Guest posts on my birthday

Today is my birthday ;-)  I asked several family members to write a guest post for me.  My best friend was yesterday.

From my father:

There are many, many snapshots of Kathrina's upbringing that I would like to share and it was difficult to decide which one. 

Kathrina was a take-charge type of little girl with a very active imagination. She was full of surprises and on numerous occasions caught me completely off guard. 

One Sunday morning after church services I was visiting with a very good friend whose daughters were close friends with our daughters when Kathrina rushed up and interrupted us. We weren't able to keep our girls in the latest fashions, but that didn't keep Kara from looking good in whatever she chose to wear for church. 

On this particular morning she was in a pink gingham dress with a white satin sash that was tied in a perfect bow in the back and she had topped it off with a beautiful white sweater. However, when she came running up to me she had exchanged her pretty white sweater for a multi-colored, roughly sewn, patch-work old vest that didn't fit her all that well. 

She dashed between my friend and I and spreading her arms wide asked, 

"Dad! How do I look?" 

I took in the whole picture and responded, 

"Kara, that's outrageous." 

Then she stunned my friend and I with, "Thanks, Dad!" and ran off.

Princess, that's not what I meant.

love ya bunches, dad

From my sister:

My sister Kay is amazing, and I try to tell her that regularly.  She raises five kids and survives daily...that alone deserves a metal!  

Since she is seven years older than me, I do not have many clear memories of her as a child (although I'm sure her kids would love to know that she let her younger sisters watch the forbidden 'Simpsons' when Mom and Dad were at choir practice Tues nights...haha, busted!).  

One of the nights my parents were at choir practice, for some reason (I still can't remember exactly why!) I was allowed to answer the phone.  The person on the other end of the phone asked for my Dad.  I was taught NOT to lie, so I told them my Dad was not home.  They then asked for my Mom.  Again, NOT SUPPOSED TO LIE.  No, Mom's not home either.  Okay, bye.  Click.  As soon as I hung up, Kay asked who was on the phone and I told her I didn't know who it was.  Kay immediately went into protection mode (which is probably why I wasn't so surprised when she decided to go into the military!).  She informed me that the person on the other end could be a predator trying to find out if our parents were gone so they could come and kill us!  Three girls, home alone, afraid a murderer is out to get them...I'm sure you can imagine the shear panic!  

Kay called her friend Theresa to come over and help us ward off whatever stranger that might be heading over to kill us all!  Kay ran around making sure every door was locked and instructed both Beth and I what our 'duties' were.  I cannot remember what Beth was told to do, but I was to stand by the back door with a paring knife and if anyone started coming through the door, I was supposed to stab their fingers.  HAHA!  

As an adult, this story still makes me laugh!  I mean first off, I couldn't have been more than 6 or 7 years old...standing at the back door...staring at the door knob...just waiting for a hand to come through (because everyone enters with their hands first! HA!) so I can stab their fingers.  And second, how was another teenage girl coming over going to help us!  But I knew Kay knew what she was doing, so there I stood (for what felt like eternity!) at the door, with my paring knife waiting for someone who was probably nothing more than a telemarketer.  

That's how my sister Kay is; she wasn't going to chance any of us getting hurt.  I'm glad God gave me a sister that cares enough to protect me.  

Love you Kay!  Happy Birthday week!