Home Again

Thanks for all the nice comments on our trip, the sink hole, and the little girlies. We got home before noon on Sunday, and I didn't even get to see the hole. DC went around it on 270. I really wanted to see it. I have to say, the ride that day had the least traffic I have ever seen on those two highways in years. It was wonderful. I saw on the news this morning that they are making great progress on getting it fixed.

Kev came back to life at 3:00 that afternoon - just in time to miss most of the fun. I felt so bad for him. We'll try again next year!

I shot these last scenes from our deck before we left, because it was the only sunny early morning we had.

This was on the way down the mountain.

The teeny tiny twins came over to spend an hour or so that afternoon so their parents could get their taxes filed. When I was changing their diapers, Feisty informed me that diaper duty was her job . Care Bear let me know that her job was to "calm them down." So cute!

One awake, one asleep. It doesn't always work like that, though! Last night I went over to their house (3 doors down, just like Barb is from her grandkids) so Kristen didn't have to lug half the house over to mine - she finally got to go back to Praise Band practice. It's been at least 7 weeks since she has been able to do her part, or even be in church. (I will be coming home early from Sunday School for a few weeks so that she can get there in time for second service, until she can take the babies out). Anyway - here is what it was like after they left - (in case you wonder how I got these pictures - Kristen made one of her many mommy calls to see how things were going, and I asked her to call her dad to come down and bring my camera).

When they got home, Kristen asked me if it had been stressful. Are you kidding? I got to spend some time when them on my shoulder (one at a time) and just totally relaxed!

Today I stopped by for a minute and found them napping in the big chair. Oh, my heart! (I hope you don't get tired of seeing their pictures!)

Welcome Home, Emma - and A Week-end Away

It is Saturday afternoon and I am up in Copper Mountain. We came on Thursday morning, early, just missing a big storm which closed the interstate, and a huge water main break, causing a gigantic sink hole, causing a closure at the intersection of two major interstates. More than 2 million gallons of water gushed out, causing the highway roadbed to develop a sink hole estimated at 40 feet by 40 feet and as much as 16 feet deep.

Here they are trying to get the road fixed enough that people can get to work on Monday.

We were safely tucked away up here in our cozy little apartment before all of this happened. We are trusting we'll get back okay tomorrow morning. Kev has been sick with the stomach flu most of the time, able to ski yesterday only, poor kid! Sema has amazed me with her drive to perfect her skiing technique - the girl who was raised on the Indian Ocean in Mombasa, Kenya, Africa. This girl, who was raised in Northern Minnesota, has no desire to be cold all day long, but rather to sit by the fire and do gpa computations for approximately 100 applicants, read some good books, and fix some good meals. I discovered that the wireless access in our room was not free, but learned that I could go over to the building where the young employees live in dorm-like conditions to use their access, or their "computer lab."

There are young people here from all over the world, experiencing the world of skiing for a 3 month period. We met two young girls from Peru and Brazil as we ate terribly overpriced bratwursts the first afternoon (the reason we brought our own food!).

But - back to Miss Emma! Emma was released around 5:00 Wednesday afternoon. I did not get as many, nor as good, pictures as I did for Kate's release. By the time we got her home, both girls were asleep, and Kristen was most anxious to keep them that way! I've missed some great photo ops since I've been up here, but I know there will be many more. For instance, Kristen called me to tell me that both girls were sitting on the couch, holding her "own" baby, and feeding them their bottles. One even attempted the burping duty. Care Bear decided she was big enough to bring Kate up to her bed, while Kristen was getting Emma settled upstairs. Kristen had to hold her breath, then try to kindly explain to Care Bear that she wasn't QUITE big enough for that. They are going to be such tremendous little helpers.



Today they had a tremendous bout of Cabin Fever, so they were going to go to the park with both double strollers full of cute big and little girls. Wish I could have had a shot of that!

I love this picture of Kristen beginning the preparations to bring Emma home.

Kate slept through most of the process - I did end up feeding her just before we headed home.

Emma just chilled out as she was dressed in her going home outfit, waiting for all of the paper work to be completed.

This is one of the fabulous nurses in the NICU (whom we will miss!), who happens to be a good friend of Diane's - it is indeed small world!)

One of the nurses "encouraged" the big sisters to be out of the way by giving them the dinosaurs they had played with while they were visiting. They were trying to be a bit TOO helpful!

Almost ready to go!

I think she's going to be a conductor!

Daddy holds her and helps get her ready.

I don't really know how the nights have gone, since we left very early Thursday morning for our mountain get-away. This has been planned and reservations have been made for weeks. We are blessed that Emma made it home before we left.

