Category Archives: 2 Mi Familia

All things family-related. My husband and me, the children we made, the grandbebes that thrill us now. Our whole great big, loud, messy family. Love! *sigh…

That cute Kelley family

August 17, 20092 Mi Familia, Stuff I Actually Thinkfamily, the grandbabies, the kelley family, tristan kelleyJeanie

Stephanie and Tristan have been married since December 27, 2001. I told them, having been a retail store manager at the time of their wedding (they got engaged and planned a wedding during THE most brutal 4 retail months in an effort, I was quite certain at the time, designed to kill me), that I would eventually forgive them for their timing. And I can truly say I have.

Tristan told us he could remember church people (at The Assembly of God in Fort Wayne, IN) saying things like, “There go those red-headed Kelley kids,” about him and his sister when they were little. Maybe they knew, or maybe they were unaware, but that little Kelley kid grew up to be an awesome man. I am so honored to call him son, so glad he married my daughter and is a daddy to my grand-bebes.

And the kid can play the drums. Geesh. And just about every known instrument in the world.

Now I have my own little red-headed Kelley kids to chase after. Ahhhh. The grandbebes.

Gavin is 6. He is in the first grade now and if he has his way will never. miss. one. day. of. school. Not ever.

Guinivere is 4 and knows a secret at all times. Listen closely and you may get to hear it.

Gemma is 2 and so delightfully good at it!

Stephanie and Tristan are a colorful couple. He is simply the most amazingly intelligent person in the fam. We all call Tris about everything. Everything! And he knows everything about, well, everything. He works at Dare2Share by day and teaches music lessons (need some?) and does consulting and building websites in his “spare” time.

Stephanie is hanging at home with the kids these days, planning future trips and vacations to New York and London, their favorite cities. She is exquisite and unique. She is passionate, but so level and cool. She is a suburban mommy with big-city taste. She is so good at mothering these three, I wish I’d have had her as an example back in the day. And she loves Tristan.

Tredessa and Stormie did this photo shoot for Steph this summer (a delayed birthday present).

I think they are a beautiful and dazzling family and I am certain there is no prejudice in that!

all photos taken in Denver

Robin’s Front Porch

August 14, 20092 Mi Familia, 4 Home & Garden/Food & Seasons, Stuff I Actually ThinkJeanie

OK, everybody, here is what I want you to do: go to www.hgtv.com and check out my beautiful sister-in-law, Robin’s, front porch on Rate My Space.

I think you can link directly HERE. The descriptive tag-words used were things like shabby chic, distressed, and steel and it is titled, in the “porches” section of Rate My Space, “Super Sweet Space” by robinelise.

I am pretty sure when Joe and Robin sided their house earlier this year and decided to add this unique touch, they had planned to paint the trim to a pristine white again, but after seeing the effect are re-thinking that position.

It’s really pretty when family is sitting on it! :)

My niece, Elise, and my brother, Joe

Go, rate!

1st grade.

August 12, 20092 Mi Familia, 6 Looking Back // Memories!, Stuff I Actually Think1st grade, gavin, prayer, schoolJeanie

A million years ago (or at least 43)

My first grade teacher was Mrs. Devlin, a tiny woman with very flat, calloused heels in her black, slingback shoes. She was nice enough, though not overly warm and by the time we were in 3rd grade she would see us and exclaim, “My, my how you have grown! You’re as tall as me, now.” And we were.

Now the first grandson

gavin1 gavin2 gavin3

gavin4 gavin5 gavin6

Gavin just started all-day school today. He is a first-grader in a new school near his house and he has entered that part of his life (how did it get here so fast?) where he will spend many of the prime hours of his day with children and teachers and people other than his parents (and nonna).

He loves school. He just loves it. I am glad, but I want to keep him surrounded with prayer and godly perspective. I want to protect what has been deposited into his life and guard his heart and mind. I want him to grow in the grace and admonition of the Lord and be made holy despite the secular surroundings he will face.

gavin7 gavin8 Gemma thinks she is ready, too

So, I figure, my prayer life just got amped up up as I spend more time praying for my “little red-headed Kelley kid.”

