NHRA Nationals (5/27/06)

We went to the NHRA Nationals in Topeka for a few hours, and boy was it loud!! Hot and loud, but fun!!


The Budweiser top fuel dragster


John Force's funny car


Getting ready to race


Blew up the transmission 25 feet from the start line. Bummer!

AARRRR - Shivery me timbers (5/23/06)

Well, I sure marked the 9-month anniversary of our log in date with a bang.

There I was laying in bed relaxing before I had to get up to start the day (5:30ish am), and my little dog Bailey was laying next to me. John woke up and asked him if he needed to go potty and Bailey whipped around so fast - and proceeded to put his paw right in my open eye!!! I literally saw stars for a minute, and then everything went black. I have never felt such pain.

The above pictures were taken 4-hours after the "accident" and I could barely open my eye.





The above pictures here were taken at 1:30 pm, and although I could open the eye wider, it still hurt so bad. It was time to go to the doctor.

My mom came up and got me (I couldn't hold the eye open long enough, and the other eye had trouble focusing due to the pain) and took me to the eye doctor.

I thought Bailey had scratched my eye or even my eye lid, but WOW....he actually tore a piece of my cornea off. Right off the center of my eyeball!!! Wasn't expecting that diagnosis.

The doctor gave me a prescription and sent me on my way. Mom and I went to Wally World to fill my script, and I came out looking like someone who belongs in Pirates of the Caribbean. :)




AARRRRRRR

It took a couple days, but the cornea grew back and the eye is back to normal. All is well on the eyeball front.

Happy Birthday Mama Seita!!!

Happy 61 Mom!!!



These pictures were taken in 1966, and you look just as beautiful today as you did then. Actually, you look better today - cause at least you go out in your own hair nowadays!!! ROFL (you know I had to give you a hard time about that one - hee hee)



I love you very much, and am soooo glad you are my Mommy!! John says he loves you too!!







"Like a treeeeeeee in da weeiiiiiiind", Love Nell :)

HE'S HERE!! HE'S HERE!!!

I'm so excited right now I can hardly stand it!!! My nephew Chapin Robert made his entry into this world last night at 11:26 pm, weighing in at 7 lbs 4 oz and is 19 3/4 inches long.

He is absolutely adorable - and I can't wait to give him kisses all over those little cheeks!!! :)

Congrats Doug & Amy!!! He is beautiful.

Happy X-Men Day (actually - Happy Wolverine Day!!!)

Updates Galore

I want to start off by saying Thank You again to my friend Kara (who I work with) for this incredibly hip travel diaper/handiwipe bag. It's one of the neatest things I've ever seen.





















It holds a travel pack of wipes and 2 or more diapers, and is made by 'diapees & wipees' (check them out here: http://www.diapeesandwipees.com/)

I've got one ordered for my SIL for Cupcake's diapees & wipees, (but shhhhh - don't tell her) :)

I've finally got some time today to sit down and update "The Blog". I really wish I was able to be in San Diego though - because my SIL Amy's baby shower is this afternoon, and I sure wish I could be there.

Happy Showering Amy - hope you get a lot of prezzies!! :)
















Cupcake is almost done baking - and I can't wait to meet this handsome little guy!!! (look at that little nose and those little lips!!!!)

A Mother's Day Haul

WOW!!! I'm still only paperwork pregnant (STILL-UGGG) but I got quite a haul for Mother's Day.



My Mom got me this beautiful silk ladybug scarf and/or belt, and a ladybug cell phone holder


She got Baby Em this adorable outfit


I got these great Anne Geddes books from Angee (SIL)


And my MIL (mother-in-law) got me this kick booty diaper bag from BagDaddy



I absolutely love this!!!

I purchased a black backpack diaper bag for us many months ago for 2 reasons: 1) It will be great to use in China 2) John demanded a "non-sissy" bag he could carry

Well, na-na-na-na-boo-boo I got my frilly foo foo bag I can carry around when we return home from China!!! :)

And what did John give me for Mother's Day? $$$ to fly to San Diego to see my new nephew when he's born. :)

Mission Impossible III - Yes, I still love him :)

Ok - he hasn't acted like "Typical Tom" over the past year or so, but I still love my Tommy (much to my husband's chagrin-LOL), and after 23-years of being my favorite, I can't give up on him that quickly.

