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Not done yet

I thought I was done blogging for the day, but not yet. The surprise puppy deal might just get to happen. I just found some German Shepherd puppies for sale ... in my home town ... down the street from where I live ... and they are full blooded, which isn't a big deal to me, but that means they will no doubt have all the characteristics we love about them including those humongously adorable ears!!!! I am going to go look at them tonight when I get home. Wish me luck and I will keep you updated. I need to come up with a good plan to surprise the boys Christmas Morning. WOOO HOOO!

The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear

Merry Christmas

I am officially on vacation until after the new year. I'm not sure how much I will be blogging, but I did give you 3 today to hold you over. I'm sure I won't be able to resist posting some Christmas images.

I couldn't resist

I took an early lunch from work so I could go see baby Lincoln. I couldn't resist. I wanted to make sure Christen was there as well. And as an extra bonus Amanda was also there. He is beautiful. Such a little guy with lots of hair. He looks like his momma's side. He was alert and had his eyes open wide most of the time we were there. What a special moment to be in. Cherryh's mom got a little emotional. She has been a part of our lives since we were little and seeing all of us grown up, successful, and having our own babies is a lot to take in. I can only hope to be able to experience this kind of relationship with the friends of my boys some day. I can imagine I might also be a little emotional!

And here he is! What a sweetie!

Here is Aunt Christen. Lincoln, you are one lucky little guy because your aunt loves you more than you will ever know and you can see it in her eyes.

Here is Cheryl, Cherryh's mom also known as Gigi.

Mother daughter moment!

Here we all are. That is Lori on the left, Amanda, Cherryh and Lincoln, Christen, and me.

Doesn't Cherryh look great. Yes, I am jealous! My face was 50 times the size of hers after giving birth! Lincoln was getting a little upset. Congratulations again!!!! Looking forward to another time to get all of the kids together again. Eliott, Gabe, Wyatt, Waylon, Annie, Meghan, Julia, and now Lincoln. Getting to be quite a large bunch.

Christmas Present

One of my best high school friends got her Christmas present early last night. Her baby Lincoln has entered the world on his due date. Apparently he did get the memo!

The night before I had a dream that we were back in high school together and she was doing some skit up in front of the whole school. She lifted her leg to do some kind of kick and her belly dropped right in front of our eyes. It was like slow motion and the thought in my head was look out, he is coming. Then baby Lincoln came sliding out right there on the gym floor. Everyone rushed her to see if she was ok and to help poor baby Lincoln. It was a pretty funny dream.

Although Cherryh delivered pretty fast, it wasn't that fast thankfully and she was in a hospital! But, she did do it all natural, no drugs. I am so proud and happy for her. She has surprised me more this year than the last 20 or so years I have known her. (I could put the actual number of years on here, but really don't want to go there - makes me feel old) She was a model of a good healthy pregnant women. She worked out and motivated others to work out all along the way. I honestly am so surprised about how well she did and looked so beautiful the entire pregnancy.

We got a text last night about 3 from her beautiful sister telling us she was in the hospital. They were going to break her water around 4. Uncle Vic took over the updates so Christen could be in the room. I could really go into what a special time this is for Christen, but it isn't my story to tell. Although, I have written some about it before. Christen and Victor are really special people and mean a lot to me for many reasons.

We got the news around 8:30 that he had arrived and was perfect and healthy weighing 6lbs 13oz. Everyone is elated as you can imagine. I can't wait to get there and see his beautiful face and hug his special family. I can't wait to hear all the details either. Cherryh has inspired me to do a better job with working out while I am pregnant and I am inspired to have a natural birth again, but maybe this time more controlled and in a hospital with my husband present for the whole thing. That would be nice you know when I actually get pregnant again.

I am so proud of you, Cherryh and love you and your sister to death! Congratulations!

Will it be??? Not this time.

