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Hi. Just wanted to let everyone know there will be an article out soon about my dad in a nearby town paper, Muscatine Journal, - the town where my dad had worked. It features about a memorial walk/run/race for my dad. The fund raiser is going to support the Hope Lodge of Iowa City project. I will have my mom help me post the article when the paper gets published. My sisters, mom, and I will be there and hope to see a lot of people come to support.

Summer has been ok. I can't wait till school starts, unbelievably. Sammy says she can't wait either. We've had fun, though, when there has been things to do. Jessie's favorite thing to do is to play with stuffed animals and art. Sammy likes to play games with Jessie, especially house. What I like to do is just hang around or go somewhere with my friends. We've been places and have done some exciting things with everyone.

Hope your summer has been a good one,

Aly

Please see the addition the girls and I had done in "David's Story". I am sorry I did not update that as things had occurred but it has come to my attention that all was not aware of David's fate.

We have had some technical difficulties with adding some additional pictures and we were holding off to update the journal some more until we were able to do so. Hopefully in a few days we will have some more up.

Grandma Ivy, was Dave's paternal grandmother, the girl's great-grandmother. She had passed away this past week and we had attended her funeral over the weekend. It was another tough weekend or hurdle the girls had to deal with, but once again they pulled through like the great troopers that they are.

One of the first things the girls said when they learned of her passing on was, "why us?", "not again!" and "we can't go through this again." It hurt so much to hear this from them, they are so scared of what is going to happen next. I sat them down to explain that this one (grandma's death) we understand, this one was fair. She was 90 yrs old and had lived a wonderful full life, of kids, grand-kids and great-grand-kids and she had passed away in peace and did not suffer. I know it didn't seem fair because it wasn't fair to have to bury a parent at such a young age as they had to. I don't think this would have had such an impact on them but because of the close proximity of the deaths and having to drudge up all the feelings again, this one didn't seem fair to them.

The girls did wonderful, better than I had expected. I think once they saw her laying there peacefully, it all made sense. It was also really nice and had helped the girls to be surrounded by family again, all the cousins and their grandparents and not to see them all upset, of course people were sad but it was a different sadness.

I also want to extend my deepest sympathies to Rich and Karen, Grandma Ivy was a wonderful woman and I loved her for her values, and that she loved all of her family and was involved with everyone, even down to the great-grandkids. I know a lot of people aren't close or weren't close to the great-grandparents, but Grandma Ivy was different, she wanted to get to know everyone of her "kids" and I know our girls loved that about her. and let me tell you, there are many grandkids and even more great grandkids, she had remembered all of their birthdays and had made a point to have sent cards and not to have every forgotten any one of them.

I know the girls are going to particulary miss the pear picking extravaganza they did with her at her house every year and the pizza at Breaddeaux after church when they went to visit the grandparents for the weekend in Fort Madison. Also in behalf of Jessie, who kept nudging me (several times) during the wake service to stand up to say something, which I didn't because I'm not much on public speaking and making a spectacle of myself, I wanted to add that, the time the girls spent with Grandma Ivy had meant a lot to them and that Dave had also talked on numerous occasions of his passion and learning to crochet was from her. Dave did teach the girls to do some basic crocheting, which I hope Grandpa will continue to teach them to do more of the intricate things like their dad learned from Grandma Ivy.

We will miss her dearly but will not forget what she had passed on to each and everyone of us.

God Bless,
Kim and the girls

This entry is from my grandma and grandpa. we had to correct something. thanks for reading.

"We would like to thank so many people for all you did for David when he was sick.

We are so grateful to Kim for her expertise and time to get this web site going. It has been a wonderful way for us to know more about David's friends.

Many thanks to Billie and Tim and everyone else on 4JPWest who helped take care of David at the hospital. Thanks to Jim and Bonnie from hospice, the Catholic lay worker, Marilyn, who prayed and visited with David on his frequent visits to the hospital - especially for being with us when he died.

So many wonderful people came to see David, and prayed with us- Rita was an absolute angel. and Heather for her little stops with goodies. We appreciate Barb, for taking care of David in her home and being at the hospital with us.

The Muscatine Walgreen staff and Steve, the store manager , were so kind to us and David.

It was a real adventure, cleaning David's apartment (he saved EVERYTHING). Many thanks to my sister, Linda. to Sharon, Heather, Barb and her family, who helped us through the rough spots.

We do so appreciate all the beautiful cards and masses you had said for David, also the flowers, food and for the money so many of you sent for the memorials.

Thirty-four years ago, David was a brand new baby boy, born December 26, 1969. He truly was a gift from God, to us, as is our other son, Patrick. But David is now returned to God. We miss him very much. We have to believe because God gave us Jesus, His One and Only Son, that someday we will see David again.

Rich and Karen Kokjohn"

I wanted to share with you all how well the girls are doing in their academics, extra curricular activities and life in general. As tough as this past year has been, the girls continue to strive to do the best they can and for excellence, which they have made me very proud of them. I remember a conversation Dave had with Alyson and will share it with you all. "Aly, I know this is very tough but know that life will go on, even when I am not here, I want you to keep doing everything that you are doing because I am very proud of you girls and don't want to see you stop doing your best. That is all I want and expect of you girls." Following are examples I know the girls are living by their daddy's words.....

