Open letter from Paul Kruyer

This a letter from Paul Kruyer father of Iysha, he shared it with the local news when they asked to interview the family. You see, they had just done a story one week before on Annalee, the mommy, she is a local dentist. Here is the letter. Please pass it along to as many families as you know will listen and hear the words. 

Every summer a story about a child drowning would inevitably be aired on the evening news.  Every time, it would bring tears to my eyes & my heart would go out to "that poor unfortunate family".  I never believed it would happen to us.   We had too many rules in place for that to happen.  We watch our children too closely... until the one time you don't.  Because that is all it takes, once and our baby is taken away.  Years of daily vigilance are washed away in just four short minutes.  

For the last 24 hours, I have gone over and over the "if I had just" game.  I want someone to blame so that I can eventually forgive them.  It is harder to forgive yourself.  Because if I had just gotten home earlier, if I had warned the kids more, if we had moved already, if I had kept Iysha (eye sh uh) at the office one more year...  SHE would still be alive, brightening up each and every minute of my life.

I pray that the tragedy that has befallen my family does not happen to any other.  If one less child drowns because THEIR family has felt our grief and become just that much more vigilant... then witnessing our sorrow will be worth the hours, days and future years of heartache.  Friends and family all ask what they can do for me.  Everyone is willing and able to help.  But how do I answer that question, when I don't know what to do myself.  The future is all I have.  I want it to be a brighter one for my remaining 5 children.

Many of YOU have asked as well.  Our children are our future.  If you feel so inclined, rather than sending flowers, we are setting  up an education trust fund for our remaining 5 children.  The "Kruyer Children" trust fund will be set up at the Bank of America, Horizon Ridge Pkwy & Horizon Drive branch.  

thanks again for your kind words, prayers and heartfelt expressions of sympathy and love.

Paul Kruyer

 

Iysha Kruyer

I got a call from my sister last night and was told that a family in my hometown had just had their two year old daughter drown in the pool at their home. I cannot imagine the sorrow that would come from losing a child that way, or any way for that matter. 

My sister has decided, along with the rest of the primary presidency to make soft fleece blankets for each of the other children in their family. She asked me to write a poem to go along with the blankets for these children. Sometimes I find that as I write my poetry I am writing the words but they come from somewhere else altogether. I hope that this family can find the things I ask them to within this poem.  I am so grateful for knowing what happens in this life is not the end. I know the powers that are used within our temples are real and do bind families together for all of eternity. How happy this makes me in my life. Please pray for this family tonight. And be grateful today for the loving arms of a Heavenly Father who IS very real!!

The softness of this blanket 

May not be quite the same

As the chubby little fingers 

On Iysha's tiny frame

But on the days you feel so sad

that you don't think you can make it

Wrap this round your shoulders 

And you'll find somehow you'll make it

When tears seem never ending

and a hankies not enough

cry into this sweet blanket

let your sorrow fill it up 

Some days you'll find your only hope

is the faith that you can feel

When prayer is your only answer 

fold it up and on it kneel

Let this blanket bring you love

the love that you know is very real

When Iysha cannot say it

Cuddle with it and just feel

Her loving arms around you 

Her spirit by your side

remember your sweet angel

will always be your guide

Here's the winner! Watch out for that HUGE gate that lowers from out of the sky! 

Any one else think our litigation happy nation needs a time out from stupidity?? You would have to be one drunk son of a gun to miss this bad boy coming down on top of you!

Guess the sign

Can you guess where I saw this sign??

Utah Hair??

Back to playing catch up from when my camera was not working. (FYI the dog chewed up the cord I just got so maybe I will play catch up frrm this last time and in a few months play catch up again) 

Way back in February we went to Las Vegas to see one of my cute niece's get baptized. But that

trip packed a huge punch we got to do so many more things with our families. We got to see Rachel run her first 5K (post to come next) and we were able to be at my moms house the morning my big sister left for Prague. My mom was going to watch my niece and nephew while their parents were gone and so she had them at her house the morning we were leaving town. When my niece Madisen came in to see me I was doing Ora's hair. And for those of you who really know Ora you know her hair is done one of two ways every day. Either "Super Fancy," her words not mine, or "like a raga muffin. " Now I do not know what a raga muffin is except it is what my mom used to say I looked like all the time. And so it is the word we use when Ora does not want her hair done. 

On this particular morning she did not have the raga muffin choice, and she was not happy about it.... And that is the place where Madi walked into the picture. My solution to the screaming fit was to have a switcharoo morning. I would do Madi's hair like Ora's and do Ora's hair like Madi's is most of the time. This went over well, and saved the morning. Both of the girls were SUPER excited.

After we were done we went outside to show grandma, I introduced the girls and they came out as models. Where they very promptly told all, they had switched. Ora had LAS VEGAS hair, and Madisen had UTAH hair. Kids are so funny!!

Here's Horton

Here he is our little Horton! He is so much fun. We were able to pick him up July First and bring him home. He spent his first few days with that sad face he has in this first picture. He had to leave 5 brothers behind so I think he was  missing them for a little while. A few days after he got here we LOST him. I was so scarred that he had got out of the gate I went looking and then came home resolved to the fact that I may have just lost the dog Joe has been waiting for for a VERY long time. I went into my bedroom to say a prayer before loading my kids into the car to go look for him in the neighborhood and there he was!!

Hie favorite spot is under my bed. That is where he sleeps at night but, I kind of feel sad for him because his other favorite place is

Abigail's bouncer.  And sadly this will not be a little dog. He is a yellow Lab and already is so much bigger than he was when we picked him up. so I think all too soon he will outgrow his two favorite spots. 

Joe and his dog!! This was taken the first day we had him home. We bought him a dog bed and put it in the living room but the only time he lays on it is if One of the kids or Joe gets up and lays with him. 

Abby is in love with him!! Michael, my almost SIX year old, is still kind of afraid of him. But Abby will let him lick her, crawl on her, share toys (YUCK!) and she still does not cry. I think Horton thinks she is a puppy or something, he just loves to roll around on the floor with her, and she is happy as a clam to let him do it. I was making dinner a few days after we got him and usually Abby cries the whole time. She is in her "Mom don't leave the room I am in phase." But, I noticed this time she did not seem to care at all and in fact I did not go in to check on her because I was afraid she would just notice I was gone and then she would cry. It was not until dinner was in the oven that I noticed she and Horton had made up there own little game. I should have maybe stopped this but, I thought It NEEDED to be on video!   

So that's him. He really is so fun, and I am sure I will love him even more once he stops peeing in my house.