The last weekend in windy March

Daniel and Jewel putting up the trampoline

With spring around the corner, Jewel has been asking her dad to put the trampoline up in the backyard.




Liliana, Rueben & Mayra

The lovely Dominguez family came to visit the EB ward today from Brooklyn, NY. Originally in our ward, they moved to Bay Ridge in Brooklyn (about 10 minutes from Patricia's brother, Kevin) They came to dinner and we had so much fun talking about the changes in our ward. They look great and as always Patricia is delighted to see Mayra (one of the EB YW two years ago)

Sunday was a regular busy day, church began at 9:30...Fireside for Daniel and the kids, Patricia ran off to Freehold for youth council.

gratitude thought: grateful for old friends and the joy of seeing them again, laughter, seeing Mayra smiling, Liliana's blue eyes and learning about Rueben's love of irons =)

COSTCO and their cooked roast chicken, which we ate today!

gallon jug of happinesss

See what a week home can do!








Jewel and Dakota are on the couch playing with the DS.
Although only Jewel had the week off from school, it was
a very relaxing time to spend with the kids.

Jewel and Patricia got to play 'dog auditioning for a
Broadway show'. Patricia was the producer and Jewel was
the dog. She named herself 'Frenzy' (from watching her mom?)

Daniel had a call to Pakistan on Friday morning and
worked from home. During the evening he did church
work for the ward.

The tittle of this blog 'gallon jug of happiness' (by Dakota) was inspired by the actions of Patricia, who forgot to do her math. With other sisters in the ward as team members in a weight loss program..the challenge of the week was to drink eight, 8 oz. glasses of water (each day), for the entire week. Well Patricia had eight 16 oz. bottles of water. Needless to say 128 oz for the day, made her a bit ill.

gratitude thought: For school breaks where nothing 'big' is planned. No trips, no sightseeing, no distractions. Just watching your kids play on the couch quietly, being happy and loved at home...watching the sun shine on their heads while dinner is in the oven.

grateful for the realization that I would wind up in the ER if I had to drink 128 oz of water everyday for a week...that I finally did the correct math!

The legendary Tri-Colour Tongue!

Has he left the USA for good? Find out... next week!

Gratitude thought: For my dear son Dakota...never a dull moment in my life !

Easter Sunday 1994, 2000, 2008, etc..

Jewel's first Easter... April, 2000
LA, California

Dakota's first Easter... April, 1994
(Note the pillbox hat on Patricia's head)
Bronx, NY

Easter Sunday with the Missionaries... 2008

Highland Park, NJ

gratitude thought:

Easter Sunday throughout the United States, throughout the years of our family...one constant remains. We too can become resurrected beings, because of the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Saturday night youth Stake activity

Youth Service project + Classes = Micro EFY

The entire family got to participate in the stake youth activity. Jewel lucked out as both mom and dad needed to attend.

Favorites of the night:

Dakota: sewing teddy bears service project

Jewel: stuffing the teddy bears

Daniel: Kristin Smith class and spending time with the family

Patricia: talking with the youth, the stake leaders, and enjoying the whole family together

Remembering my kids only six years ago

October 31st 2001...7 weeks after 9/11

Dakota (age 8) Jewel (age 2)
Denver, Colorado

Good grief Charlie Brown!! you blockhead...

This happened Sunday morning driving to ward council in Stafford. What makes this so bad, is that Patricia has no recollection of driving through the toll booth. This costly mistake could have been avoided if she had not been driving so fast and paid the minimal .35 cents. Instead, she will pay $25 hard earned bucks.











The rest of the week has gone smoothly. It has been nice having Daniel around. He doesn't leave town again until May, but he will travel twice in the month. He WILL be here for Dakota's graduation ceremony on May 22nd.

Why oh why do high school or college rings cost so much??? Dakota wants a ring from MCC and ordered the simple, no frills ring...still a whopping $229 dollars plus tax. This was without 10 or 14 karat gold, a stone, or any diamonds. While on line at the graduation fair, we overheard a ring going for around $600...good grief!

