We are home and happy to be here! But what a fun time we had.

We flew into Phoenix without any problem on Wednesday evening. Then we drove up to Williams, AZ, which is the town closest to the Grand Canyon, which was 2.5 hours from Phoenix. We didn't see much of the landscape because it was night but talk about some amazing stars. I don't think I have ever seen that many stars. The car had a sunroof so I just laid back and looked at them. Really cool. We stayed at a holiday inn that night. Thursday we were up at 4:15am to drive up to the Grand Canyon. We wanted to get there well before sunrise at 6:30. The books all said to arrive an hour before sunrise to see all the colors appear. We paid to get into the park ($25 per car for 7 days, too bad we don't have the free senior pass that dad has) and were told where to go by the ranger. Good thing it wasn't far from the entrance because the sky was already starting to turn purple in the east. We got to the lookout called Mather Point and there were 2 or 3 other cars there. So, it's completely dark and I'm walking towards what I think is the canyon, a little nervous after hearing from numerous people about the little girl falling to her death a few days before. I find a rail and start making my way up the path. All of a sudden, I look over the rail and can see this whitish colored rock formation and saw how large/deep it was, and that was when I could only see about 100 feet in front of me because of the darkness. Well, we got onto an outlook and waited for the sunrise. As the minutes went by more people started coming so we moved to a less crowded area. Then the light started to get stronger and you could really see. It was Ah-mazing. The hugeness of it was indescribable. People were taking tons of pictures and it started to get brighter and brighter. Suddenly, the sun popped up over a rock formation and within seconds was too bright to look at. The colors were so cool and the rock layers were very distinctive. But Brett and I kept saying "A river carved this? No way, only God could make it." It was so cool to see something like that, especially since it was my first time ever seeing a sunrise.

After sunrise, we walked around the "Rim Trail" which was a paved trail that went around the rim of the canyon. Brett got adventurous, as expected, and climbed down some slopes to get out on some un-railed outcroppings. I was going to try until he lost his footing and skinned his shins up and scared the crap out of me. But I did follow a "trail" out to an outcropping which was cool once I got out there but I was really freaked out climbing down the trail to get to it.
It was getting a little busy in that area so we got back into the car and drove to the village area where we parked and got back on the rim trail so we could hike up to Hopi Point, which the guide book said was one of the best places in the park for views. We hiked on the rim trail again, this time unpaved and after about 2 hours we got to Hopi Point, which was amazing. We thought we had seen a lot of the canyon from Mather's point but now we couldn't even see Mathers from Hopi and there was still so much canyon. Turned out that the canyon extended another 95 MILES west of where we were standing. So we didn't even scratch the surface. We jumped on the shuttle bus to see some more sights and then headed to the gift shops and the car.
We drove from the Grand Canyon to Williams and then west to the Hoover Dam (bad traffic and not that interesting to be honest) and then up to Vegas. We got in about 4:30 and met up with Lynk, and his friend Scott at New York, New York to watch a good band and hang out. Josh joined us there and then Nancy showed up later. It was an early evening since we had all been up early for either the sunrise or to catch a plane so we went to bed about 11. Friday Brett and I hoofed it down the strip to check out Wynn and stopped a few places along the way. Sarah and Mom - checked out the gandola ride at Venitian, reminded me of when we went all together. Lynk and Scott met up with us at Wynn (Josh was playing poker and Nancy was working). The weather was nice so we went back to the room and I laid out at the pool for a while. Then we did dinner at the buffet at Planet Hollywood (Sarah, we ate there together with Josh when it was still the Alladin, it was called the Spice Market Buffet). It was really good - excellent crab legs and I even had some sushi. Then we went back to NYNY and watched that band again. I played some slots and actually won about $20 on the penny and nickel machines. It got late so Brett and I headed back to the hotel, I played some more slots (lost this time) and went to bed.
Saturday the boys wanted to watch football and bet on some games so Nancy and I went to Bellagio and window shopped in Prade, Gucci and Tiffany. Then we had lunch and looked around the shops in Planet Hollywood. I wanted to play some slots so Nancy and I hit the penny machine. Well, I found one that was doing really good. I actually won $76.00 in one spin. That's 7600 pennies. Talk about excited. And that was off of only $5. I took a picture of the pay ticket and put it as my wallpaper on my cell phone. So I cashed out after winning that, didn't want to risk losing anything.
Nancy and I wanted to go to a cool nightclub but didn't think the boys would want to wait in a line for several hours to get in. So we found a place at Mandalay Bay that was a restaurant that turned into a nightclub at 10:30. So you could have dinner there and then hang out until the nightclub part started. The food was really good, brazillian bbq - yummy. I got a Rum Jungle drink with 160 proof rum but was afraid to drink it so Josh had mine as well as his!! Josh left after dinner and we waited for the club action to start. I was interested in seeing what they were planning on doing with this rope ladder that they strung up from the ceiling over the bar/catwalk. Well once the club started going, the dancers got into their cages that hung over the tables (we were kicked out of our table and were sitting on a couch by this time) and started dancing. A lady wearing very little clothing started dancing on a stage outside the club to get people to come inside. And the dancers in the cages and on the catwalk were pretty much just wearing bikinis and neon colored knee socks. Then another lady was walking on the bar, pouring drinks from the bottle into guys mouths. I still think they should have had a muscular guy doing the same thing but they didn't. So, back to the rope ladder. During one song, two dancers climbed the ladder, hooked some rope onto a safety belt and jumped from the ceiling. The ropes were actually bungy cords and they would bounce up and down and do flips and the splits and everything. Then another lady got onto a zip line and zipped up and down the length of the bar 20 feet over everyone's head. Then there was 2 dancers who swung on a swing and hung upside down and did some amazing stuff. Nancy and I did some dancing and then called it a night. Played some more slots back at the hotel (made $5 from $3 on a penny machine) and went to bed at 2.
Sunday Lynk and Nancy left early for the airport and Brett, Josh and I just packed up the room and headed to Bellagio to pick out a gift for Tracy. I'm glad that she liked her lounge suit and jewelry, I thought they were really nice. So we left Vegas at noon, thinking we had plenty of time to get to Phoenix by our 6:15 flight. Wrong. It took us an hour to get through the Hoover Dam area, which was only 10 miles or so. Then the desert road was beautiful driving but slow since it was no passing for most of it. Then there was an accident on the highway once we got into Phoenix so my expert navigational skills and map reading got us around that to the rental car place. Then the gas pump that Brett pulled up to didn't work and we had to wait for another one to open up. We finally get to the rental car return and it's 5:30, so Brett gives me a bag and tells me to get on the shuttle bus while he returned the car. The stupid escalator wasn't working so I had to wait for the elevator. Then I get on the bus but get freaked out when the bus leaves without Brett because I didn't know the flight number or anything. I call Brett and he tells me to catch the plane without him so at least one of us would make it back. I get into the airport, run, pulling my bag behind me to the counter where I tell the lady who is at the end of the huge check-in line that I need to get through the line fast to make my plane. She said there was no way I could make the flight and to wait in line to get re-booked on the next flight out. I'm crying by this time because I can't find Brett, don't know which line to get into (re-book line, full-service line, self-serve line.....) and I'm upset knowing that my flight is leaving in 15 minutes and I won't be on it and see the kids that night. Brett shows up and talks to the lady who wasn't helpful for him either. We get into the full-service/rebooking line and start asking about flights going into Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Louisville, anything that was within driving distance to Indy. Everything was either booked or left already. So the lady books us on the first flight to Indy which was 9am, arriving in Indy at 3:45. She asks for our id and my drivers license wasn't in my wallet!!! I had given it to Brett the night before when we went to the club and hadn't gotten it back. So, even if the lady had helped me cut in line before Brett was there, I wouldn't have been able to get a boarding pass without my id, which was with Brett who was still at the rental car place. Everything was working against us getting on that flight home that night. After we got settled down, we talked and figured that there was some reason we didn't know about for us not to be on that flight. I guess either someone else needed our seats more or maybe there was going to be problems with the plane or with our ride from the airport or something. God didn't want us on that flight and we couldn't do anything about it.
So we find a hotel shuttle and stay at an Econo Lodge in a very nasty area. We hoof it to the gas station down the block, looking for something for dinner. Nothing looked good. Then we saw a roach coach parked across the street. Now, I can't read spanish but I recognized Burrito and ordered 2 to go. We ate at the hotel and I have to say that it was the best burrito I have ever had. So, even though our whole day had been one frustration after the other, God still supplied us with a clean, cheap hotel and a hot dinner. Yea.
Flight home this morning was uneventful, thank goodness. We're very happy to be back and thankful for all the help our parents gave us with the kids. And I'm very glad that we are all traveling to Cancun together this time!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is Kylie's latest question:

