Heartache

It has been a couple of weeks since our last blog entry but we have been dealing with some hardship in our circle of friends. Susie wrote a post about a week ago about one big tragedy that happened but it never got posted. The following is what she wrote:

Most of you know our good friends were expecting a little boy any day now. They have been a big support for us in Colorado. Seeing us through many ups and downs. Kira knows them as her Aunt Emily and Uncle Chris. They went to the doctor for one of their last visits and were shocked to not hear a heart beat any longer. At the hospital it was confirmed that their little boy had died within the womb. Emily was induced and endured much heartache and pain. By 3 a.m. they held their little angel. How could they have prepared for such a time? The hours they had to face this reality must have been so unreal. Before they knew it they were dressing him and taking their only photos of him. How their hearts must ache so. They are home resting from the long night. Please pray for them and for the days and months ahead. I know he is so loved and will forever be on their minds and hearts as they live on without him here. I know they love the Lord and can not wait to hold their little boy and rock him and kiss him from head to toe. Heaven can't be close enough for them.

Another tragedy happened to our friends Mark and Polly a week later. I won't go into great detail but we found out that Polly was in the hospital because of complications from a miscarriage. This will have been her fourth miscarriage.

It is hard to understand why these things have happened. If you could, please pray for God's presence and comfort for our friends in the coming weeks.

Picture Gallery

Be sure and visit our Picasa picture gallery. Keep an eye out for updates as it is an RSS feed. It can be found on the right hand column under our profile. You can also check out Kira's video page which is updated from time to time. The link for that is right under the picture gallery section.

Our little girl is one!

Although this news is a bit belated, I wanted to share about Kira's first birthday a little. She had a couple of small celebrations followed by one big one to end a three day birthday party extravaganza in which she consumed several cupcakes and other treats. She really takes after her dad in the sweet loving category.



Susie and the daycare kids traditionally celebrate each of the kids' birthdays and Kira was no exception. This was the kick of party on her actual birthday, July 5th. The kids celebrated with cupcakes that they each decorated and Kira dug right into hers.



Later that evening Sheila (my Sister in-law) arrived from Kansas city with her two kids Kyron and Raylee. Kyron is almost three and Raylee is 3 weeks older than Kira. My parents had picked them up from the airport so the whole gang was over for cake and ice cream. Kira didn't miss out on her second opportunity for a cupcake and devoured it like she knew what she was doing.





Over the next couple of days we were busy preparing for Kira's birthday party in which we were expecting 50-60 guests. Kira was sharing this party with her cousin Raylee since Raylee also just turned one. We were privileged to have all of our family and friends help prepare and set up for the big event.







We were expecting a lot of kids so we had water balloons, a slip and slide, a tent, and our neighbors provided some of their animals for a petting zoo. For food we had shredded bar-b-que turkey sandwiches, chicken wings, hamburgers, and hot dogs.







At a key moment in the party, Kira and Raylee were serenaded by the traditional birthday song while seated in front of their birthday cake and cupcakes before getting their hands on the good stuff. Once again Kira dug right in like a pro while Raylee wasn't so sure about the tasty treat set before her.







For the most part the party went off without a hitch and it seemed like everyone had a good time. Although it turned out well, I don't foresee us having a party of that magnitude anytime in the near future.

Our 4th of July (by Bart)

I was just thinking I need to make Susie write something on here. Those that know her well would know that it is hard for her to sit down for ten to fifteen minutes and type a story. If you gave her a call she would be more than happy to spend at least ten to fifteen minutes telling you several stories.



Another Independence Day has come and gone and sure enough it was very eventful. Susie started celebrating her day off by cleaning a house. She left at about 8:30 am and arrived home around noon. Meanwhile, Kira and I attended the Wellington 4th of July parade. It didn't seem fair that we got to have fun while Susie worked but we really enjoyed ourselves anyway.



