Happy Father's Day

Today is Father's Day. I have really enjoyed this day since I started dating Lou. I have always enjoyed coming up with a plan to make this day fun for our family and make sure Lou feels special.

He is a great father. Him and Jackson have a special bond. I have always loved watching the two of them together.




Lou,
You are smart, talented, funny, kind, loving, dedicated, loyal, determined, fun, silly, handsome, caring...aboslutely amazing. You are a sweet husband and a wonderful father. I love you.

HAPPY FAHTHER'S DAY!

Mr.S. Rocks!

Today I went to Lou's classroom with him to work on some rearranging. Everytime I am in there I notice that the notes on his desk keep growing...This is what his desk looks like...

Those are all notes from students. The kids just LOVE him. I think it's great how well liked he is. He must be an easy teacher! Ha...Actually I think he's kind of tough.
He wasn't all that excited about taking a picture. Love you honey! I am very proud of you. Your room looks great and I know you are a wonderful teacher.

Where's Simon

Simon LOVES to lay in clothes...Clean clothes (especially right out of the dryer) or dirty clothes. He doesn't really care. Lately we've been losing him around our house and we seem to always find him in the laundry. This is where he likes to be these days...

Happy New Year...2010!

We spent the evening at home...just the three of us. We had sushi (take out) and played Wii all night.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We had a nice time decorating our house for Christmas. We actually put the tree up pretty early, but we didn't do too much shopping until almost Christmas this year. We had trouble getting into it after all that has gone on in our family. We didn't send out our Christmas cards or letter this year. I wasn't being a Scrooge, but truthfully it was a little too much to have to think back on and write about. We're hoping for a much better 2010.

Once we got into the Christmas spirit we had a fun time getting ready for Christmas and really enjoyed the season. Jackson and I made a fabulous Gingerbread house. We had a lot of fun decorating it and I was atually kind of sad to see it go after Christmas.

We were so thrilled to have Jackson for Christmas Eve and Christmas day this year. We usually only have him Christmas day since his mom's family has a big Christmas Eve celebration, but this year we were happy to receive a phone call from Jackson at about 8:00pm on Christmas Eve asking to spend the night with us. We picked him up and hurried home, and prepared for Santa to visit in just a few hours.

Jackson had the brilliant idea to make a reindeer feeding station in our back yard. We mixed up everything we could think of that reindeers would love to eat: cabbage, carrots, oats (oatmeal) and a little lettuce.

We made Rudolph his own special dish and we made a big tin for all of the other reindeer. We set everything up on our back patio. While we were setting everything out we heard some jingle bells and a "Ho Ho Ho!" coming from the trees. We were worried that Santa was already making his rounds in Clovis, but discovered that it was a false alarm.

We got on the Santa Tracker online and saw that Santa was actually in Canda and we knew we still had a little more time to get things prepared. Jackson left Santa some cookies and milk and wrote him a note and placed it right in front of the fireplace.

The next morning when we woke up we found that Santa had come and the reindeer ate all of their food. They left a little bit of a mess, but we didn't mind cleaning it up. Santa left a note for Jackson and thanked him for the cookies...they were all gone...He must have loved them. Jackson's stocking was filled with lots of goodies and our sweet little boy was concerned that our (mine and Lou's) stockings were empty. We explained that Santa would have way too much to do if he brought stuff for all the mom's and dad's too.

After a little while Grandma Bev came over with donuts and milk for breakfast. We opened a lot of our presents with her. Jackson was very happy that Daddy and I bought him a Wii for Christmas. He had been asking for one for a while. One day he said< "Do you have $199.99?" I said, "Yes." And he said, "That's enough for a Wii." I told him that if we got the Wii he probably wouldn't get a whole lot of other presents since it cost so much and he seemed to be okay with that. He got plenty of presents...more than he knew what to do with really and so when he opened the Wii he was one excited kid!

He got the dual sided Light Saber too. He asked for this almost everytime we were in Target. This one was hard to wrap and apparently he figured out what it was because when he opened it he said, "I knew it!"

Jackson bought me a beautiful ring...

And he bought Grandma Bev a cute little Willow Tree boy...

