To LuLu, With Love, Hong Kong

It was time to shop for a dress.  Winter formal was coming soon and we needed to be prepared.  Our small town only has a few options for dress shopping, and really you don't want to shop there because of the chance of showing up at a dance with the same dress as another girl. Yikes! Disaster!

Traveling to far-off Las Vegas is also a challenge because of the time commitment, traffic and it is almost impossible to find a dress that fits mom's criteria- sleeves and length.  Last time our shopping trip was 12 hours- 4 for travel, and 8 for shopping.  We spent a ton of money and still needed to add sleeves.  The dress ended up being so very beautiful and the LuLu (we think) was the Belle of the ball.

So, one early morning last November, I got up early and started to peruse dress-sites online.  After many long hours of viewing page after page of dresses, I finally found a website that offered hundreds of dresses, with many of them modest.  I then turned the task over to the LuLu to find her amazing dress.

She spent many hours scrutinizing  each dress.  She sent pictures to friends for their opinions.  She invited friends over and for many hours they searched for that special dress.  After several days, the LuLu found the one.  Her father helped her pick the color, burgundy, and then pulled out the credit card to order.

Immediately after ordering, the phone rang.  The call came from Hong Kong from a sweet sounding lady.

"You order dress?" she asked.

"Yes," Derrick replied.

"I cut material right now.  It is a beautiful color.  Do you want silver beading or white?" She questioned.

After some hesitation from Derrick, she replied. "I recommend silver.  It will be very pretty with color."

She then told  that it will arrive in 2 weeks.

Derrick called me  then to inform me that the website I had found was from Hong Kong.  Panic rose up into my throat, and I could tell that Derrick was feeling the same.  We crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.

During the two weeks, we received phone calls from Hong Kong giving us updates on the dress.  We were anticipating the outcome.

Then one day after school when LuLu was walking in the door she spotted a package on our doorstep. She brought it in and noticed that the phone was ringing.  It was the same sweet lady from Hong Kong.

"You get dress?" she asked.

"I think so," LuLu replied.

"Open box and look at dress," the lady said.

LuLu opened the box with a beating heart.  Once opened, her heart sank.  It looked off, for some reason.  The lady seemed to know.

"I packed it inside out, to protect the beading," she said.

Relieved, LuLu responded, "ok".

The lady asked her to try it on.  She asked her if it fit. She asked the LuLu, if she liked it.  She then told her that she would be very beautiful at the dance, wished her well and bid farewell.

When we got home that night, the LuLu was beaming from ear to ear and very talkative- a rare occurrence in our teenager's life.

She tried the dress on and yes, the lady from Hong Kong was right.  She did look very beautiful.

Thanks Hong Kong!

With Love,  Monica

Sugar Cookie Moments

One of my favorite memories from childhood was making sugar cookies with my mother.  After chores were finished she would pull out the big yellow bowl and add ingredients to it such as flour, sugar and eggs.  Once the dough was ready, she would give each of us kids our own pile of dough to roll, cut, play with and eat.  The memories of those times fill my mind with the fragrant smells of buttery sweet and a sense of safety and comfort.

So, when the MyMy asked if we could make sugar cookies as her birthday treat for her class, I knew that although the day had been long and the week had been so busy that she was also in need of those sweet feelings to calm her soul.

This year is a big year for the MyMy.  She is turning 12 and with that, she is leaving the stage of childhood that will only be lived through her memories now.  Although the MyMy has been excited to turn 12 and to have new experiences that come with the age, she has also been very hesitant about it too.  She has enjoyed being our little girl, and frankly, we have enjoyed it also.  Like her, I am not sure if I want that childhood stage to pass either.

So, with those thoughts in mind.  We pulled out the mixer, set the butter on the counter to soften and began the task of making dough, rolling out cookies, baking, deciding on the color of frosting and then decorating the little sugar cookie men with candy and chocolate chips late into the evening.

The MyMy was still in need of assistance from me in learning the art of making, baking and decorating sugar cookies in which I was grateful, because soon, she will be able to pull out the recipe and mixer and make cookies all on her own.

After making cookies, I sent the MyMy to bed and started the task of cleaning up.  I was glad to have that time to myself to reflect on her cute little life and how she has grown and wondered where the time went.  I realized that my time left with her will go quickly too and recommitted myself to making sure that there will be opportunities for sugar cookie moments- meaning letting life and all of it's deadlines go to spend time with a beautiful girl who is growing up much too fast.

Happy Birthday MyMy!  I promise, you and I both will enjoy your 12th year.

Christmas 2012

It has been 9 years since I have been home for Christmas, and like the Christmas song, it is always in my dreams, so it was a nice surprise when Derrick found out that he had a couple of days off.  We packed up the car and headed up north in hopes that our girls could experience a white Christmas.

Growing up, Christmas Eve was my family's big holiday.  The evening started with a several course Finnish Christmas dinner set by candlelight.  I always loved having the room only lit by candles- so magical.  After dinner, Joulupukki, the Finnish Santa Claus, always surprised us with presents on the doorstep.  The evening always ended with my dad playing Christmas music on his accordion and all of us kids dressing up and performing the nativity.

This year was no different, except for the fact that the grandchildren now perform the nativity.

We also had snow.

Christmas morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast, compliments of Grandma, then took off to Soldier Hollow for some tubing.  Fun!

 That evening, we took the girls to Temple Square to see the lights for the very first time.  Beautiful!

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas too!