K.Snyd / Aunt Titi / Mrs. Morris-To-Be

Sometimes we refer to her as K.Snyd. Sometimes we refer to her as our friend (as in, finally, we're friends). Sometimes we refer to her as our little sister (I mean you don't go on 'family vacations' with anyone but family). Sometimes we refer to her as our grown-up adopted daughter. Her ringtone in my phone is the same ringer I have for all my [former] KG girls but it almost never rings with an actual call for her since we spend about 75% of the day texting if we're not sitting in the same room. She's certainly become one of our best friends and a member of our family in so many ways.

The past year has flown by and I can't believe it's already time for our dear friend/sister/daughter to move out and begin to set-up the home she will oh-so-soon share with her very own dear husband (44 days Kristen...). I can't picture the past year and all the changes in our little family without her playing a part. I told her I was pregnant in a dollar store. I have no idea what we were shopping for but I'm pretty sure it was following a grocery store trip together which harkens back to how we began our friendship--trips to the store or CVS (coupons!!) so we could spend time talking yet get things done. She was there when we found out we got the house and there for the home inspection as we all sat around in mild disbelief that this mess of a house was ours and there the day we started and finished painting and moved in. She was there when I had an epic pregnancy hormone induced meltdown over painting the nursery walls on a random Thursday night and quietly took over the project (and others) to keep me sane and my marriage happy. She was there, hovering in the hallway, helping Dre get things ready, printing the 100 extra copies of our birth plan and making Dre a lunchbox full of snacks, when we left for the hospital to have our baby boy. She was there waiting all night in the waiting room and gently entering the room with her camera to capture some of Behr's first moments outside the womb. She was there when we brought our Behr home from the hospital; she had made a delicious and bountiful feast of yummy food, had already printed pictures of our sweet son and had even had our home cleaned top to bottom by the basketball team she coached. (Go Cougars!!) She was there when I had to let my little son cry on nights when there was simply nothing left for me to do but let him go to sleep on his own. She's been there on mornings I'm just so tired, creeping up the stairs from the living room to scoop Behr out of his bed and take him downstairs to play so I can sleep a bit more. Kristen is very much a friend who is "there." She hustles and bustles throughout her week being there for many people either seeking to serve, be a friend, meet a need, or capture a wedding.

K.Snyd you are without a doubt the messiest person I know. ;-) Yet it has been a joy to share our home with you messes and all. You have made the first few months of motherhood and home ownership easier as you've come along to help me and be patient with our way of doing things. I can't really imagine coming down in the morning without you there waking up on the couch (or already done cleaning the house top to bottom and making a five course dinner by 10am). I can't imagine my evenings when Dre works nights without Caleb walking through the door to make 100 burgers on the George Foreman. I don't know who will miss you the most among our little family: you've been my life saver, Behr's playmate, and Dre's late night TV companion (or wait is that Caleb) and deep conversation haver. We are all so thrilled for you to be able to enjoy some family time and even more so for you to be prepping to be a wifey. So many prayers come true. ;-) We love you friend. Can't wait to continue the friendship and enjoy being wives (and hopefully mommies!) together soon. And no matter what I'm glad you'll never be able to forget that one fall you visited us in Oklahoma. God works in mysterious ways.

Father's Day

The day I became a mother, my dear husband became a father. We did it together. I couldn't have gotten through labor without him. He was amazing. And he still is. I love watching him with Behr and watching Behr light up when he comes into the room. I love noticing that even at six months he tries to imitate his Dada. 

Babe, there's no one I would rather share parenthood with or who I would rather walk through figuring all of this new world with. You're a wonderful dad of six months and I know you're going to be even more amazing after sixteen months, and then six years, and on and on. I can't wait to watch how God strengthens you in that which He's called you to. I love you Puppa Bear.

Dear Dada, I love you soooooo much! You're my favoritest person in the world. I know you don't see it but when you come home or come over to play with me I get SO excited I think my head is going to pop right off. I save up my biggest smiles all day to give to you cuz you're the best. Thank you for playing with me and letting me watch Nats games with you and even taking me to Nats games. I can't wait to go to them again and again. I really like when we go to the pool because I'm a good swimmer just like you. I think I learned it from you just by association. I wish we could swim every day! I want to be just like you when I grow up. Like tomorrow when I'm bigger. I want to wear t-shirts and go to games and look at trucks and airplanes all the time.

My matching boys.

Sharing food on the deck. Favorites of both boys.