"Why did Darth Vader have to die??"


Ok, first off she has never seen Star Wars. But we did have the SW stamps this summer and she has seen the figurines at the Children's Museum. So she knows who DV is and that he was a bad guy. So, we're at the post office yesterday, waiting in a long line. She sees some SW stamps on the wall and yells for everyone to hear "Look Mommy, Darth Vader!!!". The 30something guy behind me raises his eyebrows in an impressed fashion. Then she pops the big question "Why did DV have to die?". And the guy behind me laughs to himself while I try to explain that DV was a bad guy and that's what happens to bad guys in movies. Then I get the "Why was he a bad guy?". And I laughed and said she needs to talk to her Uncle Josh to get his opinion on that!



Things are good here. Matthew is now walking and walking everywhere! He really likes his new found independence. He has 9 teeth, 7 which he got this summer. He's talking some, say Mama, Dada, Ball, bird and eye. He can point to his nose and sometimes to his belly or eye. He loves playing with Kylie's Cars and she doesn't seem to mind. I guess it's been long enough since she loved them that she can share without a fit.

Kylie is ready for school to start, which will after Labor Day. She will be going two days a week this time and I think that's great for her. And she has several friends from last years class in her new class. She is really into Hello Kitty and My Little Pony. I think one of those will probably be her b-day party. She starts ballet on Monday. I think that she will like that better then gymnastics. She sits so long while waiting her turn at gymnastics that it gets boring for her and frustrating for me. With ballet, she will be doing stuff all the time, following the teacher and things. So we'll see how it goes.

Brett is interviewing for the head coaching position at Chapel Hill 7th and 8th grade center. He will probably get it if he wants it. It's a shorter season then the high school and less stress. I told him that he had my support. It will keep him in the wrestling system for a few more years which will help when Matthew gets older. And he'll be happy to help out some kids again.

That's about it for us.

So I'm still working out. I have lost 10+ lbs since April. I went to Gap on Monday to spend my b-day gc from Sarah and actually had to ask the worker to get me a smaller size in something. How fun is that?? I usually work out 5 days a week. 30 mins on the elliptical (about 3.5 miles) and 30-40 mins on the weights. I'm looking better and feeling great. I would like to lose another 4-7 lbs but will see how it goes after I hit my goal weight which is 4 more lbs.

Some of our friends from Sunday School, daughter was stillborn on Saturday. Very, very sad. They found out on Thursday that she had died. A, the mother, was past her due date but wanted to wait to go into labor naturally, not be induced. Then I guess there was some type of complication that caused the baby to die. How awful is that? She had that baby living in her for 40+ weeks, felt it move, was all ready for her to be born and then BAM, the baby is dead. So she was induced on Saturday and Baby Girl was born that afternoon. They are having a memorial service on Saturday. Our small group is in charge of bringing fruit type side dishes. I'm making a 5 cup salad. I don't know what to say to A and C but want to be there for support. We did get a nice card and a little votive candle holder that looks like stone. It says "I am with you always" with a cross on it. I thought it would be a nice something to have to remind that that God is with them during this unimaginably hard time.
This baby dying really hit me. A and I aren't super close but I know her well. And I know she's a good mom to her other 3 kids. And that poor little baby, dies before she even lives. I know God knows what He's doing but man, the hurt, confusion and pain must be unreal. I broke down in tears several times this past weekend, just thinking about what they must be going through. Most of the time I can't even come up with words to pray, I just let the Spirit speak for me. And I hug Kylie and Matthew and thank God that I have them.

Speaking of the kids - Matthew is doing good. He had a great b-day party. I made 2 turtle cakes that turned out well. He got some nice presents too. Mom and dad were very big helps. He's not walking yet or talking either. That does worry me sometimes, the talking more then the walking. But most moms of boys that I know say it takes a long time. And since he's a second child, Kylie does lots of talking for him. I'm sure he's ok, but I'm waiting for something to start with him. He does cover his eyes and plays peek-a-boo now. And he'll wave but with his whole arm so you don't really always know if he's waving or if he's flailing around. But he knows how to work Kylie's Dora powerwheel. He pushes that button down and takes off. He doesn't go far, only 6 inchs or so at a time before he lets go of the button but he sure has fun with it!