Later on in the day Grandma Lupe, Uncle Tom, Billy & Dawn, Aunt Brittany, Uncle Bobby, and Grandma Donna came over for Christmas dinner and more present opening.

I cooked Christmas dinner with Bev and Lou's help. Everything turned out real nice and we had plenty of left overs. We had a great Christmas this year. We were sad to put all of our decorations away, but we did. Lou and Jackson go back to school and work this next week. Life is moving quickly and we are heading into the New Year with hope of a better year in the Standifer house.

Hope everyone is well! Happy New Year!

Happy Birthday Lou

Lou's 40th birthday was on December 13th! Yes...this post is a bit late. Like always.

I had asked Lou for a few months what he wanted to do for his birthday...since it was a big one, but he always told me nothing. I knew he wasn't too excited to turn 40 (and I could understand since I just turned 30 in August and really dreaded it), but after all he's been through this year I thought we just have to do something.

Right after my Father-in-law passed away I decided that we should have a party for Lou. Something small with just his close friends and family. I know that at times it has seemed like we're going through so many horrible things (especially this last year), but we do have some really special and sweet people in our lives, and I knew they'd be excited to celebrate Lou's birthday with him.

I knew he wouldn't go for it so right away I decided that the party had to be a surprise. My sister and I came up with a list of people and a loose plan of how to surprise Lou. I decided to tell Jackson about our plan...I know...A little risky telling a 6 year old about a surprise party that wasn't happening for about two weeks. But believe it or not, he did not tell. He kept the entire party a secret and even made up a few stories of his own to throw Lou off.

Lou and I have been dieting since August and he has actually done a fantastic job sticking to his plan so when it came time to plan the menu I was glad that he had decided to break his diet for the weekend of his birthday. Lou had said that he wanted to eat Chinese food for his birthday...just the three of us. I decided to add to that and make sure he had all of his favorite foods...If he was going to break his diet I wanted him to get a taste of all his favorite things. I ordered beerocks from The Beerock Shop. I ordered his (our) favorite cake from Charlotte's Bakery. ***NOTE: If you live in the Fresno area you should definitely try Charlotte's Bakery. You will NEVER order a cake from another bakery. I ordered sushi from Mr. Sushi. I made our family favorite "Mexican Pizza." I got shrimp cocktail from Costco. My sister made her fabulous mac & cheese, and our friend Corona made Lou's favorite Spanish dish...Chicken & Rice. Oh yeah...and we had so much Chinese food.

My Mother-in-law was so excited about the party. She knew that Lou really needed a pick me up after such a crummy year, and we began talking "in secret" about the party every chance we got. We invited one of Lou's best friends, Kristi. She and Lou have been friends for a lot of years. We went to her wedding right after we started dating and she and Phil came to our wedding a couple years later to share in our special day. We invited Lou's (and my) friends Skip and Corona and their two boys, Jack and Antonio. Lou and Skip went to high school together and are still great friends. We love spending time with them and Jackson just loves their boys. We invited Lou's colleague, Drew and his wife Leslie. Drew teaches next door to Lou and has become one of Lou's best friends. He has really helped Lou out a lot this year and he and his wife have become great friends to us...we really enjoy spending time with them. We invited Beth...one of Lou's other colleagues and a great mentor for Lou. She really has been one of Lou's biggest cheerleaders since he's been at Clovis High. I know it meant a lot to Lou to have her here. We invited my family...Bobby, my mom, Brittany and Chris (Brit's boyfriend). We invited Adrienne & Tara. Adrienne is one of my best friends and she has become so dear to our family. She has been there for us through a lot of crap and she is always willing to help out...even when we don't ask her. And my mother-in-law Bev was there too. I know Lou was so happy to have her here for his birthday.