Baby Buddies

One of Behr's favorite people in the whole wide world is Audrey. She's his little buddy. She teaches him all kinds of important things and helps with his diaper changes, paci, and all kinds of mischief already. I really can't wait to watch them be friends as they get older and see what kind of trouble they get into. I mean seriously. Look at that smile in the picture below: Meeps can do no wrong in Little Behr's eyes.

In the early, early morning hours last Saturday, while Behr was sleeping in his little bed, Audrey became a big sister. I got to be there to welcome Edith into the world and it was once again one of the most incredible and amazing experiences of my life. I think I could have a dozen children of my own and witness a hundred children be born and never get over the wonder of life. It's incredible.
Janet had a fast and furious hospital labor (I barely know what to call it considering she was pretty much in labor for weeks after being on bedrest for over a month to keep her little girl from coming early) but all I could think the entire time was how kind of God it was that she was coming then and not a few hours later since Dre and I were heading out of town on Saturday and I sure didn't want to miss meeting my best friend's baby. Waiting for her to go into labor and watching her labor after having a child of my own was a whole new experience. I told Janet at one point I didn't know how to pray for her to be in that sort of pain after knowing how it felt (or at least what I experienced; I'm sure it's different for everyone). But thankfully it went insanely fast and I was home and back in bed before Dre even left for work that morning. Before we headed out of town Dre wanted to go meet the baby and of course Behr had to meet his new friend.

Behr is the perfect age right now for his new little friend. He stares and stares at her and sure isn't really sure what to think but is very intrigued especially when she waves her hands or legs around. Eventually he was more attracted to the pattern on her blanket and tried to steal it away and chew on it. Silly kid.

Janet is "like family" to me. She is truly the friend who sticks closer then a brother and I cannot imagine life without her. The Remsnyders are very special to us Klesses. We love you little family and love watching your family grow. Lord-willing these three will be friends and we parents will survive their misadventures together. If their personalities continue the way they are I'm pretty sure Audrey will be the ring leader, Behr her happy accomplish and the one who does her dirty work, and Edith will just gracefully follow along and keep them from getting into too much trouble.

Thanksgiving 2010

So after a whirlwind weekend of my and Meepies birthdays*, I flew back to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving and to pack-up Dre's place in OKC to go home. My family flew out to spend the week of Thanksgiving with us and we had a blast cooking up our first full Thanksgiving dinner.

We had dinner at POP's on historic Route 66. They have literally hundreds of different kinds of sodas.

We showed the fam one of our favorite places: the Oklahoma City National Memorial downtown. Pictured above is the "Survivor Tree" bare and ready for fall. It's still beautiful in it's own way even without it's greenery.

And then it was time for Thanksgiving! Cynthia, Dre and I stayed up late Wednesday night prepping things (well really I think I went to bed first and left them with more to do) and I was up and cooking from about 8:30-4pm. Making and hosting Thanksgiving certainly gave Dre and I a fresh perspective on what it means when we've just 'shown up' for Thanksgiving in past years. But oh it was so worth it! We're thinking of doing it every year and making it 'our holiday' if our families are agreeable.

On the menu this year were: free range turkey from the OKC-OSU farmer's market prepared with 'butter' blended with orange zest and rosemary under its skin and then basted with olive oil, the juice of three oranges, and it's own juices; Pioneer Woman's stuffing; mashed potatoes; sweet potatoes with homemade granola topping; blanched green beans; honey roasted carrots; roasted broccoli; sweet potato rolls; and Paula Dean's macaroni and cheese made by Dre's classmate Claudine. We had nine people to dinner (my family + us + four of Dre's classmates) and in what my mom called "true Garrison tradition" had enough desserts for everyone to have their own. (Cynthia made not one but two pumpkin pies plus a DF apple crumble.)

My hero dealing with the raw turkey so that when it was dinner time I still had an appetite to eat yummy turkey. I can deal with raw meat but it really affects my appetite for the item later.

Barry and Dre carving up the bird. It was definitely a two person project. :-)

My plate. Seriously. I've never worked so hard at a meal and found it so deliciously worth it. 

And since my family left we've just been counting down the days and getting ready to go home. Andree's dad came out and picked up our car and drove it back across country home for us. He loves road trips and we were definitely blessed to not have to make the drive again and worry about Dre starting work worn out from driving. Tomorrow (Tuesday) as soon as Dre gets out of class he's picking me up and then we're getting on a plane and going home! Together. For good. To our own bed. Our dear friends. And a whole new chapter of changes and new adventures!

*My birthday this year was probably the best ever. The simplest way I can describe it is that I just felt loved. Loved by my husband, loved by my friends, loved by my Savior. It's been quite a year and it was just a refreshing weekend in many small and big ways. [Thank you to everyone who contributed and played a part in anyway. I am so grateful and freshly aware of the kindness of God at work in my life.]

