I got really excited when I was told that Dave was my secret service person. 2015 has been another hard year. Losing my mom has made me think of Dave even more and more every day. In march when my mom died I had to go to Mexico and I decided to stay and spend more time with my family. I knew that my dad was going to need me. I was so grateful and sad at the same time that I was able to provide some comfort to my dad. I had the right words and I totally knew his pain. I was able to tell him that with time his pain will get easier and easier. During my time in Mexico I thought about Dave so many times, specially when he was a missionary. I always admired his will of sharing the gospel with anybody, he was fearless in opening his mouth and tell the truth about the plan of salvation, something I was always afraid to do. Dave has change my life for better. Every single day I try to help with whatever I need to. This year my family and I planted a tree next to my mom grave. My family and I went to the cemetery and cleaned other graves and put fresh flowers. We did this thinking about Dave because he was always willing to help. Dave was also so patient with people. I am trying my best to follow his example by first starting with my kids :). This year when it marked the 4 year anniversary my kids, mom and I went to do some service. We took donuts and flowers to the fire department, went to my gym to take some flowers to people I know and also took some flowers to the ICU unit where Dave was. This time after 4 years the memories of going back there were less painful but still very fresh in my memory. It was nice to do this for them. My kids like to do that every year and it is teaching them to always serve. I took some pictures but for some reason is not letting me post them. To all of you, Dave's family, I want all of you to know how much I still love Dave, there is not a day that I don't think of him. I fell in love with him since the first time he tried to hug me and it does hurt a lot not having him with me. As he has told us and told me before, we do not get to chose when to go. This is something that was very hard for me to understand but I am now to the point where I knew it was his time. I want you to all know that when I feel scare I close my eyes and remember the days I dated him, I remember his hugs and how much comfort they used to bring. I miss him so very much. My kids miss him. I adore that man with all my heart. I am so grateful for the dreams I get to have and the view of me reunite with my eternal companion, if my happiness is as much as it is in my dreams then I can't wait for the day I get to be in his arms again. He is still big part of my life and now I know him and Heavenly Father also sent Wes in my life. He is another amazing guy who I have learn to love and adore too. What a wonderful husband I have now that loves to read when I am writing about how much I still love my Dave. I have been blessed big for sure!
This year and every year since Dave left us, I do service for people and a volunteer in any ways I can. He was and is the greatest!
Dave I love you to the moon and back sweet heart! Merry Christmas in heaven baby.
lights
Monday, December 28, 2015
Sunday, December 27, 2015
To Lauren From Wes
Lauren,
I'm sorry that this post is late, but I think that the spirit of this tradition of providing service rather than giving presents of monetary value has served its purpose well. By that, I mean that I have become more service oriented and thoughtful of others throughout the whole year.
Before I drew your name in May, I already knew that I would need to start thinking of ways to provide a service. It didn't take long to correct my thinking. I knew that I wanted to provide a service and how grateful I was that this great family chose to do this every year.
I can narrow down my service to a single act of kindness, but I hope you can understand and feel what I mean when I say that my service was a spirit of kindness and service to others throughout the whole year. In the summer after Cristina's mom died, she went to Mexico to spend more time with her family. She took Josh, Jasmine and Dana with her. I came to visit a couple of times while she was there, and during her stay we found a friend who's baby boy was born pre-mature. On one of my trips to Mexico, I brought with me a care package for their baby boy, knowing how delicate life is in the first few months, and especially when resources are scarce and hospitals are just not as affordable to us in the US.
He is healthy and strong now, thanks to his loving parents and the care they give him. I'm grateful to have contributed at least a little bit to helping him along.
Merry Christmas Lauren, and we all can't wait to meet your little ginger.
Wes
To Hannah from Spencer
Over the past few years Hannah has had a few interests that are easily noticeable. Two that stand out are her amazing talent in music, and her love for elephants. When I got Hannah's name I had to brainstorm what I could do for her in serving others. Anyone that knows me knows I don't have a shred of musical talent in my body, so the obvious choice was the latter. I didn't exactly know what to do though... go free elephants from the zoo? Show Dumbo to little children? My mom gave me the idea of looking up foundations that support elephants or some sort of wild life preserves. When googling said topic the first link was a big wild life preservation charity called World Wildlife and one of the options was African Elephant Adoption. No I do not now own a baby African Elephant tied to a leash in my back yard but I did donate to the cause and got an official adoption certificate written out to Hannah Nicole Kirkby. The next time I see you I will give you the certificate of Adoption.
Friday, December 25, 2015
To Alyssa, Love Libby
This year, I had Alyssa. She is such an amazing example of so many things to me. But one attribute is that she often helps her mom babysit her younger siblings for free. My mom was excited to be able to help my Aunt Linda go to the temple. The only issue was that it was hard to find a babysitter for her two ADHD kids. I immediately saw the perfect opportunity. At first I was worried because I knew, they always had to be doing something and they got bored of things fast. I offered to babysit them while the adults went to the temple. The first few times I was still getting used to things. But as I quickly learned what activities they liked, and what ones they didn't, things ran more smoothly. I was able to quickly strengthen my relationship with both of my cute little cousins.
I love you so much Alyssa! Thank you so much for being a fabulous example to me!
For Cindy, Love Lexi
I was so excited to be given Cindy's name this year for my service gift. Cindy is one of my favorite people and I have thought on multiple occasions how we lucky we are that she married into our family. I have always been so close to her husband Alex, but I am so lucky that he choose such an amazing woman to be his eternal companion. Cindy is one of the sweetest, most loving and genuine people I know.
