(Almost) One year ago..

(Almost) one year ago today Tom was in a derby and broke his nose. When I posted about it (almost) a year ago, I didn't have any pictures...and if you know me, you know that nothing, not even a broken nose, would get me to stop taking pictures.. Here is the one and only hit of the night for Tom.

He was in a derby and to be quite honest with you, it was a CRAPPY derby...13 cars TOTAL. In the Tom's class, there were only two cars. He knew the other guy pretty well and the promoters of the event weren't going to let either of them run because they were over-built. Tom and the other guy talked the promoters into letting them run because I the audience came to see a show. They lined up across from each other and hit head on....click on the picture, you can see Tom's head (In the black car) jerk forward (hitting the steering wheel) and the other guys head jerk backwords..Tom waved his hands and jumped out of the car. The promoter called for the EMT...

It didn't take the EMT long to realize his nose was broken, so off to the ambulance they went. I kid you not, Tom said "If you want a picture you better take one quick"....aww honey, you know me too well...let me document your pain...
After 8 stitches (3 on the inside of his nose, 5 on the outside) a CAT scan and FOUR hours in the Austin ER, we headed home with his not-so-smashed-up car and his five foot tall 2nd place trophey (remember, there were only two guys?). What's even worse...the other guy said his car was done, so, had Tom not gotten hurt, he would have had first..

He "slept" sitting up on the couch for the next two nights (I put "slept" in quotes because I don't think he slept much) Luckily his eyes didn't bruise too much, they did swell pretty close to shut for a day or so...here he is on one of his better days...
Molly and Elsa were at his folks when we went over there because he couldn't "stand to be in the house for another minute"....Molly was giving him lots of hugs...

and kisses...he would set her down and she come back over for another hug and kiss...and another hug and kiss because hugs and kisses "help you feel better"... Another "good" day..

And here he is (almost) a year later with our niece Chelsea. You can just barely see his scars.

Update

Alright, so I have been trying to get pictures of our updated house on here for a couple weeks now and am having a tough time! So this is all you get....one before and after shot...I'm guessing you will have to click on it to make it bigger.
Anyways, a couple months ago, we decided to take on a hefty project...noooo way we didn't do it ourselves. We sided (no more having to repaint the wood siding every couple years!), tinned the roof and re-sheetrocked one bedroom and the hallway...did I mention we built a new garage?? No? Well we did...the carpenters started nailing the siding onto the garage and the bottom two feet was so rotton, the nails would slide right out. They said it would be cheaper (because of time) to just tear it down and re-build, so we did. Everyone who drives by or comes over says, "wow, your garage looks so much bigger". Tom and I look at eachother like "you guys are crazy" because we think it looks soooooo much smaller! However, it is the exact same size (not height) because we used the cement pad from the old garage. Anyways. This is the only picture of the house I have for you now. Hopefully I can figure out my computer and put some more up here. (notice the peaks?? don't you just LOVE the stripes??)

Another reason I hate people who smoke....

Let me rephrase that...I don't hate the people who smoke (I know and love many people who smoke) I just hate the habit...Let me give your reason number 1:
Yes indeed, there are FOUR firetrucks from the local firestation in front of our house this afternoon as we return from Mason City...

"What were they doing her", you ask?.. Well, someone threw a CIGARETTE BUTT out their car window which started the ditch in front of our house on fire.....

Which spread to the twenty or so corn stalk bales in front of our house....

Which spread to the feeder wagon in the cow yard..

They asked my husband to get in the tractor to break the bales apart so they could put the fire out...
And a school bus full of gaukers on the way home from school...

Just as they got done loading up the hoses and two of the fire trucks had left, it started flaring up again, so they had to get the hoses back out...

I understand that it could have been (and thank God that it wasn't) a lot worse (catching the house or the barns full of goats and cows).. However, we are having wind gusts up to 35 mph today and had the wind been blowing just a little more east, it could have been a disaster...Thanks SOOO much to the Stacyville Fire Dept and to "Smiley" - for calling my mother-in-law (who in turn told her painter, who is a fire-fighter for Stacyville, who called it in) and for shutting the barn doors so it didn't get in to the goats and for trying your hardest to beat the fire out with a shovel!!!

The other half...

I didn't have to work today, so I picked up Elsie this morning and brought her back to our house and had her photoshoot. She did outstanding! Okay, so she wasn't as patient as Molly was - Molly's photoshoot lasted about an hour and a half...Elsie's lasted about fifteen minutes..Becky warned me that I might have some trouble getting her to sit still so I just kept clicking pictures hoping to get some good ones....and if I do say so myself, I believe I did....

This is definately my FAVORITE picture of the day!
"Where's Mawee?"

These girls sure do love their blankies!

"CHEESE!"

If you're paying attention, you know that this bottom picture is not real...I did some copying and pasting since I can never get those two girls to sit together long enough to take a picture... I myself, knowing that it's fake, can tell that it is fake...what do you think??

Molly & The Robin

Okay, so the title is a little decieving...Molly has, a couple times, begged Tom and I to let her stay over at our house, and she finally got to last night...That being said, she had nothing to do with any Robin...Every spring I look forward to seeing the first Robin...it is a sign that spring is here (or just around the corner)...I saw my first Robin yesterday in one of the trees in our yard...and today it is 63 degrees!!!!! It is soooo nice out...a little windy but I'm not complaining!! When I was little I always thought the Robins brought the nice weather with them because you would never see them until it was nice enough to go outside without a coat on. They still have me convinced...Tom, however, said he saw a Robin at his mom and dads house about a week ago.. I didn't see it, so it didn't count...besides, I think that Robin jumped the gun a little because two days later the temp was below zero again!!