We had the party on a Saturday night before his actual birthday (his birthday was on Sunday). That day was kind of crazy...Lou's debate team had a tournament at Clovis East. Drew was covering for Lou that day because Lou knew we had plans. He rested most of the day while Jackson and I ran around town. One crazy thing that happened...a few days before the weekend I got the idea to call Bound By Tradition....Lou had been talking about getting a memorial tattoo for his Pop. I knew he kind of wanted to get the tattoo for his birthday, but hadn't really made the plan. So I called Jason to see if by chance he had any openings on his actual birthday. He has worked on Lou before and really likes Lou. He asked me what was going on and I told him what Lou wanted. I told him I would stop by his shop Saturday and find out if he could make the appointment work. He thought he might be able to move some people around and get Lou in for his birthday.

Well, wouldn't you know...Lou woke up Saturday and said, "I'm going to call Jason and see if he can get me in today....I really wanted to get a tattoo for my 40th birthday and I know he's busy, but maybe he had a cancellation." I tried to discourage it, but didn't want to be too suspicious. Lou called and left a message for Jason and I got dressed quickly and Jackson and I headed down to the tattoo shop right away. I know what you're thinking...You took Jackson to a tattoo shop? Well, I didn't think that through really...we were only there for a few minutes...and it's really clean.

Anyway, I got in and as soon as I saw Jason I said "did you call Lou back?" He said No! he was waiting for me to get there because he didn't want to ruin the surprise. He wasn't able to get Lou in for his actual birthday, so I told him to just call Lou back and set up something with him. My mother-in-law was going to give Lou the money for his tattoo for his birthday in a card.

Okay, so Jackson and I ran around ordering and picking up food for the party and hiding it all at Brittany's. Around 5:00pm Brit came over to babysit Jackson so that Lou and i could go to my work Christmas party. We had planned to just go for cocktails so that we could have a quiet evening at home to celebrate Lou's birthday. While we were at the party Brittany and Jackson and Adrienne and Tara got the house ready for the party. Our guests all arrived around 6:30 and my mother-in-law picked up food on her way.

We left the Christmas party around 6:45 and ordered a couple of plates of our favorite Chinese food. We went to pick it up and headed home. I was texting Brittany on the way and Lou looked over at me and asked what I was doing. I made up something silly and tried to act cool. Once we turned on to our street there were cars everywhere. I'm lucky that our neighbors have a lot of parties...Lou just thought the neighbors were partying.

We got out and headed up our walkway. Lou opened the door and Brittany and Jackson were in the living room. As we walked into the house further Antonio popped out and Lou thought Skip and Corona and the boys came over. As soon as he turned his head and looked down our hallway...he saw a crowd of friends and everyone yelled SURPRISE! It was great. Lou looked at me and said, "We don't have enough food for all these people."

Oh, but we did have enough food for everyone...and then some. We broke our diet for a couple of days.

Lou had a fun party with his best friends and family. It was a great success and he says he had NO idea. He couldn't believe Jackson knew about the party and never told.

Honey, I love you. Sorry this post was late going up. I'm glad that you had a great birthday and that you loved all of your gifts. I sure love you and am so proud to call you my husband. Happy Birthday!

We Miss You Papa Woody

I have been absent from this blog for quite sometime. I've dropped in from time to time, but quite frankly...I haven't wanted to post anything lately. We have had a sad year. I hesitate to say that the whole year was bad, but really there haven't been too many high points for us.
Our latest news...My father in law (Lou's "Pop") passed away suddenly on November 17th. He lost a short, but grueling battle with cancer.

Sometime in late September he began to complain of some back pain. He saw his doctor after taking a few days off work and the doctor gave him some pain medication. He figured that Woody probably pulled a muscle or pinched a nerve and nobody thought much of it. Not too long after that first doctor visit he was back home with the pain really bothering him. He saw the doctor again and this time the doctor prescribed physical therapy and some time off work.
Woody began physical therapy and followed the doctors orders...most of the time. He had some good days and would venture out too far and too long and wind up paying for it the next day, but overall he stuck to his therapy...determined to get back to work.

The pain seemed to be getting worse after a few weeks and Woody told the doctor he wanted surgery. The doctor decided to do an MRI to determine if there was anything surgical that could be done. We were shocked at the results of the MRI...They found a tumor on his sciatic nerve. The doctor order another (full) MRI and within a few days we knew that there was also a mass in the lung.