One of my favorite things about Cindy is how good she is to her nieces and nephews. Alex and Cindy started dating around the time that I was an awkward, self conscious freshman in high school (I can't be exact on the year, but you know.... the dark ages). Cindy was this beautiful, nice, older girl who was dating my Uncle Alex. Being the oldest, I don't have any older sisters or cousins, and I SO appreciated the extra attention that Cindy paid me. She asked about school, about boys, and would frequently give me advice about things going on in my life. I felt close to Cindy from the start.
When I got Cindy's name, I was reminded via the "timehop" app how sweet Cindy was with me. It seemed like every day for weeks at a time I would read a one sided conversation (I could only read/see what Cindy would write on MY wall, and never knew what my responses were) between young Cindy and young Lexi. I was reminded again how sweet my Aunt Cindy always has been with me.
Around the same time these conversations were showing up on my timehop, I also started dating a boy who shall remain nameless. This boy would frequently invite me to his home, and I soon became close with his family. Being the oldest in his family, he had younger siblings, and get this- a sister who was in the midst of her very own "freshman/dark ages" time of her life. I decided that the best way I could serve someone else was to try to be the same kind of example/ role model that Cindy was for me.
From that moment on, I made a special effort with this sister. I would ask her about school, and make a special interest in the events that I knew were coming up in her life. I would try to make an extra effort to make sure that she had fun plans, and we would often invite her to tag along with us. I grew to love her so much, and I loved the friendship that we had.
I am no longer dating said boy. I have to admit that his family was a hard one to let go of. Especially this sister. I still think of her often and wish that I could continue our close friendship without things getting awkward. I decided that the "cherry on top" of this year's service would to be write her a anonymous note, letting her know how great I think she is, and what potential she has. I poured out my heart to her, sharing with her how great I think she is and I hope she can feel how genuine I wanted it to be. I hope that even though she won't know who this letter is from, that she will know that someone out there thinks she is awesome, and that this confidence will be a blessing in her life, the way my Aunt Cindy's confidence in me was a blessing in mine.
One of my favorite things about Cindy is how good she is to her nieces and nephews. Alex and Cindy started dating around the time that I was an awkward, self conscious freshman in high school (I can't be exact on the year, but you know.... the dark ages). Cindy was this beautiful, nice, older girl who was dating my Uncle Alex. Being the oldest, I don't have any older sisters or cousins, and I SO appreciated the extra attention that Cindy paid me. She asked about school, about boys, and would frequently give me advice about things going on in my life. I felt close to Cindy from the start.
When I got Cindy's name, I was reminded via the "timehop" app how sweet Cindy was with me. It seemed like every day for weeks at a time I would read a one sided conversation (I could only read/see what Cindy would write on MY wall, and never knew what my responses were) between young Cindy and young Lexi. I was reminded again how sweet my Aunt Cindy always has been with me.
Around the same time these conversations were showing up on my timehop, I also started dating a boy who shall remain nameless. This boy would frequently invite me to his home, and I soon became close with his family. Being the oldest in his family, he had younger siblings, and get this- a sister who was in the midst of her very own "freshman/dark ages" time of her life. I decided that the best way I could serve someone else was to try to be the same kind of example/ role model that Cindy was for me.
From that moment on, I made a special effort with this sister. I would ask her about school, and make a special interest in the events that I knew were coming up in her life. I would try to make an extra effort to make sure that she had fun plans, and we would often invite her to tag along with us. I grew to love her so much, and I loved the friendship that we had.
I am no longer dating said boy. I have to admit that his family was a hard one to let go of. Especially this sister. I still think of her often and wish that I could continue our close friendship without things getting awkward. I decided that the "cherry on top" of this year's service would to be write her a anonymous note, letting her know how great I think she is, and what potential she has. I poured out my heart to her, sharing with her how great I think she is and I hope she can feel how genuine I wanted it to be. I hope that even though she won't know who this letter is from, that she will know that someone out there thinks she is awesome, and that this confidence will be a blessing in her life, the way my Aunt Cindy's confidence in me was a blessing in mine.
Merry Christmas Ben, Love Nicki
Merry Christmas Ben! It was a pleasure to serve in your name this year! After I found out who I had, I took some time to think about how I could serve Ben. One thing that I've thought a lot about is Ben's special experience in the temple that changed the course of his family's future and moved them back to the mainland. I try to attend the temple on Friday nights and I decided that I should try to follow Ben's example and go to the Temple with a purpose. The next week I had few experiences in the week that made me think a lot about my two sisters in law and how I could help them. In the temple I prayed about that. I felt they needed me to be a better friend to them, but I feel so overwhelmed by everything I have to do in life as it is, I didn't think I could squeeze more in. Instantly I had the thought, "you make time every week to go to the temple..." In an instant I knew that I should be inviting them to go to the temple with me. I wasn't sure how they'd react, but they were both very enthusiastic about it. Every Thursday I'd send a text to them asking if either of them could make it. Sometimes just one would come, sometimes both. Eventually, I ended up inviting the lady who lives in my basement to attend with us. Although I thought I was serving them, in the end it also served me. Many times this year Erik would travel on a Friday, and in the past I wouldn't have gone to the temple. Because others were counting on me to go, I ended up going more often! I love the spirit in the temple and thank Ben for helping me to learn to go to the temple with a purpose in mind. I love you Ben!
To Uncle Alex, Merry Christmas! from Lauren
This year I had the opportunity to serve and think about my Uncle Alex. I decided to focus on two traits of Alex's that I really admire and want to emulate.
The first trait is that Alex is a great inlaw to Cindy's family. I've noticed that he really connects with and cares about the Olsens and treats them the same as his own family. Even though I've always loved my inlaws, I decided that I wanted to become closer to them and really consider them the same family as the family I grew up in. I focused on going to more of that side's family functions, making an effort to visit them and I even went on vacation with them (without Casey!). It's been so fun to get to know my inlaws better and become more involved with that side of my family. I know that this doesn't seem like a real service, but it's something that I wanted to follow Alex's example in, so I wanted to include it here.
