2020 Photos

The girls got there annual pictures taken two weeks ago and it was almost a total disaster! I could not find the dresses we had bought and planned for them to wear anywhere! I tore the house apart and was not a very nice mom looking for them! So last minute I just told them to both pick out whatever it was that they wanted to wear and we went for it! They didn’t turn out as miss matched as I thought they would and my friend Priscilla Bearden did a really great job! Both their outfits are definitely very them and their internal joy smiles thru so how could I not absolutely love them? Of course I found the other dresses the very next day! 

She’s Amazing!

I am SO proud of Keagan for speaking in front of our entire church congregation today on this beautiful Sunday! She was amazing! She spoke about being honest and bore her testimony of Jesus Christ! And she didn't even know before hand that President Ellis, our Stake President and Elder Douglas the Area Authority were going to be there! She said she was SO nervous, but I couldn't tell one bit! Everyone was super complimentary of her talk and I truly felt the Spirit! I am so proud of her and want to be just like her when I grow up! I have included her talk below....

HI my name is Keagan Kikuchi. I am 12 years old and in 6th grade at Doerre. I have a twin sister named Riley.  We have been in this ward for most of my life after I moved here from Hawaii as a baby. 

I was asked to speak today on the temple recommend question “Do you strive to be honest in all that you do?” 

Honesty is obviously very important to the Lord. It is one of the 10 commandments; it is included in the articles of faith and included here in the temple recommend questions to determine if we are worthy to enter His holy house. I believe being honest or at least striving to be honest is so important because it is necessary for us to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost which is what I am always trying to do.  

But I really like that the question says striving to be honest and not perfect at being honest. We are all going to make mistakes and thankfully we have repentance for that. But we should at least be striving or trying to live honestly every day. 

In the for Strength of Youth which sets good standards for all of us to live by not just the youth, it encourages us all to: “Be honest with yourself, others, and God at all times. Being honest means choosing not to lie, steal, cheat, or deceive in any way. When you are honest, you build strength of character that will allow you to be of great service to God and others. You will be blessed with peace of mind and self-respect. You will be trusted by the Lord and will be worthy to enter into His holy temples.”

I know that Dishonesty harms us and harms others as well. If we lie, steal, or cheat we damage our spirit and our relationships with others. Being honest will save us from hurting ourselves and others, bring less drama into our lives and help us to always be guided by the Holy Ghost.  So it definitely sounds like it is worth it to me to try everyday to live honestly. 

But being honest often requires courage and sacrifice, especially when others try to persuade us to justify dishonest behavior. When we are tempted to be dishonest, we can remember that the blessings of peace and the Holy Ghost that comes from being honest is more valuable than the temptation to do so.

I know that Heavenly Father wants me to be honest and I testify that it will bless us greatly when we strive to do so. 

Busy Babes

Back during the hardcore quarantining of 2020, I remember so many people saying they were so thankful that all the busyness had stopped. Lots of people were talking about how they were just much too busy in their pre-Covid lives. Even though I was thankful for the time at home with Keags and Rys during those days and we made some really great memories, I actually really missed the busy. Mostly because the busy is where we see our people, where we live, grow and develop. Now I am not about being busy just to be busy. I carefully and prayerfully select what we are going to give our most precious time to. So our busy is mostly good, building, positive things. Our busy is school which both girls love, two jobs for me which I love the people at, 3 nights a week at the DPAC theater which is an incredible place, church and young women’s which is obviously a wonderful thing, counseling for Keags and time with friends and family that we love. Now I love a good lazy Saturday morning and we typically get in cuddles and down time almost everyday, but y’all we love the busy too! 

All three of us have been working hard on Suessical and it’s paying off! This is going to be a really fun show in a couple weeks! We don’t even mind the masks and face shields we are just happy to be back at DPAC! Keagan just keeps getting better and better in her role of Jojo and Riley got a new role as the Elephant Bird! When Mrs Shea told her she was literally jumping up and down on the stage and the whole cast was cheering for her! It was the sweetest! Then when Mrs Shea gave stage direction and told everyone to scoot back, Riley yelled at everyone to give her the spot light! It was hilarious! Side note along those same lines, she has been known to stall on the way to choir so she can make a grand entrance for everyone to say hi! At DPAC they are also both in Ovation this year and mostly just Keagan is taking a dance class there once a week as well. Occasionally Riley goes to the dance class too but Keagan has really struggled with that and wanting to do a few things by herself which I do understand. DPAC is such a positive place full of friends that I think they would both be there every single night if they could! 

We are back to having youth activities and we are thrilled about it! Keagan organized an activity herself for her class doing high fitness and it went great! The girls class also won the ward cookie bake off this past week with their Andes Mint Cookies! They’ve done crafts and zoom activities as well while I’ve enjoyed activities with the older girls I serve with. We are back going to church on Sunday too which has been great! Our services are just sacrament meeting while wearing a mask and sitting socially distanced every other row and they’ve even modified the cleanliness of how we partake of the sacrament.  Young Women’s classes are still over zoom every other week so we are not totally back but we are enjoying what we are able to do. 

