Category Archives: Family

2013 Memories (Which is to say “Memories of 2013”, because all of us would get bored if I tried to come up with more than 2000 memories of anything.)

  • January ice skating for the first time in more than 20 years
  • March – Team Wendy trivia night / Dawetselbee Reunion
  • April – moving day … new job, new apartment
  • April – Caleb’s 20th birthday!
  • May – settling in to my new home
  • June – Six Flags for my birthday with Caleb & Sam
  • July 4th weekend in South Carolina /beach trip to Charleston
  • August – Dawetselbee Reunion
  • August – LeClaire, Ia Tug Fest festival with Dawetselbee clan
  • August – White Sox game at Comiskey Park
  • September – Labor Day weekend in Arkansas / celebrating Mom’s birthday
  • September – successful kickoff to HomeSchool Swim Lessons at the Kishwaukee Y
  • September – excellent fundraiser /trivia night for Team Wendy
  • October – visit / booktour with Alaskan Pioneer
  • October- Team Wendy fundraiser / Murder Mystery Dinner
  • November- Thanksgiving in Arkansas
  • November- buying my Equinox – first time I’ve made a decision like that for myself!
  • December- two day Christmas party / Chicago & Christkindlmarket
  • December- surprising my family for Christmas

Things I Love About Vacations

  1. Naps
  2. Not setting an alarm
  3. Visiting loved ones
  4. Trying new restaurants
  5. Guilt-free relaxation
  6. Getting to know people better
  7. Warm air
  8. Fun activities
  9. The process of travel

 

Wendy Memories on what would have been her 49th birthday

  • Sunday dinners with the whole clan
  • Her Christmas cookie party with all the kids
  • Girls weekends
  • Burning a hole in the brand new carpet in the church basement with a hot glue gun
  • Sponsoring youth group overnighters & Lust-Busting during Hide & Seek
  • Ladies Retreats
  • That night Meghan was in the hospital and the kid I had at her house split his head open and I showed up at the emergency room with the teenager’s blood all over me and then hung out in Meghan’s room and switched shoes with Wendy so she could wear my sports sandals with her work clothes and then I caught a ride back to church and showed up in bloody clothes and high heels
  • “Are these in the way?”
  • Chasing the dog hair
  • Producing super awesome Christmas programs
  • The year we got headphone walkie-talkies to keep in contact during the Christmas program
  • Her stint as “crowd member who sees Jesus!” from the church balcony
  • Huddled whispers between the BFFs
  • Ignoring our children at the restaurant until someone got in trouble
  • Pinata!
  • The Never Mountain van
  • The way she threw her head back and clapped her hands together and laughed so hard she cried
  • The day she told me
  • The hat party she hated (sorry if you helped plan it)
  • The lack of hair, eyebrows, toenails, skin on her feet
  • How she never ever ever gave up on living her life
  • Her amazing children… all 5 of them
  • All of her grandbabies and Dawetselbee grandbabies, most of whom she never got to meet
  • Her fabulous After-Party
  • A legacy of choosing joy despite sorrow, love through heartache, and victory over defeat

 

The 3 of us - www.wendysbutterflygarden.com
The 3 of us – www.wendysbutterflygarden.com

 

 

 

 

Ways I’ve Stayed Busy The Last Couple Months

  1. New website design ~ www.KateyBWriting.com
  2. Mini book tour & in-person editing with The Alaskan Pioneer ~facebook.com/AlaskanPioneer
  3. Fabulous Murder Mystery Dinner / Fundraiser ~ www.wendysbutterflygarden.com
  4. Social Media Marketing & Blogging ~ www.BoetjeFoodsInc.com
  5. New Fall session kick off at work ~ www.KishYMCA.org
  6. Wrote & emceed Trivia Night fundraiser for Haiti ~ facebook.com/Love4LAllemand
  7. Visit from my parents
  8. Holiday plans
  9. Figuring out how to fit my Christmas tree in my livingroom
  10. Weekend in the QCA
Alaskan Pioneer Meet & Greet, Aurora, IL — These fans brought him home-made goodies!

 

Mom Memories, in Honor of my Mother’s Birthday Today

  • The Green Semi-truck
  • Weird
  • Jael took a nail….
  • Put on a sweater; I’m cold.
  • Jungle Boy
  • Mimeograph
  • Big Blue Bus
  • Awana Olympics – the Balloon Relay