This is the Schow girls getaway weekend that I went to without Casey
Time with Grandpa Schow
The main thing that I wanted to focus on for Alex is what an amazing uncle he is. He sets time aside to spend with his nieces and nephews and makes an effort to be involved in and aware of what is going on in our lives. I know that it has made a really big difference in my life as well as my cousins and siblings, and it's something that I can now do for my nieces and nephews in my Schow family. This year I've made a special effort to pay attention to their lives, follow up on how they're doing, spending special time with them, and having fun with them. This has blessed my life in building and strengthening those relationships, but I like to think that it has also been a good thing in my nieces and nephews' lives. I love you, Alex! Thank you for your wonderful example and thoughtfulness.
Pics with my nieces and nephews:
The first trait is that Alex is a great inlaw to Cindy's family. I've noticed that he really connects with and cares about the Olsens and treats them the same as his own family. Even though I've always loved my inlaws, I decided that I wanted to become closer to them and really consider them the same family as the family I grew up in. I focused on going to more of that side's family functions, making an effort to visit them and I even went on vacation with them (without Casey!). It's been so fun to get to know my inlaws better and become more involved with that side of my family. I know that this doesn't seem like a real service, but it's something that I wanted to follow Alex's example in, so I wanted to include it here.
This is the Schow girls getaway weekend that I went to without CaseyTime with Grandpa SchowThe main thing that I wanted to focus on for Alex is what an amazing uncle he is. He sets time aside to spend with his nieces and nephews and makes an effort to be involved in and aware of what is going on in our lives. I know that it has made a really big difference in my life as well as my cousins and siblings, and it's something that I can now do for my nieces and nephews in my Schow family. This year I've made a special effort to pay attention to their lives, follow up on how they're doing, spending special time with them, and having fun with them. This has blessed my life in building and strengthening those relationships, but I like to think that it has also been a good thing in my nieces and nephews' lives. I love you, Alex! Thank you for your wonderful example and thoughtfulness.
Pics with my nieces and nephews:
Merry Christmas, Kevan!!! from Casey
This year I had the honor to do service for Kevan. My first thoughts were "Wow, this is going to be hard. What attribute of Kevan should I choose? Kevan's a rock star." The inspiration finally came when Alyssa was telling Lauren and me about how she was embarrassed because her dad invited all the young men over for breakfast one Saturday, and he didn't tell her!
I figured embarrassing people wouldn't be a good service, so I decided to work with the young men (YM). Kevan does an excellent job of taking the time and going the extra mile to magnify his calling. I love to hear his stories of how his young men are doing; you can tell he really cares about them.
I started looking for opportunities to help any YM. The first opportunity came when one of the YM in our ward was doing his Eagle project. His project was working with the Red Cross collecting blood. I decided to help out and by setting up/take down but also by donating my life source, my blood.
Lastly, the church recently announced that you can donate to any ward's missionary fund or directly to a missionary. I donated to Kevan's ward missionary fund to support the young men and the families who are serving the Lord.
Thanks Kevan for your example! Keep up the great work, I know my young men leaders had a huge impact on who I am today. I'm sure you're doing the same for them.
I figured embarrassing people wouldn't be a good service, so I decided to work with the young men (YM). Kevan does an excellent job of taking the time and going the extra mile to magnify his calling. I love to hear his stories of how his young men are doing; you can tell he really cares about them.
I started looking for opportunities to help any YM. The first opportunity came when one of the YM in our ward was doing his Eagle project. His project was working with the Red Cross collecting blood. I decided to help out and by setting up/take down but also by donating my life source, my blood.
Lastly, the church recently announced that you can donate to any ward's missionary fund or directly to a missionary. I donated to Kevan's ward missionary fund to support the young men and the families who are serving the Lord.
Thanks Kevan for your example! Keep up the great work, I know my young men leaders had a huge impact on who I am today. I'm sure you're doing the same for them.
To Grandpa, Love Rick
This year I got Grandpa for the Christmas service project! For the majority of the year, grandpa was on a mission up in Washington and so for my service I decided to serve some of the missionaries I know and some random ones I've never met. Recently, I myself have had many of my friends from high school go away on missions to serve the Lord. I decided that I would support them by subscribing to their weekly email updates every week and do my best to write to them on their missions. Now I definitely was not perfect with writing them every week, but I did read all 9 missionaries emails every week, including the grandparents mission blog! Reading their emails every week really connected me to these missionaries of the Lord and helped me feel the spirit. The work is defiantly being pushed all around the world! Another opportunity I got to serve is by going to temple square with my friends to go Christmas caroling to the sister missionaries working around temple square (twice!). This really brought the Christmas Spirit to my friends, and the sisters. We sang Christmas hymns like Silent Night, O Holy Night, and Away In A Manger. These Sisters were from all around the world, but they all were there to help spread the true meaning of Christmas and the joyous news of our Savior being born. All the sisters were very kind and grateful that my friends and I were able to serve them. I'm grateful for Grandpa's example of serving the Lord in Washington and the opportunity I had to help spread the Spirit to missionaries near and far. 
To Laura love Katherine
I love Laura. She has a knack for always being there when I need her. She helped me a lot moving here, when I got here, cleaning twice when surprise in -laws came home early. Contemplating our new life here in Utah she suggested something she had done. Read the Book of Mormon 3 times each in 3 months. Well I did it once in 3 months, but mostly took much needed time to "be still". During this time I always noticed the needy standing on the roads holding signs. I thought of Elder Hollands talk "Are we not all beggars" and know I am feeling like a beggar starting over and relying on so many to get us through this time. I put together bag lady bags to hand out to those standing on the corner judgement free (like you).
