Kyle a Missionary - Summer 2015

Okay, so I told you in advance I was gonna be all over the place with trying to catch up.  If I try to start with just blogging the past and not anything too current, I will never get caught up.  So here's the deal...I will blog something from the past and then something current.  Just need to pay attention to the dates.  

 

So some catching up with Kyle's life.  Several months ago, right before Easter,  I confronted Kyle with the question, when are you going to submit your mission paperwork?  Technically he could have submitted them on March 1st since he was planning to make July 1st his availability date.  You can't submit them more than 120 days in advance.  It was at that time that he told us he wasn't planning to serve a mission.  It broke my heart.  I was so sad and disappointed as we had no idea.  It's just always been expected of him.  After many tears shed on my part, we suggested that he talk to a few people and get their input.  So he first reached out to his favorite seminary teacher ever, Lance Shulberg.  He has always admired Lance and also would work out with Lance.  Lance was also our home teacher and we just felt a connection with him.  Of course he highly encouraged Kyle and said it will be one of the best decisions he would ever make.  Next he spoke with Loren Arb who ended up being his YM's president for the last few months the Arb's were in the ward.  Loren was also our home teacher with Lance.  2 of Kyle's favorite people who he looked up to and admired.  Loren is very much a business man and told Kyle he should pursue a career.  I was a bit disappointed with his advice.  Then he spoke with Rob Lee whom Ryan and Kyle home taught, long time family friend and has a daughter Kyle's age.  Rob married young and did not serve a mission, so Kyle was trying to get his view as well.  Rob said, GO KYLE! 

 

Kyle was totally setting himself up for disappointment.  He was afraid he'd get sent to Oregon or Idaho or some place lame.  I told him, he would be sent where the Lord felt he was needed.  Each call is inspired and they pray for each missionary who submits their paperwork.  It's not just a random area picked out of a hat.  He also talked with my brother David on Easter  Sunday.  David said, Kyle so what if you go state side, at least you can still go to Costco or Target if you need to.  You're also less likely to get sick or catch a parasite, but you still have a chance to learn a language if required.  So after a lot of prayer, he knew this is what he was supposed to do. 

 

It took a while to get his paperwork together.  For a short period of time, Kyle had some counseling so he needed to get signatures that he was cleared to go.  Some things were missed as well, so his assignment/mission call was delayed.  It took over a month to get his assignment.  Finally it arrived, the day before Father's Day, June 20th, 2015. The timing couldn't have been any better.  Ryan made it very clear that he didn't want a father's day gift.  I felt bad not getting him anything, but seriously,  does it get any better then this?  Kyle had to quickly find a replacement at work to cover his shift.  The whole family was going to be in Puyallup for the June birthday's/Father Day celebration .  We were really hoping he would have received it 1-week sooner when the family was here for his graduation, but actually this day was even more perfect.  Everyone at his work knew he had been waiting for this letter to arrive and how important it was.  He got his shift covered, but by the time I got it in the mail from when he actually opened it, it was about 5 hours later.   

 

 

He was so nervous to read it.  Tampa, Florida English speaking.  To report on Wednesday, August 19th at the Provo, UT MTC.  Kyle was ecstatic.  He loves Florida.  He will be about 2-hours away from our dear friends the McDermott's.  Unfortunately, he won't be able to see them during his time in Florida.  In 2015, the LFP Ward will be sending out 7 missionaries.

 

Ellie Scruggs - Guatemala (Left in June 10th)

David Foster - Wisconsin (Left in June)

Jacob Wolff - Chile (Left July 1st)

Elder Bongalon - California (Left August 12th)

Kyle Malcom - Tampa, Florida (Left August 19th)

Lauren Pyper - Raleigh, NC (Leaves December 2nd)

Nichole Milstead who is getting ready to submit her paperwork.    

 

It's crazy since we haven't had anyone serve in years.  Lindsey Hess left January 2014, but several months after she left, her parents relocated to Texas so we haven't seen her since her release a few weeks ago.  This is a crazy busy year for our ward!  Lots of prayers needed.

