HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEFANIE, APRIL 26

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEFANIE

        Today is Stefanie's birthday.  She just sent me a picture of her cake and I see that she is in the center of it.  Look closely and you'll see her too.  It's very creative, what a neat idea.   I'm sure Cumorah can't wait to get to the cake, nor any of the other kids.   Save me a piece.   
        Now for a little write-up on Stefanie.  She was born on April 26, 1973, the third child born to Lanny and I and the first of our children born in Washington. Her entrance into the world was shared by her dad in that he was there with me as we walked my way into labor. Stefanie's due date was around May 1st. Because of various reasons, we agreed to have her induced, so on the morning of the 26^th Lanny and I arrived at the doctor's office in great anticipation of seeing our baby born.   I was given a shot and was told to walk around the area for 20 minutes.  Being a good husband Lanny walked around with me.  This went on for six times and shortly after  things began to happen, so I was driven to the hospital.  There was some loud exchange of words with the expectant mother and the doctor, but soon Stefanie made her entrance into the big, wide world. 
        Grandma Irene Smith had been here for several weeks and she along with Lanny and I were very happy to see our new little daughter.   It was good having my mother here as she was a big help to me.   

         Stefanie was a happy baby and as she grew into a toddler she began to suffer from earaches. She was taken to the doctor many times. He would lance her ears which would give her some relief for a period of time but the problem would reoccur. She eventually had her tonsils and adenoids removed and from that day on she didn't suffer repeated earaches.

         Stefanie arrived at the time we were involved in cub scouting and had den meetings here at the house. She became an unofficial cub scout girl, or our mascot, as was Angie after she was born. When Stefanie got older she wanted to join Campfire Girls with her friends, Betsy and Teresa.  The second year of her Campfire activities I became her leader along with two other women who helped. We had two groups meet at the same time; those girls Stefanie's age and those Angie's age. Here's a picture of the girls (Stefanie is in red).  They had a lot of fun together, went on mini-trips, marched in the parade in Moses Lake and Wenatchee and went camping.

         Stefanie as well as the other three children were good in music and as they entered elementary school and became involved in the music program, they each were asked by their music teacher, Mr. Bliven,  to play the bells.  Stefanie joined the band in junior high school, played the flute and also played the drums.  Throughout the school years they marched every May in the Moses Lake Torchlight parade.  I loved listening to the kids play the flute as well as the piano and even the trombone. Angie taught herself to play the flute and all four kids played the piano in varying degrees. Gary played the trombone. Richelle played the guitar well enough to accompany her siblings when they sang for church activities.  And Lanny sang to the family while driving along in the car, songs that he, John and Aunt Lois had sung years ago.  Course he also sang his favorites, "Ghost Riders in the Sky" and other genuine cowboy songs.

         It was Stefanie's goal to grow up and have a big family.  She and Brent have accomplished that goal.  They have eight beautiful, healthy children.  Each child has shared a birthday wish for their mother:

Liz with arms outstretched

Lucy

Lizzy: Happy Birthday Mom,
hope you have the best birthday ever!

Lucy: Happy Birthday Mommy!
Have a great day on your birthday!

Seth and Brent

Seth: Happy Birthday!
You are the best Mom ever!

Liddell

Liddell: Happy Birthday!

I hope you can celebrate it in the way you want

and get the purse you want.

Stefanie, Caleb and Olivia

Olivia: Mom, I love you, thank you for everything you do; Happy Birthday!

Cumorah

Cumorah: Happy Birthday Mom I love you and I want cake!

Micah

Micah: Happy Birthday!
Caleb: Ada ada mamma!
Brent: Age is something that doesn’t matter, unless you are a cheese. Happy Birthday to the most wonderful wife a husband can have.

