Thanks to Ashley for making this video.
Whits video
June 12, 2013
May 11, 2012
Happy Mother's Day
Happy Mother's Day to my AMAZING MOM!
and all the mom's in my life.
Love you all so much!
MOM
Arlene
Michele
Stuff we've been doing
Heres a few of our latest...
MARCH
Celebrated my moms 60th birthday in Maui.
Girls trip with my sister in law Kresta and us. Lots of fun.
Mom and Kenadee made Leis.
We went Whale Watching, watched the sunrise,
visited my step sister
visited my step sister
Brandie and her cute kids,
shopped, ate, celebrated and got some sun.
shopped, ate, celebrated and got some sun.
We missed someone on our Girls trip...a lot
Katelyn, Will, Carly and Kenadee
Cruised with our friends the Dunhams
to the Bahamas on the Norwegian EPIC..
to the Bahamas on the Norwegian EPIC..
...it was EPIC!
APRIL
Colored Easter Eggs with Mason and Maddox Robles
Easter at Grandmas
Brad, Kenny, Me, Brooke, Carl, Shae, Bryce
Will, Kenadee and Shea's nephew Hunter
Will gave his 16 yr. old cousin Brooke a piggy back ride
and thought he was pretty tough.
Stake Roadshows
and thought he was pretty tough.
Stake Roadshows
Kenadee and Chloe -Purple Pansies
MAY
Will & his cousins Grayson and Hayden just finished
their 3rd season playing Comp Bball.
REWIND & FREEZE!
Kenadees Kindergarten teacher sent me this picture. I LOVE It!
I want to rewind & freeze time. Look how cute they all were, so little & sweet.
Plus I was skinnier. Oh, if we only could rewind & freeze.
January 20, 2012
Time
It keeps on ticking. It's been nearly 7 months. That blows my mind. I am stuck in June yet time goes by and somehow we are surviving. Somehow we made it through Thanksgiving, Christmas and Will & Whitney's birthday.
It's a strange new way to live, stuck and yet progressing every day. We know with out a doubt that the prayers in our behalf is what has helped us survive. We know we are being carried.
It's a strange new way to live, stuck and yet progressing every day. We know with out a doubt that the prayers in our behalf is what has helped us survive. We know we are being carried.
***
Neal Maxwell said,
"...time is clearly not our natural dimension. Thus it is that we are never really at home in time. Alternately, we find ourselves impatiently wishing to hasten the passage of time or to hold back the dawn. We can do neither, of course. Whereas the bird is at home in the air, we are clearly not at home in time because we belong to eternity! Time, as much as any one thing, whispers to us that we are strangers here. If time were natural to us, why is it that we have so many clocks and wear wristwatches?"
***
The kids have changed so much since this summer. Will is a giant. He's playing basketball & is so tall & so big that I have to remind myself of his age. He's much taller than Kenadee & he thinks he will be as tall as me by age 11. I'm afraid he's right.
Kenadee is acting older although she won't part with her ponies and little girl toys that she never plays with. She's loving dance & hating piano even though she's really good at it.
Kenadee is acting older although she won't part with her ponies and little girl toys that she never plays with. She's loving dance & hating piano even though she's really good at it.
It's really hard to see them changing because Whitney will be stuck forever at 8 1/2 in my mind. I know she has changed also. In August we went to the Salt Lake Temple, and I did her Temple work. It was an amazing experience. I know she is progressing and doing amazing things; things I wish I could see.
Here's a few random pictures that prove time is moving forward & so are we:
Here's a few random pictures that prove time is moving forward & so are we:
August- We went to Maui & visited my step sister & her family with my dad & step mom.
It was really good to get away.
Kenadee started 5th grade & Will started 3rd grade.
Sept.- Whits headstone was done.
November- Dads & Donuts at the Elementary
Dec.- Kenadee had her first Dance recital.
Kenadee got glasses! Now her & her cousin Chloe are super cute nerds.
& Will's a "Lego Maniac"
January- Will & Whitney's Birthday
9 years old
I lit a lantern for Whit at her spot.
Fiero is cute, cuddly & keeps us happy.I told you they were random.
Kenny & I will celebrate our 12 Year anniversary on 1/22/12.
It's been a wonderful yet crazy ride & I can't imagine this life with anyone else. It's so weird to think back 12 years. We had no idea what was ahead of us, & we still don't. I'm just so glad I have him by my side and that we are a forever family.
October 31, 2011
In Memory of
My Mom & Val have some great friends thatdonated a basket full of books to our Elementary Library in Memory of Whitney.
Library was one of Whits favorite classes and she loved books.
I thought this was such a thoughtful gift.
Whitney's librarian also donated some books at the beginning of the school year.
What a nice way to keep her memory alive at the school.
Thank you Petty's & Mrs. Adams
October 15, 2011
The myth
I found this article on a blog I've been reading.
This blog has been helpful to me at this time, as well as this article.
Sorry that my blog has become depressing, I'm hoping it will slowly get back to the way it was before. But for now it will facilitate what I am going through.
Feb. 26, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
STEVEN KALAS: When you lose a child, grieving is a lifelong experience
My address is titled "The Myth of Getting Over It." It's my attempt to answer the driving questions of grieving parents: When will I get over this? How do I get over this?
You don't get over it. Getting over it is an inappropriate goal. An unreasonable hope. The loss of a child changes you. It changes your marriage. It changes the way birds sing. It changes the way the sun rises and sets. You are forever different.
You don't want to get over it. Don't act surprised. As awful a burden as grief is, you know intuitively that it matters, that it is profoundly important to be grieving. Your grief plays a crucial part in staying connected to your child's life. To give up your grief would mean losing your child yet again. If I had the power to take your grief away, you'd fight me to keep it. Your grief is awful, but it is also holy. And somewhere inside you, you know that.
