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)

0.993170741

Blog title (numbers) courtesy of Dakota. This is a calculation of some kind and he will let us know what this means at some point. (we hope)

Poor Jewel, sore throat, sneezing, coughing and a stuffy nose, She stayed home all day today. It was freezing cold with winds, so we're glad she didn't have to go out.

On Wednesday evening, Daniel had a smooth and safe flight from Chicago. He arrived when the kids were at church activities and Patricia at her meeting. It was a happy reunion for all.

trivia: Diane Jones (Patricia's sister) husband Lewis, is in the hospital having tests done. He has water in his lungs and probably has pneumonia.

gratitude thought: A hot bowl of soup in the winter. Nothing like it in the world except a warm hug.

Afrochef

Remember the Easy Bake Oven?

Dakota and Jewel decided to make a cake the 'Easy Bake Oven' way. This oven was a gift from our friend and ward member Paola Valez along with some other games like 'Hands Down". Other than the rubbery texture, the taste was great as they put loads of chocolate frosting on top.

We are waitng for Daniel to fly in from Chicago tomorrow evening.

gratitude thought: I love watching my kids play with games and do things I did some 40+ years ago. It's like watching my life being slowly replaced with the activities and paths of my children. Watching them grow is simply joyful...and then someone screams or hits the other. All part of the journey...

We get a family snow day!!

Jewel, Dakota and schoolmates from our charter school. After playing wii sports, they had a 'kosher' dinner. It's been great having the kids learn about each others' religion. They're Orthodox Jews from Russia.

The family went to bed on Thursday evening, (Patricia at midnight) thinking there was no way that we would have a snow day. Between 12:00 midnight and 5:00 am, we were covered in six inches of snow. Seminary, and both schools were closed. Yipee. Patricia curled up in her warm bed and slept another two hours after the 5:00 am Seminay cancellation call.

Daniel feeling ill, did not go into the city but left his laptop at work. Since he needed it to fly to Chicago on Monday, Patricia braved the snow and went to fetch it for him. Long time since she has been in NYC walking around in the snow.

Saturday: two basketball games for Dakota. One win, one loss. Patricia cooks 'Runzas' for the meal exchange at church.

Sunday: Family split. Daniel and Jewel attend East Brunswick ward. Patricia and Dakota attend the Stafford branch for ward conference. Dakota hangs out with some of the Stake youth and gets to attend ward youth conference.

gratitude thought: Grateful for Kristen Smith who has moved into our ward. Such a lovely family and a big hello to you. I will check out your family blog! Dakota told me that you were doing one.

Grateful for Daniel's Christmas gift to me of the GPS. This 'robot map' has helped me get around the state of NJ, and without it I would have pulled my hair out. That robot's montone voice has become my friend!

Heritage Day & Lunar Eclipse

Edelweiss dress !!

On Wednesday, Jewel had 'Heritage Day' at her school. She picked her Edelweiss dress that Oma gave her several years ago from Germany. She had her hair up too, as she looked like a little fraulein but frau mommy put the hairpins in too tight.

Tueday, Dakota had a math test that was a killer. He takes comfort that one of his exams can be dropped from his average. Daniel had a late Presidency meeting and only was able to get four hours of sleep before heading off to work. By Wednesday night, he slept like a log.

A big hello to Tricia...happy belated birthday and I hope your year will be a great one. It was so great to hear from you and I miss you too!

We had a fantastic front door view of the Lunar eclipse last night (Wednesday). It was just a clear cold night, perfect for looking at the moon and fun to staying up watching.

gratitude: grateful for 10:00 pm each night, when I get to call my dear mom to check in. I love hearing about her activities in SC and catching up on all the news. She is just so much fun to talk too!

President's Day

...a day off for all but Daniel.

We went to the home of the Llera's (a wonderful family in our ward) as Jewel had a playdate with Jessie and Junior, and Dakota watched a movie with Courtney and Sara called "The Mummy." Patricia and Sonia went to A.C. Moore to buy materials as Patricia has an upcoming lesson for ward conference. John Llera is a big Mets fan, like Patricia and they had a chance to talk baseball, steroids, Hall of Fame and integrity.

FHE: We'll finish watching "A Work And A Glory" movie and will have key lime pie for dessert. We were given an Amish dough to knead, bake and then to pass along like a chain letter. This will be interesting...

trivia: Andy Pettite has news conference to defend his position in regards to Roger Clemens and an alledged steroids conversation.

gratitude thought: grateful for families that extend their frienship to the kids and open their homes to us ;-)

Yeah..the weekend fun!!

Jewel began her weekend with a four day break from school. She went with mommy to the hair salon to watch mommy get a wash, conditioning and a blow dry style. Jewel is so grateful for her head of curls and that she doesn't need to do the same things mom has to do to her hair. Patricia is just waiting the day that Jewel has to comb that head of curls by herself instead of mom combing it while listening to the screams.

Friday evening Jewel went rollerskating with Andrew, Stephanie and Mr. Jan.

Saturday was a basketball game for Dakota and the YM. In the evening was a Stake meeting for Patricia followed by the youth Stake Valentine's Dance. Dakota wasn't feeling great so we found some advil for him from one of the Stake Relief Society sisters attending the dance, and he was better. We were home by 11:30 pm with Jewel anxiously waiting up.

Daniel's work week was busy and he was quite tired but able to catch up on some needed sleep.

Sunday, Dakota stayed home from church with Daniel as he was still under the weather. By afternoon and medicine in his system, he went to the youth fireside with dad as the Teachers' Quorum was in charge.

trivia: Barry Bonds found guilty of steroid use in November 2001.

gratitude: grateful for days off from school and to spend time with the kids. Monday February 18th, is President's Day. Both Jewel's school and the college are closed. Daniel has to work :-(