Lord, You know….Gavin’s Nonna

NOTE TO SELF: Keep declaring the awesomeness of our God to the next generation!

pictured: Do teachers always have to wear sweaters even in the heat of August? Is that a rule?

Elise-the-Niece is Leaving Us

August 10, 20091 Christ is All, 2 Mi Familia, Stuff I Actually Think6 Looking Back // Memories!, elise moslander, elise-the-niece, family, farewellJeanie

Elise Rachelle Moslander.

A year and a half ago Elise moved to Denver. I don’t think her parents, my brother Joe and his wife, Robin, of Aberdeen, were as excited as we were because she’d been in Hawaii with YWAM for over 2 years. But we were very happy to have her near.

Elise smiles…these photos swiped from her Facebook…

And Elise has been a joy to have (“ketchup” with her here). She roomed with a childhood friend and about 17 other college girls most of the time and has been crashing at Stef and Wrex’s for the summer, but she infused herself into the life of our family from the start. We’d never lived near Elise, only seeing her at family reunions and occasional visits and the veeeeeeeeeery rare photo her parents might send, but it was as if, when she arrived, we’d always been together.

YWAM.

Elise is taking a leadership position, once again, at the YWAM base in Hawaii until the end of the year and then moving back to Aberdeen to help develop her local church mission focus (where her daddy is the pastor). She is leaving us and Colorado will be a little poorer for her absence. Colorado will be losing a truly genuine, loving and sweet young woman with an easy laugh, a room-lighting smile and a helpful spirit. We will lose a girl who loves God and is devoted to family. Little children all over the metro area will miss her (she has nanny-ed for several families during her time here and her 2nd cousins, my grandbabies, all find her quite delightful).

Engaging.

“Engaging” is the perfect one-word description of Elise. If you have ever had a conversation with her, you know that she speaks very pronouncedly with a slight lift/lilt to the end of all sentences. Every story, every word, every sentence becomes, yet stopping just before, a possible question or response-requirer. Brother Joe told me at reunion that she learned when she was four to be able to talk for 47 straight minutes in a way that simply made it impossible for the hearer to disengage. He said it had become a lifelong art for Elise – the ability to keep you in because you might be called upon to answer…but then again, you might not. So, she has this beautiful set of pearly whites and the full, shapely Moslander lips and she is simply fascinating to listen to and to watch. And every word she says is all the more interesting because it comes from her.

Elise with the orphans of Honduras

I will miss you, Elise. I will miss your enthusiasm about life and your commitment to family. I will miss your loving ways and involvement in our lives. I will miss your cool sense of fashion and your heart for missions and travel. I will miss having the treasure of my brother Joe’s heart here close to me. I will miss your love for my grandchildren and the happy dances you do with them at family gatherings. I will miss your Holy-Spirit-given Gift of Faith and your childlike belief that everything will work out (and hasn’t God proven Himself to you time and again!?). Never give up that kind of trust in the Lord, Elise – it will serve you well.

I don’t think Aberdeen is big enough to contain you, because you have sufficient personality to fill so much more, but that is probably why God has called you to the world and given you such love for people. And today, knowing you are leaving and knowing our sun is losing some brightness, I just thank God for the time He allowed you to be here blessing our lives and infusing our family with joy and delight. We will cherish it always. We will treasure the memories and never forget you were sent as a gift for this time.

I am so proud I can say you are my niece. You are a beautiful girl, both inside and out. I am so proud for the choices you are making in your life. I am so pleased to see you follow the call of God on your life. You are loved and you will be so very much missed! Be blessed when you go out and when you come in. Be blessed in the country and in the city. May your enemies be defeated and may everything you put your hand to prosper and be blessed!

I love you, girl, and I miss you already…Aunt Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF: Learn to smile with total abandon like Elise does. Can that be learned or will it require surgery?

Happy Birthday, Guini-muggins!

July 30, 20092 Mi Familia, 3 Celebrations & Festive Events, 4 Home & Garden/Food & Seasons, Stuff I Actually Thinkbirthday cake, birthdays, cinderella, cinderella cake, cinderella doll cake, guiniJeanie

Guin-Guin is 4 today!

