Lily misses Grandma & Grandpa

My parents were the first people to hold Lily (besides Michal... and myself... and the doctor...).

And she loved being held by them, she would just gaze into their faces and just be such a good girl

As she has gotten older, Lily loves to feel like she is helping you out (in other words, she wants whatever you have at the moment).  When I go out to eat, I make sure to grab about 4 spoons so that she feels included and gets to "eat" with us.  These pictures are some of my favorites because she is trying to "help" my mom with her drink.

My mom can always get Lily to smile by calling her "Ninja Baby."  The nickname originated because when you would kiss Lily, she would kiss you back, but it was more like an attack... a ninja attack.

Even though Lily likes to "help" out and gives great kisses, we have also been educating her early.  Below she is receiving her first driving lesson from Grandpa (or maybe she's just "helping" him out).

We took her to see her first outdoor artwork - The Spiral Jetty.

But most of all, Lily just loves to be held!

She sure does miss Grandma & Grandpa so she makes sure that she calls them on FaceTime every day!

Watching Lily on FaceTime has been quite the experience.  She is so confused by the 2D rendering of a person.  She goes to touch their face and can't figure out why they aren't reacting or why she feels a flat screen.  Regardless, my parents still know how to get to her to smile - even if it is all the way across the country.

She is so sad when they hang up... she just wants to talk forever.

Lily can't wait to see her grandparents again!

Sink Sitting

The sink became a babysitter for my little girl when I was living at my parents home.  I would place her in the sink and she would reach for whatever Mommy was just using and feel like she was helping me. I was able to dry my hair, get ready for the day, or shower... all while she sat in the sink entertaining herself in the mirror, or with my toothbrush.

It was so cute that almost everyday I couldn't help myself and I had to get a picture of her sink sitting.  I had people comment and say, "What if she turned on the faucet."  And I think that would have been great to see her reaction to getting wet from her ingeniousness.  

The sink at our old apartment was disgusting and I would never dream of doing this where I lived.  And the sink at our new apartment is slightly too big that she slips when sitting in it (and she tries to suck on the handle of the sink and I just don't like that... it's yucky).

So I'm glad I was able to capture a little piece of Lily's personality and how she liked to sink-sit with me because she felt like she was "helping" me get ready for the day.

She is such a cute baby!

Madeline Ray

My brother & sister-in-law had a baby girl and it is so fun to see Sam be a daddy.  He just beams and is so excited to hold his precious little gem.

They named her Madeline Ray.  The middle name is in honor of my grandfather Dedrickson who was really close to Sam when we were kids growing up.

Everyone was super excited to hold this new little angel.  Unfortunately, when Madeline was born she swallowed some meconium and had to be in the NICU for a couple of days.

When we first went to see little Madeline, I didn't get to hold her because Lily had fallen asleep on me.  So I made sure that I put it on my TO-DO list of things to get done before trekking out to North Carolina.  Sam & Bridgett were only allowed to hold her for an hour each morning and evening, so I was extremely grateful that they sacrificed some of their precious time to allow me to hold their treasure.

The Spiral Jetty

Before leaving Utah and moving to North Carolina, I expressed interest to my parents a longing that I wished to see the Spiral Jetty.  As an Art History Major in college, I had first heard about the Spiral Jetty in a museum in Europe.  There was an installation in this modern museum (of which I cannot remember) devoted to the construction and engineering of the Spiral Jetty, by Robert Smithson.  At the time, I was unaware that this earthwork sculpture was housed in Utah - a mere hour and a half away from my house!

So with my interest and desire to go, my parents, Lily, & I jumped in to the car and headed to an arcane, obscure, remote coastal area along the Great Salt Lake.  Smithson decided to chose this spot for his massive sculpture because he had visited Promontory Point (where the East & West railroad met up in the middle) which is located nearby.  He loved that the coastal area was tinted red due to local algae and bacteria, located only in the Great Salt due to the high salinity of the water.

Once I got here I was elated and the spiral jetty received a euphoric welcome from me.  Being in a place, and learning about a place are two totally different things.  Learning about a place gives you a greater sense of understanding and meaning, being there gives you emotion to tie to what you learned.  And I was in such a jovial mood to be able to cross this item off of my bucket list.

