Update!

My mom called tonight and they got their electricity back on a little while ago! Hooray! Luckily it hasn't been all that warm there, but temperatures are expected to rise in the coming days. Their little generator was enough to power their water well and their refrigerator so they had running water and ice, but that's not a replacement for cool air on those hot, humid days. What a relief for them to have their electricity back on!!!

Our Embryo Transfer

Today we had our embryo transfer! I'm really excited and anxious to find out if we will be parents. Originally I had decided not to post about it because I didn't want to get excited, and also didn't want to answer questions, in the event that the transfer didn't work. But, I can't keep anything to myself, so practically everyone knows about it anyway and I decided that this is much easier than answering the phone every five minutes! :) Thank you for all of the prayers and positive energy that is being sent our way. I have more than once been overwhelmed today by the wonderful support and well wishes that we have received.

So, yes, overall everything went well this afternoon. When Randy and I first arrived Dr. Preen told us that we had one embryo for sure that made it through the thawing process but he didn't about the other one making it. He explained that at this stage they should be hollow in the middle when they are thawed, but one had not expanded as well as the other. The one that did, however, looked just as good as the day it was frozen according to Dr. Preen. In the rating of the embryos, that one was Excellent or an A rating. The one that was lagging behind in the beginning ended up expanding and getting to the place it needed to be in time to make the transfer. That one was rated as Good, or B. I'm just so thrilled that we had these great results since 1 in 5 embryos don't make it through the thawing process at all. We were pretty nervous and very aware that we could very well get there and not have any embryos to transfer at all. As it happened, both were transferred in a very easy and quick process! I had to lay in an inverted position with my head down and hips up for twenty minutes, then flat on my back for another forty minutes. Then, they got me up, drew my blood for a baseline and sent me home. I'm on 24 hour bed rest per doctors orders. After 24 hours, I can resume normal activity. Randy is doing a really great job of taking care of me and waiting on me so I don't feel like I have to do anything.

My marketing team at VistaCare is bringing us dinner tonight. Christi made lasagna, Cheryl brought a salad and Molly is bringing us her wonderful brownies. I might start with dessert! I was told that my work had a prayer circle this morning to pray for Randy and I (and for our little babies!). I know that I am blessed to work with such a wonderful group of people!

I will have the blood test on Sept. 29th to find out if my hCG level is elevated. That is a pretty good indicator of whether or not we're pregnant, but two days later I will have another blood test and if the hCG levels have doubled then we know we are. I will keep you all posted on how it works out for us!

The 100 Year Rain and Hurricane Ike

We had the rain of the century here last week. Literally! The newscasters kept referring to our 8+ inches of rain as the 100 year rain. It's generally pretty dry in West Texas, but for some reason last Thursday conditions were just right for storms to keep forming over us and drenching the South Plains. There was no severe weather, just a long period of steady rain. That may not sound like a record setting event to my friends in Houston or some other places that get rain very often, but the drainage systems in Lubbock just aren't set up to handle that much. Never, since the weather has been monitored and recorded, has there been more than 6 inches of rain at once here in the Hub City. So, you can bet there was flooding! We've never seen schools close for anything other than a severe ice storm, but they did indeed close schools due to the flooding all over the area. I think that may have been over reaction to the rain, but when they had to make the decision there was no indication of when the rain would stop. But with rain, as opposed to Hurricane Ike as my mom and step-dad were dealing with just two days later, the water subsided and everything was back to normal. I wish I could say the same for my mom's situation. They are still without electricity and phone. Neither are expected to be restored for 2-3 weeks. They didn't sustain any damage to their property but neighbors of theirs had roofs blown off and trees uprooted. They do have generators to run some things like the TV, and at night a window unit for their bedroom, but that's about it. Click here for a very frank look at some of the damage caused by Hurricane Ike. All in all, it's been pretty eventful as far as weather is concerned in the past couple of days. Hopefully we can stay dry in the days ahead!

Tailgating

It was a great weekend! I am starting to think that tailgating should be the new Olympic sport for 2012 though. Whew...it's a tiring experience! We have a group of tailgaters that start on Friday night and pack up to go home on Sunday. It's lots of fun, until Sunday rolls around. But, we must be gluttons for punishment because we just keep doing it over and over for each home game. I keep telling Randy that when we get pregnant and have little ones that we won't be able to do it like this. So far that has just given him ammunition to enjoy it while he can. Here are some pictures from last weekend:

My Birthday Week!

