Christmas Letter 2008

Dear Family and Friends,
Merry CHRISTmas to you all! We trust this past year has been a good one for you, and that you are enjoying the Christmas season. Our year, as always, has been eventful (like most people’s lives!) We have been able to enjoy many events (including two most-likely once-in-a-lifetime opportunities) and also many blessings. Of course, we have had some rough patches as well, but God has proved Himself faithful as always. I’m so thankful for a personal relationship with the God who never changes!
Many things in our lives have stayed mostly the same, with a few minor changes. For one thing, we are still living at the same address as last year… this is a major accomplishment for us! We still attend Shawnee Baptist Church, and are continuing to stay involved there in choir, bus ministry, nursery (for Heather) and youth work. We have expanded our ministry with youth by helping out with teen church and Sunday school for the bus teens. Chris had the opportunity to preach in teen church a few weeks ago for the first time in over 2 years! We LOVE our church, and are so thankful that God brought us here.
We continue to work at the same jobs, but Chris was promoted from sales associate to sales/business manager on July 15th. I am so proud of him! After only 19&½ months in the auto industry, a promotion like that is virtually unheard of! The promotion allows Chris to actually TAKE his day off during the week, so we now are able to enjoy Wednesdays off together. It’s nice to have him around more! The most exciting news about Chris’ work is that he had the opportunity to lead one of his co-workers to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ just a few nights ago.
I still work as a nurse with special needs kids, and continue to work with the same little boy as last year. My time with him decreased from full-time to one day a week, and I now care for another little boy on the other days.
Last year’s letter ended with the information about our final In Vitro Fertilization cycle. We went ahead with it on February 18th, but I didn’t get pregnant. Of course, we were incredibly disappointed, but are continuing to trust God (and WAIT!) to grow our family. We have thoroughly discussed many options, however, we do not have peace about pursuing any of them at this time.
Now on to the other happenings of the year… In February, we celebrated Valentine’s Day by enjoying a fabulous dinner compliments of Chris’ boss. (Chris earned it by being Sales Associate of the YEAR). April found us joining another couple on an overnight trip to Chicago for a Bulls’ game. We enjoyed a fantastic meal at a Brazilian steakhouse, which was a new experience for us! We also attended the Thunder over Louisville again, which will be an annual event as long as we live here. Our 2nd annual Derby Day trip to St. Louis for a ball game began our month of May. This time we took two friends with us and we were able to go to the top of the Gateway Arch - VERY cool! This year marked the last trip to Pensacola for graduation for a long time! Chris’ youngest brother, Jon, graduated with his undergraduate degree, as did my sister-in-law, Caroline. Chris’ youngest sister, Tiffany, also graduated from the seminary there with a Master’s degree. Chris TOTALLY surprised me for Mother’s Day by buying me tickets to go visit one of my best friends for Memorial Day weekend. His thoughtfulness made a rather difficult holiday for me much easier to bear. The second week of June brought our much-anticipated vacation. We flew into Las Vegas to spend time with about ½ of Chris’ family. From there, Chris’ brother, Jon, joined us for the trip to Los Angeles and San Diego. While there, we attended 4 ballparks (LA Dodgers, LA Angels of Anaheim, and San Diego Padres), took advantage of one of those “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunities to go to Game #3 of the NBA finals - Boston Celtics vs. LA Lakers, went to the San Diego Zoo, saw the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier, and enjoyed DisneyLand and the beach in Los Angeles. We traveled back to Vegas, spent another day&½ with the family, and then flew back through Phoenix (to go to an Arizona Diamondbacks game) on the way home. This was my first time visiting California. The vacation was AWESOME, and we enjoyed the time with family. The end of June (the 25th) brought the entrance of a new nephew, Colton Michael (Steve&Kathryn’s first baby) into the world! As usual, we love welcoming new family members! July and August were filled with various activities, including a few more baseball games here in Louisville, and free tickets to a game in Cincinnati. Over Labor Day weekend, I “ditched” Chris (who had to work) and headed up to Watertown, WI, for the Maranatha Baptist Bible College (my alma mater) Alumni football game. My whole family, with the exception of Chris, met up there to watch my older brothers, Steve & Greg, play against my baby brother, Nathan (who is a senior this year), for the last time. I was also able to meet my nephew, Colt, for the first time, and enjoy time together with my whole family for the first time since June 2007. My nieces and nephews have grown up so much in that time! Our second “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity came in the form of free tickets to watch the Ryder Cup Golf Tournament practice on September 19. We were able to see all 18 of the international golfers, and Chris was able to obtain 10 of their autographs. It was a neat experience, and a beautiful day to spend together. October 1st brought another new arrival into the Chromy clan… my nephew, Caden Andrew (Greg&Rachael’s second baby). Big sister Aksana was praying that he would be able to walk and tie his shoes on arrival! Near the end of October, we had the privilege of going to North Carolina to be a part of a family member's homecoming from an overseas deployment. We were praising the Lord for his safe return and that of most of his platoon. We enjoyed the time with him&his family, along with Chris’ parents and some extended family members we hadn’t seen in quite a while. The time was way too short, but a little time is better than no time at all! We were not able to travel anywhere far to be with family for Thanksgiving, but had the privilege of spending the day with friends of ours who are missionaries on deputation. Their departure date to Romania is January 13th, 2009, so we were grateful for their hospitality and the chance to spend the day with them before they leave the States. This month has us crazy busy with all the events that come with celebrating Christmas. December 4th marked the entrance of a new niece into the world… this time on Chris’ side of the family. Raegan Elizabeth was born to Chris’ sister, Kim & hubby, David, as well as big sister, Korissa. Our plans are to celebrate Christmas at our home with just the two of us this year (unless something comes up between now and then!) It’s difficult to be so far away from family during the Christmas season, but at least we have each other (and a great church family!) My parents are coming down this week to pick up a car they bought from Chris a few weeks ago, so we will get a brief visit with them, for which we are thankful.
Well, I think that’s all the news for our year. At this time of celebration, please don’t forget the REASON that we celebrate. Jesus Christ came to earth and was born in a manger for the sole purpose of becoming the PERFECT sacrifice for our sins. He died on the cross and rose from the dead the third day so that we could have the opportunity to go to Heaven with Him when we die. Jesus gave the Ultimate gift… His life for our sins so that we could have the gift of eternal life. Have you accepted His gift? All you have to do is admit that you are a sinner, believe by faith that Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for your sins (breaking God‘s law), and ask Him to forgive those sins so that you can go to Heaven when you die. Have you done that? If not, you are missing the GREATEST CHRISTMAS GIFT of ALL! (If you have questions or want to know more, give us a call anytime!)Wishing you the very Merriest Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Chris and Heather Beth Mitchell
Psalm 91:1, Lamentations 3:22-23

