Feliz Navidad Casie! Love, Cristina

This couple of years have been hard for me. Mayor changes have happened at home and in my life that when I think of you I think about your adorable baby boy. In 2015 was our first year without my mother, so in those following months I said to myself that I need to focus on the blessings and your boy and my niece were born that same year, I was overwhelmed with joy knowing that people have to go in order to welcome new ones. You and Lauren are a perfect example of faith and I try everyday at home to remember to laugh and enjoy life. This year I tried to help others by taking care of their babies and take time to think. . Hope to get to know you more as time passes but thank you for being you and I am grateful you came to this family to live! Ps. I wish I had taken a picture of my niece and benson together this year to have it at home. Love you! And again thanks for for example of faith and love for the savior.

To Maegann from Lydia

For my service this year I had Maegann. I was able to participate in two service projects that helped those in need. The first one was a seminary project that allowed students to choose a child and their gender and their age and you went and bought a present for them. I choose a 14 year old girl and a 14 year old boy. Because those were close to Maeganns age. Walking into the seminary building and seeing all of the presents for the orphan children was such a great feeling every day. The second project was a service project the young women in my ward put together. we found families that needed some help and was able to provide presents for those families. Giving to those in need is such a great feeling that leaves the Christmas spirit in your hear. Merry Christmas Maegann! Love lydia.  

To Liz from Kevan

 

When I was told that I had Liz for my person to honor with Christmas service this year, I thought, “I totally have this one.”  Liz loves music.  So do I.  I had a whole year where I could find opportunities to sing in a choir, write a song, even stomach listening to Barbara Streisand sing and act in Yentel if necessary.  I had this one.

 Even though I did go outside my comfort zone and sing a solo at Clarke’s funeral and had that followed by our Bishop requesting me to sing a solo as part of the Easter program in our ward, my opportunities to serve Liz this year seemed to go beyond just making myself sound silly singing in public.

In our home, we have a room that we mostly use for guests to stay in.  Of course, being from Las Vegas, the Kirkby family has used this room from time to time.  However, this last year became the year of more regular visits. 

One hot summer day, Liz came to me with a wish list for the guest room.  The plug in the bathroom tub was broken, there was no AC in the basement, so a ceiling fan would be very nice, and a screen door would be helpful to leave the door open without letting flies in.

Contrary to what some might believe, handyman is not my strong suit.  I am much better at fixing human bodies than I ever am at fixing homes.  I was not taught in my youth the finer arts of power tools and eyeing plumb lines.  Instead, I have basically learned project by project, often with significant help and instruction from others.

Repairing plumbing on a bathtub would definitely be a first.  Although I had done it once before, installing a ceiling fan correctly was going to require some real research and effort.  I had just put one into an existing fixture in our Stansbury home, but it was wobbly and definitely not put into a fixture built for it.  Doing this right would require tearing out the old fixture, rewiring and installing a reinforced fixture.  In short, this was not going to be easy.    

The bathtub drain was broken when we bought the house.  None of the previous owners had been able to repair it either.  It was obviously broken from a blunt trauma of some sort and did not fit the typical, “take it out and put a new one in” approach.  Just getting the broken part out was going to take some real creativity.  With the help of several Youtube videos and a few trips to Home Depot…..success!  The old, broken drain plug was out and a new one was in.

As for the ceiling fan, the old fixture had to be essentially chipped out with hammer and chisel.  A new reinforcing bar and attached fixture were installed, and the electrical work was done to match.  The fan was then assembled and installed, requiring some key tweaking to make it perfectly level and whisper quiet.  In all, it required a couple of days to be completely installed.

I fell short on the last item on the wish list, a screen door.  Not easy to find a screen door that matches abnormally sized doors.  However, I did install an electronic deadbolt instead.  This allows for easy entry when needed and also the ability to lock the room when people are out of the room.