Update:

It won't be. Darn it! I knew I should have stopped staring at his adorable face. They won't let us adopt him because of the fenced in yard requirement. I appreciate them looking for good owners, but gee. Anyway, I am a little, ok a lot disappointed because I really wanted to see that look in Dale's eye. I will keep looking. Anyone come across a beautiful German Shepherd similar to the one below, email me, please! I guess it will be some boring coat Dale is wanting instead. (tear)

Original Post:

Wow! Isn't he adorable???!!!! I am seriously considering him as a Christmas gift for the boys, but mainly for Dale. Dale grew up with a German Shepherd named Spuds. He was not that nice of a dog in my opinion, but I knew him as a grumpy old man, but he was Dale's all time favorite. He has wanted another German Shepherd since then. So, I have applied for him at the Human Society of Greater KC. He is about 8 months old. He is a dog that was rescued after being hit by a bus. He had a broken tibia and femur, which have since healed. They say he has no problem getting around now. I'm not getting my mind set on him yet because I am outside of their guidelines as far as location and I don't have a fenced in yard. We will see what they say. And yes, I know, more responsibility and possibly more of this, but I am willing to give it a shot for the sake of my lovely husband. The man that picks up the living room, does his own laundry and mine when I can't get to it, cleans my car and fills it up with gas, cleans the blankity, blank kitchen, wraps gifts, and gets as giddy as a little boy getting ready for Christmas and making plans to make it special for his boys all without being asked. I think he is worth it! For those of you who "know" Dale, I haven't gotten divorced and remarried to a different man without telling you! It is the same old Dale (or the side of Dale that I like to keep to myself because I feel special that I am the only one who knows him this way) Crap - I think I just got rid of the specialness of it all.


Boy, that face!


The more I look at this little guy, the more I want him!


What will Marcus think? I think that might take some time to get use to! Right now, this guy's name is Marty. Although that is a nice name, Dale will have one for him the second he lays his eyes on him. If everything goes right, it will be an absolute surprise to all of my boys. I better stop talking about it because I am starting to get my mind set on it. I will keep you updated.

**Dale doesn't read the blog - I don't even know if he knows I have a blog. He just isn't in to things like this, if you were wondering why I would be ruining the surprise by posting it.

Happy Birthday to this beautiful girl...

Happy Birthday to Little Miss Annie Pants (as her mommy would say)! You have been such a blessing to so many. I hope your 1st birthday is a great one.



This isn't Annie's momma, this is Amanda, but she loves her too!

There's her momma there on the left in the cute sweater.

We hope to see more of this in the future, but with a little more smiles!
**Photos courtesy of Wyatt**

Congratulations again, Shelly on becoming such a great mommy to such a beautiful girl 1 year ago today!

Love you!

t

This Total Money Makeover book isn't helping me feel much better. I now realize that I am in denial of my debt and how bad our situation is. If I happen to lose my job tomorrow, would we make it? I think we could make the payments, but I certainly don't think we would make any head room as far as paying anything off anytime soon. Our debt would continue to grow and then we would find ourselves in A LOT of trouble!

And why is it that I feel like we are far worse than the stories in this book?! We have a mortgage, 1 car payment, 2 student loans and a bobcat loan. I think the majority of America has all of these (minus the bobcat loan) plus credit card payments and then some. On the surface that doesn't sound too bad, but when you write the numbers down on paper it is an eyeopener! We don't live on a budget, which I think is huge. It is probably the number 1 thing I am trying to avoid having to do because it is a lot of work and frankly, I don't want to, but I know it is necessary if we really want to accomplish this goal of living debt free and within our means.
What I really want is for someone to tell me we are in great shape and not to worry about it, but maybe I picked the wrong book to do that : )! That is sort of a joke!

I know we can do this. Dale and I saved about $55,000 before we built the house, but we worked our rears off for it. We lived in a dinky little spider infested loft house (it really doesn't qualify as a house) that ran on well water. We mowed the Lawson Cemetery in the summer plus had our full time jobs. Big deal, you might be thinking. Ha! You go out and try to trim around hundreds of headstones and then you come talk to me about it being a big deal. That is HARD work! But, it was worth it. I think if we knew what we know now we would have paid off all of our debt, which would have been the student loans and my car, but we put it towards the house. I think we would have made a different decision if we were making it today. Plus we spend more on the boys than we ever spent on ourselves. I love to be able to go into Wal-Mart or Target and get what I need without having to think of how much money is in my pocket. I love to provide for my boys when they need things without a second thought. But, I know if I make small sacrifices here and there I will be able to provide much more for them in the future. Like maybe a college education that they don't have to pay for. That would be nice! Or I could put my faith in them gaining full ride scholarships so either one of us will have to pay for it, but that probably isn't the smartest thing to do.