I'm an Aunt!

I told Jan that if all I got for my birthday was a little Meeper I'd be happy. And she delivered. (No pun intended?) Goodness. I just can't stop saying how amazing tonight was. My friend was a champ and simply incredible. And little Audrey is beautiful. What an amazing, amazing experience being there tonight was.*

Love you Remy's--all 3 of you now!

*Special thanks to my patient hubby for letting go of his plans to surprise me in order to allow me to be there with my best friend welcoming her first little one into the world.

look where I'm planning to spend much of tonight??

Getting ready for some Meepin'!

My Seester

One time a long, long time ago God gave me a leetle seester. I really wanted a little brother but as she's grown up and stopped biting me I've decided she's a keeper, particular now that we wear the same size clothes. ;-)

On Mother's Day weekend she graduated from college with an education degree. Cynth has been my younger sister as long as I've known her (obvious?) but since I became a Christian in high school she's been a younger sister I look up to. She is a consistent and faithful believer who truly seeks to do God's will in big and small things regardless of the sacrifice involved. A big example of this was her choice of colleges. While most of her classmates stayed put and went to MC or local schools (not knocking that: I did that too!!) she chose to go away. And she chose to a very particular school: Liberty University. And she's done very well there. It's been an encouragement to watch her entire college career be blessed and full of friendships, enjoyable classes (with the occasional miserable one thrown in of course), and a clearer direction of what she believes God is calling her to do after LU. And once again she's testing the waters and wiggling the door handles to see what God's next step for her would be. I'm excited to see how God blesses her pursuit of Him and heart's desire to honor Him. I'm praying for you Stinkia! Praying hard!

One other highlight for the weekend was spending special time with my family including my grandparents and Cathy. We got to make the road trip to graduation with Cathy and shared Harry Potter CDs with her and introduced Andree to Eustace and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. (The dronkies weren't too sure what to make of him turning into a dragon.) The night after graduation there was a Parcheesi show-down in the hotel lobby. Andree thought he could keep up and he did wind up winning but Grandma is not messing around when she plays board games. ;-)

Goose!

Welp, I got tagged. And while there's a few different versions of this going around the world wide web I'm happy to participate. (I think it's a bit like telephone: someone starts an idea and it gets tweaked and evolved and changed just a bit as it passes down the line.) Rules: 1. Go to the 6th folder on your computer 2. Pick your 6th picture in that folder and upload it to your blog/whatever 3. Comment 4. Tag others and let them know they've been tagged!

6th folder, 6th picture:
I love that picture because it so captures the two of them. You can tell Dad's making a bit of a silly face (his picture face is rather unique because he's sincerely doing his best to smile big) plus he's not so comfortable being the model for a photoshoot and Mom is just so happy with him being him.

I'm so grateful for my parents. So grateful God created me their daughter and for their example for Christ to me in the way they patiently forbore with all my foolishness and rebellion and continued to love me and extend grace to me. So grateful that they sought (and continued to seek in many ways) to help me carry my burdens in high school with the adventure of my back. So grateful for the way they befriended and sought to build into this brand new guy who suddenly showed up in all of our lives named Andree. So grateful for the way they led me/us, prayed for me/us, and cared for me/us as we walked out our relationship and into marriage. So grateful for the ways they continue to welcome us into their lives and care for us now that we're married and "on our own." I'm grateful that every once in a while when there's still only mommy that can make me feel better Dre and I can go over there and talk to her while Dad putters around the kitchen or naps on the floor. I can't imagine my life without them. I love you guys!!

*Qualification 1: this is the fourth picture in that folder. The folder only has four so I decided it counted. Picture credit to the one and only Lydia Jane.
**Qualification 2: as this is my work computer the official "Pictures" folder on my laptop is images for work and this is actually the sixth picture in that folder. I love these people so very much.
And now I say duck, duck, goooooooooose you're it to Rach you can totally do it/people are doing it on Flickr, Mums because you need to update, annnnnd (I'm big on exaggerating my words tonight) Kendra because I know you're reading this and haven't seen you do this yet. :-D

I Miss My Seester

I dunno why but I feel like it's the younger sister's job to miss the older one but I'm happily admitting that I miss my little sister today. I dunno why, just do. Right now I'm drinking raspberry tea out of a mug that mysteriously showed up on my doorstep one weekend when Stinky was in town. It's different tea than we used to drink out of our special bunny mugs at home but it makes me think of her.

(I also made homemade applesauce that Girlie really likes.)

