Christmas With My Dad's Side of the Family.

My dad's side of the family seems rather small compared to my mom's family.

Al, My Dad and Stan with their wives: Eve, My Mom and Deb.

The Koch Grandchildren. Steve, Shawn, Spencer, Dawn and Myself. (Nikki not pictured)
The Koch Great Grandchildren with Stan, Deb and the dogs. In the past Deb and Stan have gotten our little ones the cutest shirts, vest, Jean Jackets, dresses...you name it. This year they all got pajamas and they were a hit, of course! The little ones couldn't wait to change. The teenage or almost teenage girls were a little shy about changing into their pajamas for the picture...must be the age?
Deb and Stan opening their gifts. Stan and Deb are very special people in my life. When I was fourteen Spencer and I got the opportunity to live with them. WE moved to Brighton, Colorado when I was 5. We lived there until I was 14 when my dad got a promotion back to Minnesota, so when I came home from school on Monday, he told us that we were getting on a plane the next day to Minnesota and that we were going to live with Stan and Deb. My dad wanted us to start school in Marshall, since it was the beginning of the school year. My parents stayed in Colorado to sell the house and pack things up. In the beginning I had a really hard time saying goodbye to my friends and the only life I had known. Stan and Deb took us in (which I am sure was a shock for them) and loved us like we were their children! They put up with my hormonal teenage mood swings, bitterness about moving, struggles with being the new kid in town and with us missing our parents...all at the same time, oh yeah.. and a messy bathroom. I believe we lived with them for a little over a month all I know is that we had some great times, we laughed, we cried and we even disagreed sometimes. ;-) What I do know is that if it weren't for them, I wouldn't be the person I am today. They helped me and loved me through one of the toughest times in my life. It makes me realize how blessed we are to be loved by family who are willing to make sacrifices in order to take care of one another. "It takes a Village to Raise a Child!"
Dawn and I had fun comparing our "Koch Wrinkles." My Grandma Gloria was a pretty woman and yet she had very deep and noticeable wrinkles. I usually look at my dad and can see my wrinkles forming in the same places as his. It was nice to hear that Dawn, who is a year younger than me, and does facial skin care for a living...struggles with the same aging nuisance. I know I look tough in this picture. I still wasn't feeling well and I ate crackers while everyone else enjoyed a nacho/potato bar. I thought this would be the first Christmas that I didn't gain any weight, nope....3 pounds....even without eating for two of the days!

Christmas With My Mom's Side of the Family...

It all started with two people...My Mom, her mom and her siblings. Lee, Judy and Karen.
Their spouses: Linda, Roger, My dad and Doug.
The Grandchildren of Cap and Ruth: 5 were missing.
The Great Grandchildren: 9 were missing. (I think?)
The Male gift exchange.
The female gift exchange.
My Grandma: Oh, how I treasure these moments and how soon they become memories!

Auntie Karen and her grandson Taylor.
Samantha and Stacy: WE took a great trip to Florida with Karen and Doug last Feb. to see my parents. Friends that are my cousins yet they have always been like sisters.

Pam and My Mom.

Everyone watching Santa hand out gifts.

Grandma sitting on Santa's lap.

Koch Christmas 08

I have been trying to blog for 2 days now. These pictures are from Christmas Eve. I got sick Christmas Morning right after breakfast and was sick all day! These are the aprons Grandma Villarreal made for the girls and I. They are so cute and Karsyn likes to wear it all the time! Benjy and I waiting for the Nativity Play to start. This was the first year the kids put it on without any adults helping.

Benjy got a new coat! HE loves it!I got a new camera. Still trying to figure it out...love it!

Who is playing baby Jesus in the basket?

Kaydree.

Grandma Villarreal also made the girls and I matching booties and Karsyn wears them everywhere! She has been the "green sheep" two years in a row. She does a great job saying, "bah, bah."

My favorite part was Nick he came out very serious and said, "I am the Star!, I am the Star!"

Santa came in the morning and filled 14 stockings.
Some of the sweets that Grandma and Grandpa baked with their friends. Benjy was in Heaven... he loves all this stuff! Okay, we all do!

What's Up?

I realize this is probably the longest I have gone in between blog posts. Here is an update:

Friday, December 19th: We celebrated Christmas with our girls. We wanted to give them time to enjoy some of their gifts before we left for my parents. (WE got a lot of snow and freezing cold, so it was a good time to stay inside!) They each got a bean bag chair, which Kaydree wanted, so by default Karsyn gets one to eliminate the tears later! Among the other gifts: each a new DS game, they love the cooking one, and a couple of movies.


Saturday, December 20th: We had the missionaries over for lunch. I cooked a ham, cheesy potatoes and Rhodes rolls. I have to admit, it was delicious! Nicole and Ruby came over for lunch and hung out until Travis got done doing Toys For Tots.