School is going great! They both love it and both girls had all A’s and B’s on their first 9 weeks report cards! I have to occasionally remind them that their number 1 job is their academics and grades and that all the social stuff is a bonus. Several people have recently told me that both girls are super friendly in the halls and know so many people which doesn’t surprise me one bit! They have both made so many new friends which is great and they love having PE together! I think Keagan’s favorite part of the day is when I drop her off 10 minutes early before school to meets Callie, Zeke and Henry at the bike rack and walking home. She doesn’t walk all the way home but after I pick up Riley I pull around and wait for her at the end of Ash Valley street. There is a large group of them including Calli, Claire, Kaylee, Max, Donovan, Owen, Micheal, Eric, Kirk, Sarah and Lizzie who cut thru Wunderlich Farms and walk to the end of the street laughing and being crazy. Riley did have a sad experience when a classmate pushed her off her chair one day but otherwise is loving it! The transition from elementary to junior high has definitely been much smoother then I feared! 

Of course I voted and prayed for our country during this turbulent time! We have watched and stressed during this 2020 Presedential election and I still have major concerns but I am fairly happy with the outcome and hope it is good for our country! My girls seeing the very first female Vice President is pretty dang awesome and I hope they see they really can do anything!

Keagan is the cutest and sometimes calls me from lunch! I love that girl and even with all our very strict rules the new phone has been both a blessing and a frustration like I knew it would! She 

doesn’t totally love counseling yet but always ends up being glad she went! We both really like Mrs Lauren at Spring Grove Counseling! 






Otherwise we have spent time together, with our family- lots of great dinners at the Frenchs lately and Taryn and I introduced Reagan, Keagan and Riley to the glory of Lubys! And of course the girls have had friend hang outs as much as they possibly can! Apparently I’m not supposed to call them play dates anymore. 

A super exciting and interesting thing from the last couple of weeks was getting the results of the girls DNA tests! I was surprised and tickled by their results! It’s fascinating to note that they both are part Korean which neither me nor their dad had any clue about! Riley is more Chinese and Welch then Keagan which totally makes sense. And Keagan is more Korean and Scottish then Riley and she has 1% Portuguese when Riley has none! And even though they identify themselves as Hawaiian because their Asian descent is from generations in Hawaii they are both only 3% Hawaiian! 

And this past weekend was definitely one to remember for all three of us! My thoughtful siblings and their spouses recently got together and decided I needed a break! So Friday night Kirk, Kari and Campbell came to our house to hang out with Keags and Rys while Nana sent me to the Courtyard Marriott for two nights!! The girls had a blast feeding giraffes at the zoo, having a shaving cream fight, watching movies and having a slumber party with Campbell! I had a blast sleeping, laying in the bed, reading, watching movies, eating good take out thanks to Vicki, taking long interrupted hot showers and sleeping some more! I feel SO blessed and feel like after a little break I will be a better mom! And the girls had a blast too so what a blessing!!! 

Tonight we will relax, hang out together and cuddle! But tomorrow we start back to the busyness and we love it that way! 

Halloween 2020

I am personally not big on Halloween. I don’t like anything scary, I don’t get the gorey and orange is one of my least favorite colors. But Keagan and Riley on the other hand have been talking about Halloween since January! That is when Hamilton the Musical came out on Disney+ and when the obsession began. Since then we have watched it at least 5,427 times and know every word. So in January when the girls said they wanted to be Schuyler sisters for Halloween I was on board! It wasn’t hard to get their friend Claire on board we found some fantastic Halloween costumes that we got off amazon like everything else we buy! 

Keagan was Angelica, Claire was Eliza and Riley was thrilled to be Peggy! They looked great for our ward trunk or treat and had so much fun with a bunch of friends that I could hear them from any other point in the parking lot! Friday night they had a fun costume party at Maleah Hernandez’s house that Riley bailed on and decided to stay home with me! But Keagan of course had an awesome time! And Halloween night was a blast! We were still cautious but we had Claire, Lexi, Zeke, Owen, Reagan (the cutest Ginny Weasley) and Miss Taryn go trick or treating with us! Not everyone was passing out candy this year because of Covid but those that did were generous and tried to make it extra special for the kids! We even saw several candy shoots which were fun! After trick or treating all those kids (minus Reagan who joined her friends) came back to our house to change and I hauled them to Sydney Straders house for the last of the fun Halloween parties! That all adds up to a pretty fantastic Halloween 2020 for Keags and Rys! 

Oops I mean Angelica and Peggy! 

Oh and to make my family smile I “dressed up” too! I’m a ceiling fan! Go ceiling! 

The Original...

Our version...






































And because I’m a super sentimental mommy that loves to take pictures of my babies and document everything...here are Keagan and Riley’s Halloween’s thru the years....