Kylie is busy with camp, Gymboree, gymnastics and ballet right now. She is so cute in ballet, I just love it. And she seems to like it too. I think we'll be dropping Gymboree for her this fall. She'll be in school 2 days, gymnastics and probably ballet too so something has to go.

Well, that's about. I'm beat so I'm going to bed. :)

Cha-cha-changes. That's whats going on now in my life! I finally did it. I got LASIK surgery on my eyes. It was kinda a fast process. I was planning on waiting till August when our vacations were over and dad was able to come to help. But I wanted the eval done now so I could get an idea of the prices. So I went for the eval on Monday and they said I was a perfect candidate for LASIK, not the more painful PRK like Josh had. So I told them that I wanted it done in August and explained why. Turns out that you only have to stay out of the water for 1 week instead of two, which was a major bonus for our long weekends at Kings Island and other swim time fun this summer. And they had appointments available for the next day (they lose money by not having the dr in surgery) so they gave me a $1000 discount!! So that sealed the deal.
Sharon drove me and the kids up there on Tuesday for the surgery. She and Dick hung out at the mall with the kids while I was having the procedure. They re-examined my eyes and then I waited and watched some other people have the surgery done. They had an all glass wall in the surgery room so you could watch all the other people ahead of you having their eyes done. That was weird. I watched for about 30 seconds and decided I didn't want to see anymore!
The actual surgery went very well. They gave me stress balls to hold on to, which I used! And I had a Valium about 30 mins before but it hadn't kicked in yet. Turns out its more to force you to rest afterwards, not relax beforehand. They numbed my eyes with eye drops and then taped my eyelashes up. Then they took these metal things that pried my eyes open. That kinda hurt a little bit. Next they put this plastic thing with a circle cut into it over my eyeball and suctioned my eye. That was uncomfortable. The whole time I'm looking at a red light. Then it goes black (they warn you that it will happen), then you see the light again. Then the laser starts and you hear a click, click, click as it's zapping your eyeball. Then all of the sudden the flap gets put back and the red dot is in focus. Then they do the same to the other eye and then you're done. I sat up and could see!! It was watery, like i was looking under water but I could still see.
Sharon drove me home and took the kids back to her house for the night. I slept for 2 hours, ate dinner and watched some TV. I could already see better but knew it would improve overnight. So this morning, I woke up and the first thing I saw was the ceiling fan - in focus!!! It was crazy. I went to my follow-up appt at 8 and I'm seeing 20/20 already.It's amazing. I'm so glad I had it done.
I have a f/u appt next Wednesday and another one in a few months. Then I just need to keep up with my yearly eye exams to keep the warranty intact. Very cool.

Thursday morning. Kylie is still sleeping, my early bird son was up at 6:30. But at least he sleeps through the night without making a word so I can't complain.
Working on weaning M. Last week was rough but this week is better. He was screaming when I would hold him without nursing him before his naps but now he fusses until I put him to bed. Then he cries for aminute and falls asleep. Not too bad. We'll be finished on his b-day, which will make me said but also very proud for going a full year!
So, some crazy kid killed 32 people at the VT campus on Monday. And 20 some injuried. How does this stuff happen? His teachers knew he was deeply troubled and reported him to the police and counseling services. His classmates called him a shooter, knowing that he could be a school shooter. And now it's found that he mailed a package of videotape, pictures and letters to NBC news - a manifesto. The whole situation is very scary.

So, I started working out. That's right, I joined a gym. And, get this, I like it. Strange, isn't it? It feels good to take that hour to myself. I actually got up this morning, Saturday, at 6:45 to get to the gym when it opened at 7. Amazing. Anyway, the first time I did the elliptical machine, my legs were burning at 2 mins and I was DONE at 10mins. That was Tuesday night. Then on Wednesday morning I tried again for 11 mins. But I was feeling good at 8 mins so I increased it to 12. Then I was still feeling good at 11 mins so I increased it to 13 mins. Long story short, I ended up going 30 minutes!!!! And have done 30 mins, increasing my speed each time since then. This morning I went 2.8 miles in 30 mins. Then I did my abs and legs on the weight machines. I didn't do all the leg exercises because I needed to be back by 8:15 for Brett to leave for wrestling. I'm going to go back tomorrow after church and work out with Ann, who also is a member of Cardinal Fitness.
Last night we had Lynk, Nancy and Alex over. We just hung out for a few hours. Alex doesn't always play good with Kylie because of the age difference. At one point Kylie told me that Alex told her that she didn't want to play with her and that got Kylie upset. Lynk got mad at Alex and told her to apologize. I asked Kylie this morning if Alex did and she said no. Oh well, they seemed to be having fun together after that so maybe they got over their issues. I did shorten Alex's pj's while they were here, they were hanging on her! Only took a minute and looked much better.
Ann and Ted are coming over this evening for pizza and Grey's Anotomy. Brett can't believe that Ted wants to watch it and I think he's going to try to talk him out of it today at wrestling! I don't think so!

So I joined Cardinal Fitness yesterday. They were having a 1/2 off enrollment fee special so I decided to join. I went last night for the first time after the kids went to bed. I was nervous! I didn't want to screw up the machines and get laughed at. How silly is that? Anyways, I started off on dad's favorite machine - the elliptical. It's not easy at all but I did 10 mins! I hope to add 30 seconds each time to work up to 30 mins. Then I did the weight machines. I worked on triceps, biceps and abs. Going back this morning after Matthew's nap. I'll do the elliptical and work on abs and legs. There are two gyms near my house (I can go to any location), one on 10th street by the church and one in Avon by Walmart. I'm going to try out Avon today but if it's busy or the kids area is really busy, then I'll try the 10th street location tomorrow. Maybe they won't be as busy during the day. And it's a smaller gym so they don't offer classes like aerobics, yoga or spinning. But they have probably 25 ellipticals, 20 treadmills, stair-climbers, bikes and some things that I don't know what they are.

Things are going well here. Raining all day. Matthew slept like complete crap last night. He's been waking up about midnight the past few nights. And then he also woke up at 3 something and I refused to go get him. He wasn't crying, just whining every few minutes. Finally, I closed my bedroom door and turned off the monitor. I knew that if he really needed me, I would hear him. I think I feel back asleep about 4:30. And I think Matthew whined until he was ready to wake up at 6:45. Hopefully we won't have a repeat tonight. I'm going to give him some Motrin before bed in case he is teething.