To Maegann lovvvvve Maisie
Ahhhhhh Maegann I love you to death girl!! There's only a few people who love you more than I do, your parents and your savior Jesus Christ:) he loves you beyond compare and being a girl becoming a young woman and teenager, it's hard and a roller coaster. The struggle is real. There's so much to deal with, school, family, FEELINGS UGH... But your not going through it alone. Your savior is with you and I'm with you. My service to you is a drawing of Christ that I did and shared at Young Women's in Excellence. I hope you put it somewhere where you can see it and always be reminded of his love and he is cheering you on:) Merry Christmas love<3
For the awesome Spencer
Dear Spencer
This was my first year doing the service so I had no idea what to do. When I found out who I had i was a little scared. I didn't know what to do. So I thought really hard about what I could possibly do. I tried to think of all your personality traits. Then I finally got it. Whenever we had some kind of cousin gathering you would usually be there, whether its playing werewolf at alex's, having a family dinner or just any gathering at all, you would always be smiling or laughing or telling about something funny. You could always make everyone laugh uncontrollably. You would always be someone's friend and play whatever it was someone wanted to play. So my service this year was I. Was going to try and be a better brother to my little sisters. So whenever I went downstairs in the morning on a late-start school day or when they would come into my room I would try and start some kind of game with them whether its tag ,hide and seek or blocks I would use my extra hour in the morning or time afterschool to play with them. Through this service I feel I have a stronger connection to my sisters than before.
Love Andrew
This was my first year doing the service so I had no idea what to do. When I found out who I had i was a little scared. I didn't know what to do. So I thought really hard about what I could possibly do. I tried to think of all your personality traits. Then I finally got it. Whenever we had some kind of cousin gathering you would usually be there, whether its playing werewolf at alex's, having a family dinner or just any gathering at all, you would always be smiling or laughing or telling about something funny. You could always make everyone laugh uncontrollably. You would always be someone's friend and play whatever it was someone wanted to play. So my service this year was I. Was going to try and be a better brother to my little sisters. So whenever I went downstairs in the morning on a late-start school day or when they would come into my room I would try and start some kind of game with them whether its tag ,hide and seek or blocks I would use my extra hour in the morning or time afterschool to play with them. Through this service I feel I have a stronger connection to my sisters than before.
Love Andrew
To the Lovely Libby 😘
This year was definitely not a normal year. With us moving back to Utah, then me starting school at an actually high school!! It all felt so crazy and hectic. When I found out that our school musical was Cinderella, I wasn't exactly sure if I wanted to audition. I didn't know anybody in the theatre department and I was extremely scared. I finally came to the conclusion that it would be best to try out. Knowing that you would also be performing in a production of Cinderella, I only found it fitting to put my skills to work and try very hard at my audition. With my faith, I got in!! It was a crazy expire inch being a part of the production and I'm very happy I did it. Also another opportunity I had was in my ward I was called to be a member of our stake youth council. At first I was afraid that I wouldn't be any good in the calling since I didn't know anybody. I felt that the stength that I get from my family allows me to take scary opportunities and risks. Thank you for being an amazing example. Never be afraid to try something, even if you're scared! I love you!
For Casey, Love Sister Kirkby
Hello everyone! As a missionary, it's hard to find ideas/take time to come up with a service project that's super elaborate and creative and wow, but I then thought that that's not what Christmas is about anyways. It's just those small acts of service that bring about the greatest joys :) This year I had Casey, and as I knew I'd be a missionary for most of the year, I thought I'd do something missionary related, right? Well, I had a companion who has a cousin in England on a mission right now, and I thought "perfect! Casey served in England, I'm a missionary, I'll do something for this missionary!" and then it was time to plan. I boggled my brain for forever trying to think of something useful to send this missionary, rather than a giant box of candy that, let's be real, no missionary needs, and it came to me! A Missionary Daily Planner is a prime tool in our work. We plan all of our events by half hours in order to ensure that we have productive things to do every day. It's a tradition here in the WVCM to decorate our planners for each transfer, and so I did something as simple as create really cool covers for this elder and his companion. It's really simple, but I thought about how I would love to get something like this in the mail, and thought it was a great idea for any missionary, let alone one serving in England! Merry Christmas Casey! I don't know where your babies red hair came from, but he's dang cute! I love your little family, and I wish you the very best this Christmas!
Love, Sister Kirkby
To Cris From Liz
This year I had Cris to give service for. My first deed was to do something that honors women in Merida, Mexico. A quick and easy google search lead me to this charity - International Women's Club of Merida. I was able to make a financial donation in Cris' name. They highly value education and I know Cris taught school for a while when she lived there so I felt it was a good fit.
http://iwcmerida.com/
Not sure what else I could do in that vein, I continued to look for things to do. In November, a gal in our ward lost her brother in a car accident and left behind several children and wife. I was all too familiar with the pain of her loss and decided to help if possible. I made a financial donation to the "Go Fund Me" campaign their family started. I told them of our own story of losing David and shared our blog in case it provided any comfort.
https://www.gofundme.com/jasonharmon
I hope you have a good Christmas!
Love, Liz
To Emma, From Dillon
Marry Christmas from The Last Frontier. And may I say thats it can get reallly cold up here. And I must say that I am doing OK on this service because i didn't do alll of it but I did about half and the other side went to my friend. We made Lumieres we made 304 lumieres as a service and a donation to help the people in need. And they are in temple square and primary kids made them. I hope you hade a great Christmas and have a great new year.
To Liz, with Love from Alex
Oh how I love my big sister, and when I drew her name, I knew I was going to be able to do something very special for her this year. Our tradition of doing service for someone that would be special to that specific individual, gives us an opportunity to think of that person all year long looking at what might be important or special to that person. I was lucky enough to have Heavenly Father give me direct revelation for the gift I was to do this year.