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I know, I've been a terrible blogger... one of these days I'm going to catch up! :-) But until then, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. I trust you will take some time today to give thanks for all the blessings God has given you (us) over the past year. Here are a few of my Thankful Things:

1) An AWESOME God who created me, knows me, and loves me anyway!
2) Jesus Christ, who died on Cavalry to pay my sin debt... and I have accepted that gift of salvation and eternal life in Heaven one day
3) My wonderful husband who also knows me and loves me anyway... and man, does he put up with a lot from me! (I'm working on getting better...)
4) My family ~ both of them (my in-laws, too). I am truly blessed to have wonderful families, even though we, as any family, have issues! :-) I so wish that I could spend time with them over the holidays, but that is not to be this year.
5) Our church & our pastor - our pastor had a quadruple bypass heart surgery 4 weeks ago yesterday. It is a miracle that he is even alive! But God spared his life, and he is doing well. Also, our church staff is amazing, and I am so thankful that God brought us here.
6) My friends... such a blessing to have iron-sharpeneth-iron friends.
7) My house ~ after moving so many times in my life, it is nice to have a nice place to call home... at least until God moves us again (which I kind of hope isn't anytime soon!) :-)
8) Facebook! Silly, I know, and I spend WAY too much time on there, but it has been great to connect with old friends and acquaintances, and to see that most of them are still busy serving the Lord.
9) My job... Yes, I still have one! I love my kiddos, and am so thankful that God has placed me here and allowed these two little boys to sort of fill the void in my heart for a baby of my own.
10) This is a hard one, but since the Bible says that I am to give thanks IN EVERYTHING and FOR EVERYTHING... (this prompted by THIS POST by Angie) I am thankful for infertility. (No, I'm not FEELING it right now, but faith is not based on feeling, nor is obedience based on feeling.) I know that I have 9 babies in Heaven with Jesus right now, and a void in my heart and arms. However, I know that God has something BETTER planned for Chris and me. I'm thankful that this circumstance has drawn me closer to the Lord and to my husband. God is good, ALL the TIME!

Have a great Thanksgiving! "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." I Thessalonians 5:18

Election Day

Just want to say VOTE TOMORROW! If you don't vote, don't complain to me about the government!

There's been a lot I would have liked to say about the candidates, but I'm just going to vote my convictions and beliefs and pray for our country.

Wedding Photography Give-away

Do you know anyone who is engaged to be married in the year 2010? If so, you HAVE to check out my friend, Christi's, {SMASHING FABULOUS} Wedding Photography Give-away! You can nominate your couple, and they can be eligible to win a photography package worth $5,000!!! Just click on the link above for all the details and rules! Also, Christi does just AWESOME photography... or in her words, "Rawsii: {Smashing Fabulous} art." You'll have to check out her work... Ammmaaaaaazing! :-)

Our 3rd IVF cycle

Our 3rd IVF transfer was on 02/18/07.