Stink, I'm glad God gave me a little sister, even if I wasn't when Mom and Dad first brought you home. (I wanted her to be returned so I could have a brother like Courtney, Tiffany, and Caitlin.) I'm grateful you always seemed to think I was cool and did whatever I wanted or were willing to be conned into being the "tagger" so Dom and I could hide because you were the best at it. ;-) Thanks for putting up with tricks and big sister snubbing and loving me anyway. I'm glad you always seem to accept the nicknames I would give you and would defend me to Mom and Dad insisting I wasn't being unkind. (Only you could understand how loving "chicken" and "stinkia" really were meant to be.) Thanks for being my biggest fan so much of the time and including me in your life. Even when you talk a lot (:-P) I'm so grateful to hear you talk and that you would want to talk to me about the big and little things in your life. I love that even though we're sisters our lives aren't mirror images or cookie cutters of one another. I'm so grateful for the consistent desire in your heart to please God and bless others with the way you live. Thank you for always wrestling with truth and with how to walk it out. I'm grateful for your example even now, just like I've always been.
I love you kiddo.--See you soon? You can come over for tea. :-) And Dre's been asking for pie almost every day and I don't know how to make one so I need help from a whiz...

where have we been?

Well the last post I wrote we were in our sweet little room at the Morrison-Clark Historic Hotel in DC. We enjoyed a great semi-spontaneous (Dre had it all planned but I had no idea 'til I was told to pack a bag on my lunchbreak) 48 hours away enjoying being together celebrating our anniversary. It was such a treat and I am so grateful to my love for planning and surprising me with such a sweet gift.
Of course it wouldn't be KlessmasTime if there was no baseball involved. We attempted to go to two games while in DC but only saw about 4 innings of baseball due to the rain. Any Marylanders remember the huge storm that swept through on 6/4 (our anniversary). We spent hours at the stadium that night: I loved watching the majesty of the storm over the outfield while Dre hid under the stairs avoiding the rain and pondering when we should go hide out in the bathroom in case a tornado came through. It was was intense weather!--Even with the rain we had a great time making the memory together. After we left the park on our anniversary we went out to dinner and had a great time together just "being." In such a busy season of life these days it is so nice to just "be" together sometimes. It's more refreshing than anything I know.
Within 48 hours of coming home we packed up again and headed off to the Poconos for a family vacation with the Price family. Mom and Dad rented essentially a condo at Lake Harmony and the fam. plus Murray (who may as well be family) enjoyed a long weekend together. Grandma and Grandpa and Alice even came up for an overnight which was sweet. We enjoyed meals together, laughing, caricatures, and being a family under the same roof again. Thank you Mom and Dad!--About a week before our trip Andree realized that the NASCAR race that weekend was going to be in the Poconos. He looked it up and it was less than 8 miles away from the place we were staying. How could we not go?!? ;-) Cynth, Mur, and I only survived about an hour of the race (though we were there for at least 3 hours before the race) before we packed up and started walking 'til Dad found us and brought us home. Andree stuck out the race and had a great time making friends in the stands! The picture above is our little family of race fans: Andree roots for Ryan Newman, Dronks roots for Tony Stewart (they have matching attitudes), and I root for Reed Sorenson, aka the Target car!

That's it for our summer adventures so far. Other than that we've been working hard at our jobs, trusting God and planning for the future, and enjoying special times with our families and friends when we can coordinate schedules. Life is full and it's good. We are blessed!

(Janelle, this is for you. Girlie loves her bows. :-P)

Even Cuter...

Our three year anniversary of courtship was yesterday.--Their twenty-six year anniversary of courtship is today. It even got Mom to update her blog! :-P
We may be cute but I think my folks are even cuter. ;-) We love you!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

(stolen from dear Lyds :-P)

We have so very much to be thankful for and it seems that each year our list grows. Here are just our top five:
1. Each other--What an amazing blessing marriage is! Neither of us can imagine life without the other. Lamentations 3 rings true daily in our relationship: "His compassions never fail. They are new every morning."
2. Our BFF's--From the Nutters, the Remys, the Whites, the "former" Bang cg crew, the K-Marc group, Nurse Jess, and oh so many others! We are rich in friendship! We love you all so very, very much and thank God for you!
3. KG--Oh man. What fun we have with you all! Our singles group is bar none the best care group out there. Fellowship, laughter, food, and encouragement mark every meeting it seems. We cherish the memories we've already made together (does Neal go to bed earlier on Thanksgiving? should kg start standing for 'Kingdom of God' instead of 'Kless Group'?) and the time we've spent together before our Father. We are spurred on to follow God more because of you all--not simply because we are humbled and out of our league in trying to care for you but because of your godly examples to us.
4. Our families--We are so blessed to have both families living nearby. We know that it's not a common experience to be able to pop in to visit either family whenever we like. We're so grateful for the way that our parents and siblings love us, pray for us, and enjoy spending time with us. We're so grateful that God created our new family from two wonderful families that both happen to live in MoCo.
5. Our home--What an amazing blessing our little love nest is. Almost every day I look around me in disbelief that this lovely, well-equipped, warm little home is ours. We are so grateful for the physical provision and the wonderful family who opened their home to us. What a joy it is for us to know and share life with each of them: Denny, April, Conner, Jake, and soon-to-be Elijah, we thank God for you!