When the Kirkby's were en route to Utah this year to drop off Sister Kirkby at the MTC, they had some unfortunate car trouble that prevented them from having the whole family join on the expedition. When I think back over the last few years, I recognize that Liz has drawn the short straw on car issues more often than many people. So I absolutely knew my opportunity when I saw it present itself.
I was sitting in the waiting room at Grease Monkey's on 104th south and Redwood Road, waiting to get my oil changed. I saw a woman with her daughter, I would estimate to be about Alison's age, come in to talk with the worker. I promise I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but it just happened that way. The worker got her information, and then I hear the following conversation:
WORKER: We completed your safety inspection, and everything passed, except your brakes.
WOMAN: Okay? How bad is it?
WORKER: They are in bad shape. To be honest, I would be careful driving this car until you get that taken care of.
WOMAN: Okay, let me call my cousin and see if we can do it today.
So the lady walks out and starts talking on her cell phone. I notice the little girl is wearing a coat that is too big, possibly either a hand-me-down, or bought at the D.I. The woman looked quite frazzled as she was trying to address this issue. When she came in, the conversation continued.
WOMAN: Well, we just don't have the money for it now. If we try to come back next month, will we have to pay for the inspection again...?
The 2 of them have a conversation about the logistics of the rest of the safety inspection and how long it is good for. My mind races to my own brothers deadly crash. I know things like that just happen sometimes as in David's case, but if something were to happen to this woman's car, and that little girl ended up getting hurt over it, could I REALLY live with myself?
I sat there in the waiting room, looking at my feet, as the woman walked out the door with her daughter in her arms. I heard the door close and my mind is racing.
Just a week earlier we had gotten 2 cats, 1 of which was completely unexpected, which also resulted in extra expenses, not to mention the trip(s) to the vet for that cat as it got sick, and died in my arms just the previous weekend. We were trying to plan out Christmas expenses, We didn't go to the reunion because we were trying to save money. It was CERTAINLY not in the cards for me to handle this situation on my own. I look up through the window, and see the woman putting her daughter into her car seat. I close my eyes and I hear the spirit whisper "Alex, if this is how you act when I give you a prompting, then it will be harder for you to receive these in the future."
I open my eyes and I'm halfway out the door already, confused at my feets spontaneous motion, I begin to run, and knock on the woman's window as she is starting her car. She had a VERY frightened look on her face, and rolled down her window just a bit to talk to me to see what this crazy man wanted to talk to her about. I told her to come back inside - that it would all be taken care of.
I walk back in, and I approach the worker, and I told her I needed to take care of that woman's brakes. The worker raises an eyebrow and looks me over quizzically. I told her "I wouldn't forgive myself if she got in an accident and I could have done something to prevent it, but I didn't." The arrangements were made, I gave them my card, all before the woman even came back into the waiting room. She took about 5 minutes talking on her phone again before she came back in to approach me.
She asked what this was all about, and I explain to her about our service opportunities, and that I knew if Liz could have had a person step in to cover one of her crazy car expenses, that she would have been VERY grateful. What better way to give a gift to my sister, than providing a service that someone so desperately needed.
I debated whether I should share this experience on this blog, or if I should just send it in a private email to Liz on Christmas. When I asked Dad and Mom about it, they made it clear that it isn't the cost involved that matters, its the giving of the service. So Merry Christmas Liz! Please travel back home safely with that family of yours!
When the Kirkby's were en route to Utah this year to drop off Sister Kirkby at the MTC, they had some unfortunate car trouble that prevented them from having the whole family join on the expedition. When I think back over the last few years, I recognize that Liz has drawn the short straw on car issues more often than many people. So I absolutely knew my opportunity when I saw it present itself.
I was sitting in the waiting room at Grease Monkey's on 104th south and Redwood Road, waiting to get my oil changed. I saw a woman with her daughter, I would estimate to be about Alison's age, come in to talk with the worker. I promise I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but it just happened that way. The worker got her information, and then I hear the following conversation:
WORKER: We completed your safety inspection, and everything passed, except your brakes.
WOMAN: Okay? How bad is it?
WORKER: They are in bad shape. To be honest, I would be careful driving this car until you get that taken care of.
WOMAN: Okay, let me call my cousin and see if we can do it today.
So the lady walks out and starts talking on her cell phone. I notice the little girl is wearing a coat that is too big, possibly either a hand-me-down, or bought at the D.I. The woman looked quite frazzled as she was trying to address this issue. When she came in, the conversation continued.
WOMAN: Well, we just don't have the money for it now. If we try to come back next month, will we have to pay for the inspection again...?
The 2 of them have a conversation about the logistics of the rest of the safety inspection and how long it is good for. My mind races to my own brothers deadly crash. I know things like that just happen sometimes as in David's case, but if something were to happen to this woman's car, and that little girl ended up getting hurt over it, could I REALLY live with myself?
I sat there in the waiting room, looking at my feet, as the woman walked out the door with her daughter in her arms. I heard the door close and my mind is racing.
Just a week earlier we had gotten 2 cats, 1 of which was completely unexpected, which also resulted in extra expenses, not to mention the trip(s) to the vet for that cat as it got sick, and died in my arms just the previous weekend. We were trying to plan out Christmas expenses, We didn't go to the reunion because we were trying to save money. It was CERTAINLY not in the cards for me to handle this situation on my own. I look up through the window, and see the woman putting her daughter into her car seat. I close my eyes and I hear the spirit whisper "Alex, if this is how you act when I give you a prompting, then it will be harder for you to receive these in the future."