Well, my birthday week is officially over. :(

It was a good one though, even if I say so myself. It started on Friday night with dinner at Lindsay's mom's house. Brig made a wonderful meal of beef tenderloin and creamed spinach and artichoke. That was also the first night that we got to meet Lindsay's new "friend", Lance. Hands down, we love him! Hope he hangs around a while -wink, wink Lindz- so we can all get to know him better. Then on Saturday night, my Dad had a birthday party for me at his house. If you know my dad's side of the family then you know there isn't much we don't throw a party for. So, of course, the whole bunch turned up and made it a really great time. Then, on my actual birthday, which was Thursday, my boss took our team to The Gas Light for happy hour. Maybe I should say happy hourS. Chad, Beth and Lindsay joined us and we stayed a little later than happy hour was probably intended. My birthday week is coming to an end with a weekend of tailgating for the first Tech football game. I guess if it has to end, this is a good way to end it!

Olympic Fever

Well, it's here. Olympic fever has hit me full blown. I don't know why, but for a few weeks every four years I just get so excited about sports that I never even give a second thought to the other three plus years in between. Maybe it's just the thrill of watching our US team competing and winning on a world stage that suddenly makes fencing interesting. Did you know that there is a sport called Hand Ball? It's really kind of silly, but I watched it this morning. We didn't get any USA Hand Ball medals, but I still sat glued to it. And, then the table tennis and badminton is just so ridiculous. The ping pong teams actually had a substitute ready to spring into action in a moments notice if the need should arise. They took themselves so serious that you had to laugh. But, swimming on the other hand, was just exciting to the very end. We never hear about any swim meets until the Olympics, but this year has to have made an impression on anyone with a television set. And congratulations to our girls gymnastics teams. I thought they all competed with real heart! By the way, who really believes that any members of the Chinese team are really 16? Who do they think they are fooling? That's just bad sportsmanship if you ask me. But, they didn't ask me, so I guess the competition will go on. Oops, got to go! Track is starting and I want to see our three ladies compete against the three Jamaican women in the 100M sprint. GO USA!

So, They Had Me Going For a Minute...

Have you seen this? I saw the commercial and thought no way that's real. So, I checked out the website. It's the craziest thing I've ever seen! Turns out, this website, and the two others you will find on there are all part of a very elaborate advertising campaign for a new series to start on HBO in September. Well "Bravo!" HBO, you got me!

Ruidoso Flood

Did you see in the news that the remnants of Hurricane Dolly dumped 10 inches of rain on parts of New Mexico this past weekend? Well, most of us in West Texas saw images on our nightly news of Ruidoso in what seemed to be disasterous conditions. Unfortuneately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, Randy and I happened to be there this past weekend when the flooding happened. Strangely enough, when we were there a couple of weeks ago, all we heard about was the drastic drought conditions that caused even the forsesty services to close the National Park surrounding Ruidoso. Boy, how quickly things change!
We've had our camper in Ruidoso for the summer and just happened to go back this past weekend to bring it home and get it ready for tailgating. Thank goodness we did! Otherwise, it would probably look like the ones in the picture here. It rained on us from the time we got there on Friday night until we were woken up and hurried out on Sunday morning. There was a long steady rain on Saturday afternoon and all night. I actually made the comment to Randy on our way home from the casino that I guess we were fortuate to be on the side of a mountain because at least we wouldn't get flooded since the water could just run off. Wrong! Our RV park is just east of the Rio Ruidoso bridge. As we crossed over it on Saturday night I strained to see if there was anymore than the usual babbeling brook due to the rain. Granted, it was dark, but I couldn't see any running water because it was so far under the bridge. That all changed sometime between 1:00am and 7:00am Sunday morning.
We were awakened by an insistent banging on the door. Both Randy and I shot straight up in bed with crazy thoughts of who could be so rude as to assume people were already up and getting around. Before Randy could get to the door to unlock it another rapid banging came. He threw open the door and a man started yelling, "You gotta get packed and get out right now! The Sheriff just came by and said this place is gonna flood. They're already under water next door! Hurry up!"
Okay, for those of you who don't know this about me, one of my deepest darkest fears is that I will die in a drowning accident. I have nightmares, one recurring nightmare in particular, about drowning and the feeling of the water suffocating me. As you can imagine, when I heard that man screaming at us to get out of there, I just about lost it. I froze with panic for a few seconds. Then, with a huge rush of adreneline, I jumped up to shaky feet. There was no shower, no washing our faces, not even time to brush our teeth. Randy headed outside to get us unhooked from sewer, electricity, etc, and I got busy finding places for stuff to ride. I pushed up the shade on the back window and that's when I saw it. The Rio Ruidoso that I had strained to find just a few hours later now looked like a white water rapid about 30 yards from our camper. It was amazing and scary at the same time to see water rush by with such force in a place that we didn't even know a river ran. The trout lake and paddle boat pond that were part of the campsite were flooded and had already reached the wheels of the first row of campers. Luckily we were parked in the second row and didn't have to contend with the standing water yet. It took us about 45 minutes to get our stuff together and get out of there, and in that time the water had gotten about 10 yards closer. We pulled out and went to the Wal-Mart parking lot to finish securing items for the ride back home.
There were others that weren't so fortunate. Lots of people weren't there to get their campers out, and even for some that were, they were having a hard time getting everything pulled up fast enough. We wanted to help, but everyone was talking about how if you were headed east you had to get going because the highway would be closing due to the rising water. Sure enough, at 9:30am, we passed the Highway Patrol that were lined up getting ready to close the road because the water rushing just under the bridge was rising fast. Apparently less than a half hour after we passed, the road was closed.