 

 Kyle just getting ready to leave to get set apart on Tuesday, 8/18/15

 

Officially Elder Malcom with Stake President - President McCall.

 



 

 

 

 



 

Wedding Plans begin - Spring 2014

About 1-month later, Preston returns to WA to prepare for their trip to Nebraska.  Nice looking couple I might add!  Two things had to happen before they left town for 4-months.  Engagement photo's and to find the dress!  Finding a dress to fit her petite body frame wasn't easy.  We had to special order a size 0, must be nice!  Oh wait, I used to be that size pre-married life!!  Okay moving on...

 

 

Her Aunt Melinda offered to do a photo shoot for them for their engagement picture's.  Photography has always been one of  Melinda's hobbies.  She saved us a ton of money by offering that service.  It was her gift to Kenedee.  K & P wanted a rustic theme reception, so the pictures were taken in the suburbs of Puyallup where there's a lot of rustic photo options to choose from.  She did a great job and we were all very pleased with her work.  We would have hired or asked her to do the wedding photo's, but since she's family, we didn't want her stuck behind a camera all night.  

 

 

 

 

 

This is the picture they ultimately decided to go with.   It was hard to choose.  Melinda took at least 100 and most of them were really good.  

 

The colors they chose were navy blue, dusty rose and gold.  She also wanted Burlap, white lace and chalkboard accents.  

Kenedee's Proposal - March 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, well here it goes.  I haven't blogged in several years as I feel that I don't have anything too exciting in my life to blog about.  It's been so long that I have to familiarize myself with my own blog again and see what my layout options are etc.  This first blog may look weird as I need to play around with the settings and learn all over again.  But if I don't at least make the attempt, it will never happen.  So here goes....

 

My life is pretty boring and uneventful.  However, these past couple of years, 2014-2015 have been very busy for our family and a lot of changes have happened.  As our children have become adults, life changing decisions have been made that affect the entire family in some degree.  So I would like to try and catch up on life.  I suspect this is going to take awhile.  Don't even know if anyone other then myself will ever read this, but this blog acts as a journal for me so I will be wordy and try to get as many of the details in as I can.  I apologize if I'm all over the place,  but as I get caught up and stay on top of events in my life, hopefully it will flow better.

 

I want to back up to Fall 2013... (almost 2-years ago actually)

 

Mid-October 2013, I had the missionaries scheduled to have dinner at our house one Sunday evening.  Didn't know at the time that I signed up, that it was the "last meal" for Elder Lyman before his mission ended.  Once this information became general knowledge, I asked him if he had a meal of choice for that night.  He was quick to respond with BRINNER!  I told him how our family loves having breakfast for dinner and that he would make Kyle so happy.  (Kyle would eat breakfast food every meal of the day if given the opportunity  So I notified Tessa and Kenedee to see if they would be available to join us that night. Tessa had moved out a few years prior and isn't a fan of breakfast food, but won't turn down a free meal.  Kenedee just worked a lot so I didn't know if she was available to join us or working.  Needless to say, the girls were available and brinner it was.  

 

Dinner conversation went as usual when the missionaries are in a members home.  They asked us spiritual questions, shared a message had prayer then headed on their way.  Nothing unusual happened that night.  About 2-weeks later, Kenedee told us that she became friends with Elder Lyman on FB.  At this point he was no longer Elder but Preston Lyman.  Then a couple more weeks went by and she told me that he was flying back here to baptize an investigator (sister) that he had been working with in Marysville, prior to being transferred to our ward where he finished the last 5-months of his mission.  The ward was devastated when he Elder Lyman left.  He was one of "those missionaries" that left an lasting impression on the ward members.  Could also be that he was with our ward for so long, everyone knew him and had fed him or had him in their homes multiple times.  He's also a very nice looking young man so the YW were always stalking him. 

