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I have been contemplating which of my many fond memories to share with everyone here. I have chosen one which brings a smile to my face every time I think about it. I hope it does the same for you.

Being away at college during Kristin’s first couple of years was very difficult for me. As my college friends can attest to, I was a very proud Aunt and treasured the times I could come home to Arizona for vacations and spend time with my nieces and nephew.

One of those favorite times was the Christmas of 1987. I remember my mom gave me the very important task of frosting the Grandma Winnie cookies (an annual tradition in the Wiersma family). I had never done it on my own before, so I was anxious to impress everyone with my developing homemaking abilities. I had also offered to watch Kristin for the day and thought nothing about letting a 14 month old “help” with the frosting task.

Kristin was sitting on the kitchen counter with the cookies and frosting ingredients. I would give her a spoon and also occasionally let her pour in some of the ingredients. Then, I stepped away from the counter for a short time and turned my back to Kristin. In retrospect, not the smartest thing I have ever done, but I didn’t know any better.

I worked furiously frosting and applying candy sprinkles to about 3 dozen cookies before my mom came home. I was excited to present my masterpieces to her. She eyed the first sheet of cookies I had done and had a strange expression on her face. She asked me, “Amy, have you tasted these yet? They look a little…different.” I hadn’t really noticed, but I replied, “No, you go ahead.” She took one bite and didn’t look like she particularly enjoyed the flavor. She then questioned, “How much salt did you put in the frosting?” Feeling a little defensive at this question I replied, “The recipe said a pinch mom, so I put a little pinch in Kristin’s hand and she put it in!” She then moved to the frosting bowl and we observed together that the frosting appeared to be developing tiny holes that the cookies were also developing. It was then that I noticed the salt container open and tipped on its side and remembered clearly that moment I had turned away from the counter. Of course, Kristin was all smiles. She had no idea what trouble she had caused. However, we had to be amazed that she knew at such a young age how to copy what we did. Fortunately, there were plenty of cookies left and after preparing a new batch of frosting we finished the cookies the right way. And they were delicious as usual.