yes."

And softly, "thank you." That melted my heart, that she would think to thank us after having her heart broken.

The rest of the evening was filled with questions, each spaced 5-10 minutes apart, her heart and mind still taking all of it in. Mostly the same ones Trevor had asked, with a few of her own. And about an hour afterwards, one of them came that made me laugh. 

"What about last year when Katy and me were sprinkling the reindeer dust in the yard, and we heard santa say, 'ho, ho, ho' and there were jingle bells?" (This was one we didn't plan, but the timing worked out great and got them in bed super fast.)

So I answered her, "That was just some neighbor outside tricking their own kids, and you just happened to hear it."

By the end of the night, she was smiling at the whole thing and was excited to be in on 'the truth'. And then we laid down the law. Except this was the only time I was able to say, "you can talk to ANYONE in our family, whenever you want".

A few days later, while in the car, she says to me, "mom, really santa does exist.... because we can all be santa, even me.... he's the spirit of giving."

Ahhhh, she had been listening. My heart almost couldn't fit into my chest.

But my moment was short-lived as she laughed and said, "oh yeah, he exists alright... he's at home putting the Christmas lights up on our house!" Then we both gave in to a fit of giggles.

Texas

I've been pretty slow on the take, but here - finally, are some of my pictures from when I went to Texas for Grandmama's funeral a few weeks ago. One of the best things about going back was being able to see everyone... when it comes to family, it doesn't matter how long it's been, once you are near each other it seems like you were never apart. My highlights:

*Seeing family... visiting, remembering, crying and laughing together.

*Getting lost in 'the bad part of town' in the middle of the night (twice - in 2 different towns!), and more importantly, finding our way to where we were going. I'll never forget the conversation with my Aunt Mary, "Was that what I think it was?".... "Yep, drive faster!"... and calling my sister who was in the car behind us, who said to me, "Was that what I think it was?"

*The wichita mountains... every second of our day trip.

*Buffalo and long horns so close I could have reached out the window and touched them - but their look said, "nuh-uh, lady".

*Prairie dogs that I thought were awesome, but wouldn't let me near.

*That flat-lands sunset... oh, it's beautiful!

*Visiting the cemetary, remembering my Aunt Jan, and one of my greatest heroes, my Grandpapa; saying good-bye to Grandmama, and knowing that I'll see them all again.

I Hope They Call Me on a Mission...

Our nephew, Stephen, got his mission call this week... to Macieo, Brazil. Congratulations, Stephen! We are so excited for you! The bottom pic is of his mother having heart failure... and I had to post it because I thought it was so funny and cute - and so Randie!



And Stephen... I have news for ya... SOCCER on P-day in Brazil (wink)... you just wait... those kids will be begging you to play with them! Trevor was very excited for you... he says the only place he wants to go on his mission more than Brazil... is Portugal. I told him he shouldn't pick where he wants to go on his mission based on a sport, but like I said in my last post... that's next week's lesson.

Sorry, Rich, I had to steal the pics from your blog... thanks for sharing!

Learning to Teach...

It has come front and center to my mind lately that I need to do more in teaching my children some of the basic truths of the gospel. It's been humbling, but I promise to do better. A couple of my reality checks:

1. I intercepted a tithing envelope from Tessa a couple of weeks ago.... and quickly scribbled over the note she had written on the back of it: "Dear bishop, heres som mony for you. I hope you can bye sumthing you want."

We had our Family Home Evening lesson tonight on tithing.

2. I overheard Trevor explaining to Tessa what missionaries are: "They're these guys that just go to RANDOM COUNTRIES and teach about the gospel."

Our lesson next week is missionary work.  

A Great Halloween!

It was so fun to hang out with Hannah Montana, Batman, Tinkerbell, and more! I even had fun making those witch finger cookies, which were super easy and the kids loved them. I'm surprised how many people asked how I talked Mike into being a guy cheerleader... well, if you've seen Saturday Night Live with Will Ferrel, you'd understand... "R-O-W-D-I-E, that's how we spell rowdy!"... it's way more fun to watch them do it on t.v. though... and our kids were terrified we were going to embarrass them, so we played it chill. We were way more fun at home when no one was watching... "Who's that peeking outta my teepee?" "It's me!"..... so funny!

Quirks That Lurk...

First of all... I had to share our little project... our eensy weensy, er, BIG spidey. We did a smaller version of him several years ago for Chris and Katy's elementary school pumpkin decorating contest... and they won. We decided we wanted to do it again this year, and so Mike being the go-to guy... I called him and said 'think about how you want to do the legs, because I want to get him done tonight.' By the time I got home, he'd already bought the steel and started welding... what a handy man he is to have around! The body and head are real pumpkins, painted black. He turned out cute, eh? I also added a pic of our front porch, just cause I love walking up to it this season!

Okay, for the tag... I've gotten tagged with this one twice now (apparantly people know that I'm quirky)! Thanks go to my friends - Trixy and Andrea!