This is our second annual ski trip to celebrate Kev's birthday. The snow was coming down in buckets the first afternoon, amounting to 11 inches before it ended. Kev wasn't feeling well that afternoon, but DC and Sema said they could hardly see where they were going as they made their way down the slopes. We settled in for chili and caramel rolls that first night, glad to have such a cozy place to stay.

The view from our 6th floor place - note the HUGE icicles.

We took a little jaunt to the shops, and to the market for a few overpriced items we needed - such as chicken noodle soup for poor Kev ($1.75!), and shot these.

I love this shot of the stream we cross to get into the village.

The sun came out today and here is DC ready to face the day and not get burned! He assures me that it melts into his skin soon and he doesn't look like a goth.

They had the slopes pretty much to themselves until today, which is why we came up on Thursday. The difference between week-day and week-end crowds is phenomenal! Sema wants to to stay another day, and for Kev's sake I wish we could, but we need to head back down the mountain to beat the crowds home tomorrow morning, and hope and pray all the trauma on the highway is taken care of so we can get home without lots of sitting in traffic!

Kona Adventure - Part 10

Catching up a bit - Kate has gained 5 ounces since she came home on Friday. The doctor she saw for a check-up was very impressed with her. Kristen is having a tough time getting up to the hospital, so I've had the privilege of feeding and snuggling Emma at her noon feeding the last two days. She's up to 4 pounds. Today she has to have an eye exam, which is the norm for ones as small as she was. She had to have two sets of two drops in each eye today as I held her. She didn't really like that! Thanks for all of your concern - we all are fine now. But it was rather frightening to think we might have given something to these little tiny girls.

I'm trying to finish the travelogue - it's been almost two months already since we were on our trip. What a lot has happened since then! But sometimes I just have to go back in my mind for a bit of respite!

I read two articles in the paper this week-end about the wild weather in the islands. There's a lot of snow on Mauna Kea - I showed you a picture of a bit of snow when we were there, but it sounds like a lot more now. Right now Hilo is being inundated with rain, so much that it is at the danger level.

The day trip I am going to share today was up on that end of the island. It was a bit rainy that day, but nothing like they're having right now. We took the Waipio Valley Wagon Tour - a ride down into a very deep valley in a wagon pulled by 2 mules. I was sorry that the guide, who took the picture for us, didn't include the mules! This guide was very knowledgeable and gave us a great tour. Note DC in the front and me in the back - we weren't fighting - it was just a better place for him to be able to hear what was going on, as well as the other man he sat by. (DC doesn't admit to being hard of hearing, but he does have a bit more of a problem than he realizes.)

We met a really neat couple who had just moved from Texas to Hawaii - just picked up and moved. We met two couples in our travels that week who had done that. Made us want to join them!

This trip was amazing - it was a 2 mile road down into this gorgeous valley - a 1000 foot drop.

This valley used to be the playground of the royal family. It was a thriving community with a church, a school, and a post office. On April 1, 1946, a tsunami ravaged the valley. It later became a prosperous sugar cane producing area. Ten years ago, the sugar cane farmers gave up. Until that time, the workers were supplied with small huts for $17/month. When the farmers called it quits, they were offered their little homes for $1500. I don't know what has happened to those little houses, because there is not much there now - a few very worn out looking places.

Now approximately 50 people live down there, described as "a few disgruntled hippies, many of whom are named Dave" by the tour book we had with us. They have electricity from generators, some of the time. Somehow, they do manage to have satellite dishes.

Now the only crop growing there is taro - which is used to make poi out of the roots. Our guide told us what I already suspected - it's not good! Here's what I found on Google - I think I would agree with him!

Poi is a Hawaiian word for the primary Polynesian staple food made from the corm of the kalo plant (known widely as taro). Poi is produced by mashing the cooked corm (baked or steamed) to a highly viscous fluid. Water is added during mashing and again just before eating, to achieve a desired consistency, which can range from liquid to dough-like (poi can be known as two-finger or three-finger, alluding to how many fingers you would have to

use to eat it, depending on its consistency).

But it was such a gorgeous place - like being in a tropical jungle. There had been lots of rain, so we had to make it across some pretty big "puddles." The mules did a great job - though they did get stubborn and stop where and when they felt like - including in the middle of the water.

There were many waterflows cascading down the rocks to the valley. The view from the top was amazing. It was just a wonderful jaunt.

MORE TO COME. I'M DETERMINED TO FINISH THIS TRAVELOGUE!

Welcome Home, Kate!!