John took me to see MI:3 for Mother's Day (see... he encourages me!!!) and we both loved it.

Part of MI:3 was filmed in China (which was neat to see), but before it can be released to view there, some scenes need to be cut. The scenes China want cut (and this just makes me laugh) are ones that depict laundry hanging out to dry - primarily......underwear!!! LOL

More Gifts From the Aunties

GIFTS FROM AUNT AMY


Yes - this is a ladybug dress (complete with antennas, and wings) LOL




GIFTS FROM AUNT ANGEE


This bib says it all!!! :)

One Bad Motor Scooter & My Favorite Toy

Aunt Angee strikes again!!! LOL

She got Emily her first little motorized car, and I think it is just the cutest. I can't wait to see her motoring around in it. :)


As John can attest, although Angee bought this for Emily, it is my favorite toy.

I first spotted this little Pop Along Pooh weeks ago at Kmart, and kept telling John I had to go back and get it. Well, Angee surprised me with it - and Emily is just going to have to deal with the fact that she is going to have to share this Pooh with Mommy. :)

(If you spot this little guy in your store, you have to squeeze Pooh's ear and listen to him - it just crackes me up) "Go faster....faster!!"

New Do

When our paper work went to China in August of last year - I made a promise to myself that I was going to let my hair grow so that when we traveled, all I had to do was pull it back in a ponytail....well, I finally realized that I was not meant to have long hair - and decided to cut it all off.

I love it, and I can't believe I actually thought long hair would be easier than this do. :)

Amy made me cry!!! (But in a good way)

My SIL (sister-in-law) Amy sent her quilt square (beautiful it is), some adoption scrapbook pages and stickers, and a card with a poem that literally made me cry like a baby. Why did it make me cry you may be asking, well let me post the poem:

OUR FAMILY TREE

Emilia has been added to our family tree,
A stronger one to make.
A child from another plant,
Has become a new namesake.
Just as a limb is grafted,
From one tree to another,
It alters and improves the plant,
Making it, uniquely, like no other.

Our family tree has been improved,
Adoption made this so.
For love, much more than bloodlines,
Makes us thrive and grow.

We share life and love,
And all the joys to come.
Our "family tree" has blossomed,
With the arrival of you,
Our cherished little one.

Author Unknown
Edited by Aunt Amy

I love, love, love it!!!!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Pops

HAPPY 37TH ANNIVERSARY!!!

















Ahhhhhh - young love!!! :)

Thanks for being an example of love and perseverance in a day when it's so easy to call it quits and walk away. Thanks for sticking it out through the good, the bad, and even the ugly. :)

We love you guys!!!

Friday April 21 -- Meeting Mark Lowry

This past Friday (4/21/06), John and I headed to Marysville, KS (which is about 2 ½ hours away) to see Mark Lowry, who is on his ‘GOD Is Crazy About You Tour‘. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Mark, he is a Christian comedian/singer (whom I happen to think is one of the funniest human beings on earth). And oh yeah - he used to sing with this little group called the Gaither Vocal Band. :)

Well, we got good seats for the show, and I knew that with Mark having been in a “Murdercycle” accident not too long ago (and banging up his knee pretty bad) that he would be on his little “Jazzy-Rascal-Scooter”- but when the sound effect of the big engine and the squealing tires started - you’d have thought Elvis had entered the building. Leave it Mark!! LOL

The show was great, and Mark’s touring buddies (singing group) LordSong and pianist Stan Whitmire were wonderful. All was going smoothly until…….intermission. For some odd reason (and when we asked him about it later, he didn’t even know why he did it) Mark decided to drive off the stage on his scooter BACKWARDS!?!?!? Well, he started down the ramp (and per John’s observation, Mark looked off to the side at the same time moving the steering column and increasing speed). Well, thank GOD that a pretty good sized guy was standing right there, because Mark and the scooter went right off the ramp and that guy was able to catch him and the scooter before they hit the ground. Needless to say - there was a collective gasp and hush throughout the crowd at that moment, but all was ok and Mark drove off with his arms in the air. LOL