The goal is not to get over it. The goal is to get on with it.
Profound grief is like being in a stage play wherein suddenly the stagehands push a huge grand piano into the middle of the set. The piano paralyzes the play. It dominates the stage. No matter where you move, it impedes your sight lines, your blocking, your ability to interact with the other players. You keep banging into it, surprised each time that it's still there. It takes all your concentration to work around it, this at a time when you have little ability or desire to concentrate on anything.
The piano changes everything. The entire play must be rewritten around it.
But over time the piano is pushed to stage left. Then to upper stage left. You are the playwright, and slowly, surely, you begin to find the impetus and wherewithal to stop reacting to the intrusive piano. Instead, you engage it. Instead of writing every scene around the piano, you begin to write the piano into each scene, into the story of your life.
You learn to play that piano. You're surprised to find that you want to play, that it's meaningful, even peaceful to play it. At first your songs are filled with pain, bitterness, even despair. But later you find your songs contain beauty, peace, a greater capacity for love and compassion. You and grief -- together -- begin to compose hope. Who'da thought?
Your grief becomes an intimate treasure, though the spaces between the grief lengthen. You no longer need to play the piano every day, or even every month. But later, when you're 84, staring out your kitchen window on a random Tuesday morning, you welcome the sigh, the tears, the wistful pain that moves through your heart and reminds you that your child's life mattered.
You wipe the dust off the piano and sit down to play.
********
Steven Kalas is a behavioral health consultant and counselor at Clear View Counseling and Wellness Center in Las Vegas
This blog has been helpful to me at this time, as well as this article.
Sorry that my blog has become depressing, I'm hoping it will slowly get back to the way it was before. But for now it will facilitate what I am going through.
Feb. 26, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
STEVEN KALAS: When you lose a child, grieving is a lifelong experience
My address is titled "The Myth of Getting Over It." It's my attempt to answer the driving questions of grieving parents: When will I get over this? How do I get over this?
You don't get over it. Getting over it is an inappropriate goal. An unreasonable hope. The loss of a child changes you. It changes your marriage. It changes the way birds sing. It changes the way the sun rises and sets. You are forever different.
You don't want to get over it. Don't act surprised. As awful a burden as grief is, you know intuitively that it matters, that it is profoundly important to be grieving. Your grief plays a crucial part in staying connected to your child's life. To give up your grief would mean losing your child yet again. If I had the power to take your grief away, you'd fight me to keep it. Your grief is awful, but it is also holy. And somewhere inside you, you know that.
The goal is not to get over it. The goal is to get on with it.
Profound grief is like being in a stage play wherein suddenly the stagehands push a huge grand piano into the middle of the set. The piano paralyzes the play. It dominates the stage. No matter where you move, it impedes your sight lines, your blocking, your ability to interact with the other players. You keep banging into it, surprised each time that it's still there. It takes all your concentration to work around it, this at a time when you have little ability or desire to concentrate on anything.
The piano changes everything. The entire play must be rewritten around it.
But over time the piano is pushed to stage left. Then to upper stage left. You are the playwright, and slowly, surely, you begin to find the impetus and wherewithal to stop reacting to the intrusive piano. Instead, you engage it. Instead of writing every scene around the piano, you begin to write the piano into each scene, into the story of your life.
You learn to play that piano. You're surprised to find that you want to play, that it's meaningful, even peaceful to play it. At first your songs are filled with pain, bitterness, even despair. But later you find your songs contain beauty, peace, a greater capacity for love and compassion. You and grief -- together -- begin to compose hope. Who'da thought?
Your grief becomes an intimate treasure, though the spaces between the grief lengthen. You no longer need to play the piano every day, or even every month. But later, when you're 84, staring out your kitchen window on a random Tuesday morning, you welcome the sigh, the tears, the wistful pain that moves through your heart and reminds you that your child's life mattered.
You wipe the dust off the piano and sit down to play.
********
Steven Kalas is a behavioral health consultant and counselor at Clear View Counseling and Wellness Center in Las Vegas
September 19, 2011
September 10, 2011
Funeral
My Mom & Justin did an Amazing job speaking. Both of their talks were perfect.
It's been over 2 months and I've been caught off guard by people telling me what a nice service it was because I have no idea who was there that day besides family & our closest friends.
Thank you to all of you supportive friends and family.
We love you and we have felt your love and prayers.
Our Amazing Ward & Neighbors tied Huge Purple Ribbonsand Balloons on our entire street and house. It was an overwhelming sight.
What an amazing tribute. Thanks to everyone.
The school has been so kind.
June 30, 2011
May 26, 2011
Peacocks!
Bridal Shower for Shae
I forgot my camera, so these pics were all
taken with my phone, sorry not great quality.
I forgot my camera, so these pics were all
taken with my phone, sorry not great quality.
Shea is my brother Carl's fiance. They are getting married June 25th.
My Mom & I threw a shower for Shae last weekend.
My Mom & I threw a shower for Shae last weekend.
Shae is on the right... ( just in case you couldn't tell)Shea is incorporating Peacock Feathers & their colors into the wedding so
we ran with that for the theme of the shower decor.
I am not a decorator!My Mom & Jeanine; an amazing woman in my ward are though.
Another ward friend has access to all the feathers.
Tiffany was so nice let me borrow them.
We ordered some food & made some too.Here's how it all turned out!
We had Eclairs, Strawberries, Mini Cheesecakes,Banana Bread, Blue & Purple M&M's,
and Spinach dip & bagel chips.
I love how the fireplace area turned out!
Shae's twin sister Ember, decorated her as she opened each gift.
Favors were Nail polish in the colors of Peacock Feathers!We had a Great turn out. It was a lot of work but pretty fun!
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