March for Babies

The March for Babies on Saturday was a great success! Thank you to all who supported us through donations, encouragement and by walking! It meant so much to us.

Friday, we got together and made matching T-shirts for the walk. They are really cute.
While the weather was cold for the walk and it drizzled a good bit of the time, we still had a good time visiting as we walked. What you can't see in the picture above is that Andrew did not have long sleeves on. He got a little chilly!

In addition, we were the third highest family team in amount of money raised. Thanks to our amazing friends and family, Team Sydney raised $2,330! We were awarded a plaque for this accomplishment. I will try to get a picture of it up soon. Several of us also one prizes from a drawing!

For the event as a whole, there were 300 walkers at the event and they were able to raise $90,000!

Thank you again for remembering Sydney during this time. We look forward to participating again next year. We have also decided to go ahead and walk in the 1 mile Tiger Walk on May 4 as well, so if you wanted to donate money, but did not get around to it, you still have time.

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

We had a great weekend! On Saturday, I did go to the scrapbook crop here in town. Unfortunately, it was not a great success as I had hoped. I just could not get in the groove, so to speak. It was not really anything wrong with the people there. I just was not organized and could not figure out anything to do with the pictures I took. That was the other problem, I only took one set of pictures. So, when I was not "feeling it" with my vacation pictures, I did not have anything else to work on. I will probably go back next month and try to be more prepared.

Saturday night, we went over to Andrew's parents' house. His best friend's mom was in town visiting. They had grown up together and their moms are great friends. So, we all went out for dinner and to watch Sinbad, "Brain Damaged." They have talked about it and quoted it so much, that I had to see it. It really was very funny! However, I think it was funnier watching them all laugh at it so hard.

On Sunday, it was absolutely beautiful outside! The temperature got up to around 72 degrees and the sun was shining. Best of all, it was windy. So, what do you do on your first sunny, warm, windy day of the year? Of course! You get out your kites! So, Sunday afternoon, we headed out to the park by our house with our kites, camera, and a bottle of Gatoraid. We flew out of the car, very excited, and started crossing the field to an open space. But, as we went, we started noticing it was getting muddy. And I am not talking about just a little bit of mud! I am talking about mud splashing up just from walking through it!

Andrew was so disappointed! So, instead, we went driving around for a while with the windows down and the sunroof open. As we were driving, I got an idea. My parents have a big, open yard. I bet we could go there! So, we called and my mom walked the yard and said it really was not that muddy! Yeah! The day was saved!

We went out there and put our kites together. The rain clouds were rolling in, but we had time to fly them for about 45 minutes. Unfortunately, my kite was a bit directionally challenged. Or maybe it was just afraid of heights. Whatever the problem, it just would not stay up, nor would it go very high. My dad worked it, I worked it, Andrew worked it...it just would not go.

Andrew's on the other hand, shot right up and stayed up! We let out all of the string on it. It was so cool! You could hear the string whistling from the wind.

Dad was the last person to have the kite as we were finishing up. He was winding up the string when a big burst of wind came up and ripped it out of his hands. Andrew heard the grip pop out of dad's hands. The kite kind of drifted for a little bit and they were following it, when it caught a current and flew off a couple of houses down.

The next thing that happened was hilarious! The handle caught up in a tree or something and the kite was anchored there in the neighbor's yard, flying itself! I guess it just wanted to be free. We could not get it back! I wonder if the neighbors wondered who was flying a kite in their back yard!

Enjoy the pictures! Sorry they are dark, the sun went away. :( You can change the speed by clicking on the + or - buttons in the bottom left corner of the slide.

Today? It is 28 degrees with a chance for snow! If you don't like the weather in Missouri, wait a few minutes...it will change!

Out for a Saturday Drive

Yesterday, we went on an adventure. The sun was out, the temperature was supposed to get up to 40 (that's right...down right balmy!) and it had snowed overnight, so the ground was beautiful. So, what do you do on a day like that? You go on a drive- what else?!

