Nieces & Friends

I found this picture of two of my nieces the other day and can't resist posting it on my blog. It's just cute.

For McKennah

Hey Fetito,
It's been a while since I posted a little something for one of you kids...I just wanted to tell you how much I love you and how lucky I feel to be your aunt. You have grown into quite the fine young lady and I am proud of you and all your accomplishments. You have many talents given to you and it is a blessing to be able to watch you grow and develop the amazing gifts you have been given. I hope you know that I think the world of you. Here's a little jaunt down memory lane in the form of pictures.

For Karin

Happy birthday! I hope you get a chance to sneak a peak in the hall closet because mom and dad got you a really awesome b-day present! ;)

Blogging is just another way for me to get in our old joke. Isn't it great?!

I love you! No foolin'!

For Saydee

Dear Saydee,

What a terrific young lady you are! I feel so blessed to be your aunt. Seeing you always puts a big smile on my face and even on the days that seem hard to me, if I think about you, the day becomes a little easier. I'm so glad you live nearer that you used to. I like getting to see you so much.

I hope you will always remember that I love you. I am so glad that we are such good friends.

Love,
Aunt Kirsten

For Little B

Dear B,

Little B, Little B, you're as cute as can be! You slobbered on my knee when you were wee, Little B!

The events described actually happened and were the inspiration for my Little B Song. Now, my Little B is not so little anymore. What a sweet young lady you are and I love you so much. I hope you will always remember that. You have so many talents! You're artistic, you love learning, you dance, and play games...wow! That's so awesome!

We have always been the greatest friends and I know we will be always.

Love,
Aunt Kirsten

For Colter

Colter-
You are the smartest Colter I know. Hey, you beat me in your first real game of Chess. It was not my first real game of Chess. Drat! A good life philosophy is, "May the best man win" and I guess the best man won. There are so many things I love about you that it would be next to impossible to list them all. I'll list 10.


The Top 10 Reasons I Love Colter:
10. You have a great vocabulary.
9. You have a great imagination.
8. You're cute.
7. You help your mom and dad.
6. There is a soundtrack playing wherever you go.
5. You are a good person.
4. You are friendly and sociable.
3. You have fortitude (when I came to visit you in VA for the first time, your mom and I dragged you all over in really hot weather and you were an amazing traveler).
2. You will one day invent the teleportation machine.
1. Because you are you and there's nobody like you in the whole world.

Love,
Kirsten

Immediate Female Blood Relations

What would I do without my sisters? I am blessed to have 4. I never had a big sister. I'm the oldest. I love that we get along. We are great friends. It's never dull to have a girls' night out.

Then there's my mom. She's the best in the world. I don't know what I did to deserve her.

I am truly blessed to be surrounded by these great women.

As for my sisters-in-law...well, that's for another post.

For Allison

My dear Allie,
I searched and searched for pictures of you with me. They are not in my possession. How sad! I know. You are one of a kind and I love you so very much. I'm so glad I get to be one of your Aunts. I feel very blessed. My day is always better when I see your bright smile. I'm glad you don't live very far away and that I can see you so often.

Here are a couple of pictures I do have in my possession that make me smile and remind me how lucky I am to know you.

Love,
Aunt Kirsten

Jelly Belly Memories

For Lauren

Dear Lauren,
I truly love you with all my heart. I was looking for pictures of you as a baby and there isn't one in my collection of the two of us together. That made me so sad. But, what makes me happy is that there are a few pictures of us together in more recent times. So, I will post them here and remind you that you are a wonderful little young person and I am so glad to have you in my life.

Love, Aunt Kirsten

For Erin

My dear Erin,

I hope you know how much I love you. What a dear little one you are in my life. When you were little little you never wanted to come to me, but I would take you anyway. We would go on walks and I would sing to you. Now, we are the best of friends. I would not trade our little friendship for anything in the entire universe.

Love, Aunt Kirsten

Jelly Belly

On Saturday the 7th of February we (Devin, Amber, Kyle, Elizabeth, me, my mom and dad, Sylvia, and McKennah took a trip out to the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield, CA. We went on the tour and all had to wear these hats, even little Elizabeth.

Perchers

This was the scene at my brother Devin's home on Friday after a long day driving to California.

Momma's Little Helper

My sister, Sylvia, is an amazing cook. I can still remember watching her run out to the back yard and grab an apple or two before coming inside and whipping up a pie crust. Put it all together and the results were delicious.

Yesterday she made a lemon meringue pie. Her little girl helped her beat the egg whites and add the sugar in order to make a perfect meringue.

It tasted as good as it looks.

Got Safety?

After it falls to the earth, snow must be cleaned up. That is, driveways must be cleared, sidewalks and roads shoveled and de-iced, cars dusted off. In that spirit, my dad, mom, and sister (Patty) cleaned up the snow from off cars, sidewalks, and the driveway. It took a while, but they did it. And they did it efficiently. I watched the event from inside with my little nephew.

If only I could say the same thing for our city bureaucracies. This year, due to our "crumbling" economy, there isn't sufficient money (so I've heard) for cleaning off the roads. I don't know about you, but there are certain things finances shouldn't get in the way of, and safety is one of those issues.

I just wanted to vent a little.

Thank you to my parents and sister who efficiently cleaned off our little chunk of property.Baby Brian and I watched from inside...you can see that he isn't about to take his eyes off his mom.

Welcome

Saturday, December 13, 2008, my baby brother, Devin, became a dad. Congratulations to he and his wife, Amber. She's darling.
Welcome, little Elizabeth.

I Love You, Sweet Girl!

A cute little Princess and her aunt!

B's Botez

The Romanian word for baptism is botez. I was really happy to be able to attend my niece's baptism. She looked very pretty in her white dress and I was touched to observe my niece sneaking in one more practice run before they left the house for the service. I'm really very proud of my young nieces and nephews as I see them endeavoring to make the right choices in their lives. They help me stay on the right road. What a wonderful influence they are in my life.

Thank you my Little B for your goodness. I sure love you!

Perching

I went to Idaho with my parents on Friday night so that we would be able to attend my niece, Bethany's baptism the following day. Not long after we arrived, my mom sat on the couch. The result of my mom's sitting down anywhere is always the same: we call it perching.

Darth Lauren

These pictures say it all. I just love that niece of mine...she really brings a lot of joy and happiness into our lives.