Saturday night around 10:52 P.M.: Karsyn started throwing up. We laughed so hard because in the middle of an episode, she would throw up and say, "I can't believe I am doing this, I am really doing this!" Then she would have another heave and say, "This is soooooo disgusting!" When Kaydree gets sick, she just cries through the whole thing. Karsyn tries to talk herself through it! She was sick just about every hour through the night. Karsyn and I didn't go to church since she was pretty sick and running a fever. Benjy needed to teach a lesson and Kaydree got to sing in Sacrament Meeting. It sounds like Karsyn and I missed an amazing day at church. :-(

Sunday, December 21st: Karsyn and I slept most of the day and we had a neighbor bring us fudge and a Secret Santa (JoDell?) Drop off bags of activities for the girls and cookies for us on a really cute plate with vinyl on it! I wanted to take pictures however I temporarily misplaced my camera and couldn't find it all weekend!

Monday, December 22nd: I ran around like a Chicken with my Head Cut off....because we weren't suppose to leave to go out of town until Tuesday at 1 P.M. however Benjy called me Monday morning and said, "let's leave tonight because it's suppose to snow and start blowing later tonight and into tomorrow!" ugh.......is an understatement! We left by 5:30 and hit really, really bad bad bad bad bad roads. Do you get my point? It was white out conditions for the last half of our trip. Off and on we couldn't even see the road. We got to my parent's house with a lot of prayers and safely at 11:37 P.M. or so?

Yesterday, we took the kids Ice Skating on the lake.

Karsyn did not enjoy this experience.
About 1 minute into skating she wanted her boots on!

My mom and Steve and Lori's oldest daughter: Courtney, walking out onto the ice. Grandpa sat up in his heated truck or (The warming house) ;-)

Steve and Lori's daughter: KorinSteve and Lori's daughter: Sydney

Benjy tried to run and slide as fast as he could and ended up on the ice a couple of times.

It was a beautiful day and we had a great time!

He's Working Late Again?

And what a blessing it is! For the last couple of days Benjy has had to work late. Yesterday, he worked a 15 hour day and I love it! There are a couple of times a year when he is in trial or right now in Arbitration, and it requires his time and attention. When he gets home he is exhausted or "all worked up" as he puts it, too. His mind is constantly working and I can see that he truely loves what he is doing! In this economy we feel extremely grateful that he can work crazy hours, because it is job security! The bonus we get is that he loves what he is doing and I love seeing him so happy! Of course the girls and I miss him sooooo much and Kaydree constantly asks, "Will he be home to read scriptures with us, to say a prayer with us and tuck us in?" The girls got to stay up a little later last night just so that we could keep our family bedtime routine! I do get a lot more done at night when I am trying to stay busy to make the time go faster until he gets home!

You Made Me CRY.....

Here is a post on two of my very tall friends ( then again, everyone is tall next to me!) Actually I have two very short friends named Amy from College. We called ourselves the 5 foot club! Later post...someday! This post is a on the Three Amigas....oh how people laughed when we all walked down the hall together!
http://houseofcs.blogspot.com/

Thoughts for the Day...

I had a great time hanging out with Kaydree and her friends on their field trip to the Anoka High School Play of Charlie Brown Christmas. I can't tell you how much I value our membership at Lifetime Fitness. I love being able to drop Karsyn off for $5 for three hours so that I can volunteer at Kaydree's school! During these cold winter months, I love to take the girls swimming in the really heated pool at Lifetime too! Benjy....he isn't always as excited to leave the warm house to venture out into the cold!I was anxiously awaiting Kaydree's bus today. The roads are getting pretty yucky and her piano was canceled because of the roads. Her bus was pretty late, but she is home safe and sound.

Just waiting for Benjy to get home so that we can sit down together after the kiddos go to sleep and watch Mama Mia! I went out to give myself an early Christmas Present and can't wait to share it with Benjy! I love this time of year. I don't like the cold...but I love the feeling of being hunkered down for the night together as a family. I hope you are all safe and warm tonight!

Meaningful Beauty....

Just wanted to show some warm and cozy, not wanting to get out of bed, little girls.
The girls love to beg us to do a nest on the weekends. Benjy remembers doing this when he was a kid, so he is such a softy with them! With 8 degrees below ZERO without the wind chill, let's just say it is very cold in Minnesota today!

So the other day when I was on the phone with my sister-in-law Emily, my late night/early morning purchase arrived. I saw the mail man get out of his truck to bring the package up and I said to Emily, "Oh, please don't let that be the Meaningful Beauty stuff! It is smaller than a shoe box, Benjy is going to Die!"

While I was laughing so hard to the point of crying about my $159.99 deal that I got for $29.99 plus two free gifts for ordering within the 5 minute deadline, Emily said, "Well at least your laughing about this!"

Here is my heck of a deal next to your average spoon. I think I got about 4 oz. for $29.99. YIKES>>>> I had to laugh when you open it up Cindy Crawford sends a little note to remind you that when it comes to Beauty.....LESS IS MORE! I was saying out loud----responding to Cindy, "I sure as heck hope so...that less is more, or I just got ripped off!"

SIDE NOTE: I couldn't wait to tell everyone how much of a rip off this was....the problem is....I REALLY REALLY LIKE IT! I swear I can tell the difference already. Benjy says that I smell like a fruit salad when I come to bed at night because of the miraculous melon extract from FRANCE....that enhances my skin with antioxidants!

