Happy 89th Birthday Grandma!

Today is my grandma's 89th birthday! Normally we'd be celebrating and all getting together tonight for it but the circumstances are different this year. Thursday evening grandpa wasn't feeling well and was loosing feeling in his left hand and foot. Mom called 911 and the ambulance came and took him to the hospital in Lyons. The got oxygen on him and a heart monitor and started running tests. They have found out that he has pneumonia and also his carotid artery on the right side of his neck are blocked. This blockage is what caused the loss of feeling in his left side. Grandpa has been in the hospital ever since and will remain there for awhile. Grandma has Alzheimer's and doesn't really know what's going on and can't stay by herself. Friday, Saturday and Sunday the girls and I stayed with her quite a bit. It was nice to get to spend time with her but we realize we can't keep doing this and grandpa can't take care of her anymore. Thursday we'll have to put her in a nursing home. We have talked about it just didn't know when we should do it and grandpa kept saying that he could do it a little while longer. Grandpa will be 92 in September and he's done a good job so far but we're afraid for his health dealing with her too. We've been fortunate to have them stay at home together this long. We all know that sometimes this has to happen. We just pray that they both handle it well.

My mom is an amazing woman handling all this on her own. Her half sister lives in Vegas and fell a couple months ago and broke her hip so she isn't able to help out. Mom stays pretty strong. She goes and sees grandpa, comes home to take care of grandma when someone else can't come out and stay with her and prepares to go back to work Wednesday. I pray for my mother too that she can handle the stress and everything.

Spending time with grandma brought back so many memories of how she used to be and the things we used to do when we stayed at their house. I got out old toys, books and puzzles that we used to play with for the girls to play with. It was fun to sit down and play with them again!

Cheyenne was such a sweetheart with Grandma. One time I was visiting with mom on the back porch and Cheyenne came in and said "Mema, I helped Grandma to the bathroom. I held her hand so she wouldn't fall." My 3 year old understands more than I think. She knows to just say yes or no to Grandma and not ask questions when she doesn't know what she's talking about. Both girls were a big help in keeping Grandma entertained over the weekend. Although Grandma didn't get the naps she usually gets when it's only her and Grandpa.

The girls and I with Grandma on Sunday!

On August 14th Grandma and Grandpa also celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary! What a blessing to have been married for 61 years!

We all had dinner at mom and dad's to celebrate their anniversary!

The girls with Grandma and Grandpa!

Happy Birthday Grandma! I know she won't understand that today is her birthday but hopefully we can make it a special day for her.

1...2...3...

Cheryl has been talking so much clearer and more lately. She has recently learned to count to 10 (with a little help) as well. She got a little distracted by an owie but still did good! My baby is growing up! :(

Weekend Getaway

Saturday morning we got up and headed to Kansas City for a mini family vacation. We've stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge before and thought about doing it again but didn't really want to spend $400 on one day! We'd heard about the CoCo Key Water Resort and checked it out online but they didn't have any rooms. The water park is open to anyone, not just guests so we thought we would do that. When we got there, we asked about rooms and they had some available. It was a little bit higher than reserving online but a lot cheaper than Great Wolf! Cheryl loved the water! After everytime she went down the slide, she said "Gain"! Cheyenne on the other hand was a little timid. There was one small slide she liked and she liked floating on the lazy river but that was about it. Scott and I took a couple turns going down the big tube slide. It was fun!

The girls slept on the way to KC.

After our early afternoon swim we went to our room, on the 11th floor, and got ready to go do some shopping. We wanted to go to Cabela's so we headed to the Legends. We found a few things at Legends then headed to Target. Cabela's was our last stop before supper. The girls loved the animals! It's better than the zoo! We bought a electric smoker while we were there. Scott's friend has one and said the meat he cooked in it was the best he ever had! He's actually using ours for supper tonight so I can't wait to get home to try it! Then it was supper at Lone Star and back to the hotel for some more swimming. I don't have any pictures of the water park because I didn't want my camera to get wet or stolen.