The picture above is of the campsite next to ours that was flooded when we were woke up. It was taken on our way out of town. I didn't exactly have all of my senses about me or I would have taken some of that river rushing behind us or of our campsite as we passed it on the way out. It just didn't occur to me until we got here, and only then because Randy suggested it. Another friend of mine that was there sent me this link of pictures one of her local neighbors took that day. Some are of the racetrack and the flooding that happened there. In all, 12 bridges were lost, some houses were swept away, and two people were swept away when they lost their footing on the bank of the river. Whoa...not the way to go. Click here for a slideshow.

Fourth of July

Well tomorrow we have to go back to work after a week of vacation. Of course, neither of us are really excited about getting back to the grindstone, but I guess it's got to happen sooner or later, right? But, you know how it is when you get back from vacation...the catch up time is like your very own punishment for being able to take off work. The crazy thing is that although we went out of town, we still worked remotely and even sold a couple of properties over the phone. That part was pretty good! When we weren't talking real estate, we participated in the annual Jet Ski Rodeo at my mom's house. I think I've explained it in an earlier post, but I will just summarize by saying that it's a really fun race around buoys where we get timed and compete for a silly trophy. Obviously our family is very competitive, but in a good way. It was fun to have my whole family together. In the evenings we sit on the dock and listen to good music and eat some great food. Randy and my cousin Lesa's husband Kevin brought their guitars and entertained us one night. Probably the neighbors got more entertainment from watching us stumble over the words, or on the other hand they may have wanted to murder us because of our awful singing. One thing my family was not blessed with is a singing voice!

New Post!

Wow! Has it really been more than two months since I've posted? My how time flies! The spring and start of summer have been so busy. I just realized that I haven't even posted about Randy and I purchasing Rush Realtors earlier this year. It has been a whirlwind since then, but we are having a great time. Most of you know that Randy has been a Realtor for a while now, and he decided to get his real estate broker's license late last year. Ever since then we talked about opening our own real estate company, and it just so happened that about the same time Rush Realtors came up for sale. It worked out great for us, and has been lots of fun. Randy is still the bank manager at Bank of America and I'm still in marketing for VistaCare Hospice. We work our day jobs until 5, then we work on the real estate stuff most nights and weekends. We have 4 Realtors right now, and everything seems to be moving along so smoothly. I have to report that we have been pleasantly surprised at how well the Lubbock economy and real estate market has been holding up through this downturn!

