One awesome brother!

Today Kristina had to take the ACT test, the admissions test for colleges. It takes 4 hours and the scores determine which colleges you can get into. She got up early to get to the testing center and on the drivers seat of the Mustang that she drives was a note and a candy bar, a payday, from big brother Sean.  This is what it said:

Kristina, Remember this: After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box. In the end, the score you get on this test will not define who you are or what you will become. Do your best and the Lord will provide the rest.  Sean

Nikki's Christmas list

This is priceless and so Nikki! I'm not sure what Santa's going to do with this.

Sister Missionaries

A couple weeks ago we got to have the sister missionaries in our home for dinner. I love having them over and I really miss having the missionaries in our home more often like we did in Hilton Head, but we have to share them more here in Idaho.

There are 3 sisters together in this area and now we have another sister who is from Samoa. I felt like having Sister Aleki here last year was such a gift to our family and now to have another sister from the same area is amazing. Her name is Sister Sojelo (pronounced so yellow). She is actually from a different part of the island. While talking to her I made some comment about not being able to communicate with her family back home or if her family can email her, etc. She kind of laughed at what I said saying, of course, we have computers and TV, etc there. I told her all I knew about was the little girls' birth family and how they couldn't email because they had no computer, in fact, no electricity. She kind of laughed about that as if it wasn't really true.

So after dinner she wanted to see pictures of the girls' birth family. As she was looking at the pictures she kept saying, "they are really poor." Later on in the back yard, she walked over to me and said, "Their family is so poor. These girls are very lucky to be here." I told her I thought everyone on the island lived that same way because that was all I saw, but she assured me that her family had a normal house, with walls, electricity, etc.

The best part of their visit was after dinner when we asked them to leave us with a spiritual message. The older kids all were gone somewhere, so it was just Harold, the girls and I left. As we sat around the kitchen table, the sister missionaries bore their testimonies to us. Then Sister Sojelo spoke very plainly and strongly to the little girls. She told them how blessed they were and how Heavenly Father was looking after them. She told them that they were chosen to be here and to learn about the gospel and to live the gospel so that they could help their birth families back in Samoa. She told them that they had a very important mission and that they were missionaries chosen from all the people back in Samoa to be here and that their work was very important to Heavenly Father. She reminded them to be strong and to do what they were told by us and by the prophet. I was so impressed by what she was saying and how she was saying it. It gave me a renewed strength to help Leah and Nikki be those strong missionaries she was talking about. I want to help them so that they can bless their families back in Samoa.

This sister missionary made such a huge impact on me even though she was speaking to the girls and it couldn't have come at a better time because we had just had a hard weekend finding out that Leah had been surfing into horrible websites and showing Nikki, places she had been told about by a friend at school. It was such a shock to me and really woke me up to my role as a lionness at the gates of my home. The evil influences from the world can so easily creep into our homes and sometimes it doesn't just creep in, it literally pushes down the downs and throws itself into our faces. I had wonderful talks with the girls and many changes were made in our home, but then to have the sister missionaries with their powerful spirits come into our homes and leave us with such beautiful messages, it became a tender mercy I will never forget.

I am extremely blessed any time I can be reminded of who I am, my purpose, who my children are and who they can become. We all need these reminders constantly and you never know where they may come from, but I do know that if we are standing in the right places at the right times with the right people, these gentle nudges and reminders from Heavenly Father, these beautiful and much needed tender mercies, will come and our lives will be enriched.

Contact with Samoan birth family

Yesterday, we got a call from Sister Agnes Aleki, who had been serving in our area and was from Samoa. She became a good friend of our family and was especially fond of the little girls. This past Tuesday, she finished her mission and flew home. We gave her a small package with pictures, salt water taffy and a letter to give to the girls' birth parents. Yesterday Sister Aleki calls from Samoa and has the birth parents standing right beside her. We were so shocked. They don't speak English but Sister Aleki translated and told us they want to have communication with us. She said they were very nice people and she will now be in contact with them when they need translation work done. We were able to find out that Koretta is still on the other island also and that she has 4 other sons. Asega (girls' birth mom) has 3 children, a boy 5 and a boy 3 and a little girl 2. Sister Aleki said the little girl looks like Leah. She took a picture and I can't wait to see it. We told the girls the news and they were very excited to know there were other brothers and sisters in Samoa.