I open my eyes and I'm halfway out the door already, confused at my feets spontaneous motion, I begin to run, and knock on the woman's window as she is starting her car. She had a VERY frightened look on her face, and rolled down her window just a bit to talk to me to see what this crazy man wanted to talk to her about. I told her to come back inside - that it would all be taken care of.
I walk back in, and I approach the worker, and I told her I needed to take care of that woman's brakes. The worker raises an eyebrow and looks me over quizzically. I told her "I wouldn't forgive myself if she got in an accident and I could have done something to prevent it, but I didn't." The arrangements were made, I gave them my card, all before the woman even came back into the waiting room. She took about 5 minutes talking on her phone again before she came back in to approach me.
She asked what this was all about, and I explain to her about our service opportunities, and that I knew if Liz could have had a person step in to cover one of her crazy car expenses, that she would have been VERY grateful. What better way to give a gift to my sister, than providing a service that someone so desperately needed.
I debated whether I should share this experience on this blog, or if I should just send it in a private email to Liz on Christmas. When I asked Dad and Mom about it, they made it clear that it isn't the cost involved that matters, its the giving of the service. So Merry Christmas Liz! Please travel back home safely with that family of yours!
To Dillon From Jackson
MERRY CHRISTMAS DILLON!!!
This year for my Christmas service project, I had the honor of serving my cousin Dillon. A couple months ago, my mother came to me and asked what/who have you got for your Christmas project? I said that I have so much time, that I don't have to worry about that subject right now. Fast forward to a couple weeks before Christmas when my parents sat our family down and said that we all need to buckle down and do our projects. I learned that Dillon likes Bon Jovi, the 80’s rock band, and I thought that was pretty neat because I was learning some rock songs on my guitar, so why not put forth the effort to learn the awesome song "Livin’ On A Prayer" in the name of Dillon. And so I did.
It took a few days to learn the chords for the song and at first we just got raw footage of me playing guitar and singing. Then my sisters (Hannah Maegann, and Savannah) asked if they could be my back-up dancers in the video. So Hannah choreographed all the moves they are doing in the video. The next day, I got my braces off and because I had some time to kill before I had to go home, we decided to just do some recording in the business complex to cover up the boring raw footage of my singing. By this time, the simple idea to learn a song on the guitar was turning into gigantic video production.
Then, (a very gigantic, enormous, gargantuan, immensely important thanks to mom by the way) my mom did the editing of the video. Then the final day before we had to drive to Texas we all watched the end product and I loved it. Now my original idea was to get my guitar and play the song in different parts, in different videos. and then all the videos would add up to one big song. But then i realized i had no time to do that, so I decided to , as my mom says “Ham it up!” I just got on the camera and sang my heart out! Even though my voice might not be easy on the ears, I still did it for Dillon and loved every bit of it. Merry Christmas Dillon!
Then, (a very gigantic, enormous, gargantuan, immensely important thanks to mom by the way) my mom did the editing of the video. Then the final day before we had to drive to Texas we all watched the end product and I loved it. Now my original idea was to get my guitar and play the song in different parts, in different videos. and then all the videos would add up to one big song. But then i realized i had no time to do that, so I decided to , as my mom says “Ham it up!” I just got on the camera and sang my heart out! Even though my voice might not be easy on the ears, I still did it for Dillon and loved every bit of it. Merry Christmas Dillon!
To Maisie , Love Dixie
Thinking of Maisie and family reniouns and such its been awhile, but I always remember how Maisie would always pickmup a crying child or help one of the aunts out with her kids. Her spirt affects both the kids and is very helpful to parents so this year I wanted to do something that involved kids. I have babysat multiple times this year and especially this season for free for temple nights or priesthood/ relief society activities. Many parents at a huge relief society chritmas gathering brought there kids in the nursery to me. I loved doing it all in the name of Maisie . One special occasion was when a couple hadnt gone to the temple for a year because of there poor budget and busy working lives. I felt then of the power of giving to families, which I think Maisie does perfectly.
Merry Christmas Andrew! love, Emma
Dear Andrew,
You are an amazing example to me. I am so glad that you live so close to me and that we can go fun places together like Lagoon! I admire so many things about you. I love that you are so nice to your siblings and you are patient with them. Of course my mom suggested that I try to be kind to my siblings but that was too hard.
This year I decided to babysit for people for free to serve
you. I babysat for about 10 hours over a few different weeks. I was really
grateful for this experience because whenever I have tried to tell people not
to pay me in the past, they still give me the money. This time I had to refuse the money they tried
to give me and explain my service to you.
Thanks for being such a great cousin! Merry Christmas!
love,
Emma
Merry Christmas Brianne! love, Laura
Merry Christmas Sister Brianne Kirkby! I was so excited to start serving you this
year.
The first way that I served you was in my current calling as
a Ward Missionary. I try to be like you
in sharing the love of Christ with those I teach and serve in my ward.
In March, I got to teach both Junior and Senior Primary
about how they can be missionaries right now.
We sang all the great missionary primary songs and I told them about
‘cool beans’ tradition in our family. I
then encouraged them to be missionaries now by serving and loving everyone
around them.
Alyssa joined Lehi Marching Band in August, and I kept
thinking I wanted to do something for the Drum Majors since you were the Drum
Major your senior year in High School. I
decided to put together a little ‘goodluck package’ for them when they headed
out for their final competition the last weekend in October. Lehi has 4 Drum Majors, so here is a picture
with 3 of them early in the morning before they left for St. George. The band had a great season, only losing one
competition, and ended up winning the State 4A Championships that weekend!
Finally, we got to have our own missionaries over for
dinner, (which is a real treat since they cover quite a few stakes in our area
and our ward only get the ‘chance’ to feed them a few times a year. We had a good evening with the Elders and
were grateful for their testimonies and the Spirit they brought into our
home.