We had a bit of a party in the NICU yesterday afternoon. It was a coming out party for Miss Kathryn Hope, otherwise known as Kate. I wonder if Emma Faith misses her. She slept through the festivities. She will be home soon - as soon as Monday, they say.

It took awhile to get the paper work finished. Kate was all dressed up for her coming out party - and the sisters were very attentive.

The going-home process begins.

Feisty was very involved in the process.

Was the light in the elevator too harsh for her little eyes? Or was she just worn out from the process of getting ready?

The ride home was good - she made a few little squeaking noises, but for the most part she slept the trip away. The big sisters were enthralled.

Home at last. After 25 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. She weighs 4 lbs. 4.5 ounces - almost an entire pound gained since she was born. What a proud big sister!!

Welcome to your new bed.

It has been an exhausting journey! Oops - where'd my other sock go??

Plenty of love to go around.

Kristen, Care Bear, and I all ended up with a stomach disorder as the day wore on. That was really scary to realize if we had known this was going to happen, we could have left her in the hospital for another night. But God is watching over her, we believe.

The miracles continue. Stay tuned for Emma's homecoming soon!

The Love Story - Asked and Answered

Tammy of Family Doin's and Midlife Mom asked me to tell the story of my courtship with DC. I am always glad to tell this story.

I didn't date much in high school. Not much at all. And it wasn't because I didn't want to! I thought for sure that going to a Christian college was going to solve that problem. Freshman year I met a guy at a week-end retreat and we clicked. We dated the rest of freshman year, and I thought we were going to get married. The thrill went away when I began to realize he was not going in to study when I went in to study. He was totally wasting his time and flunking out of school. I was a very serious student, and that didn't set well with me. Then I discovered he couldn't manage his money. It wasn't going to work out for us - my idea. But it was hard anyway.

I went through the rest of college being lonely. When you graduate from a Christian college without an "equally yoked" partner, the future seems pretty grim! That is, if you want to get married.

My college roommate (who was in the same boat) and I moved to a small town in southeast Kansas to teach school. I posted about this during my Job Saga series. I was not happy there, and ended up moving back home with my parents. It was not a good time. My heart was broken during this period of time by "the rancher".

It was at this juncture that I was one of a very few "career young adults" (read single and lonely) in our church. There were several other small evangelical churches in our town, and we did a lot of things together for great fellowship. My dad and his best fellow-pastor friend asked me to try to get some activities going for all of the "career young adults" in all of these small churches. I thought that was a great idea and ran with the idea.

Now - I happened to know that Dad's good pastor friend had a son who had just recently graduated from college and moved to our town to work (his dad had come to pastor here after the son had left home, so it wasn't really "home" to him). I learned that he had a new friend who had just moved to our town from the Midwest. I remember writing down their names in my little notebook and beginning my quest for more people to join together for some "career young adult" fellowship - badly needed by me, at least.

The bad news - I didn't really unearth too many people who seemed to need or want this organization. But I had a core group - these two guys and me! I had to figure out a way to meet these two. It was my new mission in life. Because my dad's pastor friend refused to introduce me to his son - didn't want to get involved in something that might backfire on him!

I began to go to everything that might possibly bring these two guys out. I didn't know how, but I KNEW I would KNOW who they were when I saw them.

We had a small, but good group of this age group in our church at the time, and we enjoyed fellowship in our Sunday School class. But there were more gals than guys, and none of the guys were of interest to me. But we did have good fun every Thursday night when we played volleyball together. Suddenly a great idea DAWNED upon me! I presented the idea to my class - let's invite the "career young adult" class from the church these two guys attended to play volleyball with us. They thought it was a great idea, not even suspecting my ulterior motive.

I have a confession to make at this point - I really hate volleyball. I have never enjoyed any activity that had the possibility of a ball hitting me in the face - it goes way back to elementary school when I was stuck out in the far outfield during baseball games at recess. And I can't serve a volleyball over the net to save my soul. But I went every Thursday night because I was desperate to get out of the house - I was back in a small bedroom in my folks' house after having been on my own for quite awhile.

Wonder of wonders - the other church group agreed to come and play. Of course, this was something these two guys would show up for - it was a sport! I went out and bought a new slack and top outfit and watched all the other girls show up in their grubbies. Not fair, I suppose, but isn't all fair in love and war??

My heart was in my throat as these two really handsome guys showed up first - I was the only one there from our church (p.k., you know - we were always the first ones to any service or activity). I introduced myself. And began to shamelessly flirt with the son of my dad's friend. I spent a lot of time on the floor - I told you I am REALLY bad at volleyball (or most any other sport). I did not pay much attention to the other young guy, the one who had moved out recently from the Midwest.