The following is a letter I wrote to Paula Young this morning about another phone call we received in the middle of the night:

Hi Paula, (sorry this is a bit long) but after I spoke with you, I called back and got hold of Agnes on her sister's cell, but our birth parents had just left. So I asked Agnes if she could call Asega and ask her how you can get in touch with Koretta and where you can send letters, etc. I asked her a little more about Koretta to clarify. It's a little confusing, but for some reason 2 of her boys are with her and 2 of them are on Upolu. I asked about her husband and Agnes said she wasn't sure if she was actually married or not with the man she was with. Also Agnes said that when Koretta comes to get her things, they were going to call her so she could translate again.
I think it will be easy to find the answers to most things if I just put them down in an email to Agnes and let her call Asega.

Now, here's another twist to the story. Last night at 1am, the phone rang and of course it scared me to get a call so late. Well, it was Asega. I could clearly understand her as she said, "Kathi, Kathi, this is Asega." So I said hello and then she proceeded to speak very slowly and it sounded as if she was reading something in English. So it was difficult to make out each word, but for the most part she said, "I want to thank you very much for what you give us today." She went on from there and it was hard to make out the words, but she told me how much she loved us, how much she loved Nikki and Leah (calling them by those names) and also something about Nikki's birthday coming this month on the 24th and how she will be turning 8. I told her yes, and that Nikki would be getting baptized (I don't think she understood anything I was saying). She kept thanking us over and over and how it meant so much to her family. She read for about 5 minutes, so I was trying really hard to understand each word. Harold could hear part of it since he was right there next to me. After she finished reading, she just hung up.

I really appreciated her effort and was in shock for a little bit. I can't imagine trying to read something in Samoan, but it kind of made me want to make an effort to learn Samoan.

I asked Harold what he thought about this. He said he expected there to be stirrings when Sister Aleki returned. I guess I didn't think there'd be any contact except through emails with Agnes, so I'm still in a little shock. But this is actually what I've wanted from the beginning, just to have a little contact with the birth mom and now more than ever I feel Asega and I are in this together and I know there are many people praying for Nikki and Leah, both in Samoa and here in our extended family and I feel such a huge responsibility for their spiritual and physical welfare.
I'm sure there will be more to this story and I will be sure to let you know any time I hear anything. Here is Sister Aleki's(Agnes') email address if you want to send her anything. I know she wouldn't mind at all: sisteraleki@myldsmail.net
That's her mission address, but she can keep it for 6 months after her mission.

have a great day,
Love,

Kathi

Young Women's Evening of Excellence

Tomorrow night the young women in our church (12 - 18 yrs old) will present their Evening of Excellence. Each girl showcases something they have achieved some excellence in this past year. Since DD Kristina has been sewing small projects all year and has a couple quilt tops in the works too, she and I came up with the idea of making a pillowcase. I found this cute fabric with all their Young Women values on it and we knew it would be perfect. It's from ldsfabric.com. Kristina says she saw the green and had to have it. It's flannel too which will be nice and cozy for a pillow. She found some red fabric in my stash and picked it for the accent stripe. Here are the simple directions for making one:
3/4 yd main fabric
1/4 yd border (cut to 9" wide)
3/4 yd trim (cut to 1 1/2" wide)
Iron trim in half lengthwise. Place border right side up. Place main fabric on top of border also right side up. Then place trim on top of both layers with raw edges even at top. Sew through all layers 1/4" seam.
Open out border. Press the seam towards the border. Also turn under top edge of border 1/4" and press. Fold border in half, press. Make sure it covers the seam line. Top stitch close to folded edge.
Fold pillowcase in half with right sides together. Stitch 1/4" around the side and bottom. Zig zag around the the edges for a nicely finished seam. Turn right side out and enjoy a good night's sleep!
I'm so proud of Kristina. Not because she can sew or likes something that I like, but because she is such a beautiful person inside and out. She seems to have been born with a knowledge of who she really is, a daughter of God, and never questions it nor does anything not in harmony with that knowledge. The world has such a strong pull on women these days and my prayer is always that my girls will radiate every day that inner purity they have and that their armor of God will keep them protected from all the fiery darts that are thrown at them. Sometimes it's so hard to watch them grow up and experience the world. But other times I find myself gaining a sweeter and sweeter kinship, friendship and love with each daughter the older they get. What a beautiful tender mercy this is.

Nikki/Leah conversations

Today driving in the car running an errand with Nikki and Leah, the conversation went something like this:
Leah: Mom, I think my thighs are too big.
Mom: Yours aren't too big, Leah. In fact your thighs are supposed to be the biggest part of your leg. They're nice and strong and help you run faster.
Leah: Well, I just don't like looking down at them and don't want anyone else to see them.
Nikki: I have big thighs, Leah, and I like mine.
Mom: Yes, you both have beautiful legs.
Nikki: Yeah, Leah, it's like how I have a mustache and I don't like having a mustache, and you have a little bit of a mustache but you like it, but you don't like having big thighs and I like it.