Kira and I watch the parade with my Parents and Laurel, Jack, and Travis who are all residents of Wellington. Susie informed me on the way to the parade that Kira had NOT had breakfeast yet so we stopped at a gas station and got a sandwich and some juice to share.



The parade had lots of animals, firetrucks, cars, and tractors including a pink one.



About every parade entry was giving stuff away to the crowd including a lot of candy being thrown at the kids lining the street; some of which ended up in horse poop. Though Kira and Travis aren't quite old enough to cash in on all of that booty, they did manage to get beaded necklaces and Travis got a plastic mini football. I also got a discount coupon for equine riding lessons for all ages- yesss!



After both of us got home and ate lunch, Kira took a nap while Susie and I finished staining the fence. It is pretty much done but still needs a little touch up in some spots. That turned out to be a big project leaving me with a sore back.

For our evening fireworks display experience we chose to drive to nearby Loveland. They put on a nice show that is viewed around their large city lake. We met up with some friends at the lake's park amphitheatre and took in some band music before watching the show. We experienced a light refreshing rain for about 20 minutes but then it stopped and the fireworks started. It was a fantastic display. We hope everyone else had a nice holiday too.



Kira watched the fireworks for a while but the poor little girl was so tired that she fell asleep half way through the show.

Let's catch up (by Bart)

Well it's been quite eventful the past few weeks to say the least. About three weeks ago Kira came down with some kind of awful bug. She was running a fever for a few days so Susie took her to the doctor. The doctor determined she just had a virus; sore throat, fever, headache sort of thing.



The illness lasted for about a week. She was just a sick, unhappy little girl and not herself. When we watched video of her when she was on our camping trip and we realized just how sick she was.



Next up we spent an evening a Great Grandpa and Grandma's place. We enjoyed a nice dinner followed by some home-made cherry pie and cobbler that was full of pits. Kira was better by then and seemed to enjoy herself there.



She spent a lot of time climbing onto and off of this foot rest which amused her for some reason.



Great Grandpa and Grandma have a lot of room for Kira to drive her toy cars around so that was fun for awhile.



She also found something else to drive around. If you can't tell what it is, it's my Grandpa's rolley walker thingy. It has a special name that I can't remember.





My Sister had a birthday on June 25th so we had a party at my parents. Kira and her cousin Travis had some fun together. Grandma Saunders has a little car that Kira could sit and scoot on and Travis decided he would give Kira a little ride. It was fun for both of them until the car eventually tipped over and Kira crashed into a large speaker.



After Kira was so sick, it is just great to see her so happy and having fun again.



Kira has continued to enjoy some good treats here and there. I'm told she has had a couple more Oreos at daycare and she definitely knows what they are if she sees them.



Last night she was being really fussy so Susie had the bright idea of giving her a popsicle which she has never had before. It made her happy while it lasted.



Our big news is the the pop-up tent trailer we just purchased on Friday. I saw an ad that same day in a free classified ad publication that comes out every Thursday and it looked like a bargain. After calling the man that was selling it we realized that we had come across somewhat of a buying competition. So I left a soon as I could after work to check it out.



When I got there, two other me were looking at it and the owner was inside on the phone with somebody. I looked it over and decided that I was ready to buy. When the owner came out I approached him with a couple of questions and then made my offer in which he accepted. After I went to the bank to get cash and paid him, he gave me $100 back and said, "tell your wife that you talked me down on the price." It all worked out very well and we're pleased with our purchase.



The trailer is a 1999 Forest River, Flagstaff. It has an option of 12v battery or 110v plug in. It also has propane for several energy options.



The fridge runs on 12v, 110v, or propane. It has a heater that runs on 12v and propane and an indoor outdoor stove. It sleeps a total of six people with the table collapsed and the couch cushions laid over it.



Well, I guess I'll wrap this post up. I left out a lot but I didn't want to go on too long. In the future we'll just keep up with the times. (My computer crashing didn't help things out at all but I won't go into that. Oh, and I didn't mention the problems with Kira's birthday party invitation that I made on my computer that crashed.)