Post Surgery Festivities

It turns out that all of our planning for a kid to be groggy and in pain was in vain. For a boy that had anesthesia through an IV, this kid bounced back fast! 20 minutes after surgery we headed home and as soon as we walked in the door Nathan started Tickling Elmo

He then moved to eating everything that he could get his hands on. Fruit snacks, 3 pieces of bread, 2 cups of milk, yogurt, etc..After eating he started bouncing off the walls, almost literally.He had so much energy that he was up for the rest of the day even though we woke him up at 5AM. He never cried, complained, or even whimpered. Apparently being under really helps Nathan come out of his shell. I guess this way is better than having a kid that feels terrible. We are just happy that Nathan seems to appreciate his new found ability to breathe, smell, and taste food. Hooray!

Poor Little Fella

This little guy is going under the knife tomorrow. he is going to have his adenoids removed at 6AM on Friday. We are a little nervous how he will react at the hospital, but a friend told us the procedure and we hope that it will work for him. The recovery is pretty concerning since Nathan won't be able to understand what is going on. His autism makes it so that we can't explain what is about to happen. We hope that everything will go well.

Caitlyn started crying in the car and said that she doesn't want Nathan to die when they cut him. She was so sincere. She absolutely loves Nathan.

Business and pleasure

This past week Emily and I were able to check out the fantastic metropolis of Kansas City Missouri. I was there Tuesday and Wednesday for business and Emily joined me on Wednesday night until Saturday. Thank you again for those that watched our children. A big thanks to my dad who went to the Father's day water fight at Caitlyn's school in my place. I really didn't know there was going to be shaving cream in the balloons.

We went to some of the surrounding church sites. Independence, Liberty, and Far West. Here are some of those pictures.

Community of Christ Temple right across the street from LDS Visitors Center.

Community of Christ Auditorium. Across the other street from LDS Visitors Center. Independence Temple Lot. Totally un-used. Diagonal from LDS Visitors Center. All that is on this lot is what looks like a raised gravestone that says temple lot. This land is owned by the Community of Christ Church

LDS Visitors Center. Between the 4 previous pictures, you see each corner of one 4-way intersection. It is very intersting that they are all so close. As the sign says, this is the Libery Jail Visitors Center. It is totally surrounded by homes and is in the original location of the jail.This is the replicated jail. Some of the stones are original. The floor of the jail is 100% original. It was numbered, torn up, and placed exactly as it was on a stronger foundation. Joseph Smith is on the left in the light. The man sitting on the right is the depiction of Emily's Great Great Grandfather Alexander McRae. One of the senior couples was thrilled to find out about the relation. It turned out that one of the elders was very educated in the life of Alexander McRae. The color is a little weird. It was very dark and a flash made the picture look weird. I left the camera shutter open and this is how it turned out.

One of the Senior Sisters took a picture for us. See, the flash didn't work well in here.This is at the temple site at Far West. The engravings held sections of the Doctrine and Covenants as well as other prophecies of church growth and temples. This is about all there is in Far West. The corner stones are here on the lot and a nice senior coouple was tending to the flower gardens. It is a very small site. Much smaller than I had anticipated. It probably wasnt much bigger that the footprint of my house. It was a very beautiful area. The history of why they settled here and why they thought they were going to be safe is really very interesting. We are going to become more familiar.This is the view from the entrance of the temple site at Far West. It is sad that this picture does not show how spectacular this area is.

We did hear quite a funny story while we were out there. My Dad served a mission in the Central States 4 1/2 decades ago. (haha) He serves in Liberty, MO for a period. While he was there, he stayed in an apartment that was in the basement of the Libert Jail Visitors Center. One night he and his companion went and slept on the hard stone floor of the Liberty Jail to better understand the conditions that the 5 men endured for 4 months through the winter. When we told the younger sisters serving there about this they looked like they had heard the worst news of their lives. It was quite funny. That apartment is now a theater, seen below.We had quite a fun trip and logeed about 500 miles on the rental car. If you ever have the chance to go to these sites, they are worth the time.

What a historical experience

We are currently on a trip in Kansas/Missouri. It is so much fun to go around and learn about the history of the church. It puts things into so much more perspective to see where they were/are. More pictures to come....

A night to remember!

The much anticipated photos of graduation:

We went to Costa Vida before the festivites. Everyone was very excited as you can see

Uncle Cody and Caitlyn

Janna, Mike and Chad

Family shot. I figure that we should take as many as we can through out the year and maybe one will be good enough to send out with our Christmas cards.

Outside of Gammage before the program

Caitlyn came up with this pose all on her own.

Me shaking hands with the dean of the Applied Arts and Sciences School.

Okay - this picture is for Lanae. This is proof that I looked rediculous in my cap and gown. Seriously twigs out of a tent. This is really the only one that I would post on the blog. The rest of me on stage are just too embarassing.

Post-ceremony. My mom was so proud - she started crying. You can tell that Randy can barely hold in his excitement. Seriously. It is one of my life's missions catch him smiling in a picture.

Nathan couldnt wait to try on my hat. I told the kids they could after I was done with it.

One more family shot - with the diploma. I figure we all earned it!

Completion... almost

So - I just took my last final today. I weird feeling. Honestly, it really hasnt sunk in yet. I really do feel like I have another assignment to do; like that couldn't have possibly been it. Not that it was easy - believe me - it wasnt but it became such a part of my routine. I am so use to working on homework that I dont know what to do at this point. I am sure my day will be full in no time with all sorts of projects. It is just a strange adjustment period - and it is only the first afternoon without school! Weird.

I will officially graduate on Friday night. I have opted to do the whole "walking thing". I really dont want to do it - I would be fine without it, but I really want the memory of graduating, and I want the pictures of my friends and family with me there. Even more importantly I want Caitlyn and Nathan to have the memory of it. I want them to remember that their mom worked hard. That I never gave up until I reached my goal.

So to all of you who have listened to me wine and moan about an assignment, watched my kids while I attended class, or simply cheered me on I want to say thank you. It has been a long three years of uninterrupted class and it was with your help that I have acheived this goal.

I want to give an extra big - huge - enourmous - thank you to Chad. I couldnt have done it without your support. Ever girl should be so lucky as to have a husband that is supportive of their goals and dreams as you have been for me.

So - this is my farewell to school. At least for a few years.....