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

My first little granddaughter (3rd grandchild) is four. She is independence and spunk, she is quiet, but firm. She can run with crowds, but entertain herself. She is a waif in body, but strong in spirit. She is all the Disney princesses, one at a time, or overlapping as she sees fit (this year, she chose “Cinder-Lella”) and she was determined to have a cake in Cinderella’s honor using her own doll (which we almost couldn’t find). And so we did.

A Cinderella Doll Cake

I learned from my first doll cake experience to wrap the shapely doll in a paper towel and Saran Wrap so as not to cause a stir when the cake is cut away (revealing a naked bum). The birthday girl’s mommy chose my signature lemon-poppyseed with fresh lemon curd for filling. It is o-so-refreshing. I used a 9 inch layer, 2 8-inch layers and a bowl for the top of the skirt. We ate the other 8-inch layer the extra batter provided as a “taste-test.” The dress was a very simple buttercream in light and the palest-ever blues. I sprinkled it with sugar glitter (which looks like crumbs on the serving tray) and there she is: Guini’s Cinderella cake.

It was a lovely day to celebrate, a few days ago. We ate and plied Guini with gifts, but true to Aunt Tara’s prediction to save her gift for last because Guini would love it best of all, once Guinivere received the little box of make-up and lip “sauce,” she was never seen without it again. Each time I see her now, her eyes, her cheeks and her lips are all-a-glitter in the palest shades of pinks and lilacs.

Here is Guini opening the mountain of gifts, and her baby sister, Gemma, rolling about on Guini’s Happy-Birthday-ball.

Here is Guini with her jewelry/treasure box from Aunt Jovan and Uncle Rocky and Grandpa and Gavin in their geek goggles under the water in the pool.

I love you, Guinivere!

Nonna loves you, little girl. I love your smile and the twinkle in your eye and I love how you can stay focused and totally ignore what you’d rather not notice. I love that you sing your head off or don’t whisper even a sound all afternoon should the mood strike. I love that you are a good little sister and a wonderful big sister. I love that sometimes I can tell you are looking at me, right into my very soul, and you are really getting me. I love that and I love you!

XXOO…Nonna

Peanut – Peanut Butter!

July 28, 20092 Mi Familia, 4 Home & Garden/Food & Seasons, Stuff I Actually Thinkallergies, gavin, peanutsJeanie

Gavin isn’t allergic to peanut butter anymore! Yaaaaaay!

We had to teach him before he could talk to tell people, “No peanuts for Gavin.” He’d had some bad reactions at a very young age and was tested to find he was allergic. It can be deadly for some people, so we were careful. The doctors didn’t know if he’d outgrow it or not. But after a lot of blood work and hours of testing, he has been declared non-allergic to peanuts.

O happy day!

Peanut M & Ms – the best way to enter the world of peanuts, a gift from his Nonna!

Miss you, babe

July 26, 20092 Mi Familia, 3 Celebrations & Festive Events, 6 Looking Back // Memories!, Stuff I Actually Think3 Love & Marriage, dave, love, missing my husbandJeanie

I miss you.

Twenty-eight years of you and still, I have not had my fill. You are only across the state, but it seems just as far as if you were across the ocean.

The evening is perfect. If you were here you’d make me quit working to join you on the swing.

Thank-you for stocking the fridge for me and filling up my tank and for your help on my projects before you left and for marrying me 28 years ago.

I miss you, babe. I’d marry you all over again, too. xxxooo.

15 Days until Heaven Fest

July 24, 20092 Mi Familiaheaven fest, my life, www.heavenfest.comJeanie

I am a wife. I married my true love 28 years ago yesterday (he wrote sweet words). God gave me children, I am a mom. Then He surprised me quite delightfully with these 5 little human beings called grandchildren. A reward! A trophy for my old age. I am a servant of the most high. I am a faltering, still-learning, mercy-needer. And I am almost 50.

Yet, here I am on the adventure of a lifetime, helping produce Heaven Fest: a massive, one-day, Christian music, worship and arts festival and we’re praying our heads off to be a catalyst for revival, to see the Church come together to make the Name of Jesus glorious!

