Kathy's Visit

I find that I have not been very motivated to blog much of late. It is not that I don't have a lot to blog about, but I seem to find myself occupied with other things and don't quite make time for blogging. But no more excuses. I will start then with Kathy's visit to our house.

Kathy and I had talked about her coming out to visit and when the inspiration struck, we wasted not time in finding tickets for her to come out here. We were able to plan her arrival on a weekend when Bret would be here, right before he had to leave to go back to Hong Kong. That worked out nice since then Bret was able to see his sister before he left to be on the other side of the world.

I am not going to go into great detail of the everyday things we did. Mostly, I just want to say how very, very grateful I was that Kathy was able to take time off of work and school to spend a week with the kids and I. It was a great blessing having her here especially since Bret was gone. Thank you so much Kathy!

The week leading up to her coming was fraught with much anticipation from both Jarek and Malik and they asked on a daily basis when she would be getting here. They were under the impression that she would be coming on a Friday and were sorely disappointed that it wasn't until Saturday that she would be getting here. Malik kept telling me that he was so excited for his favorite aunt to come and play with him. I think he hurt my sister's feelings a little bit as he wouldn't let up with his exuberance about having Kathy come. (Good thing Risa is a big girl and got over that slight quickly!)

We really didn't do all that much in way of excitement. The kids had school and I was somehow swamped with a very busy week. I have to say that I was quite negligent in entertaining her. But, I think that she felt happy being able to have time to read and rest and play with my kids. She was amazing at helping me keep my kitchen clean. As you all know, kitchen duty is one of my least favorite jobs and she made my life so wonderful by emptying my dishwasher and keeping the kitchen VERY tidy! I loved it. It reminded me of having my brother (Jacob) around. I think that the week she was here was the least cluttered my counters have EVER been. Sorry to say Kath, but it is right back to piles of stuff all over again. I guess that is in part because I just got back from a trip and just unloaded everything from the van onto the counter.

We did get to go to Thunderbird park one day for a picnic and a walk around. The flowers were out and the day was lovely. We had such beautiful weather while she was here all but the last day, which ended up being cold and windy.

She also went with us to Jarek's pinewood derby. It was nice for Jarek to have a cheering section and he got the loudest cheers by far!

We tried to go to the zoo and the botanical gardens, but because of a meeting I had in the morning we didn't leave the house until much later than we should have and there was just nowhere to park. Both places were the most packed I have ever seen them in my entire life. So we opted to go to the McCormick Ranch train park. That place was very crowded too, but thanks to Malik's keen observation skills we were able to find a parking spot and ride the train. We didn't stay long, but it was nice being outside.

Enok was a pill most of the week. He had a very bad temper and was very clingy. I felt bad that Kathy had to be witness to his bad mood. In the end, I realized that he was cutting four teeth and that, in addition to missing Bret, he was in some pain.

Kathy was so wonderful with the boys. She played Nintendo with them, helped Jarek bake cookies and make a smoothie (from the book grandma bought him for Christmas), read books with them and played with them. She is a good aunt and my kids love her very much.

I was also so happy to have her here, not just for her cleaning skills, but because I loved getting to know her again and talk with her into the wee hours. (well, they were wee hours for me since I am an oldy moldy now) I find that I haven't really been that great of a sister to her while she has been at BYU. I was grateful to spend many nights talking with her, and seeing what an amazing woman she is becoming. And I enjoyed so much talking with her about the Twilight series. I love that we have opposing views and it was fun to hear her perspective on things like love and relationships! She is so easy to talk to and has grown up so much from the little girl I knew when Bret and I were first married. I cannot tell you how much I value Kathy as a person and as a friend.

Anyhow, thanks again Kathy for taking time from work and school to be with us. The time you spent with us will be valued forever as memories for myself and my children. We love and miss you!