Going out to the Jetty was H.O.T. And, being the eccentric person that I am - my mom and I decided to walk the whole spiral to the center and back - all 1,500 feet (one direction).  It wasn't such a brilliant idea because it was just so hot, and I wasn't dressed for the occasion (notice the long sleeve shirt and lack of good walking shoes). Nevertheless, we did it.  And we took pictures to prove it.

 Here we are standing dead center (and this is the best picture where you can see how pink the surrounding area is).

In this picture you can see how far away the truck is parked.  It doesn't look like this spiral is very big, but you can hardly see the truck in the background of the photo.  However, they do say that if you are flying over the jetty, you can see it from the plane (clouds permitting).  I have yet to ever have seen it when I take off from the Salt Lake Airport.

 Can you spot me below?  I'm on one side of the Jetty and my mom (taking the photo) is on the exact opposite side.  

 Over the years, the salt has turned this earthwork sculpture mostly white with lots of sand.  In fact, I researched and found out that the jetty was constructed in 1970 (construction took 6 days), and not long after it was built the water levels of the Great Salt Lake rose and covered the Jetty until 2002.  In 2002 you could see the Jetty for almost a year before it was submerged again.  Since then it has fluctuated each year and has either been under water or above.  I was lucky that when I wanted to go it was above water, but there were some parts which were mucky and muddy.  

After all the walking, I looked beat.  I'm pretty sure that had the picture been any lower you'd see pit-stains on my nice shirt. HA! At least Lily looks happy!

And oddly enough, as I was flipping through the guest book, this drawing caught my eye.  As I began turning the page - I noticed that I knew an individual who had come out here the prior month (located above the drawing).  Such a small world!

Anyway, if you ever get the opportunity to visit the Spiral Jetty and cross it off your bucket list - DO IT! But make sure to take some time to see Promontory Point as you journey out there - that way you can kill two birds with one stone!

Meeting Elder Oaks

Our last Sunday in our Ward in Salt Lake City - we wanted to take some pictures with friends as we said good-bye.  Oddly enough, we only got to take pictures with one member of the ward, and that was Elder Oaks. We didn't even ask him, we had another member of the ward (who loves Lily) suggest it to Elder Oaks and dragged him over to where we were standing and said that it was for posterity and that it would be a good testimony builder for our little angel.  Elder Oaks was more than happy to accommodate this nice gentleman's request (I'm not lying here)... and he got our little girl to light up.  As she looked at him in absolute AWE, I just wish I knew what she was thinking at that moment.

The first apostle Lily got to meet was Elder Oaks, and it so happens, that's the first apostle that her Mommy got to meet too!  My story is a little more embarrassing to tell.  It goes like this:

Michal was translating for General Conference (back when Polish translations occurred at the Conference Center) and so he got really, super-duper, great awesome seats for us.  At the time I had received my mission call to Harrisburg Pennsylvania, but wasn't entirely convinced it was where I was "supposed to go."  I had prayed to my Heavenly Father that he would answer my prayers if Harrisburg Pennsylvania was the right place to go on a mission, and I was entirely convinced that if I didn't hear the word "Harrisburg" in a conference talk, that it just wasn't right (or meant to be) for me to be going on a mission.

As we were waiting for the session to begin, Michal rushed out to the restroom and I began to journal my thoughts on conference.  Suddenly, without any warning, a hand stuck into my face and a gentleman asked me to stand up and said, very boldly to me, "I believe you have some news you would like to share with me young lady." And I said, "Why, Yes... I do... I received a mission call to Harrisburg Pennsylvania."  His reply was short and sweet and to the point, "It's a great place out there with wonderful people. I just visited there recently and I would know.  You'll love it."  I sat down and immediately looked over at the usher and asked him who had just spoken with me.  And the Usher didn't make me feel stupid, but politely said that I had just talked with Elder Oaks.  As I sat down, I was politely tapped on my shoulder by the people sitting behind me who had overheard me saying "Harrisburg" and wondered what I had to say.  I repeated that I was going on a mission there in a month and the 4 people sitting behind me just so happened to all be recent converts (within the last 12 months) from the Harrisburg Pennsylvania mission and new my mission president quite well. I had a good chat with them until Michal returned, but don't remember any other specifics.