Gotcha Day II

In a previous post, I told you about my friend Lisa and her husband Justin that are in Russia to adopt their son, Wyatt. They went to Russian court on March 20th, and were supposed to be able to take Wyatt with them after that. They called it their Gotcha Day, and Wyatt was to be theirs from then on. However, because of a chicken pox outbreak, it didn't exactly happen the way they planned. They had to return him to the orphanage after their first night with him, and as you can imagine it was heartbreaking. However, after a week of emotional trauma, today is their Gotcha Day II and they are getting to take Wyatt home (to the hotel) once again. YEAH!!! I just wanted to share this with you because I hope that you will all pray for the rest of their journey to be calm and uneventful. After all, if any family deserves some smooth sailing for a while it's the Meacham 3!

Pictures of our Nephew!

Randy's nephew, Clayton James Rogers, was born on March 16th at 6:11 pm. He weighed 7lbs 15oz and was 21 inches long. We got to see him this past weekend and took lots of pictures. Clayton is so cute! And, no, I'm not prejudiced, I promise. :) See for yourself:
So far, Gina thinks he looks like Trey, and Trey says he definitely has Gina's feet because they are long and flat. Of course, Grandma and Grandpa think he's just perfect.

Gina and Trey live between Athens and Gun Barrel City on Cedar Creek Lake. I had never even heard of it until they moved there, but now that I've visited, I think it's one of the prettiest lakes in Texas. Trey took Don, Randy and I out in the boat for a little while on Saturday and we got to see just how big it is. We really had a good time visiting them and seeing our new nephew!

St. Patty's Day

Randy and I celebrated St. Patty's Day at McGilligutty's with some friends. It was a good time! Here are some of the pictures that we took.

Clayton Rogers is Here!

Randy's sister, Gina, had a baby boy today! Gina and her husband, Trey, live in Athens, Texas, so they are a few hours away from us. Unfortunately, we weren't able to be there today to see little Clayton James Rogers come into the world, but he certainly had an audience. Trey's mom, grandmother, and brother along with Gina's parents were all there to see the little guy. Randy and I will be there next weekend and I promise to get some pictures and post them for you all to envy! :)

Speaking of children, my friend Lisa and her husband Justin, from Tulsa, are traveling today to Vladivostok, Russia, to get their little boy. They have had such a roller coaster of a ride working out this adoption that we are all so thankful that they will be there to bring him home. If you are interested in reading her story, you can visit their blog here. Pray for Lisa and Justin to have a very safe and exciting time while bringing Wyatt to his new home!

Berkley and Clayton's Quilts

Here is the only little girl quilt that I've gotten to make for a while now. Berkley Akin will be born at the end of March. Her nursery is a cowgirl theme, and I had so much fun picking out the material for this one. I love the pink cowgirl stuff!







Clayton's baby blanket was a little different because I hand quilted each of the squares. The big squares had an airplane stitched into them, and each of the little squares in the four blocks had clouds. Believe it or not, after I had finished the quilt, I found some matching clothes at Gymboree. How crazy is that? Airplanes and the same colors. I couldn't pass them up!

Valentine's Day

I think that not celebrating Valentine's Day is becoming more and more popular. So many people now pick other days to celebrate, like St. Patrick's day or the Friday before Valentine's. It's amazing how much money is saved on flowers, not to mention time spent trying to find a seat in a good restaurant! Well, although I do see the argument for not making a big deal out of February 14th, Randy and I braved the crowds. We had a great dinner and I got beautiful flowers delivered to my office. And, what did I get Honey? Well, Randy read an issue of Texas monthly a few months back that talked about wet-aging steaks. Ever since then he has been talking about getting a vacuum sealer and aging his own steaks at home. So, I finally got him one for Valentine's Day. He was definitely more thrilled than he would have been with any kind of typical Valentine's gift like candy or a cookie bouquet. It was a win-win for both of us. He gets a new toy gadget and I get good steak. Yum!

Baby Showers!

This weekend has been full of babies! At least the anticipation of babies, that is. My friend Lisa Meacham from Tulsa, Oklahoma, was in town for a baby shower this weekend. She and her husband, Justin, have decided to adopt the most precious little boy from Russia. They are extremely excited, as you can probably imagine! I met Lisa through work when we were in Scottsdale, AZ, for a Professional Selling Skills class. She lives in Tulsa now, but is actually from the Lubbock area and went to Texas Tech. We discovered that we had even more in common when we found out we were both going to infertility specialists. Her story is tear jerking and heart warming all at the same time. You can read their "Born in our Hearts" blog at www.meachams3.blogspot.com. I'm so excited for Lisa, Justin, and their little boy Wyatt!