Aidan Gregory at 1300

Aidan Gregory at 1420

The difference an hour and twenty minutes made in Aidan's development was AMAZING! I was so glad to see that b/c my biggest fear of this IVF cycle was that the embryo would not live through the thawing process. Unfortunately, this cycle, too, was unsuccessful, and on March 3, 2008, we found out that we were not pregnant.

Our 2nd IVF

This IVF cycle, done on 12/07/07, I actually got pregnant. Here are the pictures from that cycle:

Jeremy Burton

Katie Anne

Our personalized Christmas ornament for the year

12/19/07 - the day we found out that we were pregnant.

Two days later, we found out that the likelihood of miscarriage was very great due to the results of the blood test, and 8 days later (12/27/08), I miscarried our babies.

Our 1st IVF cycle

We did our first IVF cycle on October 5, 2007.

All the medicine that I had to take

Our embryologist and fertility doctors

Chris waiting for the transfer

Me right before the transfer.

Brady QuinnJanae Ruth

Me and Chris right after the transfer.

We found out on 10/18/07 that the cycle was not successful.

National Day of Remembrance

Today is the National Day of Remembrance for pregnancy and infant loss, so here are my pictures of my babies... bear with me as I remember...

For some reason, I'm having struggles with posting pics, so I had to post all my pics in a different way.

My thoughts and prayers go out to each of you that have struggled through infertility, miscarriage, or infant loss. It's definitely a hard road, but we have found God's grace to be sufficient.

We're still trusting that someday, somehow, God will choose to give us a baby to hold here on earth! :-)

Hurricanes, golf, and no sleep

Quite a bit has happened in the past 10 days or so. First of all, we had the remnants of Hurricane Ike visit us... yes, right here in southern IN/ Louisville, KY. We didn't get any rain... just a whole lot of wind. Gusts were officially measured up to 75 mph. Over 400,000 people in the area were without power for up to 7 days, and there are still a few people that don't have power yet. Thankfully, we didn't lose power or have any damage to our property. It makes me VERY thankful that I don't live in Houston where the storm hit! Here are couple pictures of some of the damage.
This WAS a metal shed
Part of the awning down... it looks like pick-up sticks
A HUGE tree fell over... fortunately there is NOT a house underneath it!

The following Wednesday, Chris and I had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity GIVEN to us for FREE: tickets to the Ryder Cup international golf tournament practice. If you don't know, the Ryder Cup is 12 of the best players from USA vs. the 12 best European players. It is only held every 2 years, and alternates being hosted in the USA and Europe. This year it was held at the Valhalla Country Club right here in Louisville! Here is a picture of us in front of a Ryder Cup statue:

We were privileged to see all 24 players up close, and Chris got 10 autographs while we were there. I'm not really into golf much, but it was fun to spend the day together outside in the beautiful weather. Of course, it's also cool to say that we got to go! :-)

On a quite different note, if you are reading this Tuesday night, please pray for me! I'm going in for a sleep study at 7:30pm. I have had sleep issues for as long as I can remember... having trouble falling asleep, waking up multiple times during the night, and nightmares. The last few months things have been getting worse... struggling to stay awake while driving to/from work, struggling to stay awake AT work, being incredibly tired all the time, etc. I finally broke down and went to the doctor, and she went ahead and scheduled the sleep study. SO - all that to say, please pray that the doctors will be able to figure out what is wrong (besides the fact that I'm messed up in the head... we already knew that!):-) and that they will be able to fix it WITHOUT putting me on sleep medication! I appreciate it!

That's about all the new and exciting stuff for right now, except that my SIL is due for my nephew to join us in this world any day now! :-) Can't wait to meet him!

Still Alive...

Hi, everyone! Yes, I'm still alive! I can't believe how lax I've been about posting lately. I was just looking at the "count" of blog posts... 201 in 2007, as compared to this being the 32nd post of 2008! I've been busy reading EVERYONE ELSE's blogs... and I'm addicted to Facebook! So, there you have it!

Well, August was very busy for us, as has this first week of September!