The doctor prescribed Morphine for pain, but everything was happening so fast and Woody was in so much pain. He was admitted into the hospital on November 2nd-3rd. Once in the hospital the doctors did their best to make him comfortable while they ran a bunch of tests. They moved him to another hospital to start radiation, but I think he only had a few treatments. He was going downhill fast. On November 17th...Lou called me on my way home in tears. He asked me to pull the car over and I knew what he was going to say. I was shocked. Shocked. We knew he was sick and that things were moving fast, but everything happend so quickly. None of us were really ready.

I was sitting on the side of the road across town and all I wanted to do was have Jackson and Lou in my arms in an instant.

We had the funeral on the 24th of November. My sweet husband wrote and read the eulogy. Jackson wore Papa Woody's watch and chain to the funeral. And we had everyone over to our house for a nice lunch after the service.
We miss you Papa Woody. Jackson has your glasses (he wanted your glasses...something you always wore) in a frame in his room to "watch over him." He treasures your watch and St. Christopher metal and chain. He is looking forward to continuing to grow your car collection and can't wait to join the baseball team so he can hit some homeruns for you (He knows you'll be "watching down" on the game).
When I met Woody, the first thing Jackson said (he could barely talk), was "Papa Woody is gonna get my sugars." Woody used to tell Jackson that he as gonna get his "sugars" and kiss Jackson on the neck and Jackson would crack up.

Here is Jackson and Woody...it looks like Jackson is writing something on his notepad. Jackson and Papa Woody were the BEST of pals. Woody called Jackson "Mr. Jackson." He talked to him just like a grown up and Jackson talked back just the same. They had lots of fun games of baseball in the back yard...Jackson hit many of the balls over the fence and Papa would chase them down. Jackson helped Papa Woody with several projects. Last year after Christmas they built a bird house for Grandma Bevy. While Woody was in the hospital we decided to tell Jackson that Papa was sick. He became very concerned and almost everywhere we went he was always looking for a card, some flowers, or a small gift for Papa. He hated that he could not see him in the hospital (I hated that too, but with the flu season they wouldn't let kids in).

Lou had some sweet visits with Woody in the hospital and I know he will keep those sweet conversations close to his heart forever. Lou and Woody had a special relationship. In recent months Woody was calling quite often to check on Lou. (Note: I haven't written much about this, but Lou has been really struggling with back pain since July). They had made plans to build a motorcycle together and had been gathering parts for their project. I hope Lou will finish the bike...I know Woody would want to see it finished.

Here is an old picture of Lou and Woody...both smiling so big. Woody was so proud of Lou...My husband wrote this sweet obituary:

Lyman P. Woodcook, beloved husband, father, brother, grandfather and friend, passed from this world to the next on Tuesday, November 17, 2009.

Woody as he was known to all, never met a stranger. His intellect, personality and homespun charm made friends of everyone that shock his hand or took time to listen.

Woody logged over a million miles behind te wheel of a big rig, his second home and the job he loved. He could tell you stories of every highway across the United States and always knew a shortcut or scenic route to wherever you might have been headed. His passion in life was motorcycles. Any chance the he had he'd be on his much beloved Beemer with his face in the wind, off to places unknown, no map...no schedule. In his youth, he rode and raced just about everything with two wheels and a motor. He was also a master mechanic that could build, engineer or fix almost anything.

Woody served his country proudly in the US Navy and remained a steadfast patriot to the end. He was a man who loved his country deeply...a man of his word...a man of honor.

Woody was and is bigger than life and will be missed deeply by all.

He is survived by Beverly, his wife and companion of 20 years; his sons, Vincent, Wesley and Lou; his sister Sharon; his brother Robert; his grandsons, Jackson and Dane; his daughters-in-law, Shannon and Jennifer; his nephews Ron, Mitch and Robert; his niece Tammy, along with a host of friends and loved ones around the country.

Woody, you are in our hearts forever. We love you.

Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving at our house this year. It was really nice to not have anywhere to go, but we were missing a few people this year and that was sad. I made my first ever Thanksgiving meal ALL by myself. It was fun, but a lot of work.

