*MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ME*

Hi friends,

Just a little note to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and give a quick update on our family this last year.
We had our share of trials...every one of us. A few moves, health problems, a serious health scare, a divorce, a miscarriage, financial struggles, the death of family friends and a handful of other things. It seemed like just when we picked ourselves up, the rug was pulled out from under us. The Lord has tested our faith and as we turned to Him I truly saw how he sustained us, comforted us, encouraged us, and even granted us some miracles in which all of us are forever grateful. I have learned over my life that trials can either soften us or harden us. I have always fought for the softer heart but I haven't always won. I know the Lord is merciful and loves my family. I am really proud of all of them and how they have handled their trials. We are a tight knit group and we always have each others backs. When one is down, we run to their aide to lift them and help in any way we can. I can't count how many times they have done that for me. I adore them all and appreciate their sacrifices they make for others, their families, and our God. I love this quote;

"I lift thee, you lift me, and together we will ascend!"

I give thanks for all my great friends both old and new. I have a small piece of every person I have ever known in me and I love that. Wishing everyone Happy Holidays and a great 2010. Don't forget that the Savior is really the most important person in each of our lives.

Love to all,

Kim*

Ps. That cute kitty in the boots is NOT mine. (Three is enough!:) It's my moms and her name is Gracie. :)

*THE GRINCH?*

This was an *Artisan* design that I was playing with and it ended up looking kind of like The Grinch or maybe an alien. Random...I know.

*MYSTERIOUS LETTERS*

I am rubbing my hands together at the very thought of being a part of this "Mysertious letter writing". I read this great blog today and I snagged the idea. I love to write and the possibilies are endless with this clever and amazing idea...
Here's the story/inspiration to do this;

"We intend to write to everyone in the world..

In April 2009, we sent a personal, handwritten letter to each of the 467 households in the small Irish village of Cushendall. We hoped these unsolicited letters would prompt neighbourly discussion, spreading across the town, promoting community curiosity.

In November 2009, we sent another bundle of letters, this time 620, to each home in Polish Hill, Pittsburgh, USA.

The art work consists solely of the discussion between the recipients about what on Earth these letters are, who sent them and why, etc.

Lenka Clayton & Michael Crowe."

This might not make any sense until you actually read the blog. But it's stinking kool and I'm going to do it! I might not be able to write the whole world, but I can sure try. ;)
Ps. I will share my first letter on here this week. :D
Pss. I am attaching one of the letters from their blog that I thought was funny. :) There are so many great ones and the wheels in my head are already turning with words of my own...that I will share...with mostly strangers. :)

http://www.mysteriousletters.blogspot.com/

*OH EDWARD, YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE!*

Is he the most thoughtful man ever? My tree is a sight to behold. The lights are actually Halloween lights with little ghosts on them! Then, there are some other dazzling little things hanging and well sitting on the tree (Vampire teeth). I love it and it just makes me feel so damn Christmasy! I'm a LUCKY girl!

Ps Thanks Chris, for giving Edward some ideas. He gets cold feet when it comes to giving me things. He wants everything to be perfect! You are a great friend to him! *Double wink*

*CHAZTON IS COMING HOME!*

We are all getting excited because Chaz, my nephew, is coming home from his mission in South Africa! For me it seems like he barely left and at the same time we have missed him soooo much. I can't wait to see that bright smile again! I am so proud of him. I keep thinking about this part in the Book of Mormon in which we read of Alma a missionary who returns home and comes across his friends who are coming home from their missions.

Alma 17:1-4

1 And now it came to pass that as Alma was journeying from the land of Gideon southward, away to the land of Manti, behold, to his astonishment, he met with the sons of Mosiah journeying towards the land of Zarahemla.
2 Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.
3 But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God.
4 And they had been teaching the word of God *for the space of fourteen years among the Lamanites, having had much success in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth; yea, by the power of their words many were brought before the altar of God, to call on his name and confess their sins before him.

