Happy thing for today...

My happy thing for today is the Southwest DING special that was posted this morning. I just booked myself a flight home this weekend for $34. All along I have been planning to go home for Labor Day weekend. I was planning on taking the www.Megabus.com which is a really inexpensive bus to Chicago and other Midwest cities. It's a five hour ride. After our trip home the other day, I was dreading the trip on the bus. But wanted to go home so I was going to do it anyway. I purchased my bus ticket yesterday for $30. So when I saw the $34 flight it didn't take much to change my mind and decide to fly! :) The bus ticket is non-refundable, but can be used as a credit toward another trip in the future. There will eventually be a time that I will be able to use it, so I'm not too worried about it. The one-hour plane ride is totally worth it. Kaiya's first plane ride -- it could be interesting! :)

Tough Week

Just wanted to post an update for everyone. We drove home on Monday and arrived in Indiana around 7. We freshened up and headed over to the hospital. It was great to see Nan's face light up when she saw Kaiya. Tony's mom and brothers were already there and so we all just enjoyed watching Kaiya and Nan interact. Tony's mom says that this was the most responsive Nan had been since being admitted in the hospital. She was able to lift her arm and wiggle her fingers at Kaiya. Kaiya has been very attached to this teether that vibrates when she bites down on it. So we had Nan hold the teether and Kaiya reached out to play with her. Nan fell asleep shortly after that and we decided to go home for the night. She passed away Tuesday morning. We spent the day with Tony's mom and brothers... just kind of a quiet day, and then we left around 5 for home. So despite the toughness of losing Nan, we are thanking the Lord that we were able to have a chance to be with her Friday night. A pastor from Tony's church was able to spend some time talking with Nan on Monday, and was able to go through the plan of salvation with her. We are also thankful for the safety He gave us on the way home -- after about 2 1/2 hours on the road we stopped and noticed one of our back tires going flat. It was really low. We filled it up with air and stopped every 45 minutes to check it. Thankfully we made it home on the tire! It has been a long couple of days -- and we both feel just physically and emotionally exhausted. Tony starts board reviews today at school. These sessions prepare him for the second part of boards that he has to take in September. Starts at 8 a.m. and goes until 4:30 the rest of the week and Monday. We definitely appreciate your prayers as we continue this grieving process.

Something that I've been thinking about over the past day or so is the unique and beautiful relationship that Tony had with these grandparents. His --and their-- lives were enriched by the closeness that they had. They played a huge role in raising Tony. I was telling him it even seems strange to refer to them as grandma & grandpa because it's rare that people in our generation have such close ties to grandparents. The words grandpa & grandma don't suffice for this type of closeness. The names "Nan" & "Papa" hold so much more meaning. Does this make sense? So... now I wrestle with what this means for my family. I want that for Kaiya and our other children. And then -- can this happen when we live states away? And how did God design the role of a grandparent? And taking it even further -- what do I need to be doing in my life today (eating well, exercising, etc.) so that I can be around for my grandchildren. Obviously there are no guarantees; I should be doing these things anyway...

These thoughts come at the perfect time as we wrestle with where God wants us to go after Tony finishes school. (Note to our Parents: Don't start getting excited yet.) And no matter where we end up... there are ways that we can build relationships w/ grandparents from a distance. But these are good thoughts.

Trip to Indiana

Last weekend we went to Indiana for a wedding and to visit family. It was a great weekend and we were able to see grandparents, go to Andy's soccer game, see some friends, meet with a dr about the possibility of Tony practicing in the area (please pray for this w/ us -- we have an open door, but are awaiting complete peace and conformation from God about it). It was rushed, as usual, but here are a couple pics we took along the way.

I just love the expression and those big blue eyes in this picture.

This is a picture of Kaiya with her Nan (Tony's grandma). This is the first chance that Nan had to hold Kaiya because during our last visit she had shingles. She only got to look at Kaiya through the car window. Once again, Kaiya was a doll -- so well-behaved.

Kaiya and Great Grandma Haun We had a good visit with her at Grace Village. She was very "with it" and kept saying "so sweet" over and over to Kaiya. Kaiya gave lots of kisses when we left -- I was glad she was such a good baby for the visit.
A rare family picture! :) Usually one of us is behind the camera. This is a picture from the wedding. It was a 3-hour ordeal and Kaiya was an angel!

Here's Kaiya in a cute little cherry outfit. Thanks Mari! :)


Breakfast out with Tony's Dad's family. It was great to visit and have the extra hands to hold Kaiya so both Tony and I could finish eating at the same time (and while the food was still hot!).