So much has happened in our lives lately. I really should be blogging about so many other things, but I am lazy...I'll be playing catch up this week...

Happy Halloween

I can't believe I am actually putting up a post on time....Wooo Hooo!


Last year we started the tradition of decorating pumpkin people. We each decorated our own and Jackson and I did the pets this year too. Here is The Standifer Pumpkins.... Lou....
Shannon....
Jackson.....
Simon.....
Benji....Goldie....Arn't his fins great?!

Here's a few pumpkins we carved too....
And since we were feeling so silly....Jackson and I decided to go to Target last night and pick out some costumes for the dogs...They were onsale and we just couldn't wait to get home and try them on the dogs... Benji...The pumpkin! AND Simon...The Hot Dog!....Hahahahahahahahahahahahahhahaha! We thought this was hilarious! We are lucky our dogs are pretty good sports about dressing up...they are not crazy about it, but they left them on long enough to take pictures.

Here we are at the Pumpkin Patch...We had a fun time

Sleep Over

This last weekend we celebrated my cousin, Jill's, baby's 1^st birthday. Like many 1^st birthday parties…it was big. It was in my grandparents' backyard…because that is The place to have a party. Just ask Jackson…he's gotten permission to have every birthday party for his "whole life" in Grandma Gail's backyard. My grandma and aunt worked hard to get everything ready…My grandma made orange chicken, chicken nuggets, potato salad, lil' smokies, all kinds of good food. And my Aunt Kim made an adorable Nemo piñata, and put together some fun goody bags for the kids.

Jackson and I went to the party and Lou stayed home to get some school work done. I'm sure he would have rather gone to the party, but he really was swamped with papers to grade, lesson plans to write…you know, teacher stuff. Anyway, Jackson and I had a lot of fun visiting with family and friends.

Side Note: In 2007, when Lou and I got married, Jackson met Nadia. Nadia is the daughter of our close family friends. They live in Irvine and we, unfortunately, don't get to see them very often.

Nadia and her family came up to visit for Sophie's party and so Jackson and Nadia got to see each other. At first they were a little shy…They have both grown up a lot in 2 ½ years, but it didn't really take long for them to warm back up to each other.

This was a weekend Jackson was supposed to be with his mom, so I felt lucky to get him long enough to go to the party. I knew I needed to have him back to her around 5:00 so I was watching the clock. I started hinting to Jackson that we needed to think about leaving soon and before I knew it he was asking me if he could spend the night at grandma's house. He has really NEVER expressed an interest in spending the night ANYWHERE. I was a little surprised, but quickly said that I didn't think Nadia was spending the night (I actually knew she was), and that she was probably going to head back home to Irvine in a little while.

A few minutes went by and Jackson came back and said that Nadia "told me" they are spending the night. I said no again. I told him it was his mom's weekend and that he was lucky he even got to come to the party. He begged me to call her and ask her.

I did what any step-mom would do…I called my husband. I told Lou what was going on and he said no. I told him that Jackson was begging and practically crying and so he said he would call Jackson's mom. Less than a minute later he called back and said that she wasn't answering his call.

I told Jackson that we had to go. He hated this, but I told him that we could ask his mom and if she said yes…I would bring him back. He said okay to this and we left grandma and grandpa's house quickly. On the way to his mom's house I warned him that she might say no and if she did it was all we could do. I told him that she might have already made plans for them and he could not be mad if she said no to this request. Jackson assured me that he had an "approach."

We pulled up to her house and walked to the door. He went inside and said, "Mom, can I see you on the porch?" The next thing I know Jackson, his mom and me are all on the porch of her house and Jackson says, "Mom, Nadia is here visiting and she's all grown up and she doesn't come very often and we want to have a sleepover." His mom says, "Okay." And Jackson is so excited. That was his "approach."

I took him home to get some clothes and things together. He gave Lou a quick hug and kiss and in less than an hour, from when we left, we were back at Grandma's with a back pack full of stuff.

All the way over there I was asking Jackson, "Are you sure?" "Are you scared?" "If you want to call us, you can." He was so happy to be going for a sleep over…he didn't even seem one bit scared. It was my Grandma's house…I had slept over there a bunch of times (and lived there a while in my twenties), but I was still kind of nervous…this was Jackson's "first" sleepover.