So, we called up Andrew's parents (they're always up for a day of driving with no destination in mind) to invite them along. Of course, we suggested that they drive their mini van because their tires are much cheaper than ours on the Jeep. (Read here if you don't know what I am talking about.)

Andrew- eyes on the road!

Nancy- Andrew's mom

Don- Andrew's dad

A self-portrait- not very flattering!

We did not end up getting left until around noon, so most of the snow was melted. We headed off towards California, Missouri. In California, the interesting sights we saw were the county courthouse, the McClay home, and an old church.

The McClay Home was originally built in 1858 as a school for girls called "Rose Hill." It closed during the Civil War when it was taken over and used as the headquarters for General John C. Freemont. It was really in amazing shape for its age!


From there, we went to Tipton, Missouri. There is a Dutch Bakery there that had all kinds of homemade baked goods, noodles, mixes for dips and candies. They had amazing cinnamon rolls! Sorry, I did not get a picture- we were too busy eating!

From there, we were not very far from Sedalia. Sedalia has a Goody's, a Stage and a Big Lots. Much to the disappointment of our husbands, Nancy and I insisted we swing by "for just a bit!" We got some great deals on shirts at Goody's and Stage! We also bought a few things at Big Lots.

From there, we stopped at McGrath's Steaks and Seafood for dinner (a place we had never tried before, but was very good!) and then headed home. We did not make it back home until around 9, but it was a very fun day!

It's Cristmas Time- Part 1

Last Saturday, we went out with Don, Nancy, Brook, Geoff and Gavin to cut down our Christmas trees. It has been several years since we put up our own tree and we were pretty excited. But, because we don't have a lot of space at our house, we were determined to get a "taller/narrower" tree than we are used to.

So, Saturday morning, we got up, decided whether or not we were really going to go (it was cold and raining off and on), and headed out to Don and Nancy's house for breakfast. We ended up at a tree farm called "Star Pine Farms" where everyone else had gotten the tree last year. We loaded up on the tractor-pulled trailer and were taken out into the middle of the farm, dropped off, and told to cut from either side of the road. We all decided to head off to the left.

Andrew and I looked at several different possibilities, but finally decided on one at, you guessed it, the last row (which happened to be down a hill, probably 1/4 to 1/3 of a mile from where the tractor dropped off/picked up). So, we cut it down and started dragging. Along the way, we came across Don and Nancy cutting down their tree- the biggest yet! So, I took our tree and Andrew helped Don carry his. Brook ended up helping me drag ours the last little bit.

As the tractor came back to drop off another load of customers and pick us up, we heard someone ask where the best trees were. The driver stated, "Well, it depends on what you want. IF you want trees that are big and round, you go to the left. IF you are looking for the tall, skinny trees, those are by the old church, over here to the right." That is right! We had been so focused on finding a tall skinny tree and were on the wrong side of the road! As we looked to the right side of the road, we saw several tall, skinny trees just like we had been looking for, just 2 or 3 rows off of the road.

All in all, we had a good time. But next time, we will definitely ask where to find the best trees!