Highlights from Multi-Cultural Counseling

I just started a new 8-week class as part of my quest to complete this Master's Degree. The class is on multicultural counseling and has a pretty good mix of black and white students. We were asked to write a cultural biography to share with the class. Basically -- where do you come from and what have your cultural experiences been? We were going around the room sharing our cultural biographies and this guy across the room begins talking -- only he didn't share anything about his cultural biography. He starts ranting about how black people change what they want to be called all the time. One day it's black, one day it's african american, who knows what it will be tomorrow... etc. Then he starts talking about how Chapter 9 (remember -- this is the first class -- we don't study or talk about Chap. 9 until 3 weeks down the road) in the book is all about white hate and how white people get accused of racism etc. You can imagine the reactions of the black people in the room. I start hearing mutterings about egging his car...

A lady in the room speaks up and says.. so back to the cultural biography, what is your nationality and background? He says, "I'm adopted so I don't really know or care where I came from. What matters is that I am a spiritualist and I'm very close with God. I have come to realize that I posses special psychic powers." (At which point the professor looked like he was going to pass out.) I couldn't help it... I started giggling. And then doing that muffled giggling like when you start laughing in church and are terrified that you are truly going to bust out in laughter... pretty soon you are laughing about laughing and it never ends. Then the next part is the best... He tells us that he lives his life according to the religion of Star Trek. He believes that if we would operate like Star Trek there would be no hunger, etc. I couldn't even listen anymore because I was laughing so hard, and trying to stay quiet. Tears were streaming down my face and my friend behind me was telling me to get a grip because she was trying not to laugh -- she was right in line w/ where he was sitting and he kept staring over at us.

It was great. I felt like I was sitting in a jr. high class, rather than a Master's course. This guy was so creepy strange... I have a feeling that he and Tom Cruise would get along real well. Tune in next week for more Trekky updates. :) Because I have a feeling that's not the last we'll here from him. Oh! And his name is Dirk -- strange similarity to Captain Kirk... Hmmm...

American Idol

On Sunday Tony, Ruthie & I went to the American Idols Live concert here in St. Louis. Tony managed to find us 8th row floor seats at this sold out concert on eBay. So we found a babysitter and went! We've watched Idol for several seasons now and have never gone to one of these concerts. It was really so much fun. The seats were awesome -- never sat that close before. And once the security guards made the obnoxious 10 year old boy (spoiled brat, wearing pimp daddy sunglasses on top of his gelled head in the dark stadium) in front of us get off his chair we could see everything great. He proceeded to sit down and pout for about 10 minutes before his parents traded seats with him and let him run in the aisle. Never say never... but... Kaiya is definitly never going to get away with acting like that w/ us! :) Back to Idol. Here are pictures from the concert. The only Idol not able to perform was Bucky (oh darn). :)

Ace (who thinks he's so hot) charming the ladies.

Our favorite performance of the night.
Chris and Elliott teamed up for Nickelback's Saving Me.
It was SO good.

Chris performing solo.

Taylor Hicks

Money Bags & his new toy

This is a picture of Money Bags and his lovely new cat scratcher. I recently saw this in Trader Joe's and spent several minutes debating over whether to get it. Would he really like it? Does he really need a cat scratcher when he doesn't have front claws? What will Tony say when I bring home a cat scratcher for the cat he pretends not to like? After roleplaying different scenarios in my mind I decided to spring for the cat scratcher. After all, Money Bags is just starting to get back to his normal self after the traumatic events of earlier this summer. He deserves a cat luxury -- and Trader Joe's (our favorite grocery) takes anything back, recent or not, opened or not. And to my surprise... the cat scratcher was a hit! He smelled the cat nip a mile away and attacked me before I could even get it out of the box. I tried going in a different room to set it up but he was right on my heels. I set it on the floor and he went bonkers! Drool was literally dripping out of his mouth, he was purring, and he was rubbing his face all over the scratcher. Now... nothing about this scratcher looks comfortable. It is made out of cardboard and then catnip is sprinkled in the bottom of the box. But Money Bags has decided that this is his new nap spot. When Kaiya is screaming or crying, Money Bags runs over to his cat scratcher and rolls around on it. I still haven't figured that one out. He's either using it to get high and go to a happy place while Kaiya screams, or somehow he's secretly afraid that Kaiya is going to steal the cat scratcher from him. Who knows... But we know for sure that if it is up to Money Bags, our house will always have a Trader Joe's Cat Scratcher.

Who needs toys when you have toes!!

The latest development in Kaiya's life has been the finding of her feet! We had no idea they could be such cheap entertainment! And they even taste good. :)

Penney's Pictures

I picked up the pictures that we had taken at JC Penney at the end of July.

So excited -- they turned out great.

Kaiya & AJ

Here's what Kaiya is up to while I'm at work... comfy chair while getting a foot massage. What a life...

Rachel's English Test...

Your Linguistic Profile:

75% General American English

15% Upper Midwestern

5% Midwestern

0% Dixie

0% Yankee

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?