And hopefully our acknowledgment is obvious but the reason we're able to enjoy each of these things, the reason we have any of these things is because of our great and glorious Creator! These "things" make us amazed but our hearts are truly in awe when we consider what God has done for us in sacrificing His perfect sinless Son for us, opening our eyes to that glorious truth, and then beyond that blessing us with such a comfortable life here on earth.

"Oh, enkindle a flame of undying gratitude to You, on the clay-cold altar of my heart. I mourn and lament that I am so little and so feebly affected by the magnitude of Your mercies, and especially by the riches of Your grace and love manifested in Jesus—that my affections are so little alive to the incalculable obligation under which I am laid to Him who has 'loved me with an everlasting love.' I am doubly Yours. Creation and redemption combine in claiming all I am, and all I have, for You and Your service. Good Lord, preserve me from the sin of insensibility to Your unwearied kindness—of taking Your mercies as matters of course, and thus living in a state of independence of You. May my whole existence become a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving—may all my doings testify the sincerity and devotion of a heart feeling alive to every gift of the great Giver; and, especially, may I be so brought under the constraining influence of redeeming love, as to consecrate every power of my body and every faculty of my soul to Him who so willingly consecrated and shed His very life's blood for me." (John MacDuff)

Dear Rachael,

Come home soon. You are missed by all.
Sincerely,
All the Llamacorns in the land and the Klessmases

How I Spent My Summer Vacation. By Dronkey.

In lieu of a child during our first year of marriage we have adopted Dronkey. He is half dragon, half donkey and is very cute and cuddly except when he's burping fire (or imitating his father and pretending to be a possum). He spends most of his time sleeping but tends to wake up just before bed to tell Mommy stories or complain about being neglected. He has not yet mastered flying but tends to fling himself across the room at his mommy or daddy on a regular basis. His best friends are Daddy, Miles the Moose, and Pigwidgeon... This is his account of the past week spent in Avon, North Carolina and Williamsburg, Virginia. And yes, we realize we're crazy but we entertain ourselves.

The first thing I did was go to North Carolina. I was very glad Mommy and Daddy did not forget me. I think they forget me a lot and don't bring me many places. We drove a long, long time and then finally got to the beach house that Daddy's parents had rented for the whole week. It was big!
At the beach house we did lots of things, mostly sleeping a lot and working hard so Mommy and Daddy didn't get too behind at work.









We went swimming in the pool every day and sometimes at night. I liked fimmin' in my fimmin' hoot. (Even though I don't really have one.)









Daddy and Mommy read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince out loud to me every day so that we could read the new book together as a family. Our favorite place to read was on the hammock. Mommy and Daddy's room had their own private porch with a hammock. They liked to go out there at night and snuggle.




And of course... we went to the beach! We went every day except for the day after Mommy got a bad splotchy sunburn. Daddy said she needed to stay out of the shade for 24 hours and let it cool down. Daddy and I don't know how Mommy gets sunburns like that. Neither of us do.



















After we had been at the beach for a long (FUN!) time with Daddy's parents we packed up and drove towards home but stayed for two nights in Williamsburg so Mommy and Daddy could have some special time... with me!

(This is Clarisa. She liked me and helped us pack to leave. She does not like to have her picture taken. I taught her how to not be afraid of the hammock.)

In Williamsburg Mommy and Daddy left me alone a lot. They went shopping and went to fun places to eat. One day they did take me with them and I got to go to Colonial Williamsburg. I got to try on hats and saw lots of people in funny clothes. My favorite was a man working with leather to make a saddle that Daddy said were for Aunt Janet.







After enjoying the pretty weather and the special sites it was time to go home.

Our last stop was at Sonic. I think it's Daddy's new favorite thing. He especially likes the limeade and the slushies. I was glad he shared with me.









I may be only a stuffed animal (:-P) but I can tell my daddy loves my mommy very much. Thanks for taking her on this special trip and making her feel loved and special throughout it. I think I heard her say she loved you more listening to you read to her on the drive home than she did when you left on Monday.