After the show, Mark did a meet and greet and we were able to talk a few minutes with him, have our picture taken with him, and I asked him to sign the children’s book he wrote, “Piper’s Great Adventures” for Emilia. I told him we were adopting her from China, and he signed the book to her. He said, “Now you’re going to have to spell her name that way cause I wrote it like that,” and I said “That’s great - cause that’s how we’re spelling it.” :)

Oh, when we told him we were from Leavenworth, he asked if they had let us out for the night, and I said “Yeah, on good behavior”. LOL (Leavenworth is known for the Federal Penitentiary)

Well, we said goodbye and headed out. We didn’t get a chance to eat dinner earlier, so we decided to stop at this little place in Marysville that is a train car called Penny‘s Diner. It looked cute (and was basically the only thing open at that time) so we stopped for a bite. We were sitting there for quite a while and we heard the waiter ask someone why there was so many people in there at that time of night (there were only 2 people working and the place was filling up). Someone told him that there was a concert or something up at the school, and he went on about his business. Well, John and I were sitting at our table and John made the comment that wouldn’t it be funny if Mark walked in. I said, “Yeah right, I doubt it. If he walked in here, I‘d probably pee my pants.” (Oh me of little faith) I’m not kidding you about this…roughly 1 minute later I looked out the window and I saw a bus pulling in the parking lot. I looked at John and said “NO WAY!!!” Now, we are blessed John & I, but things like THIS just don’t happen to us. John was facing the door and he goes - “Here he comes, he’s walking in the door right now”. I whipped around and couldn’t believe my eyes. Here came Mark with some of his crew…and the only booth open in the restaurant is the booth right behind us!!!

Ok - can you sense that I’m probably wigging right about now?!?! Well, I was. We said hello to him, and he sat down. John’s cracking up - cause I can just imagine the look on my face, but I remained cool and nonchalant. After a few minutes, we start talking with him, and all is going cool (still can’t believe it!!) and then I notice this weird little grin on John’s face. I give him this quizzical look and the next thing I know is he says, “Hey Mark, we were sitting here talking and she said that if you came in here, she’d probably pee her pants." WHAT?!?!? NO HE DID NOT?!?!? Mark looked at me, I looked at him, and this is how the rest of it went down:

Me: “But I didn’t!!”
Mark: “Well that’s good, that would have been so embarrassing”
Me: :)
John: “Yeah, I told her if she did, we’d have to wait until you left to get up” (hardy har har)
Mark & His Crew: MUCH LAUGHTER
Dawn: :)

So, we had a good laugh, talked a while more - Mark asked when we were getting Emilia - and it was time for us to head out. Their food arrived and we had a long drive home ahead of us. We said goodbye, told him we’d hopefully see him in December for the Gaither Homecoming (and hopefully we’ll have Emilia to introduce him to) and we hit the road.

It was a great end to a great day - and I still have trouble believing it actually happened. I’ve said for years that I would love to meet Mark and be able to sit down and talk to him….and it actually happened. Ya know, GOD loves all his kids…but Friday night - he loved me best!!! :)

NOTE TO MARK:
Thank you Mark for being who you are - and for doing what GOD has called you to do. You are a “ReMarkable” person, and we are blessed to have had the opportunity to meet and talk with you. We hope our paths cross again, and if you’re around the Leavenworth area, drop on by….we’ll leave a cell open for ya!! :) May GOD continue to bless you (and please don’t go down the ramp backwards anymore!!)








P.S. If you'd like to check out Mark's website, click below:

The nursery is finished

Finally the nursery is finished - and we are very pleased with the results.

Come in and check it out.......























































Of course, the room won't be complete until Emily is home. :)

HAPPY HE IS RISEN DAY!!!

Red is for the blood He gave
Green is for the grass He made
Yellow is for the sun so bright
Orange is for the edge of night
Black is for the sin we made
White is for the grace He gave
Purple is for the hour of sorrow
Pink is for a new tomorrow
*~**~*
A bag of jelly beans
colorful and sweet;
it's a prayer, it's a promise,
it's an Easter treat!

THANK YOU JESUS

“ [The Resurrection of Christ ] Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ”- 1 Corinthians 15:1, 3-4

Happy Birthday Dear Sis!!!

Happy 37th Birthday to my dear sister-in-love Amy!!!

Hope you have a wonderful day - and that you get to eat a giant piece of chocolate cake!!!

(can you believe I actually got the date right this year?!?!?! ) :)