June-October 2011 Update

In June, we began toying with the idea of moving to Seattle.

July brought travel to Seattle on another road trip. We took meetings and thought about a possible move. Our friends Josh & Andrea got married July 3rd and I sang at the wedding. My mom also had a wonderful retirement party before we took off for CA. We loved the road trip and saw lots of the west coast.
As soon as I returned to Los Angeles, I hopped a flight and went back to Seattle. My mom drove me 5 hours east to Lake C'oeur D'Alene to be a camp counselor for high school kids! It was a much needed trip for me and I made lots of amazing connections.

Nelson's parents came out for a visit at the end of August. We swam, ate good food and hung out as a family. August 24th, Nelson and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary! To celebrate, we went camping in Yosemite National Park for 2 nights. Our dear friends daughter was also born this day, so it made it even more special for us.

September, my parents came to town on a road trip. We celebrated Scott's 30th birthday with a well planned and executed surprise lunch. We went to a Jay Leno taping, went swimming and spent three days at Disneyland. In addition, our niece Chessa was born September 16th on my brother's birthday, so we welcomed another Kaiton kid into the family! We were so pleased to meet this little one.

At the end of the month, I was invited to be a guest at a healing retreat in Ojai, CA. The retreat was specific to those who are dealing with loss and grief. It was an amazing week for me and I was able to do some incredible healing and learn some new things like Kundalini Yoga!

Nelson was up for a job here in L.A., but the company downsized. So we made the final decision that it was time for us to move! Today is the 20th of October and we are half way packed and ready to leave the 30th. We are thrilled for a new adventure and a fresh start.

Spring Update Part Deux

March 19th Nelson and I ran a 5k in honor of James. We set a goal, reached it and the race made us feel so good.

Got to see the Kings beat the Sharks in a shoot out!

We made the famous Klapchuk Pierogi's for Easter dinner.

I had a wonderful birthday. We went to Descanso gardens & ate at Red Lobster on a gift card. The food was really really good.

Our friend Mike Hayden made us a beautiful wood box that we could use to put all of James' memories & remains in. All the memorabilia fit perfectly and gave us a huge sense of closure. It's so special to have a final resting place made from love by an old family friend.

Coming up for the Kaiton's...
Nelson's Birthday
Adelee's 4th Birthday
Father's Day
A Seattle road Trip
and Gordie's 3rd Birthday!

Spring Update

Here's an update from the past five months...
We found a wonderful grief group for parents that have experienced early infant loss like ourselves and made new friends. We've gone to counseling to help process the grief as we move forward in our lives. I was laid off April 1st (yes April fools day) & kept seeing it as a blessing of change. I have to say that our perspective on life has shifted a lot since losing our son. We appreciate life more, we live in the moment rather than worrying about the future.
We are most grateful for each other, our family and friends, and the ability to see ourselves in a new light. For that we thank James, he's taught us so much.

Here are some photos:

In March I took a trip by myself to Seattle to surprise a girlfriend at her bridal shower, spent time with family & friends and got to enjoy the outdoors.

Me and my Grandfather John Davis, 97 years old and still goes to work every Wednesday morning.

In April we attended a friends wedding in Paso Robles, CA.

After the wedding we took advantage of the location and drove to San Simeon, CA to see the famous Hearst Castle. What a prime piece of California real estate!

2011 is here...

I've never wanted a new year more in my life!!!
Now that it's here, we've been filling our time seeing good friends, seeing family and spending some quality time together. Our life is way different than we thought it was going to be and we are only in the beginning stages of dealing with the grief. However, we know life will go on with or without us and we are learning how to pick up the pieces.

Here are some photos from a couple road trips; one to Solvang (Santa Barbara wine country) and to a friends home in the Santa Cruz mountains.
Thank you to everyone who brought us meals, sent flowers or plants, sent cards, and gifts. Nelson and I were lifted up in your love and still are.