Steven 43rd birthday!

 Wishing a happy birthday to this guy! Feel free to blow up his feed. I don't gush about him much, but that doesn't mean I am not his biggest fan. He isn't feeling well today. Both he and Ridlee both had the ick on their birthdays this month. 

He is probably the smartest person I know. He's finishing his second master's this semester, so I am not the only one in this marriage who pushes herself or has big plans down the road. He is my rock and always supports my crazy ideas and goals like another degree or a book idea. His go-to phrase is "go for it." I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for him. He's a great dad and Glampa. He's one of the good ones. 

Happy birthday! Love you!

Happy birthday to Ridlee "Stormborn" Kitchens.

 Happy birthday to Ridlee "Stormborn" Kitchens. 

My youngest, and mini me is officially a decade old! It's crazy to me really! She's got a cold on her birthday but that's not stopping her from running around and playing with her care bears. 

She was born at home in a snowstorm. And here we're supposed to get snow this morning. She was a tiny but strong thing at only 5 lbs 4 oz. She's now taller than average, which I have no idea how.

She loves ice cream, gaming, bouncing on her ball, jumping on her mini trampoline (she's gone through around 15 of them), watching the Muppets, doodling, playing hide and seek, walks and hammocking with Kieran, Rowan, and Carson, care bears, and being silly. She's better at math than me and knows her way around technology more than most. She's taught me more about myself than anyone in my 43 years. 

Happy birthday Ridlee Evangeline, we love you! #RidleeEvangeline

My Potawatomi family. One of the honored families this year.

 

2024 Honored Families: Darling

Elizabeth Ouilmette married Lucius (Louis) Ripley Darling on July 15, 1836. Elizabeth was one of eight children born to Antoine Ouilmette, known as one of the first residents of Chicago, and Archange Chevalier Ouilmette. Archange’s mother, Chopa, was the daughter of Potawatomi warrior and headman Naunongee from the Calumet River Potawatomi.

The family removed to Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 1837 and Lucius joined Waubansee’s Potawatomi band, serving as a trader. Their son William was baptized there on June 9, 1838. They had 13 children total: William, Francis L., Eliza, Lucius, Louis Oliver, Charles Nathan, and the remaining children died while infants.

The Treaty of 1846 required all the Potawatomi removed west to relocate on one reservation in Kansas, and the Darling family made their way there in 1847. Due to pressure from incoming settlers and business, the Potawatomi signed a treaty in 1861 that offered an opportunity to become U.S. citizens and receive land allotments. Although Elizabeth passed away before the process was finalized, Lucius and their children chose to receive individual plots of land and became members of the Citizen Potawatomi.

Every year at the CPN Family Reunion Festival, the Nation honors a group of families that moved to Oklahoma and eventually formed the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. The 2024 Honored Families are Darling, Hardin, Higbee, Levier, Lewis, Nadeau, Negahnquet, Pambogo and Smith. Read more at https://www.potawatomi.org/.../2024-honored-families.../.

Pictured: Eliza M.Darling Smith Eldridge Meloch Bressman and daughter Alice Smith Tescier See less