Just a Hint of What's to Come

I'm too tired to post much tonight.... I wonder why! Here are just a few photos with many, many more to come in the next few days as we get ourselves back into the groove of things. This is a hint of our weekend. It began with a 12 hour drive starting at 5:30am on Saturday and ended with a long evening tonight as we got home at 8:30pm - after being in the car about seven hours plus again today. The suitcases are unpacked, but that only means that there are piles of laundry to be done!

These photos were all taken yesterday... CONGRATS PAUL AND KIM! Amazingly, Hurricane Ike let you have a beautiful, outdoor wedding afterall! Best wishes to you as you begin your lives together!

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Misc. Events

Alex is the #2, in green, front line, closest to the camera in the photo above and below.

Here is Bryant and Ken's latest masterpiece.
Enjoying Dora in the photo above and below. Too funny!

I left work early today. Elle's in the chair, happy that Dora is on so she can vegetate for a while. Elle needed a little time to recuperate from last night's football game. It was two hours away and we didn't get home until late. She and I went with my parents to watch Alex play. He got his "bell rung" and is complaining today about his ankle hurting, but I'm sure that all was fine once he got to school. :-)

Tonight, Bryant's game is at home... BUT.... we'll still have a very busy evening. He and Ken made a cake for the Sophomore raffle (OVERACHIEVERS). Bryant is supposedly to be matched up with an opponent this evening who is 6'5 and weighs 325 pounds. Granted, Bryant is not a wimp (6'3, 239 pounds), but this other guy is slightly larger. Could be in for a long night!

When we get home, we'll have to finish packing as we all head out at O'Too Early tomorrow for a trip to Texas. Yes, that's right, we are going TO Texas even though there is a hurricane expected make landfall there this evening. One of Ken's brothers is getting married on Sunday afternoon, so we are making a road trip. I'll try to bring the camera cords with us so we can post photos to share with you.

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Life is Interesting

09/11/2001 - We all remember where we were, what we were doing. We can still recall the reactions of those around us as we all watched in horror. I know exactly where I was, who called me first on my cell phone to tell me to turn on the radio. At first, the information was odd and not very accurate and then soon, we were bombarded with vivid, live footage of what was happening in cities so far away. I can still feel the dread in the pit of my stomach as I recall those events from what almost seems like a lifetime ago.

09/11/1990 - Another day that I have in my mind. I had gone to class in Laramie - not having told my husband that I'd stopped off at the base on my way to deliver a sample. He had believed that I was doing the test the next day, but I was too excited and did it a day early. We'd been taking fertility drugs and riding the roller coaster for months already then. I was anxious to know if it had finally worked!

I learned the amazing news of a positive pregnancy test later that afternoon, and shared it with one of my classmates as we tried to figure out a memorable way to let Ken know. I then called a married couple that we were friends with. The plan was that I was going to tell Ken that his friend had ordered a balloon boquet for his wife and we needed to pick it up. The balloons, however, were not going to be about an anniversary but rather about a new baby.... and they were from the baby and I to new Daddy Ken.

So, Ken and I strolled together through the mall to get the gift... arriving at the flower shop to a beaming cashier who was also in on the secret. She handed the balloons to Ken while I paid for them. He paid no attention, so I told Ken that he'd better check to make sure they were the right ones before we left with them.... The look on his face as he read "Congratulations", "Its a Boy" "New Baby" and all kinds of other fun things that were on the balloons was worth a million dollars. Ken was totally suprised and couldn't believe I'd kept it a secret all day long.

Up to that point in my life, I don't think I had ever felt that much joy and happiness before. It was AMAZING to know that things were finally working for us. The baby would be due on Mother's Day - just in time for me to be able to finish up my Senior year of college. The smiles and laughter were short lived, however, as we suffered a miscarriage about a month later - even after seeing our wee ones strong, healthy heartbeat on the ultrasound monitor things went very wrong.

Sadness and joy.... The ebbs and flows.... isn't that what life is all about? The Twin Towers, the Pentagon Building, Balloons for a new Daddy.... sadness in the ER as the doctor tells you that the baby you had wanted for so long is no more.... Its all a circle, contiuously moving...
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Elle Giggling - Conlee is Too Funny

Conlee found a way to make Elle laugh uncontrollably. She was snorting half the time, but this video didn't capture that part. See if you can watch it without smiling yourself.

Elle's Got the Moves

Photos for the Week

Elle in the warm, John Deere blanket from Kayla.

Alex is the player in green, closest to us, on the front line. He is the #2. Elle loves telling people what number he is, holding up two fingers. Glad he has a simple number for to her find easily on the field. He did make a touchdown, but none of us saw it.... YIKES - glad he is forgiving and it was only the first game, hopefully, he'll have many more this season and we'll see all the rest!

Elle loving her M and M's - that she believes have E's on them for ElleAnna. You know, if you turn them sideways, its an E and not a M.

Another of Alex, player closest to the camera on the front line, in green.

Elle and Dayton entertaining each other during Alex's game.

Conlee eating his popcorn, Dayton cruising the sidelines for girls during Alex's game.

Alex taking on a fierce opponent who was about twice his weight. Alex didn't enjoy it much.

Bryant in the #60, somewhere on the sidelines in the pix above and the one below. I saw him in the original photos, but these are aweful tiny for my old eyes... He's in the blur of green giants. This was the high school game last evening at home.

Nothing like the American flag, flying in the clear blue sky, over a football game on a beautiful night in the midwest. I feel a huge sense of pride as I watch my kids play a great sport, in a land where Elle can enjoy freedoms that she could have only ever imagined!

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Well, this ends another busy week for our family. Next week will be no slower.... but, that's ok. Each day is an adventure!

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More New Experiences

Elle will experience her first football game tomorrow - Alex has a home junior high game. Bryant will have his first home high school football game the day after that. She'll have two in a row. It will be interesting to see how she handles it. We'll have to help her recognize the boys' numbers so that she can find them when they are on the field. I am sure she'll be cozying up to Grampa for yummy snacks from the concession stands too!

She went to her first volleyball game last Friday. We learned about counting to three as that's how many hits each side can have. She kept waiving at my cousin, Amy, who was one of the refs. She also hollered at Aunt Ann to come sit by her to watch for a while. Of course, her usual entourage of girls had to come over too and say hi and talk to her. She sucked down a whole bottle of powerade and kept knocking stuff under the bleachers. It gets tiring tracking down little kids to crawl under there and get her stuff :-). One of Bryant's classmates had made Elle a wonderful John Deere, pink, polar fleece blanket that she used the rest of the evening to cuddle in - Thanks Kayla! She loves it!

She had her first day of REAL pre-school yesterday too and I am sure that she enjoyed that!

Lots of new things for a little girl all piled into one week!

I'll post some new photos after the games so that you can see her cheering her big brothers on!
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Labor Day - Recent Photos

Nothing terribly exciting here. Pouring through about 1,000 digital photos since ElleAnna joined our family - trying to find the best ones to send to her orphanage in China. I took some neat ones today of Elle and Ken working in the garden (picking bag after bag of green beans). Here they are. Plus one pix of her with Fertile Mertyl, the always pregnant mommy cat.... Enjoy and I hope that you had a relatively labor free Labor Day Weekend.

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Michelle and Family