The girls loved looking out he window of our 11th floor room!

It was across from Kauffman Stadium and the Royals were playing Saturday night. I even think they won!

Us before leaving the hotel.

Sunday morning we got up and headed to out to meet a friend of Scott's in Manhattan. We got there a little early and saw signs for the zoo so we decided to check it out. It wasn't that great but the girls liked seeing the animals. This is where Cabela's was better than the zoo! It was a lot of walking and not too many animals.

Chey liked the Monkey!

OttersThey did have a tiger. He was sleeping and he was at a dead end in the trail. We had to walk back up to some stairs and pull the stroller up them. It was about 95 degrees when we were there so we were soaked with sweat before we got out of there.

We were going to go to Junction City to eat at Cracker Barrel but there was a 45 minute wait so we decided to see if we could get a table at Brookville Hotel in Abilene. We got one and had a delicious fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cream corn, cole slaw, biscuit and ice cream homestyle dinner. We told our friends good-bye and headed to Salina to get a few things from Walmart and Sam's. We had to have meat for our new smoker! We got home about 6 pm and unloaded and were all wore out! It was really nice to get away for awhile though. I really enjoyed the time with my family. I'm thankful Scott and I finally had a weekend off together that we could share with the girls.

Back To It

Ok. I've got to get back to blogging! I miss it! I put statuses on facebook that say what's going on in my life but I want to post pictures. It would take me too long right now to tell you everything that's been going on so I'll save that for another day. I just thought I'd post how curly Cheryl's hair got this morning when we went for a jog and it was foggy and wet out.

My pretty girl saying "cheese" and mommy forgot to raise the flash!

Curly hair!

Well, that's it for now. I have to get back to work. We don't have internet at home so I'll post when I can. But I can say..."I'm Back!"

Moving Day!

Well, today is moving day. Scott got off work at 5:30 this morning and has been busy moving our things ever since. When I talked to him around 1:00 almost all of the big things and boxes had been moved. I think just a chair and kitchen table remained. Then there's of course all the last minute things that I will get tonight or in the morning. We close on our house tomorrow at 9. So I guess this is good bye to Lyons and a wonderful 4 years in that house!

As for blogs, there have been activities that I've taken pictures of that I'd like to post but they'll have to wait. I'm not sure if we'll get internet at our new house right way or not. I may have to do it at my parents'. Which I will be spending some time at next week because Scott is taking the girls with him to Goodland to help with harvest. I will be by myself from Sunday to Friday! I guess I know what I'll be doing...unpacking! We're not going to unpack much though because we're not sure exactly where we want to be. We'll see what I can get done! It'll be different!

Cheyenne's First Haircut

Friday we decided Cheyenne needed a little haircut. We took her uptown and had them cut off about 4 inches! It doesn't look like a lot but it really makes a difference on the tangles!

I caught the first few cuts for her babybook.

She sat pretty still while she did it!

Trimming the front!

All done!

They do first haircuts free and give them a certificate! It was pretty fun for her!

Blastball

For the past 2 weeks Cheyenne has had Blastball practice and games. If you haven't heard of plast ball, it's kind of like t-ball except there is only one base and it honks when you step on it. It gets the kids a little more familiar with the game before they start t-ball. Lyons does it for 3 & 4 year olds. I combined all 3 game days in one blog so there are several pictures! I think Cheyenne learned a lot from day one. It's fun to see them improve every day! It's all just begun, this was the first year of many years of softball!

Yvonne and Cheryl watching the kids play Blastball.

Ellie hitting. Cheyenne is playing in the field.

Cheyenne "ready" for the ball!

Cheyenne batting.

Running to the base!

Yvonne playing with Cheyenne after the game!

Scott didn't make it in time to watch Cheyenne play the first night but he made it in time to play with the girls!

Game 2. Cheyenne "ready" for the ball again.

Hitting the ball!

Run Chey!

Day 3. Running after the ball!

Cheryl has the best seat in the house!

Running back to get in line!