The $200+ Sunday Drive

OK, so I am in trouble because I have not blogged about this yet. One of the things Andrew and I like to do is to just go out and drive around somewhere we have not been before. We often do this with Don and Nancy (his parents) because they enjoy this, also. The Sunday before last was one of those perfect days for a Sunday drive (which we often do on Saturday). The sun was out, the skies were clear and the temperature was perfect. We just could not see spending the day inside. So, we called them up on our way home from church and arranged to meet them at their house. We also offered to take our Jeep because they drive most of the time and take the cost of the gas.
We headed out towards California, MO and the sights were beautiful! There were rolling hills and farms and like I said before, the sky was amazing. We also saw some pretty interesting people in Lupus, a "town," if you can call it that, down on the river bottom. We were thoroughly enjoying ourselves. We ended up on a gravel road called Gooseberry Hollow and then one called Cheese Factory Road. When we pulled back onto a paved road, we heard an awful noise- we had a flat tire! Unfortunately, we were on a hill and there was a drop off on both sides- nowhere to pull over. So, we drove to the top of the hill where people could see us and there was a little flat spot to pull off onto. We all got out, and sure enough, the back left tire was completely blown out. So, Don and Andrew went to work trying to change the tire. But one of the lug nuts had been cross-threaded and they were having to be quite forceful to get it off. Finally, they were able to get the flat tire off. Here lies the next problem. We learned exactly how much give the suspension has for off-roading! As the Jeep was jacked up (on a hill, mind you) the wheel kept dropping. When they were ready to put the inflated tire on, they realized they needed to jack it up higher. As they started doing so, Nancy and I noticed that the Jeep was "leaning". We started yelling, telling them to get out of the way because it was going to crush them! They hurriedly put the flat back on, lowered the Jeep, and repositioned the jack in a better place. Finally, they were able to get the good tire on (albeit a low tire short one lug nut). That pretty much ended our adventure. We returned to Don and Nancy's house where we aired up the tire.
Monday, we took the Jeep in to get a new tire. We were discussing how much we thought the tire would cost. Remember, we have only had small cars with standard sized tires before and this was the first time we have had to do anything with the Jeep tires. Andrew walked back out the the car slightly paler than when he went in. Not $120 or $130 like we had discussed, but $163 to replace the flat tire. We laughingly suggested that maybe we could ask if they could just patch our flat tire!
Will this end our random driving excursions? No! We will just try to be more aware of how the car feels when we are on those gravel roads next time! I mean, come on, we never made it to California. We will have to go back again, sometime.

Missouri Springs Tour...Phase 1

Last weekend, we went to visit Uncle Eric and Aunt Judy in Ellington, MO. We decided to just get out and drive around and see the sites. We ended up going to Rocky Falls and the Klepzig Mill on Friday night before going to dinner in Eminence. Then, Saturday, we went to Blue Springs, Round Springs, and Pooltite (for a picnic lunch by the river). We had such a great time! It was so relaxing! We left about 10:00 Saturday morning and did not make it back to their house until around 5:00 that night. I was exhausted! That was the most that I have done since being in the hospital...and probably for a while before that, too! Little did I know that last weekend was preparing me for the 3.2 miles that I am about to tackle this Saturday.

This was my first time working with slide.com for the pictures. I would appreciate some feedback on how it worked with your computer and what you think of it. Thanks!

Therapy on the River

On Friday, we left Columbia on our way to Salem, MO. Our destination? Current River. We set out for my first fishing trip since we have been married. Although we thought the weather was going to stop us, it ended up being a beautiful day. Uncle Kevin, Don, Geoff, Andrew and I piled in the truck around 9:00 Saturday morning and headed down to the river, knowing that we were going to get drenched with rain. Although the river was up and rolling quite nicely, we were able to wade in and start casting. While there were some blunders along the way including two unintended swimming escapades, fishing for Don's hat twice, and almost losing Geoff to the current at the "Geoffery hole" nine fish were caught, one let go, and one left on the hook attached to a broken line on a rock (Andrew was teased by that one for quite a while). While I still have not graduated to the point where I will touch the catch, I did snag 2 average trout out of the river. Uncle Kevin says that I am a natural caster, also. We plan on going fishing a lot more this summer. It is part of our pact to live life and not just let it pass us by. The river was beautiful and provided some much needed therapy for Andrew and I both. The red buds were just coming out and offered color among the green that seemed to have popped up over the past few days in mid-Missouri. The breeze on my face and the smell of the threatening rain were very refreshing. Being in the hospital for 6 weeks gave me a fresh perspective and appreciation for something as simple as being outdoors. I look forward to going back to the river for more therapy this summer. Sorry, but I don't have pictures...I was afraid the camera would get damaged by the rain.