On the way home, it went like this:
Nikki: Mom, I don't have anyone to be a twin with for spirit week. All my friends already picked someone.
Leah: I can be your twin, Nikki.
Mom: Yeah, that would be good because you two look alike.
Leah: No, a boy in my class didn't know Nikki was my sister and when he saw her, I told him, but he said "she doesn't look like you".
Nikki: Yeah, that's cuz I have brown hair and Leah, you have black hair. And my nose is flat and yours is pointy. You're kind of like an Idaho girl... you're almost white.

Sunday evening dinner. Harold had to work this Sunday, I was tired and just happy that I was finished giving my lesson in Relief Society and didn't really feel like cooking a big meal. So I decided to just make grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup. I called the kids in and Leah anxiously asked, "What are we having for dinner?" I told her and her face beamed with excitement as she said, "Wow, this is like heaven." If only I'd realized earlier in life that heaven was this simple, it could have saved me many hours of cooking on Sunday afternoons.

Trip to Yellowstone

The kids had 2 days off school this week, so we decided to make a quick trip to Rexburg to see Kirk at BYU-I and spend one day at Yellowstone. We like road trips and going to Rexburg only takes about 4 hours by car, so it's very doable.

We left early Friday morning and stopped in Rigby at The Quilt Shoppe on the way in to Rexburg. Mary Lutz works at the store and we met her there. Of course, I managed to pick up a couple yards of fabric for a quilt border I'm working on. Amy Hamberlin owns the shop and it comprises the front part of her 100 year old home. She has great taste and is very creative, but running a business like this takes its toll on the family. She still has little ones at home and I could see that you can't do it all. I never had that desire to do something else while my kids were young, at least nothing that would take me away from them for an extended period of time. I truly loved being with my kids every day and still do. I'm crazy about them.

After Rigby, we checked into the Best Western in Rexburg and met up with Kirk and his girlfriend Rachel at a volleyball game. During the game, we actually managed to squeeze in some bowling on campus. The little girls love to go bowling. None of us did very well, but it was fun. Afterwards, we all went out to dinner at a pizza buffet called Craigos. The pizza, especially the crust, was very tasty. And of course, afterwards, a trip to visit one of our kids in college wouldn't be complete without taking them to the store to let them fill the cart with what they need. Mary enjoyed picking up some essentials too.

Back at the motel, the girls went swimming in the indoor pool. Sometimes I think that's the best part of the trip for them.

We got an early start in the morning heading over to Yellowstone which is about 80 miles away. Rachel and Kirk came with us and we managed to all fit in one car. It looked like it was going to be rainy all day, but as it turned out, the weather was mainly just overcast. We were very lucky. One of our goals in going to Yellowstone is to try and spot as many animals as we can. Never once have we seen a bear there and once again we only managed to see people who had just seen a bear, but we never got to see one. There was plenty of elk, deer, and bison though to keep us pretty entertained. We drove the northern loop this time and went to Mammoth Falls. It was beautiful. While there we actually ran into Jennifer Bergmann's daughter Erin and her husband. We haven't seen her since we lived in Hilton Head so it was an odd encounter, but fun nonetheless.

We made another pilgrimage to Old Faithful and it was still just that, "old" and "faithful".

It was a long day and we didn't get home until 8pm. We were really trying to make it back by 6pm so the boys could go to General Priesthood mtg. We were also disappointed that we couldn't get any radio reception in the car so we could listen to the Saturday sessions. Luckily I remembered to Tivo them back home.

Back at the motel, I asked Harold and Kirk to give me a blessing for my esophogeal problems I've been having lately. It was so nice to feel that priesthood power and especially to feel it coming from my husband and my son.

The girls packed up their bags and excitedly got ready for their sleepover with Mary in her apartment. They'd been looking forward to this for a few weeks now. Mary is the best cousin. They just love her. Alex spent the night with Kirk, so Harold and I had a nice evening all to ourselves.

Sunday morning Harold and I watched Sunday morning conference and then halfway through we checked out of the motel and went to Mary's to watch the second half. Mary had made cinnamon rolls for everyone and the girls were still hyper with sleepover excitement. Kirk and Alex also met us there.

I loved Pres. Monson's talk about change and hope. It's amazing to listen to him speak. The mantle of the prophet is so evident and it's so comforting.