But, the baby showers didn't end there! I work with one of the sweetest girls in the world, Carisa, and Carisa's having her own sweet little girl. Little Berkley is due on March 30th, and her baby shower was this afternoon. It was so exciting to see the little girl clothes and decorations for her room. Ironically, both of the babies that had showers this weekend will have the exact same nursery decorations. Bukaroo by Banana Fish is a super cute cowboy/cowgirl baby set and somehow both families picked it for their babies. Did I mention that Lisa and Carisa have never even met or talked to each other? Sometimes it really is a small world!


I made quilts for both Berkley and Wyatt and I hope they enjoy them. This is a picture of Wyatt's quilt, but I forgot to take pictures of Berkley's. Oops! I will get Carisa to take pictures and I will post them when she does.

I'm Such a Slacker!!!

I can't believe it's really been over four months since my last post! Once I got behind, it just kept snowballing and I just never could come up with the time to sit down and get it done. So, everyone get settled in your seats while I try to recap the end of 2007 and we start fresh for 2008. Ready? Set. Here we go!

So, right after our fourth anniversary was my 30th birthday. Ugh. Although I did turn the big 3-0, I must say that I haven't had such a fun birthday since I've been an adult. Our friends Andrew and Stephanie turned their house and yard into a fun Tiki town! They even rented margarita and pina coloda machines. What great friends! I can really say that I had a fun 30th birthday!

After my birthday we took a little overnight trip to Ruidoso, NM. Randy and I bought a camper this summer and decided to try it out in the mountains over Labor Day weekend. It was a great first trip! The weather was cool but not too cold and we were in a very wooded and scenic RV Park. Who knew we were RV People?! I think the "try-out" trip was really just an excuse for Randy to get to go to the last weekend of the horse races while we were in Ruidoso. Unfortunately, we didn't win anything there, but we did have a really good time. After we got back from the Labor Day trip, we put the camper to the use that we intended it for when we purchased it...TAILGATING! We made every Texas Tech home game a party by tailgating from Friday until Sunday. Leslie, Mary Jane, Shawn and Bobbie were with us every weekend, and lots of others popped in and out to enjoy good food, music and laughter before and after the games.

Somehow, in the middle of the football games, we also managed to enter the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce Brisket Cookoff. VistaCare, my work, actually entered but we didn't have anyone to do the cooking so they asked Randy to do it. And, I think that was a good idea since he won us first place! Randy was downtown by 2:00am to get started smoking the brisket. When he turned it in at 3:00 that afternoon, he was exhausted and kept saying it wasn't going to be very good. Of course, Randy is his own worst critic when it comes to cooking. They called out the third and second place winners, and he was already walking back to our smoker with his head hung low. Then they said VistaCare won first place, and all of a sudden he came alive. Out of 44 teams, he really had a reason to be proud! He's like a kid with his trophy. It's so cute...he put it on the mantel and wouldn't let me take it down until I put up my Christmas garland.

The only football game I didn't make it to was the last of the season: Texas Tech vs Oklahoma University. This was a hard one to miss for so many reasons. First, it was on Randy's birthday, November 17th. Like mine, it was also his 30th this year, and I was so sad I couldn't be there to celebrate with him! Andrew and Stephanie brought Randy a cookie cake and Shawn and Bobbie brought him chocolate covered strawberries. All in all, I do think that Randy had a good birthday even without me. I did get to stop by after the game in time to see him open presents though. I had made a commitment in the first part of the year to be the Merchant Chair for the Junior League of Lubbock's Holiday Happening and there was no way I could get away on Saturday. Holiday Happening is a huge Christmas show with 150 merchants and thousands of shoppers that the Junior League puts on every year. The money raised by Holiday Happening funds all of our projects for the year such as building public playgrounds, helping to feed kids that may not get nutrition on the weekends, and other worthwhile causes. I know I missed Randy's birthday to do something for a good cause, but it was still a very sad day for me!