Alyson has continued to strive in academics, there were a few hurdles, naturally, early this quarter but she overcame them because that is the type of person she is, she doesn't like to leave things unfinished and she wants to do really well no matter what. She ended up with mostly A's and a couple of B's for grades, it was to her own self-gratification she had achieved that. I let her know I am VERY proud of her no matter what kind of grades she brings home as long as I know she attempts to do her best but she pushes herself to go beyond that for her own satisfaction. That makes me really proud of her that she is doing this mostly for herself because I see that she is happy with her own accomplishments.

As for Sammy "Fish" Kokjohn, I also can't express enough how proud I am of her for her willingness and heart and soul she puts into her swimming. This past weekend, she received her first "first place" ribbon, a BLUE ribbon in one of her swimming events. You should have seen the glow on her when she learned that she achieved that! She also puts all her efforts into what she is aiming for. This next weekend is her last meet before sectionals, I will keep you posted how she does at sectionals. She has a good chance of making state but it's still really early in her swimming career. She is 7 years old competing against mostly 8 yr. olds, she competes in 8 and under for her events, so she is looking forward to next year already because she knows she will kick some patuti as good as she has done this year.

And last but not least, there's Jessica, she's still too young to really be involved in anything but that doesn't stop her from being our little "princess". She's actually going to do well academically also, she has a strong sense for numbers and facts, just ask her! Jessica is also our "girly girl", I can't say I know for sure she won't be as athletic as the other 2 but I know she likes the girly things more than the other 2 did at her age. Maybe she'll be the cheerleader rooting on her older sisters! She is also invoved in dance, which she loves because it involves in wearing girly clothes and having frilly dance costumes! Jessica is a natural born leader so the world better watch out for her.

Can you tell that I am proud of all 3 of our girls?

On the way home from school today, Sammy was telling me about a dream she had of her daddy last night and then very surprisingly Jessica came out and said, "I wish I was dead". I exclaimed, WHAT? why? of course that scared the heck out of me and she simply said, "just because I want to see daddy and talk to him again". This made me really proud of her because you have to realize at Jessica's age, she really hasn't shown a lot of concern over her daddy's death and have been fairly non-chalant about the whole thing. I don't hold that against her though because of her age so that really surprised me when she made that statement. I then reminded her that her daddy will always be with her in her heart and she can always talk to him, whether it's in prayers or in her room or playing, anywhere! I'm so glad she wasn't too literal when she made that comment. It's one day at a time.

Next time any of you see or talk to the girls, please feel free to encourage them and let them know how proud everyone is of them. I know they feed off on that and they really are proud of themselves too! I honestly feel that their daddy is watching over them and helping them through their journies.

God Bless,
KIm

Well, the girls started off the year in an interesting way. Both Sammy and Jessie got the chicken pox. This was Sammy's 3rd time of getting it and Jessie's first time. Although they both were mild cases, Jessie only had about 10-12 spots on her. Their mannerisms and symptoms were nil, you couldn't even tell they had the chicken pox. Weren't they lucky! no fevers or rashes or nothing on they faces, head, arms or legs. The only unfortunate thing out of this is that so far Sammy doesn't appear to be ammune to the chicken pox yet so this calls for some follow up doctor visits to find out what the case is. I also fear that Jessie will be the same way since her first case is as mild as Sammy's first case....we'll have to wait and see with her.

The girls made it through the holidays, thanks to all for their support and care about how they were doing, especially through the holidays. I would have to say the day after Christmas, Dave's birthday, was the toughest for them. There are days, off and on, that reminds them more about their dad and those are the hard days but we manage to pull through them and talk about the memories they have of him. I talk to them and remind them to take these memories as comfort and feel blessed that there were special times to remember. An example about a recent event, Samantha first day back at school after the holidays, there was another child in her class that talked about a trip they just had at Disney World in Florida. Well, of course this made Sammy very sad because it reminded her about her dad and the trip we had last spring. She came home and we talked about it and all I can do is hold her and talk about the fun times during that trip.

I feel so proud of the girls for how well they are trying to deal with this, there are many bumps and ouchies but they had their dad here last year to help them cope better and I know that has helped them. And now they have their angel looking over them. I pray for the girls to continue to be the wonderful sugar and spices that they all are and thanks to everyone for their continued love and support.

My sisters and I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Thanks for visiting our website still. For those of you that dont know dad's birthday was the day after christmas. So that makes this holiday special and a little sad for us. We are thinking about him but still trying to have a good time.

Aly

Just wanted to let you know that Sammy has started the swim team and is off to a good start. This is her first year and she is doing really well! We are all proud of her and she is especially proud of her self for the accomplishment, I think she realizes her potential and knows she's a good swimmer. So we've given Sammy a new nickname, if you see her around don't be shy to call her Fish! she'll probably give you an ornery smile in return.