Thoughts from Koni Dole

 This young man is still amazing to me. I don't know of anyone who could be more inspiring to a young person!

Koni Dole

9 a.m. tomorrow morning is the time I had my leg amputated last year. Tomorrow will be one year since having my life turned around in a matter of a week. Looking back now I don't regret the decision I made because of all the new doors it has opened for me. I was just talking to my strength coach the other day about how I was thinking back to all the work we had put in and it just shows.When I got out of the hospital, the only thing I had in mind was how in the hell am I going to do this. I came to the conclusion that what's done is done and that I wasnt going to let that be the end but only the begginning. Nothing worth having in life comes easy. Thank you to everyone who supported my family and I!

  

Designs by Marcie $2 Tuesday

 This week has been a busy week around our little house. The hubby finished installing out wood burning stove this weekend. Trust me that is going to be a real life saver this winter. Since we live out in the country we have two choices for heating, either propane or electric, we choose electric. When we did the rates were low enough we could handle it, but we all know what has happened to the rates lately. It now costs way more to heat our house, hence the wood stove. I am ready for the challenge, lol. I will keep you up to date on how this new adventure goes, even if I am bundled up in a parka like an Alaskan Eskimo. :)

 This week Marcie has a new Kit on the $2 Tuesday at GoDigitalScrapbooking, Bon Apetite. This kit was fun to make layouts with PDC's first eating solids pictures. She was a real demon when she first started eating solids. I think more of the food end up on her face & in her hair, than what ended up IN her, but those sure made for some cute pictures! LOL.

 You can get this kit here. Remember it is on sale for $2 for today only, so hurry.
Here are those layouts I did with PDC.

 I will have new laouts for you soon. I have my monthly challenges at GingerScraps & I am also competing in the GingerScraps Survivor: OZ challenge. Talk about fun! I will bring you up to date on all of this soon!

 Stay scrappy.

Joined a new CT

 So I have had an exciting week. I have joined a new CT, for Designs by Marcie. I have LOVED her kits since last spring when I got two of her kits to make a Mother's Day card for my mom. At that time I was not even scrapping, but was thinking of just making cards. Now I am hooked on scrapping & never seem to find the time to make cards, haha. I have thought many times of messaging Marcie to see if she had a CT or if she didn't see if I could volunteer to do CT work for her. Last week I opened a newsletter from her & found a CT call & jumped at the opportunity to send in my info. Then I got the wonderful news that she wanted me on her CT. I was so EXCITED. Haha.

 Marcie put us to work right away. This week we have a wonderful kit that Marcie has on the $2 Tuesday deal today. I had so much fun working with this kit & the layouts just kind of jumped out at me as soon as I looked at the kit. You can get this wonderful kit here. Here is a look at the kit:

 Here are the two layouts that I did with this kit. The first is PDC playing at the Yellowstone River & the other is of my wonderful nephew playing in a puddle. Boys will be boys, haha.

 I also had some other wonderful news this last week. I am now the head CT for Ginger's Scraps N Pixels. Ginger has been having some medical issues & all of us on her team have been doing whatever we can to help her out & take some of the weight from her so that she can take the time to get better. I was a little apprehensive when she offered the position to me at first, worrying that the other girls would be upset. Thankfully they have all been so supportive, & we all care so much for Ginger that we will do anything we can to help her so that she can get better. So please join me in wishing Ginger a speedy recovery.

That is all of my news for now so I will see you all soon. Stay scrappy! :)

Chere Kaye Designs New Kits- Young Love

 Chere Kaye Designs has 5, yes I said FIVE, new kits out this week! They are all in one theme- Young Love.  They are Caleb & Stacey, Dave & Raya, Josh & Megan, Phil & Jaymay, & Zac & Sarah. These kits are wonderful, as usual, to work with. If you like any of these kits, just click on the name above & it will take you to the store where you can get your own copy of the kit to be creative with.

Here are some layouts that I did using the Young Love kits. First is one with my grandparents wedding picture again using Dave & Raya.

This next one is of Princess's graduation picture & some baby pictures, using Phil & Jaymay.

This one is of Princess Demon Child, Bubba, & Stitch that I made for the GingerScraps desktop challenge. I used Zac & Sarah for this. (I have decided to call my 19 year old Stitch for privacy issues on my blog. I came to this name because if he isn't getting stitches, it's a miracle. He was attacked by a dog when he was 2 & had I don't know how many stitches in his head. Then when he was 4 his dad set down a saw & it fell off the table & almost cut his arm off, so once again a bunch of stitches. Then two days ago at work he was using a grinder to fix a flat tire & tried to cut off his left pointer finger at the first knuckle, so more stitches & an appointment with the hand doctor to see if he severed his flex tendon. He had gotten more stitches than everyone else in the house put together!)