My highschool ring from good old 'Hunter High" was $50 in 1977. It is sitting where it has been for the past 30 years, on my dresser. My ring is size 5, Dakota's is 10 1/4.

gratitude thought: For Daniel and in the past year Dakota, who bless our home with music. Dakota loves to play piano at home, and plays often. If he sees me dancing to his music, he stops. So I have learned to dance in the kitchen, very quietly or until I bump into the fridge doing a pirouette that didn't have a smooth finish. (ha-ha)

I got WAY involved with his Bethoven piece last week and my poor knee took a bump on the dishwasher....no broken dishes though!

grateful for Jewel's spring break and my chance to clean my poor house. I love to cook, why don't I enjoy house cleaning. Maybe hypnosis!

trivia: Dakota's graduation day, will take place on what would have been my dad's 80th b'day. He passed away in December, 2004. I know he will be smiling down at Dakota. Peter Dingle Jr. May 22nd 1928 - December 11th 2004, was a chemist for Revlon. Now I know why Dakota loves chemistry so much.

Patricia Nadine Dingle (7 yrs.) with dad Peter Dingle Jr. (38)

Sunday afternoon, after service at New Jerusalem Baptist Church. Harlem, New York 1966.

* Note how we were dressed in those days, even to go to the park. My dad's suit is the popular color of the 60's, baby blue.

Beauty and the Beast highschool performance

Megan Shook ,Courtney and Jewel. A few of the East Brunswick ward members went to watch Megan perform in her Spotswood Highschool play 'Beauty and the Beast'. A wonderful production and Megan was beautiful. Classmates from Jewel's school came too.

Dakota went running today...from Highland Park to North Brunswick. He ran to the home of the Rankins and stayed awhile. Our family picked him up later as he wanted to stay longer, and running home would have cut into his time there. It is about a 15 minute drive, so the run is one hour or so.

Daniel went with the ward to the Manhattan Temple this morning. He had a wonderful time.

For dinner, the family went to Wegman's for a cheap dinner and grocery shopping!

gratitude thought: Springlike weather is coming...

Jewel's first salon blow dry and cut

Jewel with straight hair !!










Patricia and Jewel went to the hair salon. It was a regular conditioning and wash for Patricia and for Jewel her first 'ever' straight hairdo. Painful for her as she was not use to the blowdryer or the flatiron. BUT it is the first time since she was an infant that the family could run their fingers through it without tangling.

gratitude thought: grateful that I have a daughter to share my days with, passing on to her the things that she will do one day, with her own children.

Daniel's first funeral

TUESDAY NIGHT
THE RELIEF SOCIETY DINNER Our RS birthday dinner & Jewel in the nursery at RS dinner










Monday night for FHE, we all went to Walmart to buy things for Daniel to put in his office. Granola bars, water, candy for the ward, and other items he may need while spending time in there. He cancelled his trip to Florida as ward member Stanley Domino passed away. He had to help with the family and arrangements, in addition to attending the funeral and burial. He was in church all day and night on Tuesday.

Tuesday night: The Relief Society had a special birthday dinner and program that was so lovely. They read stories from the sisters on how RS has helped them or taught them. Dakota went to babysit, but wound up roaming the halls. Jewel had a blast as there were plenty of kids to play with. Dakota has his spring break this week.

Wednesday night: The kids had their church activities and Daniel had a Bishopric meeting. We all drove together and Daniel got a ride home as the ward secretary lives one block away from us.

gratitude thought: Daniel's boss knowing that the commute to NYC takes up lots of time, has agreed to let Daniel work from home two days a week. This will enable him to do some of his church work easier and cuts down on time away from family as he still has to travel. I'm grateful that the workforce has changed somewhat and companies offer working at home as a way to help keep employees more productive and happier.

East Brunswick Young Women New Beginnings

Bishop Killpack attending his first New Beginnings program.

The lovely young women of the East Brunswick Ward.


The theme for the East Brunswick young women program was 'Plant a new Seed'.

Both Daniel and I attended and he had to give closing remarks. In additon we had the Baptism of Gilfred and Darnell today. Paola Valez (mom) and her husband came as well.

Patricia's head cold continues to linger and she hopes to kick this, by the end of the week.

gratitude: The many different season's of our lives, what it means and what it brings.