Decided on a poem for M's invite:
A year has gone by
And it's been fun
Come celebrate with us
Because Matthew is one.

Kylie is doing well. She will be done with preschool soon. I think she only have 5 or 6 more weeks to go. She'll miss it but I have other things for her to do this summer. She's enrolled in a summer camp 3 days a week for 2 hours a day. She'll be going to 4 different weeks of it which I think she will really like. She's in gymnastics still, just re-enrolled for summer. And I think we're doing an inexpensive pre-ballet class in Broadripple with J and her daughter.

My friend Sara will be moving back in less then a month! I'm so excited. They haven't sold their house yet and are worried about that. Speaking of house selling, Brett has been talking to a realtor about doing a fair market value evaluation on our house. We're busting at the seams here. It would be good to move but I would want to stay in Avon. Close to church, Brett's work, all our stores (who wants to drive 20 mins to get to Target, which is the drive from Brownsburg??). And I'm very open to an existing home too. There are always some that are open in new neighborhoods. But that's a while off still.

Well, that's about it. Wish me luck at the gym. I would like to be at my target weight by August. That's my goal. So now it's in writing so I'll have to work at it. I think I'll start WW again but not pay for it. I can get the newest books on e-bay for $15. And I have the fancy calculator from before, which I can use as a journal also. But I do need to get closer to weaning Matthew before I start it for sure.
Speaking of weaning M, it didn't go so well last night for our first attempt. I gave him a sippy cup of milk instead of nursing him before his afternoon nap. He scream and wiggled and cryed until I would nurse him. So today I'm going to warm up the milk first and maybe add some breast milk to make it taste more familiar for him. Although he's taking the sippy cup of milk at meals sometimes. Hmmm, he might not be an easy weaner. Which is too bad since I'm ready to be done!

Hello from parkersburg WV. It's nice enough town, from what I saw when we drove it. The kids did very well in the car, Matthew had a rough last 30mins or so but did good other then that. We're staying at the historic Blennerhasset hotel. It's a beautiful old hotel that was recently remodeled. Brett was the "guest of the day" so his name was up on a sign at the front desk and he got a free drink at dinner (which I took since he is at dinner with clients). Matthew napped for an hour so K and I watch some little house and relaxed. After he woke up., we explored the hotel and hung out in the library. Kylie likes the chess pieces but we played Shrek instead of chess with them. Matthew just crawled around exploring things. I think I made the staff a little nervous because they kept asking if we needed anything every 15 mins or so.

We did have dinner, without Brett, at the hotel resturant called Spats. Very fancy, I felt underdressed but that's why I made the reservations for 5:30, it was pretty empty. I had a yummy iceburg lettuce wedge salad and chicken tortiallini entree. Kylie had chicken fingers. Then K had a "parfait" for dessert and I had creme brulee. It was very nice and the waiter and hostess told me several times how cute and well-behaved the kids were. Good thing they did well or I would have had to have room service (it's raining so I can't go to any resturants nearby).

After dinner I wanted to give the kids a bath and there was a huge whirlpool tub in our room so I decided to join them for their bath. The water was only about 5 inches deep but it covered some of the jets so I thought I could push the whirlpool button and have bubbles come out. Well, no. The water shot out of the uncovered jets, which Kylie was sitting in front of and Matthew was looking towards. So the water hit Kylie in the back and side and sprayed Matthew in the face. So both kids start screaming and Matthew didn't settle down for the rest of the bath. Then Kylie got the hotel soap in her eyes, which stung, so she's screaming "I need a washcloth, it stings, it STINGS!", while I'm trying to get her a clean washcloth while holding a crying, slippery baby on my lap. We won't try that again.

The next day we drove Brett to work so I would have the car. We went back to the hotel and had breakfast, then put M down for a nap. He slept 2 1/2 hours while Kylie watched TV and played and I read a maginzine and planned out our day. After Matthew woke up, we went to the next town to a doll museaum. We took the 5 minute museaum tour and Kylie played in the play area. I got her a nice doll that wasn't took expensive and got Matthew a stuffed puppy. Then we left for the Fenton Glass Factory.

I was looking forward to this tour because it was listed as one of the top 10 factory tours in the US. After driving 45 mins to the factory, the lady there told me that kids under the age of 2 aren't allowed. Crap. Now, I had looked this up on the Parkersburg.org website and read their brochure and several write-ups in tourist magizines and NOTHING said anything about age restrictions. I was not happy. So, off to the swiss chocolateir. Well, the kids fell asleep in the car so we didn't stop there. Instead, I parked in a church parking lot, read a book and waited for them to wake up. Which they did so then we found a park to play at until Brett needed to be picked up.

The drive home was long but pretty good. matthew wasn't doing good for about 30 mins but then I nursed him (in the car, while he's straped into his seat, that's a fun thing to do). and he fell asleep. So it was quiet after that. It was a fun time, the hotel was great and it was nice to spend the time with Brett instead of having him be out of town.

Tuesday morning. Matthew is sleeping, Kylie is at school.

Things are good here. Busy lately. Last week I drove to mom and dad's for a MK party. My director, Cindy, came too. That was great because she got to explain all the marketing parts of the business while I did the class part. The kids were ok, Matthew kept trying to go to sleep but the ladies were so loud they would wake him up. Dad took care of Kylie and got Matthew to stay asleep. and I got 2 bookings off it so I'll be back in April and May. I think a couple of the ladies are considering doing the business too so that's wonderful. Mom wanted to do it but it's not worth it if she doesn't have parties and she doesn't think she can physically handle the parties and work full time. So maybe after she retires. But I hope one or two of the other ladies will consider it.

Matthew got sick while we were there. He had been battling a sinus infection but when I took him to the dr before I left, she said just to let it ride out. But then he started having fevers up in Chicago so I called the dr on the way home and got him in on Friday. He had an ear infection. Poor baby. Then after having the medicine for a few days, I noticed that he broke out in hives on sunday. Great. Back to the dr on Monday and he got a new prescription and is now alergic to penicilin, just like Kylie and I. And his ear infection is now in both ears. Can't wait for spring!!

Kylie had a fever too but seemed to be fine after some tylenol. I put her hair in braids yesterday and she looked very cute! I'll have to have mom teach me to do french braids when she is a little older. She loved it when I took them out and her hair was all kinky. Reminded me of Sarah's when she was little.

