Happy Valentine’s, one day away! This is a time of love and springtime certainty, even if my mommy did get a miserable speeding ticket yesterday.

Now Kim writing…I barely get to the computer but for a few minutes a week, it is often about 7:30 a.m. before Kaya awakens. Drew is in there sleeping with her now. He loves cuddling with her too. Grandma and Grandpa Beattie are still down under. They enjoyed New Zealand last week and flew to Sydney today.

Your heartfelt email (Grandma Vi’s) made me cry. Yes, I am so thankful for Kaya’s little self and that she has recovered so well from her surgery. She is such a good girl although very persistent and a bit Dennis the Menace. 🙂 But this is part of her strength.

Right now we are dealing with making the perimeter of the house a safer place. Arizona is a rough landscape for kids. It is an expense doing this but well worth it. We want to build a deck and we need to take out the old choppy flagstone as well as the steps coming out from the family room that have a two foot drop. The gentleman who does the concrete restoration will be meeting with us today (Wed) at 10 a.m. to discuss our ideas.

We are thankful we have a nice grassy park a few blocks away. Kaya has been enjoying going down the slide, swinging on the swing, and testing her running abilities. She gave me the biggest grin yesterday while on the baby swing and all the stress of being a mommy melted away.

It will be so nice for you to come to Arizona in April and help with the new baby and transitioning Kaya to sisterhood. We have decided to name the new baby, Ava, as I suggested informally in Sioux Falls.

Sending Arizona warmth your way to all who may be reading this from wintery weather.

Much Love, Kimmy

Hi Kimmer, Kaya, and Andrew!

Just wanted to let you know that there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t look at Kaya’s website. We do miss seeing all of you. Looking at each picture just puts joy in my heart. Seeing our son’s strong hands holding his beautiful daughter is so satisfying knowing we raised one great kid! You are so caring and loving to Kaya. Anyone who is around you can see that without saying a spoken word.

The other nite I read every word that was on her caring pages from Boston. No one else who wasn’t there can even begin to feel the strength of spirit in Kaya’s midst. She is a strong little girl.

Tomorrow is mid-week already. The time goes by so quickly in this time of our lives. Weeks just flee by. We are anxious to come to AZ again. Someday we will even stay longer than 4 or 7 dayz! Dean and I do want to venture south of Phoenix some day and visit relatives. We are not in a big hurry to do that especially when we have more important people in the Clarkdale area. J……but we all need goals.

We trust you are enjoying your pregnancy, especially if this is your last one….never say never! Be sure to have Andrew take some sweet pics of you and your tummy. What does Kaya think of your tummy? Have you been showing her pictures of babies? Does she understand that there is a baby inside you? Probably not. She will know soon enough, won’t she! What a ‘sharing’ shock that will be. She will be the best big sister that she can be! Love, Grandma Vi

It doesn’t appear that the groundhog saw his shadow, as it has been so cold for most of the country. Speaking of cold, we have all had colds in the household, Kaya still has one and I hope she will get better soon. We have decided that we won’t be moving to South Dakota. I forget how much we love living in the West. When I can return to work full-time and the little girls are “little girls” and not “babies,” perhaps we will move into Sedona again.

Sedona is only a half hour away but it is the reason we came to Northern Arizona. Our little town of Clarkdale is sweet but it is not close enough to the National Forest and substantial hiking trails. We have the Sycamore Wilderness near us but you need to have a truck to get to the trailhead.