Cheyenne kept yelling at me that she had rocks in her shoes. I told her to just wait until she was done but Scottie, one if the coaches, took them out for her!

Good hit Chey!

Video of Chey batting

Cheryl watching Cheyenne run to the base!

2009 Blastball Team

News

Sorry for all the posts at once. It's been crazy around here. I haven't even posted our news. We have sold our house and close on June 30th! The only problem is that we don't have another house to go to! We've been frantically looking for a place to rent but to no avail. We looked at a house for sale in Holyrood last night and I'm going to contact some people on another one today. Hopefully we find something soon! We've been praying that everything will work out! Mom asked if she needed to clear out her basement! Maybe! We're glad we sold it but to have to do everything in the month of June is nuts! It's baseball and softball season and harvest! I work evenings some days and some long days. Scott will be headed to Goodland soon to help with harvest. When we have free time we're calling on houses, looking at houses and packing! I've started packing up things that we're not using right now. Almost everything is off our walls. So, I tried to catch up on some posts because I'm not sure what the next few weeks will hold. Please keep us in your prayers that we find something soon and aren't homeless!

Scott's Softball

Scott plays men's softball in Ellsworth on Sunday evenings when he doesn't have to work. I took the camera along for some pictures.

Scott batting.

Most of these guys spend all weekend at the lake and then come play softball! They are tired!

The entertainment for the kids is Chloe. The little puppy (I'm do know by breeds of dogs so I'm not sure what kind she is). The girls love playing with her and walking he on her leash! Some fights among the kids ensue sometimes!

Not sure how many more games Scott will get to play because he goes to nights again next week and harvest is coming up. We enjoy hanging out with friends and watching the guys play softball.

Pool

One Sunday afternoon we took the girls to the pool! They really enjoyed it! The water was pretty cold though. Scott and I weren't off on the same days again so we got the little pool out instead. It would be hard for one person to watch them both at the public pool. They just love playing in the water!

My mom got them these "guns" not sure what they are called but they are really easy for Cheyenne to fill with water and squirt. They usually empty the pool with them! Cheryl doesn't quite have it figured out yet but she's getting there. She is usually the one getting squirted!

Run Cheryl!

Cheyenne loves the water! She really loves squirting everyone too! Her and I had a little water fight! It was a lot of fun! She can get a lot of water in her gun and squirt it good!

Corn

The other day I fixed spaghetti and I had gotten some corn out while I was fixing the spaghetti. The girls like to sit on the counter and watch me cook. It's easier than having them right by the stove or on chairs. I'm always afraid they are going to get burned. I guess they couldn't wait to eat because they started eating the cold corn!

Posing for a picture!

Being silly! Cheyenne loves her sister so much!

Now for the spaghetti! She was tired by the time I took this picture. Time for a bath and a nap!

State Track

It was a very HOT state track meet. Most of the Quivira Heights kids did well. Amanda got 1st in high jump. Jordan got 3rd in the 2 mile and 4th in the mile. Katherine got 3rd in long jump. Kieran placed 1st in long jump and 6th in triple. The 4x800 relay placed 7th. The girls were 5th overall out of 51 teams. The boys tied for 20th with 4 other teams. We were proud of them all!

Jordan running the 2 mile at 8:00 in the morning!

3rd place!

The teams coming down the straight away getting ready to run the 4x800 relays. It's pretty cool to see all the teams lined up and running together to the starting line.

Shannon in the first leg. Unfortunately when she went to hand off to Staci another girl knocked the baton out of her hand. That slowed them down a bit.

Staci running 2nd leg.

Katharine running leg 3.

Lindsay bringing it home for 7th place with a time if 10:25.

On the Awards Stand!

Jordan running the mile.

Jordan headed to the finish line for 4th place.

We left early because it was so hot so I didn't get a picture of Amanda's first place finish in high jump.

Congrats to all the QH tracksters and look forward to next year!

Scott's brother also came down for state track because his brother-in-law was running. It was nice to get to spend some time with them and see "little" Gunner. He's not really so little. I'll post pictures of him later. They are on my phone.