Dick's b-day was this past weekend, 70. Ray, Chris, Doug and Louise came in from Nebraska on Friday to surprise him. He wasn't very surprised but did appreciate it. Then he had a surprise party on Saturday night and wasn't surprised about that either! But he was very surprised when Sharon gave him his present, a new shitzu puppy. She is super cute and very well tempered. Kylie got to pick her name and picked Irish. Matthew crawled all over the place chasing her and Irish let him catch her most of the time. They will have lots of fun together.

I think we're going to West Virginia with Brett next week. He has to go for business and wants to take us along. And my MK conference is next weekend, Brett will be leaving for Denver with the hockey trip that weekend too.

Starting to plan Matthew's bday party. Brett wants Colts but I want turtles. I need to start designing his invites and figuring out the guest list. I might do a playdate party for some of his friends before his real party, like I did for Kylie. That would keep the guest list down. Needs to be a nice day out so we can put people outside. I'm not cooking lunch for everything like mom and I did for K, too expensive and too much work. Maybe subs from subway or something. Or maybe just cake and ice cream. But won't a turtle cake be so cool?? Much better then a Colts cake.

Monday afternoon. M is sleeping, K is snacking.

Things are good here. Weekend was fine, not too exciting. We went to art class this morning. Kylie does that while Matthew plays in the open gym with the other kids. A lady who is M's gymboree class was there, her name is Leah and I like her a lot. I think she's going to be my new friend. It would be good to have a boy Matthew's age for playdates and stuff.

My best friend, Sara, signed on a house in Brownsburg yesterday! They found one they like and it will be ready in 6 weeks. So she's very busy with Realtors, movers, and all that stuff right now. But soon she'll be home!

Kylie just peeled her own clementine! She used her toy screwdriver to break the peel and then peeled it. She's actually peeled two of them now. She did this all on her own while I was putting M down for a nap. She is a genius.

Brett is working a lot this week. He has a training class that he's teaching that will keep him busy. And this weekend he is going to Maryland to see his friend, Theresa, who got paralyzed last year. A bunch of his old co-workers are going to spend time with her. Don't know what I'll do this weekend. Probably go to late church. Maybe invite Ann over to watch Grey's Anatomy. That's a good idea.

MK is doing good. I've gotten several decent sized re-orders the past two weeks. I have mom's party next week and another silent party too. But I need to get a few more booked so I can get busier as spring/summer approach. Cindy will be coming to mom's party to give me my necklace/earring/ring set that I won last year. And I won another prize too that I need to pick out. One of my clients won a gold and garnet ring for having a big party in November so I'll pick that ring up for her while I'm there. Gotta get on the phone and make some calls.

Well, Kylie is done with her snack and wants to play Cinderella. So, gotta go!

We bought a new computer! I love it, flat screen that's big - 19inches. And it has Window's Vista, which seems to be pretty fancy.
Anyways, with all the transferring of data from Dick's laptop to the portable hard drive to the new computer, I managed to find that blog that I had written for Christmas. So, here it is:


Christmas 2006. What a busy and great weekend. We started off by driving up to my parents on Thursday evening. They moved a few months ago so this was a new house for Brett to go too ( I was there with the kids at Thanksgiving). We made good time and the kids were good in the car. Josh and Grandma were there in addition to my parents. We just spent the evening relaxing and getting ready for the weekend. Matthew and Kylie were both sick. Matthew was just recovering from RSV and a sinus/ear infection. Kylie had a very bad cough also, actually had a chest x-ray the day before to rule out pneumonia.

We were worried about Sarah making it in. Her flight had a lay-over in Denver, which was snowed in with a terrible blizzard. But she got her flight changed and ending up flying direct from Portland to O’hare. What an answer to prayer.

Friday - Brett and I left the kids with GG and Grandma and went shopping. Brett broke his “rules” by taking me. Since he hadn’t been to Huntley before, I showed him where some nice shops were as well as all the chain stores. We went to Target, DSW shoe warehouse, Dicks and some other places. I wanted a pair of sherpa boots and picked some out at DSW. They were the last ones in that size so Brett bought them for me. Major rule break!! Apparently, my slow walking, browsing and shoe buy cause me to only get a “C” grade from Brett. Last minute shopping is too stressful for me so I’ll happily leave it up to Brett!

Sarah got in a little late but it was so great to see her. We’ve been talking weekly and it’s helped our relationship a lot. She’s got such great dreams and experiences. Her life is pretty exciting. Josh seems to be doing good too. He is great with my kids and seems to be happy with his life. I hope both of them find love soon. Not that they need it to be happy, I think they’ve both figured out to be happy on their own. So now they are ready to share that. Kinda mushy, let me get back to the story…

Friday night we didn’t do much except go to bed early. Matthew isn’t sleeping well since he’s sick and wants to sleep with us. Which is fine but the bed is smaller so Brett and I are hugging the sides while Matthew takes the middle. Not comfy at all. I did get a book called “Healthy sleep habits, happy child” and I worked on reading it this weekend. I have so little time to read during the week so I tried to take advantage of some downtime to read it. I wasn’t the most social I could have been but if this book helps me get M to sleep, then our whole family will be better. I think I’m getting boarder-line depressed so I gotta get something fixed with this sleep problem. It’s not fair to get angry at Kylie for little things because I’m tired. But again, this is off the subject……

Saturday - Brett went shopping by himself to finish up. I stayed in to take care of the kids and stuff. M took good naps, right on schedule, according to my book. The Roberts arrived in the late afternoon. They had a tire blowout in Indy and had to get a new tire put on. Thank God they arrived safely. We went to church at Willow Creek. Man, they know how to put on a show. Our seats were in the second row, front and center. They had gymnasts hanging for the ceiling, great music, dancing, acting, angels, Mary, shepherds, the whole deal. And the lesson was good too. We were so close that I could smile at Bill Hybels and know that he saw. Kylie had a great time too. She was in the 3 year old room which was a huge open room. She had to climb up a slide to get in (security to slow some crazy person down if they tried to get in). She made a cute craft with stickers, watched a “Mary and Baby Jesus” movie and got to be Mary in some activity. She really enjoyed the Christmas story this year. We played “Mary, Joseph and Jesus” all month. M was in the nursery and wasn’t happy unless he was being walked around. But at least I didn’t get called out to get him.