That was a Thursday night. On Saturday I was taking a trip to visit my college roommate - the one who had left me and moved back closer to her home in western Kansas. I had really been looking forward to this trip, and suddenly I didn't want to go - what if one of these neat guys called me and I wasn't home? Would he ever call again??

Bad news - nobody called! But - on Tuesday, the OTHER one called me. We talked for a long time, getting acquainted on the phone. He had such a great voice, and I really really liked him. He asked me to go for a ride in the mountains on Sunday.

Now, remember, there had been a REALLY LONG dry spell in my romantic life. The very next night, the phone rang - it was a guy. The son of my dad's pastor friend! I could not believe it. We didn't have a long conversation, just enough to make a date to go to the Icecapades on Saturday night - yep, the day BEFORE the ride to the mountains with the OTHER one.

Needless to say, I had a hard time keeping my mind on my work for the next two days. On Saturday night L. picked me up for the trip to the Icecapades. I had always wanted to go to the Icecapades, and we had a really nice time. Nothing heart-stopping. Just very pleasant. He didn't book another date.

The next day, DC picked me up in his beautiful brand new Monte Carlo - I think I fell in love with his car before him. We had the greatest time - we drove and talked and drove and talked. We had so much in common. He practically planned up the whole summer doing things together. I was in heaven. I remember telling my mom that L was really nice, but DC was ready to settle down!

We did begin to see each other and/or talk most every day. L didn't seem to notice. By the time he got around to asking me for another date, DC and I had really developed a relationship. DC had to tell him - L didn't mind. He truly wasn't ready to settle down, and he was happy for DC and me.

This was in April. Things got serious really quickly. In June I went on a trip with my sister and a friend, and I know I bored them silly with DC's name in every other sentence. When I got back home, we began to seriously talk about a permanent commitment. I couldn't believe it was going so fast. But I realized that we both were older and had lived independently, knowing what the other one would bring to a marriage. We had been hurt and knew what we did and did not want in a partner. We were both eldest preacher's kids and had been reared with a tremendous sense of responsibility. We both loved the Lord. We had saved ourselves for each other.

It wasn't long before we were looking at rings. We found a beautiful diamond with a minute flaw. We chose it and decided it would remind us that, no matter how beautiful, nobody is perfect and no relationship is perfect. We chose a set of rings that involved the stone being sent to Kansas City for setting. It took much longer for it to come back than I imagined.

It was a beautiful October Saturday. L and DC were watching football in DC's apartment - he had a large console colored t.v. I had gone fabric shopping and found the perfect off white velvet that I wanted to use for my wedding gown. I stopped by DC's place to tell him we needed to tell our folks we were engaged pretty soon - and I really needed to buy this fabric, because it was on sale until Monday! How romantic is that??!!

We were going roller skating that night with DC's sister and her husband. Now, you know how I feel about sports. I'm a lousy skater, but I was game to go. It was the couple's skate - they cleared the floor of single skaters, lowered the lights and put on romantic colored ones, played "Ebb Tide." It was great. As we were skating around (I was okay as long as I was hanging on to DC's hand), he began to ask me interesting questions. The one I remember the most was, "When we get married, will you sometimes do what I think is best, just because I am the husband?" I immediately agreed! I have to say I didn't think that one through too carefully. Then he somehow managed to stay up on his skates while pulling something out of his pocket - my ring had arrived that afternoon after we talked! He had made a quick trip to the jewelry store 15 miles away, picked up the ring, stopped by to ask my Dad's permission (so romantic and sweet!), went back home to get ready for our date, and picked me up on time.

I must say - I was so shocked when he pulled out the ring, after the conversation we'd had that morning, that I literally ran into the wall! At least I didn't fall flat on my face. I excitedly put on the ring and began flashing it in front of my SIL. She was so excited for us!

We set the date for December 28 - two months hence. His folks had been out in August, were coming again for Christmas, and we figured they would have a hard time coming again in April, which was when I really wanted to get married. I made my dress, my going away dress, my sister's bridesmaid dress, my mom's dress, worked full time 50 miles drive one way - and got it all done in two months. It was a very low budget, but beautiful wedding. And 35 years later, we're still going strong. We've been through a lot in the last few years, but God has brought us through and made us stronger.

INTERESTING FOOTNOTE: L and my sister met that July when my sister came home for a brother's wedding. They instantly hit it off. She was not at all eager to meet L, because she had been "set up" for so many dates that she was pretty gun-shy. At our wedding in December, he told her he loved her. They got married the next November. We've been best friends and family ever since. So awesome.