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.

Happy Birthday Slade!

This post is a week late, but better late than never, right? I just keep telling myself that...

Anyway, on November 9th, Slade turned 4! He is becoming quite the young man. There is so much to say about Slade!

• He is enjoying is preschool class and all the friends that he has made there.


• His favorite toys right now are Bumblebee from Transformers, RC cars, helicopters, dinosaurs, Spiderman and so many more!


• He spells his name wonderfully and loves to rhyme.


• He can count into the 30's on a good day.


• He LOVES to ride his bike!


• He loves doing "jobs" (chores) around the house for me.


• He asks to say the prayer but helps Daisy when its her turn.


• Loves being a Sunbeam and he did wonderfully in his first Primary program!


• He is always making Maylee laugh.


• He is Daisy's best friend.


• He tells me he loves me everyday along with hugs and kisses.


• His Dad is his hero and wants to be big and strong like him when he grows up.


• Thinks he can do everything himself and has to prove that he can :) (Like dressing himself, obviously)

Instead of having a birthday party this year, we celebrated his birthday with just our little family. We decorated the house and made him feel very special. Skylar was off that day so we picked up lunch and headed to the park. We then took him to Wal Mart and let him pick out a small gift. He was ecstatic! Later that day, we went to my parents house to celebrate his and Kayci's birthday's.

I could not imagine life without Slade. He brings such joy to our family! I love seeing his smile every morning and hearing his cute laugh. He is growing up way to fast but at the same time, I love watching him become his own little person and learn new things everyday. Love you Slade!

Maylee is 9 months!

Our sweet Maylee is 9 months old as of today! It amazes me how fast time seems to fly by and when I look back, I wonder if I took my time to cherish every moment possible that I had with them. Children grow up too fast!
Maylee's personality is starting to blossom a lot more and she is so much fun! Of course she is very much a girl and demands things to happen her way, right away. She loves to play with her dad on the floor but prefers mom all other times of the day. She still army crawls with an occasional knee crawl and she has started pulling herself up on the couch, chairs, toys and our legs. She has learned how to dance and it is the cutest thing! She says momma and dadda, waves hi and bye and loves to eat. She also loves to play with Slade and Daisy and tries to keep up with them all the time. Her hair is coming in beautifully and I'm excited about that! She has her two front bottom teeth and she had two upper teeth just pop through this weekend with more coming.
Now for her stats. She weighs a whopping 14lbs 8oz! A whole 1lb 6oz weight gain from her 6 month appointment which places her in the .5 percentile. Yep, point five. I was a little disappointed in that seeing how she was in the 10th %, but since she is moving quite a bit more, her Dr is not concerned. She is healthy and happy and doing what she should. Her height is 26 inches (8th %), and head circumference 17 inches (27th %). We love our sugar bug!

Halloween!

We had a great Halloween this year! Slade had a little party at his preschool on Thursday and learned a new song about a scary witch that he and Daisy sing all day long.
Friday night was our ward party and it started out wonderfully. The kids were doing a craft at the craft table when all of a sudden Slade throws up. After we cleaned up and ran out of there, Slade said his costume was choking him (Batman) but it was apparent that a hot dog did not agree with him :) He said that his tummy felt better and he was back to his normal self the next morning.
Saturday night we went to the Boretsky's home (2 houses away) for yummy food and fun. After we ate, we got the kids ready to Trick-or-Treat. The kids had a blast and after every house we stopped at, Slade would tell me his bag didn't have enough candy yet.
Sunday morning, I had the kids ready for church early and was about to get myself ready when Daisy throws up. We ended up skipping church. No more candy for the kids! The good thing is, is that the candy isn't very tempting after I've seen it thrown up.


Daisy was Thumbelina. She picked out every part of her costume and she did a great job! She really couldn't decide if she wanted to be Tinkerbell, Thumbelina, a ballerina or a princess...but decided last minute that she was in fact Thumbelina.


Daisy and Cale (spider) got to ride in the wagon!

BATMAN!!

I love how Slade is looking through the window. Good thing no one was home!

Kleven, Slade, Maylee, Cale, Kambri, Daisy and Ezra

I wasn't going to fight with her all night to keep a costume on, so my mom got her a ghost onesie and we called it good!

Slade shared candy with Dad, but he really didn't have a choice :)