Sunday - Christmas Eve. I went shopping with Sarah. She got something from Carters for M. Then we went to the grocery store and got Starbucks. It was really nice to be with just her for even just a little while. I’d love to go back to Portland to visit. It’s pretty hard with 2 kids now though. Maybe we can do another girls weekend in Vegas or somewhere when M gets older and I can leave him. We played some games today too. Pop culture Trivial Pursuit. It ended in a tie. But it was fun! Then it was dinner (yummy) and presents! Kylie loved passing them out for a few minutes but then got bored. Matthew was ok for a while but then got pretty fussy so Brett and I were going back and forth to his room to get him to sleep. Kinda a pain, we missed a lot of the present opening but that’s ok. Here is what we got:

Kylie - clothes, Nike shoes from Sarah, the famous Pony Castle from Josh (more on that later), a baby doll from mom and dad
Matthew - a circus train from mom and dad, Thomas the Train set from Josh, clothes and shoes from Sarah, clothes from GG
Brett - camera lens, Ipod car adapter, 88 jersey, DVD burner
We got a beautiful wooden clock and cross from my Grandma. Her twin brother, Reuben, made it for us.
Mary - frying pan from Josh, 2 pairs for yoga pants from Sarah, 3 sweaters from Mom and dad, my MK luggage, boots and a beautiful circle necklace from Brett, pink colts shirt from Brett.

Let me fill you in on the Pony Castle. Kylie liked playing with a My Little Pony castle over the summer at my friend Betsy’s house. Ever since, she has said she wants one. We were giving her ponies when she would go poop on the potty so she had plenty of ponies but wanted the castle. Anyways, every time anyone would ask what she wanted for Christmas, she would quickly answer “a pony castle”. That was the only thing she would say she wanted (sometimes a kitchen too). So, my family was asking for suggestions for Christmas presents and I told them that K wanted this castle. Josh said he would handle it. So, K is thinking that Santa was bringing it but we all knew she would get it on Christmas eve. But we also knew it had to be the last gift or she wouldn’t want to open up other gifts. So we kept it for last. It was a huge box. She tore the paper just a little bit and knew what it was. She SCREAMED “It’s a pony castle!!!!!!!!” and tore the rest of the paper off. Not only was it the castle but it was the deluxe so it came with 3 ponies. She had lots of fun playing with it and I know it will be played with daily for a long time.

After opening presents, K went to bed

Christmas morning - Up early. Santa came! Kylie was busy opening more presents and got some nice things. Santa left a card saying that K had a kitchen at home and M had a train table.

We had a really hard time getting Kylie to leave. We'll have to remember that next year, maybe leave in the early afternoon instead of first thing in the morning. Then we drove to D&S's for presents and dinner. It was different for K this time because everyone opens at the same time. But she got some great things too. Matthew got a Discovery Dome. K got a baby doll, crib and some other things. I got a cross necklace, Victoria's secret Pink sweatsuit. D&S also gave Brett and I each money in our stocking. A lot. So I bought some clothes and a Coach purse with mine. Love it!

Sharon made dinner for everyone too. So there was our family, John, Tonya (she's pregnant, due in July) and Alex, Art, Alicia, Jordan and Christian. It was good to see everyone. Sharon hasn't made dinner like that in a long time so I think people liked that.

So, that was Christmas!

Hi. It's March 1st. How has that happened?? Winter is almost over, thank goodness. We're all ready to spend some time outside. Went on a playdate this morning, we went to see Val and Nicholas and Ella. Ella is almost 3 months old and has been very fussy so Val enjoyed having someone to talk with. Matthew crawled around and Kylie and Niko played pretty well together. He was the "pusher" but he hasn't' pushed K in months so I feel better about getting together with them.
Then we went to Gymboree, Matthew had a class to make-up. His teacher said he's about ready to move up into the next level. That is strange to think about. He's about the same age as Kylie was when she started. I'm going to call the library to see if they have story time too. Kylie started that at 10 months and it was good for us (my first mommy and baby activity). Shocking to think that Matthew will be 10 months very soon.
Kylie got her class picture in yesterday. It's funny to hear her talk about all the kids. Levi sits next to her at lunch and calls her clementines oranges. Camille and Alexis are her best friends. Meagan and Nyla play together. Connor gets in trouble for running. And Ty pretended to be a monster so Kylie and Camille hid from him. He got put in time-out for that.
Speaking of K, I have some funny stories to write down. Last week she put my high heels on and one of my fancy nightgowns and was saying that she was "beet-i-ful". I couldn't understand what she was saying and she said "Like the song on your I-pod". Then I understood that she was talking about the song "You're Beautiful". Then she started singing the song "You're beautiful, you're beautiful. It's true. I saw your face and I don't know what to do." Can you believe that? I don't even listen to that song much but she loves it. That and Ice Ice Baby.
So another funny story - this morning she called Matthew - Math. I asked her "What did you call him?" She said "Math. Like how Owen calls Sophia, Soph". So she' calling him Math now. Wonder how long that will last.
Currently, while I'm typing this, she has emptied out my lingerie drawer and has put all the pretty Victoria's Secret things over her head, like a necklace. And she wants to go to a restaurant to show how "beat-i-ful" she is. And I can't find the stupid video camera. Grrr.

Hello. Monday afternoon. Kylie and Matthew are playing together in the living room so I thought I would catch up for a second.
Our weekend was good and relaxing. Now that wrestling is done, we actually had a Saturday to get some stuff done. Brett took K to the store and I took M on errands with me. Easier to get them done if you're just with one child. Tom and Megan came over on Saturday night to hang out for a while. I doubt they had much fun, we're not exciting people and just sat around and talked.

I did go to my friend Sara's house last week. Left after M's 9 month appt, which went well. He is in the 10% for weight and 50% for height. The 6 hour drive was long but the kids did very well so I can't complain. I am looking forward to having them old enough to eat in the car, stopping for 45 mins for gas, dinner and bathroom breaks drove me crazy! But it was good to see Sara. She is doing ok but is very ready to move. Nick works tons of hours, he had a meeting on Wednesday night that was from 6-midnight. He got home at 10:30pm because he just left. But he did accept the transfer so they will be moving back here about April or so. They're coming down this week to look for houses.
Kylie and Owen played pretty well together. But their gender differences were very obvious this time. Owen wanted to shoot things and Kylie wanted to put his pirates to bed. Matthew and Sophie did good too, she is growing like a weed. She weighs more the Matthew now and is 2 months younger. Her skin is so pretty and just perfect.
Kylie had her parent/teacher conference last week. It went very well. The teachers did a formal evaluation of her, which she passed with flying colors. She can tell you her first and last name and age. She can identify body parts, stand on one foot, walk tiptoe and identify different objects. She can draw a circle, horizontal and vertical line (if you have a picture for her to see). And she can change a word into pural or -ing. Her teachers said that she listens well, talks clearly, makes friends easily, and that the other kids are drawn to her. She plays alone and with others and participates in discussion time and group activities. They wrote "Kylie is a sweet little girl. She is quick to learn. We enjoy having her in class. She seems to enjoy school." And Kylie knows the Pledge of Allegiance! Who knew???
Well, that's about it for now.