I do remember that as I returned home my mom asked me if I had received an "answer to prayer" about going to Pennsylvania.  I told her that it was a lost cause.  I specifically remember saying, "Not a single person said Pennsylvania in one of their talks!  I don't know if that means I shouldn't go."  Then as Michal calmly relayed my experience of meeting Elder Oaks and converts from Pennsylvania, my mother helped me to recognize how this was, truly, an answer to prayer.  She said it couldn't be any clearer than this.

And that's what it was... an answer to prayer.  And I'm so grateful for the experience.

Years later, when we first attended the Eighteenth Ward, at a Thanksgiving social I had the opportunity to talk to Elder Oaks while he was eating some pumpkin pie - and told him about how he was the first apostle that I met and how I didn't even recognize him.  He chuckled and found the story amusing, but then spent the rest of the evening talking to Michal about the gospel in Poland.

So, now if you ever hear Elder Oaks tell a story in conference about a nice young woman who didn't recognize him - you can say - you know who he is talking about.

Nevertheless, I think it's neat that both of our first apostle experiences revolve around Elder Oaks - you never know - maybe it will inspire Lily to go on a mission - or to become a lawyer one day!

We are Moving!

Well, actually, in case you hadn't already heard - we've moved!

Remember that fly-out interview Mr. Michal had?  Well, it resulted in TWO job offers - BOTH in North Carolina.  One was in Charlotte, the other... Winston Salem.  Guess which one we chose?

Winston Salem!  Home of Wake Forest University, a million baptist churches (as opposed to Mormon Chapels, or Catholic Cathedrals where we have lived before), and not a whole lot of anything else!

We decided to "jump in with both feet" and "grab the bull by the horns" and make the most of this exciting new adventure.  

We accepted the offer on August 1, 2013 and Michal's start date was August 19, 2013.  That didn't leave much time for anything.  So here's a brief little outline of how things went down.

August 1 - Accepted Offer

August 2-7 - Packed up whole house, moved everything into my Great-Grandmother's Garage (who has recently relocated to an assisted living center)

August 8 - Packed whole garage into 2 storage PODS (they wouldn't deliver them downtown - hence having to find another location to move our stuff from)

August 9 - Sold existing contract

August 9 - 11 Katie & Michal (and Lily) moved in with Katie's parents

August 12 - Michal drives to North Carolina

August 14 - Michal arrives in Winston-Salem

August 15 - Michal goes apartment hunting

August 16 - Michal signs on an apartment

August 17 - Michal moves in ONE POD (The other one got separated and was somewhere in West Virginia or Ohio or something)

August 18 - Michal goes to church - they read our records in (WHAT???)

August 19 - Michal starts his new job

August 21 - 2nd POD arrives - Michal unpacks

August 22 - Katie flies out (courtesy of Frontier Airlines) to Greensboro (about 30 minutes from Winston-Salem)

August 23-25 Katie's mom helps unpack

August 25 - Katie's Mom goes home

August 26-28 Katie finishes unpacking and feels 100% finished

(**September 14 - Katie is still lost when she drives around)

Coming out (via plane) was actually quite a pleasant experience.  Lily was such a good girl and really enjoyed her first plane ride.  She didn't cry and actually slept on both legs.

We arrived in Winston Salem and this was the first thing to greet me here:

 We have a bunch of frogs, and froggies which like to hang out on our front porch at night and greet us when we come home.  Their acoustics really add to the cicadas, crickets, and other thousands of bugs I've been introduced to since moving here.

Michal was so excited to see his little girl again after being away from her for about 10 days.

My mom was sure a big help coming out here.  She went on walks with us every day, helped us carry in all our groceries as we started over with groceries, and helped me to unpack WAY more than I could have done all alone.

(I love these two pictures because on the left a little butterfly hitched a ride for the whole walk, and on the right Lily is experiencing wind for the first time - she couldn't figure it out).

We were sure sad to see her go, but she'll be back... right Mom?

... to be continued...