tales from a far-land

Today Madilyn  promoted to high school. We are so proud of her. She is becoming quite the young adult. She was awarded the Principal’s List for 2023-2024 for receiving A’s in all of her classes for all four semesters. She embraced leadership and school spirit by participating in Girl Boss Club, National Honor Society, Student Council, and being selected as Captain of the MSJH cheer team . She continued to be involved in the extracurricular activities outside of school through AZP Cheer as a Level 2 Junior main base squad team member and in her local chapter of the National Charity League. She is kind, thoughtful, sassy, helpful, a tad messy, enjoys being involved, a good friend, a good sister (most of the times), a hard worker, a goal setter and so very funny. She makes us smile and laugh all of the time. This past fall, Madilyn decided she wanted to apply to Xavier College Preparatory, an all-girls private high school in Phoenix. With this goal in mind, Madilyn studied diligently ...

Today marks a milestone that fills my heart with gratitude and joy. Fifteen years ago, I said "I do" to the most remarkable man, and every day since then has been a journey of love, growth, and endless adventures. To my incredible husband, Joshua, on our 15th wedding anniversary: thank you for being my rock, my partner, and my best friend. Together, we've built a beautiful life filled with love, laughter, and countless memories that I hold dear to my heart. From the moment we met through Leadership West back in 2007, I knew there was something special about us. Our shared passion for making a difference in the world brought us together, and since then, we've been unstoppable. We've been blessed with two amazing children, Aiden and Madilyn, who fill our home with laughter, excitement, challenges, a hectic schedule, and love every single day. Watching them grow into incredible individuals has been one of the greatest joys of our lives. Our home has become our sanctu...

I have been blessed to have had several grandmother-like figures in my life.   One such person arrived in my life in 1980, and sadly, left us recently on May 3, 2023.   We called her Oma.   She lived next door to me on Danbury Drive for the first eight years that we lived in Arizona and remained a family member ever since.   Clara (Micky) Lovejoy loved me and my family unconditionally for forty-three years.   She spoiled me and my sister from the moment we met her.   She found a special joy in it.   She purchased us Cabbage Patch Kid dolls for Christmas, brought us gigantic baskets and stuffed bunnies for Easter, and always snuck us candy whenever my parents were not looking. As I think back, she never missed celebrating any of my life’s major milestones.   She was our Friday night babysitter so my parents could participate in a bowling league.   We would eat T.V. dinners and watch M.A.S.H.   Micky would end up falling asleep on the couc...

November was a month filled with exciting activities, achievements, and quality time spent together. As always, we wanted to capture these precious memories to look back on with joy and gratitude. So, here's a glimpse into our busy and fulfilling November: Madilyn's Cheerleading Journey: In mid-October after a multi-day tryout, Madilyn made the Mountain Sky Junior High School cheerleading team! There were over 70 applicants.  As a MJHS cheerleader, she cheers enthusiastically for the 7th and 8th-grade boys' basketball teams, both at home and during their away games. In November, she would often cheer at least two of the five weekdays for the games.  We did our best to support her and the boys.  Watching the cheerleaders' halftime routines became our favorite part of the games. Aiden's Junior Assembly Adventure: Aiden embarked on his Junior Assembly (JA) journey in November. It was a delightful surprise that many of his friends from elementary school also chose to pa...