Yesterday was Derek's funeral. It was very hard but we made it through. I thought the services were going to be at our church, Chapel Rock, but they were at another church, Chapel Hill UMC. We got there at 4:30 for the viewing and the funeral was at 7:00. There were a lot of wrestlers already there and many more came later. There were two pews reserved for the team and they were squished in them.
The line for the viewing was long when we got there and got even longer, estimated wait time at the end was 2 hours. The church was packed, standing room only. Derek touched a lot of lives. One of his teachers spoke, also a co-worker. His 4 best friends each talked for a few minutes too. Alan also spoke, it was hard to listen to him. He made it through to almost the end without breaking down. Then they played a country song and showed a video of pictures of Derek. That's when everyone lost it. The family was crying hard and hugging, the wrestlers were hanging their heads and sobbing. Brett and I were just holding each other with tears running down our faces. The minister then spoke and he did a good job. He talked about how the family and friends would need comfort in the upcoming months. And he offered an invitational at the end. I prayed hard that God would open some hearts and perhaps someone would accept Him.
Afterwards, we went to dinner at McGilvery's with the other coaches. We were all starving since we hadn't eaten any dinner. It was good to talk to everyone. We came up with some ideas to memorialize Derek.
So this morning, I was thinking about things and got the idea to write Coach Dungy and tell him about Derek. So I wrote this letter:

Dear Mr. Dungy,

I am writing you today to tell you about a special young man, Derek Beall. I've know Derek for seven years, my husband has been his wrestling coach throughout junior high and high school. Derek was a co-captain of the Ben Davis wrestling team, member of the Indiana Wrestling Coaches All State Academic Team (one of only three Marion County kids), member of the National Honor society and was working on finishing his Eagle scout requirements. He also was a very big Colts fan. His MySpace page has Peyton Manning all over it and he always wore his Joseph Addai jersey on Blue Friday!

Tragically, Derek took his own life on February 16th. I have been friends with Derek's mother, Diane. We always sit with each other during the wrestling meets, cheering the team on. I visited with Diane this weekend and she told me that during a time like this there is a fine line between blaming God and digging deep into her faith to get her through this.

I know you lost your son James and your faith in God has helped you during that time. I also know that you are a very busy man. But I was writing to see if you had a moment to write a note to Diane and her surviving son, Justin. Maybe you could share how your Christian faith helped you cope with the loss of James. I think it would really help her at this time.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. Enclosed is a copy of Derek's obituary so you can read what a wonderful young man he was. Below is Diane's contact information.

Thanks again,




Mary Nabb


I don't know if he'll do anything with it but it would be great if he did contact Diane somehow.



Well, there are other things in my life right now. K's parent/teacher conference is today. We'll get an update on how she is doing and what she needs to work on. M has his 9 month appt tomorrow. After that, we're driving to Detroit to see my friend Sara for a few days. I'm looking forward to that. It's a long trip but I've only been up there once so I feel like I need to go again. It's looking good for her moving back in the next few months too.

I guess that's about it for now.

Sunday afternoon. Matthew is sleeping, Kylie is playing and Brett is at the store.

CP placed 5th yesterday. We were happy with that. He showed a lot of heart just getting out there at all after Derek's death. After all, Derek was his workout partner all through high school and his teammate for 7 years. CP said he didn't sleep well on Friday and seem sluggish Saturday morning. Anyway, he lost his first match, didn't really wrestle the first period. But he won against MD big and then beat Carmel in triple overtime. That was exciting. I know it wasn't what his goal was but he had a lot going against him with his bad knee this year, re injuring it in January and then Derek.

It was a nice day of wrestling yesterday. The kids stayed all day and night with Dick and Sharon. So I didn't need to worry. It was crazy to use my breast pump in the bathroom, not very cozy but it worked. Brett had to carry it back and forth from the equipment bag since coolers were not allowed in the stands. I wonder if anyone wondered what was in that Ziploc bag!

Church was this morning. We worked in the nursery during first service. There wasn't anything about Derek in the bulletin but it may have already been printed beforehand. They may have announced it after service but we weren't there so I don't know. Brett did bring it up during prayer requests and couldn't even get the first sentence out before he started to cry. He hasn't really thought much about it, he's been trying to stay focused on wrestling for the kids. But today it's really hitting him. I burned the pictures from Derek's senior night onto a CD so Brett is at the store now, making a 8x10 of it to give to Diane. We're going over there today to pay our respects. Brett called her to see if it was OK and said he started to cry as soon as she answered the phone. She said we could come over anytime, that there were a lot of people over today. Brett is going over to Coach's house after the kids go to bed to help him write the eulogy. Coach took the Ben Davis wrestling "torch" that we used to give to the next captain at the end of the year awards banquet and is going to have it used in a floral arrangement for the funeral. The next few days are going to be very hard for everyone.
That's about it for now.

What a morning. Brett called at 8:00 to tell me that one of his wrestlers, Derek Beall, committed suicide last night. It is so tragic. Derek was such a nice kid. Smart, talented, just the last person that I would think would do this. His mom, Diane, sat next to me during every match and always has candy for Kylie. They even gave Kylie and Matthew Christmas presents. I feel just sick for Diane, what she must be going through now. Brett was crying and had left work to get to the school. Then he took CP and Chris, the two wrestlers who are competing tonight and one other kid to our house. He didn't want them to be alone and didn't want them to be dwelling on what happened. So he had them watch the wrestling movie "Vision Quest" and I feed them (except CP since he's close on his weight for weigh-ins tonight). Gabby came over and he had gone to dinner with Derek last night. Didn't get the impression that anything was wrong. Derek went to practice to help CP work out, like he does every night. Brett did say that he cleaned out his locker but that wasn't really unusual since it was the last day of practice. What a blow to everyone. I think about going to these kids graduation parties and weddings, not their funerals.
I went to church to my bible study but didn't stay long, just long enough to ask for prayers and to talk to the youth group pastor, Nick. Derek's younger brother is involved with our youth group so I knew that Nick would want to know. He was going to call his friend at the school to see if they needed any extra counseling help.
I just can't believe that Derek would do this the night before State. He knew how important it is for the guys to be mentally ready for this. I just don't know what was going so bad in his life that this is what he did.