I am learning that being a missionary is hard work! We are missionaries every time we share the
love of our Savior, every time. It is
something that I will continue to work on and hope to get better at. I love you Brianne, and I’m so grateful for
your example to all of us. Merry
Christmas.
To Lydia From Maegann
I hope you'll like this project I made for you in Mine Craft. It took some time and now Im done. Thanks to my dads help in turning it into a video. It's about you growing up all over the country and the experiences you had in Utah, Texas, NC, and back to Utah. Have a Merry Christmas!
-Maegann
To Darcy, Love Alyssa
This year I had the privilege of doing my service project for the wonderful Darcy Dittbrenner! As I began thinking about what I could do for Darcy, I thought about a lot of the qualities I love about her. Darcy has such a strong testimony, is such a good listener, is so funny, is an amazing older sister, and so much more. I love so many things about her and I look up to her so much! As I thought about Darcy, I also thought about how she is a freshman in college at BYU Hawaii! (Lucky!) And I decided that my service project this year would be helping some BYU freshman here in Utah.
For my service project, I wanted to help out students at BYU during the stressful finals week. So I put some candy in bags and attached a card to each of the bags with a funny meme to make them smile.
My mom and I drove to BYU on the Tuesday of finals week and went to the testing center with a basket of candy bags. It was freezing outside, and you could feel the stress of all of the students going in to take their tests. We went inside the creepy old testing center building and handed out candy bags to all the students passing by. They were all super grateful and it was so cool to be able to make 75 people's days better as they were going through finals week.
I love you so much Darcy and I hope you're having an awesome time at BYU Hawaii! Merry Christmas! Love, Alyssa
For my service project, I wanted to help out students at BYU during the stressful finals week. So I put some candy in bags and attached a card to each of the bags with a funny meme to make them smile.
My mom and I drove to BYU on the Tuesday of finals week and went to the testing center with a basket of candy bags. It was freezing outside, and you could feel the stress of all of the students going in to take their tests. We went inside the creepy old testing center building and handed out candy bags to all the students passing by. They were all super grateful and it was so cool to be able to make 75 people's days better as they were going through finals week.
Merry Christmas Katherine, Love Cindy!
We are so glad to have Katherine closer to us this year, than in
previous years. It is a real treat for me especially since she has been
in Hawaii since before I joined the family! Katherine is a family woman,
but was also a major component of their family business in Hawaii. My
service was to a family in my ward with a very similar situation.
The father had gone hiking with three of his six kids during the early part of Fall. On mile 3, of what was supposed to be a 15 mile hike/camp, his legs gave out and it was clear there was something very wrong. Soon he had to be life-flighted off the mountain and was admitted in the ICU. For a couple of weeks, it was unclear if he was even going to survive.
Their family business is a cleaning company that specializes in corporate offices. They have very limited employees, since it was still in the start up phase, so as the owners it's essential to be directly involved on a daily basis to clean their accounts. When the owner of this company was in the ICU fighting for his life, their business was threatened - as were the continuous paychecks to financially support the family.
It was a time of emergency, so many of our ward members and I volunteered to come and clean their accounts as needed, until he recovered. My opportunity was on an evening to clean an office space in West Valley. I vacuumed all the floors, cleared out all the trash, and washed windows and glass doors. This was a small thing that I could do to help this family in a REALLY big way.
As I did this service, I thought of Katherine helping out in ways she can with Solution Contracting. It would be awful if something like this had happened to Ben while they were out there, and my hope is that this family could feel our love for them, in a similar way that I'm able to show my love for Katherine this year. Merry Christmas Katherine!
P.S. - It has taken many months, but the father has made a great recovery, expected to be a full recovery in the coming years.
The father had gone hiking with three of his six kids during the early part of Fall. On mile 3, of what was supposed to be a 15 mile hike/camp, his legs gave out and it was clear there was something very wrong. Soon he had to be life-flighted off the mountain and was admitted in the ICU. For a couple of weeks, it was unclear if he was even going to survive.
Their family business is a cleaning company that specializes in corporate offices. They have very limited employees, since it was still in the start up phase, so as the owners it's essential to be directly involved on a daily basis to clean their accounts. When the owner of this company was in the ICU fighting for his life, their business was threatened - as were the continuous paychecks to financially support the family.
It was a time of emergency, so many of our ward members and I volunteered to come and clean their accounts as needed, until he recovered. My opportunity was on an evening to clean an office space in West Valley. I vacuumed all the floors, cleared out all the trash, and washed windows and glass doors. This was a small thing that I could do to help this family in a REALLY big way.
As I did this service, I thought of Katherine helping out in ways she can with Solution Contracting. It would be awful if something like this had happened to Ben while they were out there, and my hope is that this family could feel our love for them, in a similar way that I'm able to show my love for Katherine this year. Merry Christmas Katherine!
P.S. - It has taken many months, but the father has made a great recovery, expected to be a full recovery in the coming years.
for Jimae from brian: "science yo!"
when the Christmas assignment fairy gave me the assignment of Jimae for Christmas, my first thought was "is there any two people in the family that are more dissimilar than Jimae and myself?" i needed to figure out how to channel my inner Jimae to discover what kind of service i could do that would represent Jimae's interests and/or modus operandi.
after much stressful deliberation, someone finally stumbled on an idea i thought i could make work: "why don't you throw a tea party for young girls the way Jimae does?"
and i thought "well, that would be humiliating and funny, so why not?!"
as i explored the idea further, i realized how i would feel if my 5-10 yr. old daughter got an invite to a tea party from a 46 year old man. that would be just creepy. couple that with the fact that it was this 46 year old man:
just.
plain.
wrong!
instead of streamers, we'd have oobleck and dry ice! instead of different kinds of pastries, we'd have pop rocks and raisins! instead of tea, we'd have diet coke and mist!