After Holiday Happening was over I thought I would have a chance to catch my breath, but that was just wishful thinking! We had a Christmas party with about 50 of our very closest friends ;) on December 8th. Last year Randy and I, with Mary Jane and Leslie, decided to have a little get together that turned into a big get together and it just kept growing. So this year, we just planned for the big get together and it went much easier. The party really ushered in Christmas for me, and afterward I kicked into overdrive on getting presents bought and wrapped. Our goal was to have everything wrapped and ready to go by the Thursday before Christmas so that Randy and I could take a long weekend and stay in a friends cabin in Ruidoso. Fortunately, we got everything finished and were able to enjoy the time we had away with no schedule to follow or to-do lists hanging over our heads. We came home on Christmas Eve, and had my dad, his girlfriend, my brother and sister-in-law over for presents and Christmas dinner that night. On Christmas Day we went to Plainview to spend the day with Randy's mom, dad, sister and brother-in-law. Then on the 26th we left town to go to my mom's house in Trinity. We had a really blessed Christmas with all of our families.

That weekend we left my mom's house and drove down to Galveston for one of my friends weddings. It was beautiful! Hollie and Jake got married in the sweetest little church. It was such an old building with lots of intricate carvings and details. Perfect for a picturesque wedding! Then, the reception was fantastic. It was very much like our high school reunion, except that it also included some friends that graduated a couple of years before and a couple of years after I did. I really had a great time seeing so many of my La Porte friends again. Let's hope there's another wedding soon so we can do it again! ...Christina? :)

And finally, if you're wondering about the baby situation, here's the latest. We still have the two embryos that were frozen after my retrieval in May last year. We'll be doing the transfer sometime in the next couple of weeks, so I'll ask for your prayers. It seems that frozen transfers are not as reliable as a fresh transfer would be, but I'm not going to discount my chances. We've got two, and that's all we need. I'll let you know how it all goes and hopefully have some really good news in early February!

Well, now that the New Year has passed and we're into 2008, my resolution is to post on a regular basis. I might even get Randy to post once or twice. I'll add some pictures from the end of 2007 below. Happy New Year!

Our 4th Anniversary

Yesterday (August 23rd) was our fourth wedding anniversary! I can't believe we've already been married for four years. It seems like just yesterday that we were planning the wedding. I can remember thinking then that our wedding day would never come. And now, here it is four years later and all I can wish is that time would slow down! I mean just think, four years is the same amount of time as you spent in high school. Didn't that feel like a long time back then? Well, apparently time really does pass faster the older you get. What's even more unbelievable to me is that we started dating on September 19, 2001, so we will be together a total of six years in just a couple of days. Since my 30th birthday (yes, I said 30th!) is Tuesday, I will have Randy in my life for 1/5 of the time I have been on this earth. I've already spent 20% of my life with him! I know I did get really lucky to find someone that keeps me entertained and is so sweet to me, so I'm not at all complaining. I am just having such a hard time with how fast time is passing and how I don't even notice it flying by. I know I need to stop and smell the roses, but I'm just not really sure where to find the breaks!

More Cowbell Anyone????

KK, Kenzie, and Kagan Keltz

Babysitting!

I got to babysit three of my favorite little people today! Lesa and Kevin had some errands to run, so they let me have Kaitlyn (5), Kenzie (3), and Kagan (1) this afternoon/evening. It was so much fun! KK, being the oldest, is so good at being the big girl helper. They are such good kids that I didn't even feel overwhelmed that I had three kids under six here.

KK and Kenzie have some active imaginations. Those girls can dream up things to keep themselves entertained for hours. Today, KK was the mom and Kenzie was her 4 year old daughter that was having a birthday party. They went back and forth to the grocery store (upstairs) to get sack (basket) after sack of groceries (blocks, cards, checkers). We had the party and ate sandwiches (cards), chips (checkers), cake and cupcakes (blocks). Then they called for a bus to come pick them up and take them to the water park in Azle for the birthday party. It was so cute to watch their imaginations run wild. Remember when it was so easy to dream up things to do?

Locknane Family Reunion

Why is it that when families get together for a weekend we manage to eat more than we usually do in a typical week? We're stuffed! At least it was really good food that we're stuffed of. Randy's mom and her family are some of the best cooks, and particularly bakers, I know. And that's certainly a compliment because my family is pretty serious when it comes to making good food. We ate from Saturday morning until we left this afternoon. But it tasted so good that I can't even say I regret any of it! Then, they all sent us home with recipe packets for all of the dishes. As if eating that much once a year isn't enough, now we can sit at home and eat ourselves into oblivion without anyone else having to witness the process! It's a beautiful thing.