 

 

Now that you are moving to Utah, it is likely that others will enjoy your wish list for the guest room even more than you.  But they can know their comfort is in honor of you.  Merry Christmas Liz!

 

Merry Christmas Brian Patrick Kirkby!

When I was preparing for my mission back in January 1987, I was finishing my last on-air show at the Hare Krishna radio station, playing modern and new wave music.  I decided that a good song to play for the end of my last show would be by the Eurythmics, titled Missionary Man, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-Q3cp3cp88  (Today, 12/25/16,  was the first time I've seen the music video which made me laugh)  Here are some of the lyrics:

...Don't mess with a missionary man.

Well the missionary man
He's got God on his side.
He's got the saints and apostles
Backin' up from behind.
Black eyed looks from those bible books.
He's a man with a mission
Got a serious mind.
There was a woman in the jungle
And a monkey on a tree.
The missionary man he was followin' me.
He said "Stop what you're doing."
"Get down upon your knees."
"I've a message for you that you better believe."...

Though not exactly what a mission is, I thought is was as close as I would get to playing a farewell song till I returned in a couple of years.  I never did go back to radio.  

My mission was a defining experience in my life.  Missionary service solidified so many things that had previously been fluid.  Most importantly, I solidified my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Church.  I created a foundation of belief, faith, action, testimony that has blessed every day of my life since.  I believe what Elder Robert E. Well of the Seventy once said, 

"In twenty-four months (18 months for sisters) you will have twenty-four years’ worth of spiritual adventures. You will see people change; soften; become more humble, more obedient; have their prayers answered; and come to a knowledge that our message is true."

So as I thought about what I could do to perform service "to Brian" I thought about being the father of a missionary.  It's almost as awesome as being on a mission.  You get to see the growth of your child and get to see them experience things that will help define their lives.  Now Brianne is back and Hannah is preparing to go next Spring.  What a great example of raising missionaries and supporting their efforts.  

My "service" this year was to donate funds every month to our Ward Missionary fund.  There were several missionaries in our ward this year.  Some of them came from large families like the Kirkbys.  This "service" to Brian is to celebrate his raising two fine daughters who will serve the Lord as missionaries.  Although they've made the choice individually, the support and love that parents give their missionaries is a demonstration of their love of the Lord and the desire to bless families around the world with the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  

Merry Christmas!!

To Lydia From Spencer

I enjoyed thinking about this project this year although Lydia hobbies are not really Spencer hobbies.  But that is kinda the point isn't it? To serve others and through that we will grow and learn more about ourselves?  So this year I went outside my comfort zone and helped with... "THE THEATER?!?!" *dun dun dun* I am not very artsy nor am I musically inclined much less talented for an audience... so instead I offered my services to the tech crew that does lighting, set, and and ticket sales. So Rick hooked me up with his connections at Lehi High Drama department.  Although I helped paint, take down the set, and pass out fliers. It wasn't a major project and I may have been the only one there that wasn't the mother of one of the actors but they sure appreciated the hours I put in and that I was tall enough to reach the stuff on the top shelves.  I helped the production of the little mermaid and tried a new thing. Merry Christmas Lydia :)

To Wes, Love Lexi

The first memory I have of Wes was on the worst day of my life. After a long day of hearing of David's accident, driving in record time to the hospital, seeing Dave's lifeless body, and lot of crying, I was eventually sent to grandma's house for some reason. I remember having a head ache, and I was so tired. All of the adults were still at the hospital and all of the kids were left to tend one another as the adults were dealing with the hard stuff. At some point, this guy I had never met before showed up with about 6 little caesars pizzas for all the kids.  I remember thinking "Ok wait, who is this guy? Whatever. Pizza. We are hungry and I'm grateful". 

As the week progressed and things turned for the worse, Wes was always there and able and willing to help with whatever we needed. Sometimes that meant chasing Cristina in the snow, sometimes it just meant knowing there was an adult to be with the kids. 