Later that night:

Back from State. Found out some more information. Derek hung himself between 1am and 5:30. He did his homework, went to bed and talked to his girlfriend until 1:00. His mom went to wake him up at 5:30 and found him. He had been dead for a while. Weird, Brett was up at 2am getting sick....wonder if that was when Derek did it. Anyway, he left a note but didn't indicate his reasons. His girlfriend said they hadn't fought, that he didn't say anything to make her think something was wrong. Diane called Nick, the youth group leader, and asked him to talk with Justin. I'm glad that I took the time to talk to Nick beforehand so he might have had time to pray and prepare. The viewing is on Monday and the services will be afterwards. Both are at Chapel Rock so I think Pastor Fred will oversee it. This is what hits me the most -- in lue of flowers, they are asking that donations be made in Derek's name to the wrestling program. It was so hard to see all the kids and parents at State tonight. Everyone was there to support CP and Chris but all knew what was in our minds and hearts. They sent cards around for everyone to sign. Coach is going to Gillespe's to order flowers on Sunday from the coachs. Several of the mom's and Coach had gone to visit Diane. Said she was in shock. I just keep praying that she will somehow have peace but that will take a long time. It's just so hard when there doesn't seem to be a reason. No fights, no noticeable depression, nothing. It just sucks. At first I was angry for him being so selfish but now I just know that he wasn't in his right mind. The Derek we know wouldn't do this. Barb Miller was in our bible study this morning and prayed the most eloquent prayer for me. She put all my feelings and frustration and questions into words and laid it all at God's feet. And that's all we can do.



Anyways, Chris got drilled by a senior from MD, pinned in 64 seconds. But he's a freshman so we're not worried, good experience for him. CP had a great match, controlled the whole thing. Won decisively. Tomorrow should be interesting!

Well, once again it's been awhile. Let me try to catch up quickly.

Matthew started sleeping through the night!!!! That happened right after Christmas. I was fed up with it and bought a book called "Healthy sleep habits, happy child" and read it over Christmas. I probably wasn't the most social I've been but I really needed to read that book. Anyways, it basically showed me how to look for sleep signs before he's tired and putting him to bed earlier, like 7pm. Which is 90mins earlier then before. We started better with the naps and bedtime while still at my parents. And once we got home, we let him CIO (cry it out) the first night. I was too exhausted and fed up to wait. Well, low and behold, he cried when we put him to bed for 15 mins and feel asleep! Then he woke up a few more times at night, cried for 5 mins or so and then went back to sleep. It was wonderful. So, now, almost 2 months later, he goes to sleep between 7-7:30 and usually sleeps until 5 or 6am. Then I nurse him and he falls back asleep till 7 or 8. Working good for me!

Matthew also has 2 teeth on the bottom. And started crawling on his 9 month b-day. He had been doing the army crawl for a few weeks but on 2/8/07, he started on all fours. It's pretty exciting and Kylie likes to cheer him on.

Kylie is doing great. She started gymnastics and is loving it. She listens to the teacher well and follows the directions pretty good too. Next week she starts going in the evening with Brett. He's anxious to help coach her with it.

We did have some potty training regression during Christmas. She got constipated and wasn't going for several days at a time. Then would go in her panties. It was very frustrating. After we got back into our normal routine after Christmas, we started over with the PTing. Had the chair in the kitchen, rewards for peeing, everything. Within a few days, she was back on track. It was like she forgot how to do it. I googled "potty training regression" and it said it can be very common around times of stress, like moving or the holidays.

Christmas was great. I had whole long blog written on the computer about our Christmas but I can't find it now. If I do find it, I'll publish it later. Basically, Kylie got her beloved Pony Castle from Uncle Josh. She was so excited when she opened it. She knew what it was from the first tear of the paper. She started screaming and jumping up and down "It's a pony castle!!!!". And she has played with it plenty. We had to move it into her bedroom because Matthew was trying to eat all the little parts of it. But she still plays with it a lot. Her other favorite Christmas present was a bag of little dollar store toys from her teachers. She carried that bag of cheap toys around all Christmas eve, even had to sleep with them. And it was near disaster when we couldn't find one part of it. What a funny kid.

Matthew really likes his discovery dome he got from Brett's parents (my suggestion, it looked so neat). And he likes to stand at the Thomas Train Table that Santa got him. He just pulls the train tracks apart so I have to figure out how they go back together. And the circus train that my parents got him is a huge hit with both kids. It was the first thing that he crawled too when he learned to crawl.

I got a beautiful diamond circle pendent from Brett. He hid it in my new boots that I picked out. He was mad that I was with him when he bought the boots so he wrote on the tag "Surprise, it's boots." Loser.

Brett really liked the portable iPod player we got for his car. And he's been using the camera lens we got a lot too.

Well, enough about Christmas.

Wrestling is winding down. State finals start tomorrow. We have 2 kids going, CP and another kid, Chris Hines. He's only a freshman, the first freshman to qualify for state from BD. I'm taking Kylie with me to Conseco for Friday night and then leaving her and Matthew with D&S all day and night on Saturday. It will be fun but I'll also miss them.

We've got some crazy weather here. January was really warm, like 40 and 50's for most of it. Then the snow started in Feb. This week, we had a "blizzard". We got 9 inches in 24 hours and would have had more if we didn't get sleet for 12 of those hours. Up north got more then 18 inches. It's crazy. So much snow that the mail lady can't or won't deliver because the snow is too high in front of the mail box. We haven't gotten mail in 3 days. I went to the PO today and they said the mail lady would be back at 4:30. And they close at 5. so I have a whopping 30 mins to get up there and pick up my 3 days of mail. Grrrrr.

My friend Sara, is most likely moving back!!! Her husband is just waiting on the official offer. How exciting is that. I've missed her so much. It will be great to have her near by again.

Well, that's about all I can think of. I'll try to write more often. :)