Facing My Fears....

I love subbing at the High Schools, however I find myself steering clear of Math and Science positions. I get completely intimidated by those classes. I got very good grades in these areas, but I feel like it has been so long since I have had any experience in these areas, that I fear them. I took a 1/2 day position at Anoka High School teaching Chemistry. Ugh...I wanted to find a video, note taking or worksheet type of a day.....NOPE...I walk in to find a full out lab day with candles and all! Can we say, PANIC SET IN!
In Seventh Grade, Ms. Trexel had us working with bunson (sp?) burners, we sat at high round tables. Our whole table was having trouble lighting our burners with those flint clicking type things... so Ms. Trexel took out her matches and tried to light one. There was a leak in the main gas line under our table so the entire table went up in flames along with our teacher's eyebrows and bangs! She screamed, "Get out of the lab, Get out of the lab!" My friend Carly went running into the classroom next door and yelled something like, "There is a FIRE in the Lab, Ms. TREXEL is on FIRE!" (Which she wasn't and it was a quick burst and then the flames went out) It was however a very traumatic time for me! I don't know why, but I didn't have my shoes on, so another student carried me out on his back, in the snow! Ah...what memories. Ms. Trexel was gone for a week or so in order to recover! (Good excuse to use sick pay? I don't know?)


You can imagine the images I was having just thinking about all of these High School Students, which I am responsible for.....lighting candles in a Chemistry Lab! Needless to say, all went well, and I feel a little more adventurous in the area of Science!

Words Cannot Describe the Joy...

My Grandfather, Eloi Koch, died when my father was four years old. Eloi and his siblings were separated at very young ages and lost contact with one another. We have never known any of our great aunts, uncles or cousins on my dad's Koch...side of the family. This morning I received an email.. Through the tears of thanksgiving...I write this blog! I have worked on this family line to only hit dead ends.... and then out of the blue...thanks to my Uncle Al and his wife Eve...(thank you, thank you, thank you!) I may be able to put together more of the piece of the Koch puzzle!

Hello Krissy,

I got your name from Eve – she is one of my high school classmates and we met her and Allan at a class reunion this past summer. It was a huge surprise to discover my husband Dennis and Allan are first cousins. Dennis has wanted to make contact with his extended family for a long time. After the reunion we drove to Marshall, Minneota, and Ghent to check out the cemeteries and try to find more family. We did find several. We also found many Koch names in the phone books for the area, but don’t know how they are all connected. Eve sent me a Christmas Card with Steve and Stan’s addresses, as well as your email address. She says you have been working on a family tree. We would sure love a get a copy of what you’ve got done so far.

Dennis’ dad is Ed, who has been dead many years from a car accident. His wife Betty still lives in St. Peter. Dennis has 3 brothers (Danny, Greg, Gary) and one sister (Cheryl Peters). Dennis has 4 children: Mark, Brian, Eric, and Tanya Hagen. If you want more information, I’ll be happy to provide that. I attached a copy of my Christmas letter for this year so you can see a picture of Dennis and me. Our address and email addresses are on the letter.

Do you know if any of Ed’s brothers and sisters are still alive? Ed never told Betty anything much about his family, so anything you can tell us would be appreciated. Do you know anything about where their mother and father came from?

Are you Steve’s only child? Where are you living?

We are so excited to make this connection with you and your side of the family. Eve is going to try to plan a get-together next summer so we can all meet and we are very excited about that. In the meantime, we very much look forward to hearing about what you have been able to learn about the family.

Have a blessed Christmas and a wonderful new year.

Hugs and love,

Sharon

Things Must Be Getting Hectic...

because when the alarm went off this morning, I felt like I was being pulled from the deepest, warmest, coziest place I have ever known... Oh how I did not want to get up this morning. Today I was not the usual, jump out of bed and start my day, kind of person. I wanted to roll over and hit the snooze button, except for the alarm clock is on Benjy's side of the bed. He kept nudging me to get up and I wanted to pummel him! (Sorry, Benj, not because it was you, just because I didn't want to get up!)
Right now I want to go put my pajama's back on and crawl into bed where it is nice and warm! Ugh...it is soooooo cold outside and I have so much to do!

WE got the Dreaded Letter!

Kaydree brought home the letter yesterday! ugh! There has been a reported and treated case of head lice in her class. When I taught out in Vegas this was a monthly occurrence. As a teacher I use to be designated to drop off supplies to those families that couldn't afford to fight off lice. I even use to wash some of my own students' hair when it wasn't getting done at home. When a case would surface, I would wear my hair up everyday and I would use tons and tons of hairspray. The school nurse said they don't like the chemicals....so I did whatever I could to fight it off. Now that it has surfaced in Kaydree's classroom....she will be wearing her hair up everyday and she will be using a ton of hairspray and I will be doing daily.....who am I kidding...? Hourly checks once she gets home!

Yuck! I know I can't put my kiddos in a bubble, but I am going to try to prevent and fight these little pests.....Wish me LUCK! I am going in to volunteer in her classroom today, guess how I will be wearing my hair?????