        Stefanie had lots of good experiences in high school and some challenges, but was able to

meet those challenges. She graduated from high school and seminary and continued on to college at Big Bend. She graduated from Big Bend with an associates degree.
        She began to attend the Single's ward after she graduated from high school. She served as Relief Society president for a couple of years.  She also put her papers in to serve a mission for the L.D.S. Church.  She and others in the ward participated in the yearly Cancer Run.  While participating in the run, which lasted all night, we received her papers from Salt Lake City. Of course we couldn't open them, but we were anxious to find out where she would be spending the next eighteen months and so was she, so Lanny and I took them to her. And there at the track where her Bishop, friends and others had gathered around she opened her papers and began to read them. There was a hush. We couldn't believe that she was being sent to Japan, just like her brother, but to a different mission. Her's was the Kobe Mission. After the initial shock we were all excited.
        When the time arrived for her to enter the MTC in Utah, Lanny and I went with her to Provo and were there for the opening and greeting of the MTC President. Very soon it was time for the parents to say goodbye to their child and leave. That was hard for us, and I'm sure

it was for Stefanie. 
        She called from the airport in California to talk before boarding the jet that would take her across the ocean to Japan. She was having trouble with her ears, so we told her to yawn and it would help. I think that she was having second thoughts about leaving. This was a big step especially when she hadn't lived away from home, so I felt sad for her, but knew all would be well. She just needed to take the step, and when she got to Japan and was warmly greeted by the Mission President and others, all would be okay. The homesickness would get less traumatic.

        She served a good mission, had some interesting experiences, one in particular was being there when the Kobe earthquake happened. Her companion was Japanese, so knew instantly what to do. On the morning of the earthquake Stefanie happened to wake a little later than she usually did and wasn't sitting in the chair that she would sit in to do her studying, so escape any injury from the earthquake. They went around checking on people and helping them and soon,  the mission home was being used as a place to serve meals to the earthquake victims. Stefanie played her flute and others participated in providing up-lifting and consoling music to those gathered there to eat and rest. After weeks helping where they could, she along with others were transferred to another mission.
        In the early spring of 1996 Lanny and I picked her up from the SeaTac Airport in Seattle,
Washington. Stefanie began attending the Single's ward again, and not too long after that she met a young man and fell in love. (That's another story.)
        Now laughter, music and noise resonate through their lives as the family members interact with each other through family activities, church activities, sports, school, etc. and with their Grandmas and Grandpas, cousins, aunts and uncles who live nearby.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEFIE, from your mom, Love you daughter.

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To Stefanie from Dad,

Your mother has been bugging me for several days to write something for your birthday, but everytime I'm ready she's on the computer. Now that I'm ready I find that she has used up all the good items herself. Oh well here goes!

    Stefanie was a very shy child when she was growing up. I never had to disipline her because the minute I would raise my voice she would break into tears. The truth be known, she saved her older brothers and sister a few good spankings because she cried "harder" than they did when I was getting ready to spank one of the older one's so I'd back off to save her some tears.

   The only time she gave me any trouble was when she first descovered "Boys". All at once she started letting her grades fall, and being late fror class. This wasn't like her but we couldn't figure out what was wrong. I'm not even sure how we figured it out but I know I had a talk with her and she got back on track. It was in her senior year and she really needed to work hard to make up for lost time. I remember graduation night and I had purposely waited for her to find her way back to our car. She came up to me and hugged me and said "well we made it Dad!"
   Stefanie loved to go camping when she was young. I remember I had borrowed a pick up and camper from my friend Earl Myers and we went up by Mount Rainer. We stayed there that night and it was so cold we kept the furnace running all night. The next morning we came down Stampede Pass and found a nice open meadow with a river running through it and a clump of pine trees to camp in. We stayed there for a whole week. Every morning Stefanie was the first one up and she would practically fall out of the camper so she could get outside to play. At night she woud be so dirty we would stand her on the picknic table and strip her down, then wash her from head to toe. When we tucked her into bed at night she would be sound asleep when her head hit the pillow.
   Going on her mission to Japan did her a lot of good. She wasn't the shy little girl of the past when she came home. She had grown into a real woman and was ready to take on the world.  
   Stefanie, your dad is proud of you and what you have become. Remember you may be a "Giles" now, but you'll always be a "Starr". Happy Birthday !!!!!!!!!
Love Dad  

Grandpa with the kids and Stefanie