We made the trip back home after conference and we were even able to listen to the afternoon session in the car. The trip home went by fast (in part because of the fact I was working on Leah's baptism quilt the whole time). Friends said it had rained all weekend back home, so we felt very fortunate that we had had such good weather.

I love little getaways. They always lift my spirits. Exploring new areas is one of my favorite things to do.

A Fine Beginning

Gave it some thought, then realized I should just dive in and begin. This blog will be a journal of the tender mercies I see and feel in my life. Tender mercies that could come from none other than Christ himself. Nephi used the phrase "tender mercies" and he was well aware of Christ's hand in his life. I hung a quote on my kitchen wall by Elder David A. Bednar that says "The tender mercies of the Lord are real. They do not occur randomly or by coincidence."

My family is my greatest gift, a true treasure from the Lord. Today Harold is at work. He works so hard, many long hours. Sometimes he works through the night, then sleeps only a few hours the next day. He doesn't complain or get grumpy as I know full well I would. He takes his job as husband and father very seriously and has little patience for men who shirk this responsibility and calling in life. He's been Bishop of our ward for almost 4 years now. I can see how much he loves the people in our ward and how frustrated he gets when he can't "fix" everyone's problems. I know it may sound trite, but he really is my best friend. He calls me often throughout the day and I can't wait for him to call. We share everything, good and bad, but we always make it a priority to take care of each other. I'm so in love with him.

Kirk is at BYU-I. He's now a junior. One year ago he returned from his mission to the Dominican Republic. While he was on his mission I thought it would be forever before he even returned. Time sometimes just creeped by so slowly. But now he's home, in college and has a girlfriend, Rachel Beck. Kirk has always been quietly obedient. He doesn't seek glory for himself, nor does he ever speak with any guile. He calls me often from school and each time I see his number on my cell phone ID, I get excited to talk with him.

Sean is on his mission in Cordoba Argentina. He's been gone over a year now. I really miss him and Mondays are my favorite because we get his emails. He sounds so good and you can tell he truly enjoys living and sharing the gospel. His love for the people of Argentina is evident. I love how much he wants Harold and I to come to Argentina, to meet his new family of friends and to walk where he is walking now. I have some new friends in Argentina because Sean has asked me to write some of the sisters there. I can't wait to meet them.

Alex is a senior in high school. That doesn't sit well with me. He is my buddy and has been since he was little. To watch him leave for college next fall will break my heart. I might embarrass him by how much I end up calling him, texting him or emailing him, but he's just going to have to get over it. Alex came to this earth loving life and he's still got a giant share of zeal. He loves living the gospel and is not ashamed of it. His wit and ability to talk to anyone of any age and make them smile is a gift and he is magnifying this gift well.

Kristina is an angel from heaven. She seems to have gotten all the good parts of me and none of the not-so-good parts. She's tender and happens to be the most patient sister in the world. Her love for Nikki and Leah is truly helping shape their lives. I could not raise Nikki and Leah the way I would really like to without Kristina's help. I hope all 3 girls remain very close through life. Kristina is changing into a sweet teenager right before my eyes and sometimes I love seeing her emerge into the beautiful butterfly she was meant to be, then other times I want to hold her back and keep her as a little girl whom I can hold in my arms forever. She still loves being held and hugged and asks for hugs often. They feel so good.

Leah is also changing right in front of me. Almost 9 years old going on 17. She wants to grow up quickly, but I want her to stay young. I miss terribly the fact that I never got to hold her as a baby, and I think Leah unfortunately misses that too even though she doesn't realize it at this point. To leave your family when almost 4 years old and go to a new family, a new culture, a new language is something I can't fathom. But I so wanted her to be in our family and I'm glad we were there for her at the right place at the right time. I can only rest assured because of the feeling that I have that she was held often by her birth mother and aunts and cousins. Leah has an innate love for Samoa and her birth family even though she can't remember them. I feel a closeness to her birth mother also even though I have never met her. I hope one day to return to Samoa with Leah so we can complete her story for her. Our stories are important.

Nikki is my baby girl. She is outgoing, funny and gives Alex a run for his money matching wit to wit. Nikki has a very spiritual side that sometimes amazes me. I think this is something she brought with her from birth and I hope I can help her nurture this gift. She also watches over Leah with unconditional love. I learn a lot from her. She is in 2nd grade, the youngest in her class but the tallest. She has beautiful black long curly hair and two cute dimples in her cheeks. She loves life and we love her.

It's only right that my greatest tender mercy, my family, begins my blog journal. It's a fine beginning.