family night at the races

we've sure enjoyed the stock car races this year.

we love watching shawn, a friend & co-worker, round the track. he's been doing really well this year, too. i'm thinking we need t-shirts to show our support.

there are 3 other drivers from imperial, too, so that makes it even more fun.

the kids enjoy it, too. although it's probably a toss-up whether they like the actual races or the concession stand more.

it's a fun night out not too far away (holyoke-40 min from here) & usually brad's folks are there too, so we get to enjoy it together.

happy feet

my feet have been
pain
free
for at least 5 days.

sweet relief.

they would only be happier if they were just on the beach again like this pic.

football 101

sonja & i were sent (by brad) to football 101 in june.

i wasn't too thrilled when i recieved this for mother's day, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. we learned about life as a husker & football in general. most of the coaches were there to help with drills & there were some players there who spoke. there was also a question & answer time that was fun to hear asked from women's perspectives. mostly it was women there, but there were lots of men also. it is an annual fundraiser for breastcancer research.

we're making plans for football 101, 2010. we'll stay the night before & the night after so we can actually have time to tour the unl athletic facility & tour the shopping district. This year we were tired & knew we had a long drive home, so all we went to was target.

there ended up being quite a group of us from imperial, going in 3 separate groups.

recovering well

kids are recovering well from their tonsillectomies yesterday. the dr said both of their adnoids were really big, so we should have lots of improvement on their congestion & snoring.

my dad got home today also & is hopefully resting the day away. his surgery went well yesterday. the dr was able to clean up a lot of bone spurs that were compressing his spinal cord in his neck, so hopefully that'll give him a lot of relief.

thank you very much for your prayers. we're continuing in prayer for a complete & fast recovery for all 3.

happily married

surgery day

tomorrow morning will come bright & early (like 3:45 a.m.).

we are supposed to be in north platte by 6:15 a.m. mountain time. eeesh. it'll still be way dark then.

my dad has to be at the hospital in kearney by 6:00 a.m. also for neck surgery.

i'm sure the surgeries will go well, but we would appreciate your prayers for safety & for a complete & quick recovery.

i appreciate dr. fitzpatrick, especially, because he is a Christian. i know he is not relying on his own strength or wisdom as he operates on my children. he's told us he does the surgery but God provides the healing. the picture above is one that hangs in their office.

4 vs 1

guess who was the winner in chloe vs mommy, daddy, tina & jodi?

although we did finally convince her to hold still while jodi deadened the cut for stitches, there was no way we could hold her down for the actual stitching.

she's strong i tell you!

so, 45 min later we all agreed to use the dermabond.

it is looking very well, too.

p.s. she fell & hit her lip on the handlebars of a mini-bike.

p.p.s. i still owe you chocolate, don't i tina & jodi?

snugglers

here are my 2 snugglers. think they'll always like to sleep like this?

bit-o-hail

just a bit-o-hail today in imperial. twice.

this morning about 6 i slept through most of it-the only thing that woke me up was 2 girls coming to my bed because they were scared.

this afternoon, though, we got round 2.

and 3.

the tornado siren blew & we headed inside & downstairs. it wasn't even doing anything for about 5 minutes. then came the rain & hail.

and hail.

and hail.

then another storm came through & dropped another downpour--just rain thankfully.

i'll bet the insurance adjusters are getting to know their way around our little town quite well by now.

surgical week

you've heard of taco tuesday?

next week for us it'll be tonsillectomy tuesday X 2.

cooper & kamrie will see dr. fitzpatrick & the np surgery center staff for removal of tonsils & adnoids.

then it'll be tylenol w/codiene tuesday at the dillan household.

my dad will also undergo neck surgery that day & will probably require a bit stronger pain killer than tylenol w/codeine.

pray for their complete & quick recovery.

cortizone cocktail

i saw the podiatrist yesterday for 2 sore feet.

diagnosis? nueroma's in between a couple of toes causing swelling & pain.

treatment: cortizone cocktail injection & unlimited crocs shopping. (that's what the dr recommended, seriously!) ok, maybe i asked for a doctor's note saying that i needed lots of new crocs after he recommended i wear them.

yes sir doctor! crocs in every color. i'm starting w/chocolate color thinking maybe my feet will love them as much as my taste buds.

btw: the cortizone cocktail was much more painful than the crocs bill will be. let's just say i can actually walk this morning, which is more than i can say for last night.

i'm praying it's all worth it in the end.

my son loves me

when getting ready to go to work today hunter says, "mom, are you cooking lunch today?"

i said, "i don't think so."

he said, "yes!" (with the little elbow/fist-pulling-motion)

i said, "thanks, son. why, is grandma going to be gone?"

he said, "yeah. maybe we'll get to order something."

governor's reply

Parker got an awesome response from the Governor's Office for his letter about Champion Lake. He was/is pretty excited about getting such official mail.

Dear Parker,

Nebraska is surely destined to be great into the future with thoughtful and concerned students like you. I cannot express how proud I am when I get letters such as yours from young people across Nebraska who care about our state, its natural resources, and it's people.

Champion Lake is going to be restored. Right now there are people working on drawing engineering plans to make sure that when the dam is rebuilt, it will be safe and constructed to last a long time. Several state agencies are involved in this process and are working hard to be sure that when the dam and lake are rebuilt, you and your friends will have a great place to fish and play.

Thank you for taking your time to let me know of your interest in this lake. Nebraska's water resources are important and with students like you, I am sure they will be enjoyed in the future.

Sincerely,
Dave Heineman
Governor

esther

i'm on week 2 of the esther study.

it's good.

what i've learned so far:

it's tough being a woman in another woman's shadow.

it's tough being a woman in a world where beauty is a treatment.

it's tough being a woman in a mean world.


plan to join a small group this fall, ladies. it's one you

won't
want
to
miss.

sitter's surgery

chloe, cooper & kamrie's sitter, billie jo (or dillie jo as cooper says), is scheduled for surgery to remove a brain tumor tomorrow, july 8. she is in omaha today for an mri & hopefully her & david will get a chance to relax before surgery tomorrow.

our prayers are with you billie jo for a complete & speedy recovery.

next year

whew.

i'm happy for fireworks to be done.

all week i've heard "can we light fireworks?" or "can we go to the fireworks stand?" about 100 times a day.

i'm so glad it's only for 1 week a year.

although, i'll admit, i love to watch the city's show. it was good as usual last night.

firemen's fun day was a blast too. this year it was moved from the fairgrounds to the football field & it was so much better! not so spread-out-feeling. if there was a vote on where to have it next year, i'd definitely vote football field.

one thing i know for sure??

imperialites can sure eat a lot of hotdogs! i helped serve for the 1st hour & man do the dogs go fast!

on next years' agenda? possible hotdog eating contest.

3 years

the kids & i did something today that i'd been telling we'd do for about 3 years now. we stopped at the playground by the wauneta pool.

it was great.

we only had 10 minutes & used
every
single
one
wisely.

i tried all the slides.

i think they must be more fun when you have a smaller body.

:)