As soon as we got there Nadia and Jackson went off in the bedroom to claim their spot. They both had their Nintendo DS and were "chatting." Jackson brought "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" and Nadia was excited about that. I gave Gram the run-down and after a little while I left.

I picked up dinner and a movie for Lou and me and we snuggled in for the night. We had our cell phones and our home phone right near us just in case Jackson called, but about ten o'clock or so we figured he was good and went to bed. I have to say I didn't sleep all that well. When morning came we got up and got ready and went over to Gram's for breakfast (and to pick up Jackson). We walked in the back door and there he was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast.

Grandma told us that he had a great time and that around midnight she had to finally go in there and sleep between Jackson and Nadia because EVERYONE had told them that it was getting late and they needed to go to bed. Grandma slept between the two kids on an airbed. She said Jackson made fart noises and Nadia cracked up, they told jokes and laughed at each other…Grandma kept saying "okay quit talking and go to sleep" and they would giggle and just keep talking. I think they had a great time…Even Grandma! It has been a long time since she had a slumber party with the grandkids.

*Note: I didn't take any pictures of the two of them at Grandma's House....I don't know why.

In Loving Memory

I have sat down to write this post about a half dozen times...It's been hard for me to do. Tonight I was lying in bed and I could not get Kat out of my head...at one time I laid there and said, "Kat, what do you want to tell me?" I realized that tomorrow will be a month since she left us. I got out of bed and decided tonight I would post this post.

Fifteen years ago (I was 15 and in the 10th grade), I met Luna Runge in my drama class. I can't really remember the getting to know you stuff...It seems to me like we were just always friends. Over the years we have become the best of friends and I feel so lucky to call her my very best friend.


I can't really tell you when I first met Kat...Luna's mom. Their family has always been easy going and I really don't remember any formal introductions. Sometime in high school as my friendship with Luna developed so did my relationship with Kat and Dennis..and Wylie (although to Wylie I have probably just always been "his sister's friend").

I remember so many nights spent out at the Runge House. We had Sadie Hawkins dinner out there one year. I spent the night in Luna's room a bunch of times (she had two twin beds...it was perfect). I remember one Thanksgiving (in high school) going with The Runge's to see Hamlet (in the movie theater)...It was the only movie I have ever been to that had an intermission.


As I spent more and more time with Luna and her family, Kat became like a second mom to me. When Luna went away to college in San Diego I still saw Kat quite often. She had a stamp store at the time and I used to stop in and visit her...and Jeremy (another close friend who worked for Kat in her store). When Luna graduated from UC San Diego I went down to San Diego with Kat and Dennis for her graduation.


Luna went off to grad school in Michigan after graduating from UC San Diego. I can't really remember what year it was, but one day while Luna was up in Michigan I remember her calling me. Kat was in the hospital after having a tumor removed from her stomach. Luna was quite upset that she couldn't be there and asked me to go to the hospital. Jeremy and I went to see her in the hospital. I know she was glad to see us because it reminded her of Luna.


Her family was so important to her.


Over the last few years Kat didn't feel like Luna's mom, or my friend's mom...she was my friend.

I have so many great great memories of you Kat...Playing in your stamp store, making cards and bookmarks with you, putting together favors for Chris and Luna's wedding, gathering up craft supplies to make favors for my wedding, dinners out on your porch, visiting your dad with you and Luna and trying on some of your mom's old dresses, long talks about anything and everything....I loved your stories...You really had all the best ones.


Here is Kat and Dennis at our wedding. She always had that big smile on her face. And most of the time she was laughing...sometimes I can hear her beautiful laugh. Anyone who has laughed with Kat can hear her laugh (and knows what I mean when I say it was beautiful). Here is Kat's tanning bed on wheels....

We nicknamed it that one day when we were out to lunch at Mimi's. I will remember that lunch forever Kat! I often drive by Mimi's and look to see if you are sitting at our table right outside. We had lunch together just to catch up on everything. I remember our conversation so well...and you took my picture sitting at the table...I remember thinking, oh I can't believe she is taking my picture...we just ate. But that is just how you are. And I didn't care.

