Happy little working song meets Lord of the Dance. Our good friend "Uncle" Ben came over last weekend and played the violin for the kids while they played and cleaned. It was such a beautiful sound to have in our home. I wish I could afford lessons for the kids, they truly seemed to love it. Zack and Carli cracked us up when they spontaneously started doing celtic dancing. I have not laughed this hard in a long time.
Crazy Monkeys! The kids have a new babysitter named Elise (who Zack has a total crush on. She is tattooed and pierced and the coolest thing to ever hit this house) She is also an avid rock climber and the kids have caught the climbing bug. We have a rock wall at the Recreation Center at the university so every few Saturdays Elise comes by and takes the kids for a good climb. They love it! Aaron has made it all the way to the top, (it's 50 ft. High) and Zack is getting good enough that he should be able to soon.
The other night Carli wasn't feeling well and she crashed out early on the couch. Zacky was so sweet and carried her to bed and tucked her in. I found out later that it was because he wanted to lay down on the couch and she was in the way. Oh well, it was sweet while it lasted.
Pinewood Derby 2009
Getting the car ready... we ended up with a pretty slick "grease lightening"
Getting the car ready... we ended up with a pretty slick "grease lightening"
Hopefully by the time he's done with them, he will be able to see over the track.
This is our adopted Grandpa Mike Ahlstrom. He was assigned to be our home teacher right when my parents left for their mission. He and his wife have been so kind and supportive to us. They have adopted us and we truly feel as though we are part of their family and we are blessed to have them in our lives!
This year in school I am taking a furniture design and construction class. When I told a very close friend of mine about the class, she asked if I would be willing to design and create a casket to be donated to a funeral home in her son's memory. Several years ago, she had a baby who lived for two short, sweet hours. When she and her husband went to the funeral home to plan his graveside service, they were horrified to find that funeral homes do not invest in infant caskets. So the families who have endured this are faced with the choice of burying their babies in
either a plastic box which they would have to purchase or a styrofoam box
(much like a cooler) would be provided free of charge.
This friend of mine has done so much for me, and been so supportive of me in the worst of times and I was honored that she would ask me to do something like this. I poured my heart and soul into the design of it, and I honestly feel that I was inspired along the way.
When Mike Ahlstrom heard about the project, he encouraged me to join a team from the college of business and economics for a business competition with the casket. At first I was horrified and would never have thought twice about earning a profit from this expereince. This design was not meant to capitalize on the pain that anyone has endured. Through a couple of conversations with Mike though, I began to see that I might be in the unique situation to help some people. A profit can be good if it's used to bless the lives of others. So, he set me up with a group of VERY talented business students and together we came up with a non profit foundation whose goal is to provide caskets free of charge to families who otherwise could not afford them.
We presented the first stage of our business plan in an elevator pitch last month and we were lucky enough to have taken first place. What this means is that we can continue in the competition and hopefully go far enough to actually see our foundation come to fruition. This is the best way that I could think of to be there for my friend now when I could not have been then. My family has been so blessed by her and the extents to which she has gone to help us. This is the least I could do to help her and her husband honor their son's memory.
Wish us luck!
This year in school I am taking a furniture design and construction class. When I told a very close friend of mine about the class, she asked if I would be willing to design and create a casket to be donated to a funeral home in her son's memory. Several years ago, she had a baby who lived for two short, sweet hours. When she and her husband went to the funeral home to plan his graveside service, they were horrified to find that funeral homes do not invest in infant caskets. So the families who have endured this are faced with the choice of burying their babies ineither a plastic box which they would have to purchase or a styrofoam box
(much like a cooler) would be provided free of charge.
This friend of mine has done so much for me, and been so supportive of me in the worst of times and I was honored that she would ask me to do something like this. I poured my heart and soul into the design of it, and I honestly feel that I was inspired along the way.
When Mike Ahlstrom heard about the project, he encouraged me to join a team from the college of business and economics for a business competition with the casket. At first I was horrified and would never have thought twice about earning a profit from this expereince. This design was not meant to capitalize on the pain that anyone has endured. Through a couple of conversations with Mike though, I began to see that I might be in the unique situation to help some people. A profit can be good if it's used to bless the lives of others. So, he set me up with a group of VERY talented business students and together we came up with a non profit foundation whose goal is to provide caskets free of charge to families who otherwise could not afford them.
We presented the first stage of our business plan in an elevator pitch last month and we were lucky enough to have taken first place. What this means is that we can continue in the competition and hopefully go far enough to actually see our foundation come to fruition. This is the best way that I could think of to be there for my friend now when I could not have been then. My family has been so blessed by her and the extents to which she has gone to help us. This is the least I could do to help her and her husband honor their son's memory.
Wish us luck!
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