 

Anyways, the sister he had been working with requested that Preston baptize her.  He agreed knowing that he would have an opportunity to see Kenedee as well.  It worked out best and cheaper to fly to SLC, Utah first then meet up with his former companion Tyler Cook and drive to WA to take care of that ordination.   Tyler and Preston were companions together in Marysville.  Hated each other for most of their companionship, but ultimately ended up best friends.  During the time he was here (about 5-days) he was with Kenedee ALL THE TIME!  It was so weird seeing him in jeans and a leather jacket and learn his name was Preston.  I felt the need to still call him Elder Lyman.  That is what was comfortable for me.   I felt bad that every night he had to make arrangements to get back to Marysville, where he and Tyler were staying and then first thing the next morning, he was back at our place.  Lots of back and forth driving during those few days. Because he was at Tyler's mercy and didn't have a car, he would just hang out at our place a lot.  K & P watched a lot of movies and did a lot of cuddling on the massive love sac that was located in the DC room.  I quickly learned that they liked each other a lot and that Kenedee was Preston's first girlfriend.  Oh my!  This visit/baptism took place about 1-week before Christmas 2013.

 

Kenedee said all she wanted to Christmas that year was a trip to San Antonio, TX to see him.  Oh man, this relationship seemed to be moving rather quickly in my book.  But that is what we gave her was a trip to Texas to meet his family.  The date was set and I believe she flew out February 8th - 15th, 2014 (going off of memory) 

 

While she was there, Preston called me on Wednesday night, February 12th to be exact.  We spoke for awhile and then he asked my permission to give her a promise ring.  UGH.  I didn't sugar coat anything.  I told him that Kenedee is hard to live with, she has a temper and an attitude.  He didn't care, he was in love.  I asked him if he would like to talk with Ryan and he said NO WAY!  He felt Ryan was to intimidating and that Ryan never smiled.  (that made Ryan smile)  He admitted in that phone call that their relationship was moving rather quickly and that I need to be prepared for a future wedding.  I remember the knots I felt in my stomach after we hung up the home.  Ryan nor I felt Kenedee was ready. 

 

She had recently ended a relationship with Tim Ryan from the YSA ward and although Kenedee was the one who broke it off, she was extremely upset when he ended up dating her best friend Shanna Gregory a few months later.  Shanna was called to serve a mission in the Philippines and was to report on October 9th, 2013, but changed her mind and felt that once she met Tim, she wanted to pursue  this relationship.  So she turned down the mission call.  Tim and Shanna eventually married on October 12th, 2014)  To this day, Kenedee is still upset and doesn't want to be Shanna's friend.  Its extremely childish, but that's Kenedee for you.  Ryan nor I can tell her anything.  She knows it all. 

 

So anyways, when Kenedee returned from Texas you could see that she was in love.  She loved his family and told us that night, they spent a lot of time talking about marriage while she was there.  He then told her that he was planning to propose but he wanted to come and talk with Ryan and I first and do it in person.  We told him it was fine to talk to us over the phone and save the airfare, but he wanted to talk with us in person.  He flew here on Friday, March 21st.  We knew that meant he was going to propose that weekend after talking with us.  The morning after he arrived, we took the family (Spencer included) and took Preston to Beth's Café.  It's one of those places that everyone who visits Seattle needs to experience.  

 

Later that day, he finally sat down and talked with Ryan and I.  It was very awkward as Kenedee was told to stay downstairs.  We talked about the plan was for them as any parent would.  They're just kids without a penny to their name and going into this blind folded.  But they were so "in-love" and they are adults so we couldn't tell them no.  Just have to love and support their decision.

 

 

I did feel bad, because I know he would have wanted to propose in a more romantic setting, but ultimately, it happened downstairs in the DC room after he had the "talk" with Ryan and I.  He was to anxious to wait and take her somewhere and actually was at her mercy since he didn't have a car, so it just worked out that way.   Kenedee had even picked out a couple of different rings and told him that he could choose and surprise her.  This one was her "favorite" and was so excited that was the "one" he chose.  