So, right now I have my doubts and I have my bullheadedness, but I still have a desire within me to make some changes. I am looking forward to getting into the good stuff of the book and getting some ideas of what baby steps I can take to get this accomplished. One thing I realized this morning is the daycare is really draining us and I have a semi cheap daycare bill compared to some other's who live around the city. I am considering starting Wyatt in preschool this winter if I can make it work. That would save us some money. I am also considering having Dale's mom watch them 1 day out of the week and when my mom gets better (have I mentioned her accident on here? That is another story for another time) maybe she could take a day during the week. That right there would save us quite a bit each week. I'm going to continue reading and keeping my mind open. Wish us luck and pray for us, would you please?

Heavy Hearted

My heart is heavy and I have a lump in my throat this morning. I learned our community has lost a child to cancer. I didn’t know this little girl or her family and I really haven’t followed her story much, but being a parent, it still affects me. Our community and those around us have held benefits for her and her family. They have done so much. Our church has prayed for her and her family. I don’t even know them and my heart aches for them. I just couldn’t imagine an ounce of what they went through and now this. Sure it is probably a blessing that she isn’t fighting so hard anymore and she has gone to a better place, but what about her family?

My praise this morning: Thank you, God for my HEALTHY, HAPPY, BEAUTIFUL children you have given me on this earth.
My prayer: Please, God, let me go before they do.

I could not stand to see them suffer or lose one of them. A miscarriage is hard, but losing one of my boys is one of my absolute worst nightmares. I pray that God will strengthen them as they go through the remainder of their lives and that He carries them when they can’t hold on.

No One

No one can make Waylon laugh as hard as his big brother can.


No one can bring out how sweet Wyatt can be more than his little brother can.

The bond these two are creating is an amazing thing to watch!

Wyattisms

I have been trying to remember to add to this list as things come out of his mouth, but sometimes we are out and about and by the time I get back to my computer I tend to forget. I finally made it to 10. I'm sure I would have gotten there a lot faster if I had this list at my fingertips at all times. Anyway, enjoy! I will post the next 10 when I get to them.

Just a reminder... HE... IS....3!!!!!

1. As I am wiping his bottom after he did his business - "Don't touch my balls" - what??!!!
2. "I was in my closet being a dog"
3. "The Jaguar can't swim in that pond"
4. "Mommy, the moon is all dirty"
5. "Awh, Kiss my butt!" Really???!
6. "Are those your princess shoes?"
7. "Uno, dos, trsss, quan, ci, (mumble, mumble with some rolling of his tongue) Me: "Who taught you how to count in Spanish?" Wyatt: "Diego!"
8. Whispered, "Mommy, you are beautiful."
9. "It's a beautiful day out here today"
10. As I am putting sweet Wyatt to bed, Me: "Why don't you act this sweet all the time?" Wyatt: "Because I don't want to." Me: "But it would be so much more fun." Wyatt: "Just forget about it."

AWH! What a great weekend...

We started our weekend by heading to my work to see a special visitor. He was the best Santa I have seen! Wyatt was cool with Santa. Everyone else he wasn't cool about! There were a few times I thought he was going to lose it, but he kept it together. He didn't like all of the other people yelling at him to smile. Give the kids some room people, gee! Waylon did great as well. I thought he would lose it at any time as well, but he kept it together too. He is in that scared of strangers phase right now, but I think the Christmas movies lately have done them both some good. Their absolute favorite movie to watch right now is Elf. Wyatt can tell you all about it if you need a review. I swear that kid has got a knack for acting.

Wyatt enjoyed it much more than these pictures let on.

There's my boy. He is telling Santa that he wants a transformer. He already has a million transformers.

Probably could have gotten a pretty good smile if it wasn't for some elf yelling at them : )!

We spent our time waiting for our picture making cute little foam photo frames. So cute and so proud of my work!

Once we left there we made an impromptu stop at Crown Center. It was awesome for the boys to see and enjoy. It was cold and spitting a little, but that didn't bother any of us. We enjoyed it all the same.
Love that face of Waylon's.

Cuties!

Watching the fountain show. They loved this. They were making the fountain match the song they were playing for the KC Symphony. It was pretty neat.

And Wyatt's cheesy face! Can you tell they loved it. What a great memory!

After Crown Center we headed home to relax for a couple of hours before heading to the basketball game. Again, they loved it. Wyatt had one of Dale's students keep him entertained for the night. Nothing like going for the older women!