Titanic research Project

Jewel in class, with her friends and as she talks about her project. Friday March 7


Picture of the Titanic drawn by Jewel.

New meaning to 'Super Tuesday'

Monday: For our family home evening...we babysat Cami and Graham Turner for their parents to have a 'date night'. Her baby is due very shortly and the parents took a very needed break as they spent a little time alone. Jewel is feeling better but her cough is returning. She did go back to school after a couple days home resting. Patricia's survey job at Q-Research begins...Monday-Thursday from 1:00-2:00 in Old Bridge. It's a bit of a hike but pays for Dakota's piano lessons.

* The Austin family, brought over dinner for us...they wanted to help out, as our family begins it's shift in dynamics and time as Daniel begins his calling as Bishop. We were so grateful for their kindness.

'Super Tuesday': Busy day with work and school. Patricia had her stake meeting and Daniel had his first Bishopric meeting. Choir practice for Dakota was cancelled and he stayed home with Jewel to study for his Political Science test tomorrow. That dinner from the Austin's came in handy as time was very short as Patricia continued her little jobs today. Jewel's coughing continues.

Patricia stretched out her friend 'Charlie Horse' on the Pilates machine. Much better... twitching has stopped and the fear of having a painful cramp while behind the steering wheel is gone. (no place to stretch the leg except out the window) She has driven with her leg out of a window before, when she sprained her ankle and the swelling was so intense. Not something to repeat.

Wednesday: Work, school as usual (Dakota has sememster's first Political Science test) ballet for Jewel, YM Mutual and Ali Hunter baby shower at the church. (she is expecting a little girl) Daniel will catch up on his sleep tonight by going to bed earlier. He still takes Dakota to Seminary at 5:30, while Patricia stays with Jewel.

gratitude thought: grateful for the RS sisters and the team wieght loss program that we're doing together. It has occured to me that I have never know how to lose weight with a healthy program. All I have ever done are crash diets and plain old starvation while dancing. Somehow I know this wouldn't be good for me now, it was easy to starve at age 20 and drop 6 pounds in the blink of an eye.

I spend HOURS driving the family around, so why can't someone invent a car seat that has control devices in the drivers' seat, that are attached to the steering wheel. I could navigate the wheel by using my buttock muscles to control the steering. (hee-hee) Some workout huh? great way to tone the buttocks and thighs...I guess a great way to have an accident too.

trivia: Aunt Lucille is home from the hospital with congential heart failure. Her heart is operating at 20%. Both my cousins Linda and Louise are home with their mom.

A new road taken in the Killpack journey

Oil Pastel of Titanic


Jewel and dad finish her research project on Titanic.







Saturday, Jewel still has the sniffles. At 3:00 pm Dakota gets to play basketball with the YM. As he will miss next week's game (he will begin training with a running club with other teens in Franklin) this may have been his last game of 2008. Saturday night we stay in (didn't go to the Missionary farewell) as we all went to bed early trying to stay flu & cold free.

Sunday....Daniel, John Llera and Pablo Smith are sustained as the new Bishopric for the East Brunswick ward. It is quite strange around here to hear people call and ask to speak to 'Bishop Killpack'. Patricia hopes she gets use to it faster than when she had to get use to hearing her new married name of Mrs. Killpack. (that took about two years). Daniel is ready to begin and is very excited to serve with his two wonderful counselors.

Patricia is saying hello to her new friend 'Charlie'...as in 'Charlie Horse'. Her left hamstring is twitching and is very tight from the running/walking training. She had to stretch before church to avoid a painful cramp that could have occured in Sacrament. That would not have been a pretty sight..She has had these before in her past dance life, but usually when the muscles have been way overworked. Not the case here, so the muscles are just getting older =)

gratitude thought: For Daniel and for who & what he is...I am grateful that he asked me to marry him, grateful that I had enough sense to say yes!

news: Lucille Jackson (my aunt) is not doing well in SC. Plans are to place her in a nursing home for better care. Her strength needs to be built up. Our prayers are with her and Linda and Louise her daughters .(my first cousins)

Lewis Jones is home from the hospital. He did have pnemonia and is home recovering and resting. Get well Lewis. (My brother in law)