i could use all those things to show some of the strange properties of everyday substances you find around the house and get kids excited about the magic in the world around them.
my excellent wife offered to extend the invitations to kids in the neighborhood (so it would be less creepy) and my talented sister-in-law, Laura, made the invitations.
now, i just needed to have experiments ready for the party. i had spent a couple of hours looking for suitable experiments to do and even tried a few out. some didn't really work out, but others had the "WOW" factor i was looking for and i figured it would be enough to engage the kids for an hour or so.
all morning long, as we were preparing the house and experiments, my kids would just blurt out "science, yo!" to stay motivated on the preparation. i think it was a default answer to the question of "how does that work?", "science, yo!"
when party time came, we had about 10 kids show up.
and, of course, what kid would say "no" to that? i had them hooked now.
so i poured some mist soda in a beaker and dropped some raisins in the soda to watch them dance:
and dance they did (not actual footage):
it was at this point that i had to let the kids know that they were not playing with soda and candy, but today they are seeing dangerous chemicals in action!
this was, by far, their favorite. unfortunately, i only had purchased one bottle of diet coke.
after much stressful deliberation, someone finally stumbled on an idea i thought i could make work: "why don't you throw a tea party for young girls the way Jimae does?"
and i thought "well, that would be humiliating and funny, so why not?!"
as i explored the idea further, i realized how i would feel if my 5-10 yr. old daughter got an invite to a tea party from a 46 year old man. that would be just creepy. couple that with the fact that it was this 46 year old man:
and you can clearly see that this is an idea that simply cannot be.
just.
plain.
wrong!
but then i thought "i wonder if it could be an 'inspired by' type of service instead of trying to be exactly like Jimae. is there some way i could pivot this idea that wouldn't be so creepy, yet still be something that's fun and engaging for kids.
science party!
and it hit me, i could throw a "science party" to get young kids interested in science!
instead of streamers, we'd have oobleck and dry ice! instead of different kinds of pastries, we'd have pop rocks and raisins! instead of tea, we'd have diet coke and mist!
my excellent wife offered to extend the invitations to kids in the neighborhood (so it would be less creepy) and my talented sister-in-law, Laura, made the invitations.
now, i just needed to have experiments ready for the party. i had spent a couple of hours looking for suitable experiments to do and even tried a few out. some didn't really work out, but others had the "WOW" factor i was looking for and i figured it would be enough to engage the kids for an hour or so.
all morning long, as we were preparing the house and experiments, my kids would just blurt out "science, yo!" to stay motivated on the preparation. i think it was a default answer to the question of "how does that work?", "science, yo!"
when party time came, we had about 10 kids show up.
dancing raisins
for the first experiment, i showed the kids a video from the 80s of the claymation california grapes dancing and singing:
i asked the kids if they had ever seen raisins dance before and one kid blurted out "those aren't real raisins!" i responded, "you are right, but would you like to make real raisins dance?"
and, of course, what kid would say "no" to that? i had them hooked now.
so i poured some mist soda in a beaker and dropped some raisins in the soda to watch them dance:
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CO2 ballon
next, i placed two packets of poprocks in a ballon and upended it into a small bottle of sprite. the released CO2 of the poprocks mixed with the released CO2 of the soda causes it to inflate the balloon:
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it was at this point that i had to let the kids know that they were not playing with soda and candy, but today they are seeing dangerous chemicals in action!
Diet Coke and Mentos
next, we went outside to show them the Diet Coke and Mentos trick:
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this was, by far, their favorite. unfortunately, i only had purchased one bottle of diet coke.
Carbon Bubble
for the last of the CO2 experiments, we pulled out the dry ice and put it in a clear bowl with hot water. the kids ooohed and aaahed about the smoke that was being released. then, we took a soapy rag and wet the edge of the bowl and swiped the rag across the bowl to create a dry ice bubble:
Oobleck
lastly, i taught the kids to say "non-newtonian fluid."
"when your parents ask what you learned today, tell them that you learned what a non-newtonian fluid is."
"when your parents ask what you learned today, tell them that you learned what a non-newtonian fluid is."
it's basically a substance that has properties of both a fluid and a solid. we then made a non-newtonian fluid called "oobleck" by combining corn starch and water. when you do this, you create a substance you can pour like water, but when you try to punch it, it acts like a solid.
because oobleck can get messy, i asked my son to make it for us (wanted to keep my pristine lab coat clean :D)
because oobleck can get messy, i asked my son to make it for us (wanted to keep my pristine lab coat clean :D)
i didn't get any footage of our oobleck in action, but here is a video to show how it works:
somebody also decided to make a small pool of oobleck:
conclusion
who knows what the legacy of the "science party" will be. at one point a kid looked at me in my lab coat, with a sense of wonder in his eyes and voiced breathlessly "are YOU a SCIENTIST?!" it was said with the same reverence and respect that you might expect a kid to ask if someone were a professional basketball player.
jimae's generous spirit of providing a magical time for kids might very well have a legacy of spawning a scientific interest in a child who then proceeds to move the world forward. but, even if it doesn't spark the next einstein or curie, and all it did was delight some kids for an hour on an otherwise dull saturday afternoon, it had the true spirit of jimae all over it.
so thanks for the inspiration jimae! i had such a good time that i'm thinking of making it an annual thing.
jimae's generous spirit of providing a magical time for kids might very well have a legacy of spawning a scientific interest in a child who then proceeds to move the world forward. but, even if it doesn't spark the next einstein or curie, and all it did was delight some kids for an hour on an otherwise dull saturday afternoon, it had the true spirit of jimae all over it.
so thanks for the inspiration jimae! i had such a good time that i'm thinking of making it an annual thing.
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