They both looked like this by the end of the weekend, but Wyatt had to hop in the shower before I got my camera out. Poor guys!

A new goal...

I started reading Total Money Makeover last night. Wish us luck. I am sure I will be blogging about it much more in the future. Thanks, Amanda for the book. Your dad dropped it off the other day.

I don’t think Dale is quite on the same page. He wants to be debt free some day, but doesn’t seem like he wants to put his life on hold now to get there. I know that might offend some of the doers, but it is just ignorance at this point I think. It might take us a little longer to get there, but I am determined to make it happen. We have always been pretty responsible, in my opinion, with money and our financial decisions. We don’t have credit card debt, but we do have student loans, a car payment, a very small bobcat loan, and the house payment. We have 3 cars and only 1 car payment. I think that is pretty good. And, honestly, the ability to have 3 cars has come in handy so many times!

One of our struggles will be selling Dale’s current truck and getting him a different truck and a trailer to haul his bobcat around on. We are hoping to get that all worked out by the summer.

I have paid extra on our house since we started paying. I have since moved that money to try to pay off some of the smaller debt 1st. We paid Dale’s old truck off, then sold it for his newer truck, which we didn’t have to take a loan on. Thank goodness. We are now trying to pay Dale’s student loan off. I have made pretty good progress on that one so far and should have it paid off in a few short months if everything stays the same and I don’t add extra money to it at this point. Before reading the book I figured we will have everything paid off in about 4 years. I am hoping I will gain some knowledge and do it much, much faster!

The other struggle we will have is working on a monthly budget for groceries and such. That is really where we go beyond what we should. We could make better choices in that area. One thing that would really help is planning out our meals ahead of time. That would help in so many ways if I could just get off blogger and create a meal plan!!!! Thankful for having good friends who offer and share ideas! So, like I said, wish us luck and if you ever have anything to add on these posts, feel free. I will even let you help me stay accountable.

Thank you Linus

Charlie Brown Christmas was on again last night. Wyatt seems to love it. It is easy to get wrapped up in the stress of the season and lose the true meaning. Thank God they still air a show like this to remind us all what the season truly is about.

Christmas when I was young was such an exciting time. They almost always included my grandparents on my dad's side. Grandma made THE BEST cookies and fudge. She would make it every year. We couldn't wait for them to get to our house with Heather, their dog. I miss them so much and the holidays seem to always keep their memory fresh in my mind. I really wish the boys had a chance to meet them. They would beam with pride seeing their great grandsons. I always loved Christmas mainly because of them and getting to spend time with them. Over the years it is easy to lose that feeling that Christmas can provide. That is until you get to see it in the face of your own kids.

Wyatt is really starting to get the whole Christmas experience. His eyes light up when we talk about it not just because of the presents but because of the feeling of it all. Last night it was calmly snowing and Wyatt ran to the sliding door and flipped the outside light on so he could see it. I can't describe the look on his face, but it was a moment to remember. I remember feeling like that when I was little. It was the best time of the year, that is saying a lot because I am not a lover of the cold weather! But, I love snow and how it looks falling and covering the ground and everything around it. The feeling of Christmas goes right along with it. Seeing it in the eyes of your child brings that feeling back even stronger than it ever was before.

Season's Greetings everyone!

Linus Van Pelt: "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"

Update on Stress, AGAIN

I finally got my doctor appointment out of the way yesterday afternoon. They assured me I would be seen this time. I just have to say they are the nicest doctor's office I have been to. They know my name as soon as I walk in the door. They greet me cheerfully and sincerely. It is like no other doctor's office on this earth, that I am aware of. Anyway, I did get to see the doctor and know nothing else except for the fact that he thinks my inner workings are "beautiful". No signs of stroke or masses or anything at all. My blood work from the last drawing came back normal with no platelet issues. The questions I had for him were what am I suppose to do if this starts to happen again, what is causing my platelets to be high, what is causing the migraine and was it really a migraine that caused all of this, and what's the deal with my vision and speech when this happens.