Now that you have patiently read my Robin story, on to the pictures....cause you knew that I couldn't have one of my nieces or nephew visit without a photo shoot, right? Well, here you go..

She did such a good job...

she was either smiling or laughing the whole time

The girl doesn't let her blankie go far..

She found these dress-up clothes and beads and asked if she could "please wear them"

"I'm a butterfly with a princess" she said (with the tu-tu and wings)

You may have noticed I found a new color effect...(the bottom picture for example)...I kind of stumbled upon it and was very pleased, so that is my new obsession..

March 6, 2001

Whenever I have a lot on my mind, whether I'm happy, sad or whatever, I like to turn to a pen and some paper. Sometimes just a journal other times I write poems. 8 years ago today, I lost one of the greatest men I will ever know to cancer...my grandpa. A year later, I was thinking about him and went to my room and came up with this...go easy on me, I was only 16!

March 6, 2001

A day I will dread for years to come.

6:22 was the time I woke

My mom came in her voice trembled as she spoke.

I heard the words, they were very clear

I sat up in bed and wiped a single tear.

The tears started flowing in a never ending stream

I told myself to wake up it was all just a bad dream.

Reality struck and I knew I was awake

For this bad dream was anything but fake.

There was a feeling in my stomach, kind of like a knife,

I knew I this was going to be one of the hardest days of my life.

It's been year now, March 6, 2002

There are so many things I want to tell you.

I know I can't see you anywhere,

but I know wherever I go, you will always be there.

From the sky is where you fell, only to land in my hand.

Together, forever we will stand.

I miss the things we used to do,

I miss the things we'll never get to,

But most of all Grandpa, I miss you.

In heaven we will meet here-after

Where we'll all live happily ever after.

That day I will dread for years to come,

That day, March 6, 2001

Some of my favorite memories are those from when I stayed at my grandma and grandpas house. They were farmers and I loved going to visit during harvest because he would always let me ride in the combine with him. Two of my cousins are around the same age as me and we would always go spend the night at the same time - every night before bed, my grandma would come in, tuck us all in and pray with us. We, of course, were never tired and my grandpa would always come in and say "if you guys don't settle down I'm gonna bite your toes!"
The last time I saw my Grandpa was three days before he passed...I didn't really talk to him because he mostly slept. We got ready to go and I said goodbye to him - more-so a "i will see you later" goodbye. The one thing I regret to this day is not telling him that I loved him, I know that he knows, but I wish I would have told him.

As I drove away from my grandparents house after he was gone, a song came on the radio that pretty much summed it all up...I had to pull over so I could cry, and to this day I have a tough time listening to that song. The song was, "I Will Remember You" by Sarah Mclachlan.

Above: My oldest sister, my grandpa holding me and my grandma 1984

Below: My grandpa, my great grandpa and myself 1999/2000

I love you Grandpa!

Beauty

Nothing captivates me like the site of a Bald Eagle in the wild. I think they are the most gorgeous creatures in the world. I saw this Bald Eagle on my drive home today and I had to turn around and take pictures. I could have sat on the side of the road for hours just watching this bird do nothing. It just lifts my heart and makes me all happy inside.

Vegas

Yes! We went to Vegas AGAIN this year! This was the fourth time we've been to Vegas in our three years of marriage. We went for our honeymoon and obviously had a good time, so we just keep going back! This year, we left on a COLD day...below is the screen at the airport..the temperature in Minneapolis -11 and the temperature in Vegas 51...I think we traded up!!

Below is a picture of half of the strip from our Hotel roof. Thanks to Tom's aunt and uncle we got to stay in their time-share...the hotel was absolutely gorgeous and the rooms were FANTASTIC!!

We took a bus tour to go see the Hoover Dam. Included in the package was a tour of the inside of the dam. It was very neat and really informative!

We saw the "baby" dolphin at Sigfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat..there were also lion cubs and a cheetah cub!

Ethel M. Chocolate factory..

Red Rock Canyon was gorgeous!..

Stuck in traffic on the way to the Grand Canyon

was the perfect time for a photo-op!

THE GRAND CANYON!

Was absolutely breathtaking!! Tom and I agree

that this was definately the best part of our trip!

Click on the below picture to make it bigger...

the arrow points to Tom and his uncle Denny

on the skywalk over the Grand Canyon.

The Colorado River going through the

Grand Canyon

No, I didn't go on the skywalk at the Grand Canyon and NO, it wasn't because I was scared...it cost a pretty penny...okay, so only $30 dollars for a once in a lifetime thing, but we couldn't take anything out there...not even my camera, so I decided (as well as Tom's aunt Ann) that we would just take pictures of them on the skywalk...They even had to wear little hospital type booties so their shoes wouldn't scratch the glass...it's apparantly very expensive to replace. As much fun as we have had in Vegas, Tom and I talked and decided we might have to find a new destination for vacation next year, cause there is really only so many things you can do in Vegas....eat and gamble and while we love doing both, it's time to see another part of the United States, haha!

We have SOOOO many pictures from our trip, we had a BLAST! While there, we got to hang out with Tom's aunts and uncles; Ann and Denny and Susan and Denny... Thanks Ann and Denny for driving us everywhere (Chocolate Factory, off the strip to casinos, Red Rock Canyon and the Grand Canyon) We had so much fun and we were glad we could experience it with you guys!! Thanks also for allowing us to use your time-share. We hope you guys had as much fun as we did!