 

 

So now what....Preston felt inspired to take a sales job in Nebraska working for a company that sold trash service.  He didn't want to leave Kenedee behind because he knew his work days would be long and with the time difference he would never get to talk to her.  So after a lot of thought, Kenedee took the plunge and accepted the same job and they traveled to Nebraska together.  So once again, after the proposal weekend (Ryan's birthday weekend) he flew back to WA towards the end of April and they drove together to Nebraska.  It was a crazy time.  Kenedee had never been away from home.  She was also a fairly new driver AND really had no experience driving the freeway and now they were going to drive thousands of miles cross country and be gone for 4-months.  The date had been set for a September 20th, 2014 wedding.   They left the end of April and had to report in Lincoln, Nebraska for a May 5th start date only to return on August 31st.  A lot had to happen in those few short months before the wedding.  That's where I step in.  She gave me her colors and theme and asked me to work my magic.  I do have to admit, I've always dreamed of planning my daughters wedding! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Graduation 2012

 

2 down, 1 to go!  Kenedee graduated from Shorecrest on Sunday, June 17th, Father's Day.  Kenedee claims that was her gift to Ryan.  Was a busy weekend to say the least, but I enjoyed every bit of it including all the prep work.  Just like a vacation, part of the excitment is everything leading up to it.  I wanted everything to be just perfect for her.  Now that the weekend is all over, I can admit, I'm wiped!  I think my body is trying to tell me that I'm not as young as I wish or think I am.

We had a party for her on Saturday with close family friends.  I was competing with many other graduating parties as well as Father's Day Weekend.  Lots of people were out of town for the holiday.  Our party was on the smaller side, but still enjoyed visiting with close friends.  In attendance was our neighbor Jo Matter from across the street as well as Sandra Draper who lives behind me, Melissa Barret with her boys Conner and Nicholas, the Barnes Family, the Griffard family, Tessa and Spencer, Kenedee's boyfriend David and Therese Russell.  24 all together including our family.  Was just right.  Was really hoping for nice weather.  I even set up the astro-jump (bouncy house) for the little ones, but as soon as it went up, it started to rain.  I was so upset.  Will now take days for it to dry out before we can use it. 

Graduation began at 2 PM at the Comcast Events Center in Everett, just like Tessa's.   Dennis and Niki as well as David and his family weren't able to attend the graduation.  They met us at the house afterwards.  The whole extended Lassen family joined us for dinner to celebrate Kenedee's graduation.  Our dear friends the Kent and Julie Beddoe and their daughters Alyssa and Lindsey also joined us since they couldn't do the Saturday party.  We just attended their daughter Alyssa's graduation a few weeks ago and was included in their family party, so we did the same.  So far, they've made it to both Tessa and Kenedee's graduation. 

I also wanted to make sure all the dad's in the room were recognized as well so I made each one a batch of their favorite type of cookies to take home.  Didn't want them to feel left out.  That day we had  

 

Christmas 2012 - Hawaii

Christmas 2012 - Hawaii

 

Flying into Kona - 12/20/12



Hilton Waikolia Timeshare

Another poolside view

 

This was the pool at our timeshare

 

 

We tried something a little different this year, we spent Christmas in Hawaii.  Had an amazing time, but not certain I like being away from family on a major holiday.  Tessa stayed behind and worked and it just wasn't the same without her nor spending time with the Lassen's.  It's an odd sight to find other parts of the world enjoying sunshine during December, when for us, it's always raining and gloomy.  Spending the holiday sunbathing on the beach was just "odd".

 

We didn't have much flexibility with this vacation.  We got sucked into one of those timeshare presentations and in order to make it work, we had to go when the timeshare location was available as well as 4 flights.  Did I mention how expensive it is to fly that time of the year?  $900/person!  The only flights we could find that would also work with the timeshare was Thursday, December 20th-26th.  So we flew out the first day of our school break.  Although we were gone 7-days, 2 of those days were travel days.  It was a beautiful Island, but would have liked to have spent more time on the beaches.  The beaches located by our accommodations were nice, but not like the ones you see advertised.  Next time, we will visit a different Island.    Upon arrival and getting settled in, we found ourselves settling for McDonald's at Walmart just to eat something quickly.  We had no idea where anything was located so we stopped their for some staple food to keep at our condo and grabbed a bite to eat at good ole' McDonald's.  Yes, we are pathetic.  Pretty exhausted with all the travel so found ourselves retiring to bed pretty early one. 