Stay scrappy & I will be back soon.

A truly amazing young man

 I do have a layout & a new kit to share with you today but first I want to tell you the story of the amazing young man that this layout is about. I live in a small town in Montana, Huntley. Here in our little country area our kids all go to a school called Huntley Project High School. This is a story of a 17 year old football player that made a decision that I am not sure many adults could make without feeling like their lives were over.

 This amazing young man's name is Koni Dole. This story starts out on October 28, 2012. In the last quarter of the last football game of the season, Koni broke his leg. After many operations to repair the compound break of his leg, Koni developed compartment syndrome, which cuts off the blood flow to a part of the body after an injury. His doctors gave him two choices, they could remove all of the muscles in his lower leg, leaving his leg useless, or they could amputate his leg.  Amputating his leg would allow him to be able to walk with a prosthetic, but doctors told him he would never play football again. Although Koni had a dream of playing football for Montana State University, he choose to have his leg amputated, then he started researching athletes that returned to sports after having a limb amputated!

 Koni choose not to give up on his dream. He was wrestling for his high school 3 months after having his leg removed. Then he joined track. Then on August 30, 2013, 10 months after having his leg amputated, Koni was back on the football field! In that first game of the season, Koni caught the ball & ran for TWO touchdowns! To make this story even more amazing, Koni has received a football scholarship to Montana State University! Koni's story is inspiring to any person who faces adversity, it is a story of never giving up on yourself or dreams that you have. With work & perseverance you can do anything you set your mind to! Learn from Koni, reach for the stars! I am privileged to share a community with this young man & wish him all the success that is possible.

 Ginger's Scraps N Pixels new kit that I did this layout with is called Moose Ball. I knew as soon as I saw this kit that I wanted to do a page about this amazing, inspiring young man. You can find Moose Ball here.

 I will be back tomorrow with another layout. Stay scrappy.

My Grandparents Wedding Picture

 I have recently gotten a copy of my grandparents wedding picture from my aunt. I have been going over & helping her with her computer, trying to get it set up so that it is easy for her to use. Apparently I have done such a good job of that, that she has been telling her friends, that want to learn how to use theirs to remain in contact with their family, to call her niece & I will set theirs up as easy to use as I have hers. I am almost thinking I can make a little side job of it, if all the word of mouth keeps up this way.

 Anyway, while I have been spending time with her (not just setting up her computer, mind you) we have been talking a lot about family & all that. She has a much better collection of pictures from my father's side of the family back in Michigan. She was wonderful enough to let me borrow some of them so I could scan them into my computer & be able to scrap with them. I have been wanting a copy of this picture for years. I never knew my grandfather, my father was only 8 when he died. My grandmother was one of the few people who accepted me for exactly what I was, unconditionally. I miss that, as much as I miss her. She has been gone for nearly 28 years. I still think of her every time I look into my children's faces, as I don't doubt for one minute that she had a hand in me having each of them. I will love her until my last breath!

 Here is their wedding picture.

 I used a free kit from Donakat called Old Fashioned Love Song. I knew as soon as I saw this kit that it would be perfect for this picture & I love how it turned out. Now I just have to talk my mom into loaning me the picture of her parents on their wedding day (I have a picture of my grandmother & step-grandfather on their wedding day that I have scrapped with & will post that layout soon.) Leave me a comment & let me know what you think?

 Stay scrappy!

Daily download by Chere Kaye Designs on GingerScraps Blog

 I told you before that Chere Kaye has a new daily download that you can get for free this month on the GingerScraps blog. This kit is so adorable. It is named Oh Blah Dee. Here is a look at the preview for this kit:

 You can get this kit on the GingerScraps blog here.  Here are the layouts that I have done with this kit. I never want to say that I am done making layouts with a certain kit because I never know when a picture will jump out at me & need this kit to finish it. As you can see I have so many pictures of PDC to scrap with, the main reason being when Bubba as a baby we didn't have digital cameras, but I also lost quite a few of his pictures in numerous moves over the years & it is so hard to get new pictures of him because it embarrasses him if I scrap with pictures of him & the post them. I have decided that is just too bad for him, after all what are parents for except to embarrass their children. Mwahahahah!

 I also have layouts to do for GingerScraps challenges this month & will be posting all of those over the next few weeks for you to check out. Also as a side note I have, as Dh says, made a convert. I have hooked my sister on digital scrapbooking! Yay! I will see if as she gets a little better she will let me post some of her layouts on here. What do you say Kristine?

Stay scrappy.