Did I also mention? I am pooped.

And, I am…Jeanie

A “Band of Brothers” Soldier Died

July 15, 20092 Mi Familia, 6 Looking Back // Memories!, 9 TV & Movies/Books & Entertainment, Stuff I Actually Thinkband of brothers, heroes, ken culkin, soldiersJeanie

An American Hero Dies

By Dave Henderson www.rimoftheworld.net

Dickenson County, VA – “Who is Darrell Powers?” I’m sure many of you are asking. With the death of Michael Jackson, the major news networks have sucked the oxygen from the atmosphere with all their bloviating, contrived adulation and non stop coverage of every aspect of the performer’s life. It is no surprise that most have not heard of Power’s passing.

Darrell “Shifty” Powers, like millions of Americans, answered the call of World War II. A quiet, unassuming man, Shifty joined the Army and then volunteered for the Airborne.

After intensive training, Powers was assigned to the famed Easy Company 2nd Battalion 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, where he jumped into Normandy on D-day. He was involved in the assault on Bracore Manor, which saved thousands of lives on Omaha Beach.

Powers fought in the battle of Carentan and the airborne invasion of Holland as part of Operation Market Garden, where millions of French and Dutch citizens found freedom.

The 506th was encircled by superior German forces in the Battle of the Bulge and against incredible odds, successfully defended the city of Bastone. Powers and the 506th then entered Germany, liberated concentration camps and captured Hitlers, “Eagles Nest” in Berchtesgarden.

Shifty survived the war only to be seriously injured in an auto accident while en route home and his return to civilian life.

Like millions of veterans, Powers lived a simple productive life and would have slipped into history unknown if it were not for Stephen Ambrose and the story “Band of Brothers”, which was turned into an HBO mini series.

Tom Brokaw called this the “Greatest Generation” and I tend to agree. Average men and women rose to the call to defend freedom. Their sacrifice freed millions and defeated true evil.

This quiet man did not live in ostentatious wealth. He did not want to go to war, nor did he seek adulation for his service, but he answered the call and the world is free because of his efforts and sacrifice.

I doubt Shifty could do the moon walk, or that he was a gifted dancer or singer. He was never accused of pedophilia, nor did he find escape in drugs. He was not a pop icon, but, to me, Darrell “Shifty” Powers was a true hero.

We are losing our fathers and grandfathers by the thousands now; they are that age. The “Greatest Generation” – have you said thank you?

From Jeanie~

I grew up with Michael Jackson. We were born the same year. I can sing his hits and recognize the gifted artist he was and am cognizant of the impact he had on our society and music. I can say I have been both an all-out fan at times and have truly felt sorry for his mis-steps and very uncomfortable by his behavior at others. But we seem, as always, to idolize and revere the flashy and forget the true heroes who make life better day in and day out, not for screaming masses, but for the people around them. And they have impacted the generations just as certainly.

Thank-you to the men and women who, even still, protect us and our freedoms. Thanks to Darrell Powers and the men like him (including my father-in-law, Raymond Rhoades, who is still living, and my grandfathers, Dean Baker and Everett Allison, who are not).

The passing of a friend

I also want to mention our friend Ken Culkin. He died on July 4th at the age of 43, grilling for his family who were swimming in the backyard pool. Ken was a veteran, too, but I knew him as a great neighbor and friend, a godly brother in Christ, a man who loved his family (his beautiful wife of 18 years and 6 wonderful daughters) deeply. He was generous and kind, gentle and true-hearted. Ken will be missed.

Ken Culkin at the Heaven Fest Leadership Appreciation dinner last fall

Remember the heroes…Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF: Love and hold people close while they are here…

Moslander Mountain

July 13, 20092 Mi Familia, Stuff I Actually Thinkfamily, moslander family reunionJeanie

A Pile of Rocks

Up Boulder Canyon, just off to the left side a few miles up the mountain, is a “rock pile” sitting above the rushing river. We affectionately call it Moslander Mountain. Here are 27 us (of the 35 total).