He answered all of my questions. I feel ok about the news since my MRI and blood work all came back normal. But, it is just mind boggling that this vision issues starts without a headache and it affects my speech. He said that was normal with some migraines. I have heard this from a few other people so I guess I can believe it. We aren't looking into the platelet issue because they came back normal this last time. However, I have had platelet issues in the past now that I look back. He said that your platelets could rise when you are sick. I wasn't sick at the time, but extremely stressed by the time they drew my blood, so I guess I can buy that for now. If I start to get another in the future he prescribed me some Imitrex to be taken at onset. I can also take Ibuprofen. The good thing is that this is pretty much treatable without requiring dr intervention. He only wants to see me if I start having them much more frequently. Let's hope that doesn't happen. The other good news is that not every headache I get turns into a migraine and my normal migraine symptoms are much different than my headache symptoms so there is a clear distinction of what is going on at the time. No driving if one comes on, rest, Imitrex, and Ibuprofen are the game plan from now on.

He advised against smoking of course in the future, no problem and against oral contraceptives, uh hum, no problem. They both increase the risk for a stroke in women with migraines. I won't worry about increasing my chances anytime soon with those 2 things. As I know, my migraines and headaches are caused by the amount of stress I put on myself. It is really clear when I am stressed and it starts in my neck. I have done pretty well lately with handling all of my stress. Yes, I still get stressed out, but I don't let myself go crazy with it. It isn't worth it!

So, now you know as much as I know. Hopefully I won't have to write about this subject or give an update for a really, really long time! Hopefully I was able to offer you all a little knowledge too.

My company offers a Health Profile every year that tests for all kinds of things and makes sure your blood work is all looking good. It also tests cholesterol, which runs high in my family. I feel more comfortable now looking at those results and knowing when to question something. I believe that is right around the corner.

My name was called, finally!!!

I am one of those people who say they never win anything. I have recently retired from that category! Our company had our Holiday party last Friday night. I work for a great company that treats us pretty darn well. I am extremely thankful for that. They always have a ton of really, really great gifts at the party. Dale and I stuck around for the last drawing of the night. We both got to thinking that we didn't know why we stay late because we never win anything anyway! Not this year, baby! My name was called and I was the proud winner of a new 32" Sony Bravia 1080P LCD HDTV! Woo hoo! We were both pretty shocked and pretty excited!!!

Soon after we met my sister and her fiance because they were out celebrating their 4 year dating anniversary! Congratulations to my beautiful sister and her forever fiance, Chad :)! I love them both to death!

We then called it a night. It was late. We haven't been out that late in such a long time. We had a great time. No fighting over traffic, or which garage to park in, or which parking spot to take, or complaining that we are missing something at home. That is usually what the holiday party consists of or any time we go out for that matter. I don't know why but Dale and I sure can argue about the dumbest stuff just for the sake of arguing, but not Friday night. We got along like a happily married couple. I mean we are happily married, but that isn't really a side others see a lot. We poke fun at each other, argue, call each other names, mumble about each other. I don't know why we do all of this. Maybe because we think people get a kick out of it and we aren't hurting each other, so why not. Maybe it's just that we are completely immature! I don't know. But, Friday, Friday was nice. I felt like an adult who clearly wasn't afraid to show how much she loves her husband in person and proudly introduce him to people I work with everyday.

He's a great man and I don't tell him that nearly enough. He even folded every little piece of laundry we had in our house on Sunday. That was 2 loads of the boy's clothes, 2 loads of mine and then he did his own on top of that AND put it away. What a guy! I am really thankful for him and I don't brag on him nearly enough especially since The Dubs joined the household.

All in all, I felt like such a winner this weekend!

A prayer request

There is nothing life threatening here, but I'm going to ask those of you out there who read this to add Dale to your prayer list. Here's the story:

Back in March or April (?) there was an Alumni Basketball tournament for our High School. This is something he looks forward to every year. I think mainly because he is so competitive. He is always in great shape. He runs and works out year round. Well, his 1st game got under way and he actually sat on the bench and let someone else start. He quickly was called into the game by some tired old guy. I looked down to do something with Wyatt and when I looked back up he was hobbling his way back to the bench. My immediate thought was man, he must really be hurt to actually come out of the game like that. He went up for a rebound and when he came down he heard and felt a pop in his knee. He didn't play the rest of the game. I think he was in there a total of about 4 seconds. We hung around the gym for awhile, I think he was trying to figure out what to do and if it was as bad as it was feeling. We ended up going to the ER that night where it was confirmed that he blew out his knee (tore his ACL and meniscus).