 

Poi right outside the Japanese restaurant-
DAY 2 - 12/21/12

Sushi for dinner
DAY  -12/21/12

 

The second day of our trip was on Friday, December 21st.  That day we met with the condo concierge so she could tell us about the area and different things to do.  We stayed local that day, spent some time on the beach close to our condo. then drove about 5 minutes down the road to the shopping village and managed to spend money of course.  Decided that we would try some sushi for dinner but the restaurant didn't open until 5:00.  That was just fine because it gave us time to go back and freshen up before dinner.  We had already decided that the next day, Saturday was going to be our long trip around the Island to see the volcano's.  The concierge told us to plan for an entire day trip.  We would be making stops along the way.  

View through our car window
DAY 3 - 12/22/12

 

Reminds of the tree in the movie the Lion King

Spent a couple of hours on this 2-mile hike. 

Tropical Rain Forest
Akaka Falls State Park
DAY 3 - 12/22/12 

God's gift to man! So amazing and beautiful.
DAY 3 - 12/22/12



Was told we had to make a stop to Big Island Candies.
Needed to get our fix of chocolate and Macadamia nut goodness!
DAY 3 - 12/22/12

Was entertaining watching them work.  How fun...

 

After leaving the candy factory, found a farmer's market.
DAY 3 - 12/22/12






Finally made it to the Volcano National Park. 
Hiked in a ways, but this was as close as we were allowed to get.

DAY 4 - 12/23/12

Due to the time of day and the 3-hour drive back to our condo,
we left the park before the volcano showed it's beauty. 
The park ranger showed us this picture
 and said that every evening this is what we can see.
DAY 3 - 12/22/12

 

 

 

Did Someone Mention Pie?

 A close up so you can see the toasted coconut on top.  Coconut cream pie from start to finish takes 5 hours to prepare.  Of course that is if your making your own pie crust! 

 It was requested that I bring coconut cream pie to dinner group in May.  Was a hit!  Even Ryan said it was the best coconut cream pie he had ever had.  To me that compliment was worth every minute of prep time.  

Barb Swan, who is my friend who ordered the stars and moon sugar cookies, hired me to make her son's birthday pie.  Tim requested my apple pie.  This 9-inch deep dish pie made the entire house smell delicious.   

I even garnished it with apple cutouts on top of the crusts.  Just a little personal touch.

Shorecrest Senior Prom

Shorecrest's Senior Prom was on Memorial Day weekend, Saturday, May 26th.  It was held at the EMP in downtown Seattle.  It was an absolute gorgeous day.  Mid-70's which made the outdoor pictures even more beautiful and enjoyable to take.  The students opted to have their pictures taken at Gas Works Park.  In all the years I've lived here, it was my first experience at that park. 

All of the girls received wrist corsages since they all wore strapless dresses.

Kenedee, Kati and Beth 

David and Kenedee

Beautiful Seattle Skyline.  Not a cloud in the sky and tons of boats out on Elliot Bay.

David and Kenedee, Austin and Beth, Kati

What a nice group of Seniors.  Okay, well David is a Jr, but that's okay.

After parents took pictures, the group of 14 of them went to the Melting Pot for dinner.  I've always wanted to go their but too expensive for my taste.  Melting Pot is a restaurant that serves fondue.  Since it was walking distance to the EMP where prom took place, David told me the Melting Pot had a prom special that night.  From dinner, they all walked to prom.  After prom ended, Kenedee and David and Austin and Beth enjoyed a limosine ride back to Austin's place in Edmonds, compliments of Austin's parents.  I guess it was even upgraded and they got a stretch hummer limo!   Does it get any better then that?