Sweet Boys

Aside from my own children, I have never loved two children as much as I love these two boys...
Sebastian (aka Sebby) being handsome....

Elliott, aka, "Ellie" bein a rockstar!!

Ellie after a long, hard day at his daddy's funeral...



The boys with their most favorite person in the whole world, their daddy...

An emotional Christmas....

I was not into the "Christmas Spirit" this season, until Christmas Eve, and I will tell you why. The most heartbreaking thing happened. Let me start with a little background...

Elliott and Sebastian moved in across the street recently with their single dad, Patrick, and their grandparents, Barbra and Gary. The boys are very cute, and very well-mannered and loving kids. The second I met them, they have been at my house playing with Ashtyn and Kai and they are the same ages. Elliott is 5 and Sebastian is 7. Their dad, Patrick and I instantly became good friends. Tyson, Patrick and I would sit outside for hours watching the kids play, we were able to get to know each other pretty well.

Christmas Eve started out like every other day, I slept in a little and woke up to the kids' voices downstairs. I could hear Elliott and Sebastian and I did not think anything of it since they are always at my house.
Tyson walked into the bedroom while I was getting ready and had a very disturbing look on his face... he then told me that the boys' Aunt brought them over and said that Patrick had a heart-attack and not to let them outside. I thought maybe Tyson had his information mixed up, so I got my shoes and told the kids I was getting the mail, I ran across the street to see if what was going on, I saw 2 ambulances and 2 fire trucks. Patrick was being wheeled out of the house, he was 38 years old and had a fatal heart attack.

We had the boys all day and we took them to the park and made sure that they knew nothing of what had happened. It was SO hard to hold my composure, these boys have really made their way into my heart and I thought about when I was 5 and lost my mother. They knew something wasn't completely normal, but they did not know what. We played with them and I hugged them extra tight, but for the most part, I acted as normal as I could. Kai and Ashtyn were a good distraction for them.

A few hours later, their grandpa Gary asked me if I would help them tell the boys about their daddy since I had grown so close to the boys and they trust me. I agreed, I cannot even go into detail about how heartbreaking this was to do. I literally witnessed two little hearts break in front of my eyes. Since Christmas Eve, I have been with these boys while their family flies in from around the country and plans the services. It is hard to know what to say and what not to say. I have tried to answer their questions the best that I can, but every question breaks my heart. "Why did daddy go to Kevin (heaven)? Is there food in Kevin? I am sad that my daddy died." I could go on, but can't :(

Please, please, pray for these sweet boys. They are so precious and so smart and such amazing little people, I feel blessed that I was able to know their daddy and have them in my life. They are at my house everyday and I feel as though I have two more sons added to my little family.

I really learned a lot this Christmas, mostly to be grateful for what I have, truly grateful, and to give service to others is the most fulfilling thing you can ever do.

For Patrick.....

Life is so fleeting...uncertain...unpredictable..scary at times, and beautiful in a painful way always. Be generous with your love.

Accepting Donations for my sister-in-laws family!

CLICK HERE to visit the blog set up to inform everyone how they can help. There is an account set up at America First Credit Union and if you have other donations, please contact my father-in-law, Ron. They are a very good and honest family and anything you have would be MUCH appreciated. They are living with my in-laws for the time being in Cottonwood heights, UT

FIRE!!

This morning we were woken up by Tyson's phone ringing at 4 AM. It was his dad telling him that Tyson's sister, Brittany's home was in flames and completely burned. The top floor collapsed into the basement, they lost everything.

Thankfully, the whole family was on a mini-vacation and were not home, so nobody was hurt. I am so grateful they are all okay, but my heart is aching for their loss. They are a family of 5, their kids are ages 12, 15 and 8 and it is horribly sad.

If anyone is interested in donating anything to the family, email me at mizkylie@gmail.com. They especially need your prayers. Prayers of gratitude that this family is still alive and well, and prayers for their comfort and to help them to get back on their feet.

Here is the link to the news story about their home.

Everyone hug your loved ones and be grateful this Christmas.

My two women....

It all began with a friend request...... This woman named Theresa, requested to be my friend on Facebook, I saw that we had no friends in common and since she had a profile picture of herself as a baby, I grew suspicious (of what, I do not know?) and I denied her request, just like that. I had forgotten all about it until a few days later, when I saw I had another request, from the same woman. I saw this time that she was also friends with my uncle, thinking it was another one of his new girlfriends, I denied it again. Little by little, she was becoming friends with my sister, my aunt, my cousin. I decided I would finally try to figure out who she is, so I asked my sister. My sisters' reply was, "She was a friend of mom." That is all it took. I requested her friendship immediately after that and I felt bad that I had denied her a few times, but I also felt thankful for her persistence.

Theresa and I started chatting via Facebook and "liking" each others posts. I was introduced to her daughter, Leilani, that is only a few months younger than I am and I instantly liked her as well. We quickly discovered one-another's love for books and started reading the same books together.


My mother as a bridesmais at Theresa's wedding, July 1974

These two lovely people are meant to be in my life. I can feel my mother pulling us closer to each other as we get to know each other. They send me cute, homemade things with sweet notes attached. I just cannot say how thankful I am that we have found each other and are able to have a really great friendship. I enjoy hearing stories about my mother and although we live 2,000 miles away from each other, we have a special bond and commonality, my mom.

So, thank you, mom, for bringing us together. Thank you for being a great mother from where you sit now. I hope I am making you happy with the choices I make and how I raise your grandchildren. I believe I am. I love you.

Home

Tyson and I took the kids to Utah for Thanksgiving. We were able to visit for 9 days!!! I was able to visit SO many friends and family and we had a great Thanksgiving. Utah was so beautiful and since we do not get snow in Vegas, this is what was in store for us when we arrived.....



I also was able to see a bunch of my friends from high school. We use to always have a Christmas party and get together and have dinner. I was able to pull this off after 8 years of neglect. It was SO FUN!! I feel old now and cannot believe it has been 10 years since we all graduated, time flies!!

I cannot tell you how nice it is to be surrounded by our close family and friends for the holidays. I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was filled with love and family!! XOXO

A few pics...

My amazing friend, Kara, did a photoshoot with my family while we were in Utah over Thanksgiving. Here a just a couple pics of the kiddos that I got from her today! :)

W, X, Y & Z

W. I am thankful for my WONDERFUL friends!!

X. Did I already say SpanX?? :)

Y. I am thankful for my YOUTH.

Z. Ya got me, I can't think of anything with a Z!!

I know this was a sad ABC thankful list, but I just had to finish it!! :)

Thankful ..

R. I am thankful for REST, when I get it. :)

S. I am thankful for SPANX. If you don't know what those are, google them!! :)

T. I know it is sad, but I am thankful for my TV.

U. UNIQUENESS. I love finding unique qualities in people.

V. VACATIONS. I have been lucky enough to get a couple of fun vacations this year. One by myself and one with the family. I am very thankful for those opportunities.