He immediately started rehab to build his muscles up for surgery. He had his surgery right before Wyatt's birthday in May. He has been rehabbing ever since. He was just cleared to do all physical activity and has started his running routine again, but his knee started hurting again pretty bad. He went back to the dr to see if there was something wrong. The dr thinks he just started too heavy to fast. That was a couple of weeks ago. He has rested it, but it is still hurting him. This is beyond frustrating to him. He is use to being very active and this has put a damper on his moods. I just ask that you keep him in mind. Thanks!

The good news continued

The news continued yesterday. We found out that another friend from college is expecting their 2nd bundle of joy. Congrats, Kelly and Brandon.

We also got great news at work about our performance this past year. It has been a scary year, but our company did some planning and was able to meet some goals. Good news and it feels good to hear that, but I still miss dearly all of the ones that aren't around now.

But of course there were a couple of things yesterday that tried to knock the wind from my sails...

I looked like a complete idiot in a room full of managers yesterday because I didn't choose the best approach to describe a situation and sent them all into a panic. Oh well, it wasn't career limiting or anything and I am pretty sure I think it was worse than it was, but still!

The other thing really bothered me for awhile. It's no secret that Dale and I have experienced a miscarriage and it is no secret how that affected our lives. Someone who may or may not know that we had that experience had the audacity to completely down play the hurt and emotion wrapped up in that experience because of their complete ignorance and lack of feelings for anyone else outside of themselves. They were describing to me that someone they knew had just experienced a miscarriage. They were telling me about a lack of performance recently in an area and finally mentioned that they had recently gone through this. I asked how long ago that had happened. This person couldn't even remember and trust me, they should have remembered. It was less than 6 months ago. But, they down played it saying something like it wasn't like she was 5 months along or anything. They had just found out and like the next day they found out they lost it.

Excuse me?!!!! What really bothered me though is that I didn't say anything, NOTHING! I could use the excuse that I was in shock of the cold hearted comment, but really that is no excuse. In the moment I was wrestling with the thoughts in my mind of telling this person of my experience but quickly changed my mind and wanted to protect how personal it was to me from this person. I felt this person didn't deserve to know that about me. Losing a baby hurts. Yes, there are different degrees of that hurt depending on the situation. But, you don't give people a time frame to hurt or "get over it". This is a very hurtful and personal experience no matter what stage you are in or how far along you are. People need to respect that and no one deserves someone judging them because the situation still seems to affect them. I am sick to my stomach at myself because I didn't educate this person!

This person has no children. I don't know why and it wouldn't be fair to speculate why. So, maybe they don't understand, but it is up to me - it should have been up to me - to stand up for the person under attack and educate this person a little. Would it have made a difference to them? Knowing a little bit about how this person seems to be, I don't think so. But, I would have done the couple some good and would have done those who have experienced this some good.

That is one thing I need to work on, standing up and saying something when someone is in the wrong! It might get me kicked in the face a couple of times, but depending on what it is and especially if I am passionate about it, it would be worth it.

What a day and it's only noon

Today has been a great day in the way of news for 4 reasons, but I can only tell you 2 for now.

The 1st really isn't news, but just a special day in general:

It is "Gotcha Day" for some really special friends of ours. I didn't ask to share their story so I again will keep their names under wraps out of respect. These 2 are special to many of us and have a great story to tell. They have adopted 2 boys from Vietnam. E is around Wyatt's age and G is around Waylon's age. They celebrate "Gotcha Day" because that is the day they "got" their boys when they were in Vietnam. If you have ever tried to put a picture on the feeling of being a parent, they have got it. They captured all the emotion, desire, pain, dreams coming true, relief, happiness, joy, and so much more all in one shot when they "got" E. It is an image that will never leave my mind.

This couple is one I look up to and admire for their strength and values. I could go on for days, but what it sums up to is that they are just great. The boys are blessed to have them and they are blessed to have the boys. They're living a fairy tale! They ARE living happily ever after!


The other one I can disclose is that one of Dale's best friends from college will be playing in the OK State Championship game on Saturday. Not huge in some of your eyes, but huge to us because we know how much work he puts in with these kids and how much he cares. He is another GREAT person. Arguably the All American Guy. Great values, great looks, great personality! He's the whole package! Sorry ladies, he's taken to an equally great girl!

The other two? Well, you are just going to have to wait on those. No getting anything out of me either, so don't try! When I can tell you, I will. But, I'm not pregnant, I can tell you that much!