One of my favorite jokes as the weeks went on was when Wes took Cristina and Lucas (his son) to get some food for them at Cafe Rio. They had gotten their food to go, and had brought their food back to the house. Because Lucas was so used to his dad being so thoughtful and bringing food to the masses, as they walked in the door, and Lucas exclaimed: 

"CAFE RIO FOR EVERYONE!" 

It was just so cute. Lucas was so excited to share their yummy food with everyone at house. We knew they didn't bring us cafe rio, but Lucas knew that his dad had always been so thoughtful in the past and had just assumed that they had done it again. In a way, I thought it was such a statement about Wes, that his son had seen his example of caring for those who needed it and being thoughtful in people's times of need. 

When I heard I had been assigned Wes, I knew I had to bring CAFE RIO TO EVERYONE! Sadly, I am not rich enough to feed the entire world Cafe Rio so I had to think of someone that would appreciate it most.

My boyfriend Jake's youngest sister is currently pregnant with her first son and due any day. I thought about how exhausting it must be to be 9 months pregnant during the holiday season, and how much it might mean to her if someone not only brought her dinner when her baby comes, but before. 

They were so excited to have Cafe rio (I mean, who wouldn't be) and we had such a great time eating dinner with them and then playing Betrayal at the House on the Hill with them. 

I want Wes to know just how grateful I am and for how he appeared in our lives when we needed him most. I am grateful for the help he gave me while I lived with Cristina, and the support he gave Cristina then, and he gives her and her children today as her husband. We are so lucky to have him as a member of our family. I love you Wes!

To Maisie, Love Emma

Dear Maisie,

I had the chance to serve you this year as your Christmas present. When I was thinking about what to do for you I was drawn to your talent of art. I am honestly the worst artist in the world so I couldn't do anything in that respect but I thought of what I could do with my talents.

I chose to expand upon my talent of singing. I know that you use your talents to help others feel the spirit. I decided to try and help others draw closer to Christ and feel his spirit and his love. To do this I joined the Lehi Family Week choir. I sang two songs: For the Beauty of the Earth and Amazing Grace. We spent two hours every Sunday for three weeks and learned the songs as well as the meaning behind the words. We performed these pieces at the Lehi Family Week devotional. Hank Smith spoke and three families in Lehi were recognized for impacting our community in great ways. I think that our choir was able to bring the spirit to this devotional and I really enjoyed being a part of it.

As I learned and performed both of these songs I gained a deeper understanding of Christ and his undying love for me. My favorite verse from these songs comes from Amazing Grace. It brought me the feeling of peace and love and I would like to share it with you.

  Through many dangers, toils and snares 
  I have already come, 
 'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far 
  And grace will lead me home.

This line, to me, testifies that this life is hard. But it continues to say that we have already overcome so much and it is with Christ that we are able to do that.

I have a great feeling of gratitude whenever I read that line. Christ is here for you and me and he will guide us through these trying times.

As I participated in this choir I was also able to make new friends in my ward. The week previous to joining the choir the Bybee family moved in down the street. They had two girls around my age, Makyia who is 12 and Eva who is 14. They attend a school in Salt Lake where their mom teaches and so they don't know very many people in our ward. I invited my best friend Lexi and the two Bybee girls to sing with me in the choir. In that simple act we have become good friends. Makyia is a beehive and I have found a friend that I can hangout with in Young Womens and in Sunday school.

Even though this was not supposed to be part of your service I couldn't help applying it to you. You have recently moved from Hawaii to Sandy and from Sandy to Eagle Mountain. As the "new girl" you didn't know anyone in your ward and I'm sure that was rough. After meeting Makyia and Eva I have noticed how much I needed their friendship and how much they needed mine. I am grateful that I was able to get to know them because I was serving you.

I am so grateful that I could focus on serving you this year because I have learned about the love of Christ for all of his children. Thank you Maisie for being an amazing example to me and a great cousin. I love you!

Love, Emma