Randy's grandma lives in Clovis. She is just the spunkiest little lady you'll ever meet. I didn't race her, but I'm pretty sure that if I did she would win. Talk about somebody with energy and determination. I don't know many people that could keep up with her. We went to visit the old farm house that she grew up in just outside of Clovis. As soon as we pulled up to the gate she's hopping out of the car to open it before it even comes to a stop. At eighty some-odd years old (a lady never tells her age!) she still gets on the tractor and mows the weeds down. It's an impressive sight to see her in action with all of her grandkids.

We took some family pictures looking out over the breaks, which is Locknane language for where the flat land breaks off into valley and cliffs. Apparently Clovis sits on a plateau, and you wouldn't even realize it until you get to a part of their farm where all of a sudden there's a drop into beautiful scenery. Since I didn't bring my camera, I'll have to rely on Gina or Karen to send those pictures to me. As soon as I get them, I'll post them though!

Busy little bees!

I haven't posted in so long! It's been a mad dash around here with so many things going on for the summer. We usually don't have things to do on weeknights, but for some reason lately it seems like even those are rushed for activities. I guess I brought most of that on myself when I volunteered to be the Merchant Chair for Holiday Happening this year. What did I get myself into?! Talk about having a second full time job. But, it's fun and it's all for a good cause so you won't hear anymore complaining from me! Randy on the other hand still has some choice words about how much time it takes up. Luckily, he usually keeps those to his self. :)

Yes, Randy still has to wear the brace. He's tried to play golf in it, but I think he's still not comfortable enough to move it that much. For now, it looks like golf on the Wii is all he can handle. I think that he's going to go with Leslie's boyfriend, John, to a shooting range for their "boy excursions" instead of golfing for the next couple of weeks. We worked in the yard today and it hurt him to even bend over and pick something up. At least, so he says. So I got the job of digging up old and planting new flowers in the back yard this afternoon to myself. But, after the good care he took of me when I was so sick, I can't complain.

We've heard lots of good news in the last couple of weeks. One of the sweetest girls that I work with, Carisa, and her husband discovered that they are expecting after only one month of trying. Also, Randy's sister, Gina, found out that she and Trey are going to be parents! Then, Justin Franklin and his wife, Chandler, also announced that they would be giving baby Bode a little brother or sister. Can you imagine the baby showers to come? All of these couples are due in March of next year. There must be something in the water, so I think I'm going to drink from every faucet in town!

By the way, congratulations to Dane and Crystal! They were married on Saturday in a very sweet and intimate wedding. Thanks for letting us be part of your special day!

Now, on to a sadder note. One of my friends, Elizabeth Bednarz, ended her battle with cancer on Wednesday night. She fought a courageous fight, but in the end the cancer won. She found a spot that was suspicious in January, and didn't get in to see the doctor until February. They found out immediately that it was cancer and had spread throughout her body, including her brain. She chose to seek treatment and to fight as long as she could. However, the chemo could only do so much. Her funeral was Saturday. We met through Junior League because we were in the same provisional class, so I've only known her about 2 years. However, her bright smile and positive outlook, even at the very end, will always have a place in my heart. Although I work for a hospice provider, and I see people with terminal illness on a daily basis, this was very different. It's somehow even more painful to watch someone you know, someone that is only 5 years older, go through something this terrible. I can appreciate life so much more after witnessing my friend go through the last six months.

Randy Got The Boot!

Well, he got a boot. On his right foot, that is. It will probably only be a couple of weeks before he can take it off, so it's not too serious. This past Sunday while he was helping his friend Chance look for his golf ball Randy stepped in a hole. He says he was busy looking in the water and not where he was going. Obviously! Both Randy and Chance heard a popping sound when it happened. That popping was the sound of ligaments on the top of his foot tearing. Yeouch! He says it's pretty sore but feels better when the boot is on because it doesn't move. The doctor said that he should be okay in the boot, but he wanted to see Randy back on the 23rd to make sure it's healing right. If it's not looking as good as he thinks it should, he's going to put on the cast no matter how much Randy protests. I really hope it doesn't come to that since I'm having to drive him around while he's got the boot. He said he would figure out a way to drive with his left foot, but if you have ever seen him drive normally you understand why I don't think that's a good idea! I'll keep you posted!