My nephew, has always been amazing, but through his emails I can tell and feel that he has truly become a man of "sound understanding" and truly a strong and faithful man of God. It will be bittersweet for him to come home. His last email said this;

"Kimmy, I'm doing so good right now and I'm loving this area so much and I'm dreading leaving honestly I'm not feeling to good about it. But at the same time I'm so excited to see you and the family too. The members have been giving us so many people to teach and there are so many great families that are going to be comming into the gospel and believe it or not most of them are from england."
(I think he added that last part because he knows how much I love my English friends).

So as you can tell, this great young man fell in love with the work of teaching Gods children the plan of salvation and has fallen in love with a people/nation in which it will be very hard for him to leave. He has been a bright shining star in a country that has a lot of darkness. He will leave that nation with greater light and knowledge...and he will leave them and his posterity a great legacy. They will never forget him, and HE will NEVER forget them.

Can't wait see you, my beloved nephew.

This photo is of me and Chaz the day he got his mission call to South Africa. We had just returned from a Trip to Fish Lake, Idaho. On the way there I asked him, "Chaz, if you could go anywhere in the world on your mission, where would you want to go?" His response was "AFRICA"...you can imagine the excitement and delight he felt when he read his call. :)

*I WISH*

From my journal September 29, 1998 (11 years ago!!!)

I WISH...

I wish I had a time machine so I could go back and just watch myself...not change anything...just watch.
I wish I had lickable wall paper like in Willy Wonka
I wish I had my own cottage in the woods
I wish I could sleep on clouds
I wish that children and animals never suffered
I wish I could build a crystal castle
I wish all the dramatic or great moments in life had back ground music
I wish I could have picnics in wheat fields like I did when I was little
I wish I could fly into Niagra falls and swim in it without feeling any pain
I wish I could give more surprises to people
I wish I had more friends all over the world
I wish I could write a book
I wish I could be more pure
I wish I could meet a man of God, fall in love with him so that I could have a best friend with me always
I wish I could learn about photography and become an incredible photographer
I wish I could work with youth all over the world and bare my witness of who they are
I wish I had my own library and I could say that I had read every book in it
I wish I could wake up happy


ha! I find it interesting that a few of those came to pass. Maybe not the Crystal Castle (???) but a few.

"If wishes were fishes...right?" ;)

*LEARN TO FLY*

Learn To Fly from Christian Letruria on Vimeo.

Thanks to Jason Hadley for sharing video 1
and Ryan Childs for video 2. Both videos had a great impact on me.

*SPAWN/ARTISAN*

This is my new favorite app on my iphone. I can't even explain how much I love it. Each time I'm on it, I spend an hour at least, designing and playing around with it. It's so fun for me! It's kind of this psychadelic designing? hahah Here is a review that tells about it better than I could;

"What an amazing application, it’s like a firework on steroids! The best part is that you have full control over every aspect of it without having to open any options dialog. You can control the path of the light objects with your finger, change the color through pinching at the right location, change the tail length, size, speed, everything and to top it all off you double tap the screen and all particles instantly combust into a thousand offspring. The little particles will never get tired of amazing you with ever changing new beautiful artistic constellations and neither will you get tired of watching them doing their thing."

After I got the hang of how to use the tools, I got better and better at it, even though it's not that hard. Here are some of my personal designs. I'm quite proud of them! :)

*HE KNOWS ME*

I have been in one of my deeper moods today (shocking :) and was thinking how remarkable it is that God knows things that I both want and need without me even knowing that I want or need them. Does that make any sense? Once in awhile something will happen and in my heart of hearts I think...I didn't even know I wanted that...but I do. They seem to be so far reaching that they are even beyond my power of thought. Perhaps it shouldn't be so suprising knowing that He is a God who knows "the very hairs of your head are all numbered." (Luke 12:7) But today it just hit me in such a strange way. Nothing overly remarkable happened to me but maybe just an eternal insight that woke me up from a Doubting Thomas slumber. Maybe some of you get it and maybe some of you don't. I'll be honest in saying, I'm not even sure how to explain it. I just know one thing forsure, He knows me. God and Jesus Christ know ME in a deep and very personal way. And that in itself brings great peace to my soul.

Ps. Sometimes I forget that there are people who are not members of my church who might not always understand what I'm talking about. If you would like to know more, or even have a greater understanding on a principle I'm speaking about, please go to,
http://www.lds.org