Some of my quirks:

1. Probably my biggest quirk is my hair twirling. I take a strand of my hair and twirl it around my finger, weave it through all of my fingers, and sometimes tie it in a knot and work the knot out. I've done it forever... I can't remember NOT doing it. I do it when I'm relaxed... I do it when I'm thinking... I do it when I'm bored. When I had my hair cut short like this, I took some of my tiny inch-long hair and flipped it around my finger... blip, blip, blip... short hair didn't stop me. I've had really long conversations with people where they haven't made eye contact with me because they're mesmerized by my twirling and can't take their eyes off it. No, I don't suck my thumb while I twirl my hair... uhm-mm...but I know someone my age who does both. (wink to you-know-who-you-are)

2. I am a tuner outer (yes, that's the technical term). If I'm concentrating on something really hard, or reading, and I hate to admit it, but sometimes even if I'm watching t.v. depending on the show...... you could be sitting right next to me, talking in my ear... and I won't hear a word. I just had to apologize to a co-worker yesterday because she was asking me about something while I was in deep concentration. My poor kids... and Mike... it drives him crazy. Luckily for me, he's learned that if my face is in a book, don't bother.

3. I tend to get obsessed about things. If there's a project I want to do... it's hard to stop me, and once I start it, I want to finish it... I know myself well enough to know that I HATE going back and finishing half-done projects, so I'm obsessive about finishing what I've started. I also get obsessed about things I love, such as... um, blogging? Yeah, I'm a little obsessed. And the Twilight series... just last night Katy and I went and bought each of us one of these for when we go see the movie... yeah, obsessive. And what am I teaching my daughter?

Okay... for a quirky girl, you only got three... but be assured, there are more! I'm going to just pass this tag on to anyone who wants to join the fun. I look forward to sharing in your quirkiness!

My Grandmama

Patsy Emerson Koethe Seitz

She passed away early in the morning on Saturday, October 18th while she was sleeping peacefully. Some of my favorite things about my Grandmama:

*  She could tell the best stories, with great detail... I loved hearing her tell me about 'the good ole days', because she could tell me what made them so good. It was so fun to listen to stories about my mom, aunts and uncle when they were little, and imagining her and my Grandpapa when they were younger and learning through their own life experiences.

*  She had an amazing memory - I know that I was born on a Saturday because she told me over and over throughout my life. She could tell you what day of the week any one of her children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren were born.

*  She was a Christian and had an amazing love for God and the Bible. She had her funeral arrangements done before she died, complete with her favorite songs and scriptures, and it ended with the pastor telling us that she had written a note in the margin next to the scripture John 3:16. Her note said, "It all comes down to this." John 3:16 reads: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

*  Family heritage was very important to Grandmama, a love for which I must have inherited from her. She lived very near where she was born, in a tiny little town... Henrietta, Texas... which is rich with our ancestry. My Grandpapa's very handsome service photo is even there in the Clay County Museum. Grandmama had 4 birth children, and fostered 2 more; 12 grandchildren; and 33 great-grandchildren. Grandmama was also my last living grandparent, which makes me very sad every time I think about it.

*  I've found so much peace in imagining the intense joy at her reunion with my Grandpapa (truly the love of her life!), my Aunt Jan (her youngest daughter), and my Grannie (her mother whom she cared for throughout my youth, showing amazing patience and love).

*  She traveled all over the country, and could tell you how to get from point A to point B, what routes to take, and what routes not to take. Although she traveled so much, she never, ever flew in an airplane. They terrified her. That always made me smile.

*  I'm her namesake, a very important fact that I was reminded of every time I spoke to her... without fail.... and I never tired of hearing it. I always felt so special because I was named after her. She was Patsy, and I'm Patricia.... I can't remember a time that she EVER called me 'Tricia' or 'Trish'... she ALWAYS called me Patricia, keeping that namesake element in there.

*  She knew how to love unconditionally. She let us know when she thought what we were doing was wrong, but nothing could ever change her love for any one of us.

*  It was very important to her that when she died, even though there would be 'a time to mourn'... that we don't mope, but celebrate her life and find joy in our memories of her. Many of us took that opportunity and went up to the Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma after the funeral was over. That was one of her favorite places in the world, and it was such a wonderful experience, filled with memories of when we went there with her and my Aunt Jan, who passed away 2 1/2 years ago. I took lots of pictures and will post them soon.

A'maze'ing!

We have a fall tradition of going to the corn maze. We've always gone to Hee-Haws, but broke away this year and went to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point. We had so much fun! There were pumpkins, princesses, hayrides, a huge haunted walk-in monster, a giant trampoline, tether-ball, the 'Halo' guy, and so many more things to see and do.... oh, and of course, the David Archuletta corn maze.
Since the kids are getting older, the last couple of years it's been fun to play boys against girls... we usually have 'phase 1' winners pick the ice cream, and 'phase 2' winners pick the kind of soda pop for floats at home afterwards; but this year, there was so much other stuff going on that we only did phase 1... and the girls won (cause we ROCK!), so we had coke/cookies n' cream floats (icky, I just had the coke). The best part for me was when the boys bowed down to us after we won - as well they should have!