Simple Acts of Service

Slade and Daisy really wanted Christmas lights on our house but Skylar was not so fond of the idea. He had many reasons why he didn't want them put up, (cost to buy them, cost of electricity, etc...) and so we didn't have any lights. Skylar even turned down an offer from his mom for free lights! Well, a few days after he passed away, the Tempe PD and Tempe FD surprised the kids and decorated our house with tons of lights! I think Skylar knew this would happen and that was why he didn't do it :)
I remember getting a text from my friend who lives two houses away and she had written that about 15 huge trucks just pulled up and she was wondering what was going on! It happened to be the amazing men who volunteered to put the lights up. They wanted to surprise the kids so we shut the blinds and kept them occupied inside while they worked....

Once they finished we had the kids close their eyes and took them outside. It was daytime but they were still very excited about their house having Christmas lights!! Slade could not believe that he had THREE reindeer in his yard!

The whole gang!

There was even an old friend in the crowd! Her name is also Kerry and she recently became engaged to a Tempe firefighter. We were in the same class at EVIT during high school and it was so nice to see her again.

The week that Skylar passed was very overwhelming for me, in good and bad ways. So many people served my family in various ways and even the smallest, most simple act of service had a huge impact on us. I know my children will never forget having Christmas lights put up on the house and to those of you who helped, I am so very thankful. Every night the kids were so excited to see the lights all lit up and Slade would make the comment that we had the "awesomest" house.

We also received many gifts from friends, family and Santa! Skylar and I were only able to collect books and a couple toys for the kids this year and that is all we had for them. To all of you who made Christmas the most amazing day for us, THANK YOU! I really can't find the right words to describe the level of gratitude I have. I cry when I think of all the people willing to help us out. It has been truly amazing. Thank you.

We're back!

Sorry to all of you who have been trying to view our blog, but haven't been able to. When Skylar passed away, I was told that the media was stealing pictures from our blog so I had to make it private immediately. We wanted to control the media, not the media control us... I have mixed emotions about the last few weeks and hope to post about everything soon. I just need time. In the meantime, I hope everyone had the most wonderful Christmas!

Kleven Family Reunion

The Kleven Family Reunion takes place over Thanksgiving every three years and its always so much fun! Its my Dad's mother's family... 390 descendants just from my great grandparents with 386 still living! It starts Thanksgiving Day with a feast with our respective families and that night we all gather at a church and have a program, dessert and silent auction. The silent auction funds all of our family gatherings, including the reunion. The day after Thanksgiving we gathered at the ball field at the church and participated in several games. There was a petting zoo which was a huge hit with the kids, wheel barrow races, volleyball, ping-pong, dodge ball, bounce houses and several other things. It was so much fun! Oh, and the best part... Costa Vida catered our lunch! Our camera is on its way out, but we were able to capture the petting zoo.


A Llama!

This was the cutest pig! Maylee LOVED it and tried to give it kisses and pull off its nose :)

I had to help Maylee pet the sheep nicely because she would rip out is wool and try to eat it.

The cutest pig!!

Fangs & 1st Slide Ride

So...Maylee has fangs. Daisy did as well at this age and its too funny not to document. Maylee thoroughly enjoyed me trying to pry her mouth open while pointing a camera in her face.

These pictures were taken in early November and she already had two teeth on the bottom. As of today, one of her front teeth has come through all the way and the other one is not far behind. She will have her two front teeth just in time for Christmas! And I'm hoping for no more sleepless nights.

We took the kids to the park on Slade's birthday and it was Maylee's first time on a slide! She really wanted to sit up there but once she was up there she wanted down.... so....

Slade decided to hold her while they all traveled down together!

She did not enjoy this at all and was happy to be safe in daddy's arms again.