We talked about Wylie and Shauna getting married and how you found out. We talked about their plans to host a reception (possibly at your dad's house). We talked about Dennis and your travel plans for the summer. We talked about that Eggplant Napoleon recipe that you were going to cook for me. We talked about my infertility and I remember you having such a positve outlook on the whole situation (I was actually pregnant while we were having that lunch, but didn't know it yet). I remember you had the grilled cheese and fruit and I had pasta. I remember when it came time to pay you said, "I got it this time...you pay next time." and I said, "then lets do this again soon." We walked out to your fancy sports car and you gave me the tour...we laughed when I called it the tanning bed on wheels. You drove off and I went back to work. It was a wonderful time that I will always remember.

Not much more than a week later you were at my house with dinner for me and Lou after we lost our baby. You brought us lasagna and salad and bread and flowers. You stayed and visited and like you always did, you shed light on a gloomy situation. I don't think anyone has that ability like you do...Anytime I talked to you about a bad, sad, frusterating situation you could always make things not look so bad. (I actually think Luna has that a little bit too.)

Kat you have been there for me more than you probably realized...one other thing you did for us that meant so much to us...You hosted our rehearsal dinner out at your house. You put everything together so nicely and went out of your way to make us feel so special. Thank you!

I found this on your facebook page after you passed away...I think it really says a lot about you:

25 things to share about me:

1. I married my best friend.
2. Was on an experimental chemo drug for over a year...saved my life.
3. I own a boat manufacturing company.
4. Love spending time with my kids.
5. I drive fast...really fast...and have a sports car to support the habit (& a '69 Mustang musle car).
6. I have lunch with my brother almost every week.
7. Helped birth two of my grandkids.
8. Once owned a retail craft supply store.
9. I love looking out my window and seeing the snow capped Sierra.
10.I was assistant professor at University of Northern Iowa (costume design)
11. Lived in NYC...Williansburg specifically...around the corner from Peter Luger's and on the NY marathon route.
12. Can't pass up a pop-up book...the artsier or cleverer and more intricate, the better.
13. Borrowed my son's Wii and don't want to give it back.
14. Spent August 1983 cooking chili and cornbread in Edenburgh...while looking out over an old old graveyard...very Oooooold.
15. I stood on a train trestle over a gorge in Alaska...truly an aweson and awe inspiring experience.
16. I drink coffee...fresh brewed or old...hot or cold...love the smell, love the taste.
17. Have an art collection...my home looks more like an art gallery...Ha!
18. I prefer Pinot Noir, Syrah and Port...dark, sultry and rich.
19. I adore gargoyles, grotesques, and dragons...sculptures...they can be found all around my home watching over me.
20. I have a pssion for bracelets and earrings...so I make them. I also buy other jewelry artist's work.
21. Audible.com...God bless it!
22. Practicing patience...waiting for The Mister to retire so we can take more road trips.
23. I wish I had a personal assistant...I could get so much more done.
24. I believe in the 80/20 theory...we use 20% of our "stuff" with 80% sitting idle. I'd like to get rid of 80% of my craft supplies. I managed to rid myself of 80% of my clothes, but somehow my closet it full again...sheesh!
25. As is typical of me....I am writing this list on the middle of the night.


Kat, you were such a neat lady. You will be missed greatly and never EVER forgotten. We Love you Kat.

Visitor at the Standifer house

My dad came to visit us a couple of weeks ago. It was a quick, but nice visit. We got to show him around our favorite parts of town...Casa Corona, Yodigity, Swim America, and Target. He loved our new house and really enjoyed our new neighborhood. We took a few pictures in our back yard. We tried to get the dogs to cooperate, but they weren't feeling like being photographed.

Dad, we are so happy that you finally made it down for a quick trip. We know it's a long way for you and you never have enough time to stay too long, but we sure have fun having you here. Jackson was so glad to have you try Yodigity and we've been looking for our picture up on the wall in there, but we haven't seen it yet.

Thanks for everything. We love you! Come back again soon.