The first week of August (3-7) was our Youth Conference at our church, Shawnee Baptist, here in Louisville. We had 961 teens from (I think) 34 different states and 4 different countries that attended the conference. Our Youth Conference is different in that the kids come to hear the preaching of God's Word... 6 times a day for 3 days straight, then on Thursday they get to go to Kentucky Kingdom. It was absolutely AWESOME! You can check out the pics that I posted on Facebook here:

Youth Conference pics #1 Youth Conference pics #2

The following weekend, the 15th, Chris had free tickets given to him for a Cincinnati Reds baseball game. We called our friends, Steve & Joy Francis, and met them at the game. We enjoyed their company, the game, and the fireworks after the game that we watched as we were walking back over the bridge from Cincinnati to Florence, KY. I had to work EARLY the next morning, so I was VERY tired, but it was fun anyway. More pics here

The next day after work, Chris and I headed to Lexington, KY. Chris had mandatory training for his work that Sun/Mon, and we have friends that live in Lexington. Since Monday was my birthday (happy birthday to me! :-P), I didn't want to spend it by myself or working while Chris was out of town. We called Kevin & Beth Busch, and we spent the weekend with them (and their son, Silas,) instead... well, I spent time with Beth while Chris was in training. I also got to visit some friends... the Valentine's... that we hadn't seen for a LONG time! Their kids are adorable! Beth made me a cake for my birthday, and we celebrated Sunday night. See more pics here

On the 23rd, we had free tickets to a Bats game, so invited our friends, Scott & April Mohler to join us at the game. We enjoyed the fellowship with them, and were greatly entertained at the game by the presence of the San Diego Chicken mascot. It was fun! Click here to see more pics

I left on Aug. 29th to drive (all by myself) to Watertown, WI, to see my whole family together (except Chris couldn't go... SOMEBODY has to work around here!) :-) It was Maranatha Baptist Bible College's Alumni "scrimmage," and my older brother, Steve, and middle brother, Greg, were playing on the alumni team against my baby brother, Nathan, who was playing on the Crusaders college team (for the last year.) It was so fun to watch them play again, and also to see my family together. I got to meet my newest nephew, Colt... who is absolutely ADORABLE! (of course). I really wish Chris could have come with me, but he is saving his time off for another very special occasion later this fall that we are praying God provides the time off/money for us to go. It was a good time with my family though, and it's rare for them to all be together at the same time. I tried to upload pictures to Facebook, but I couldn't get it to upload the other night, so I'll have to post a link when I get them up there.

This weekend, our church had their Ladies' Retreat. I had to work, since I was gone last weekend. Fortunately, I work only 30 minutes from the camp where our Retreat was held, so I went there from work, spent the night, and drove back to work this morning. It was a shorter distance to drive to the camp than to drive home, so it worked out well, and I enjoyed the short time I was able to spend there. It was a blessing!

So - that's the major run-down of things going on here. In other news, I FINALLY went to the doctor to get a sleep study done. Chris thinks that it's very possible that I have sleep apnea. My sleep study is scheduled for Sept 23, so please pray that they can figure out what is wrong with me so that I can get it fixed (hopefully without medicine!) I have been SO incredibly tired lately (more-so than usual!) I've been dozing off when driving to/from work a lot lately, which is very scary and dangerous! So - please pray for all of that.

That's it for now... see you next month! :-) Just kidding -I'm hoping to blog a little more frequently now.

So much has happened...

Wow - so much has happened since I last REALLY posted (other than our anniversary post, that is!) Here is the (hopefully) short and sweet run-down of what we've been doing since our vacation in June!
But first, I just want to say HAPPY 33rd BIRTHDAY, CHRIS!!! I am so thankful that God brought Chris into my life, and I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful husband! :-) God knew I needed Chris in my life!

OK - here's the history to go with the pics: 06-20-08
Our pastor and his wife (who are THE BEST!) attended a Bat's game with us! They are such fun "old people!" We love them to death and are so glad that God brought us here to our church and that we can be so close to a pastor of such a large church! (sorry, the pic is a little dark!) They had fireworks after the game, which was pretty cool, too.

06-22-08 - Between Sunday morning and evening services, we had a 9th & 10th grade SS activity. We had pizza and brownies, then the girls went swimming at one house, and the boys played video games then went swimming at a different house (no mixed swimming here!)
:-)
The guys playing video games...
Some of the girls in the van... (I didn't take pics while we were swimming!) :-)

07-12-08 Chris played in our church's softball league. Not really too competitive, but it was nice to get out and fellowship outside of the church and play some ball. Here's a pic of Chris at the plate (and I think he's pretty good, too!) :-)

07-13~16-08 We had our Kids Krusade at church (our version of VBS.) There were over 200 salvation decisions made during the Krusade, and 82 baptisms, PRAISE THE LORD! 3 or 4 of our bus kids got saved during the week... it's so awesome to see elementary aged kids respond to the gospel. The pic is of the drawing for a PS2 for the best behaved child from every bus route. Our little boy is the 3rd one from the left... and HE WON! We were so excited! (as was he!) I love that our church loves the kids and teens!
07-16-08 CHRIS GOT PROMOTED!!! (Sorry, no pic of that - I KNOW... it's a SHOCK!) I am SO PROUD of him! After only 19&1/2 months in the auto industry as a car salesman, Chris got promoted to Business/Sales manager! It's not totally unheard of to be promoted so quickly, but it is VERY rare, especially when your degree is not in business or business management AT ALL! I just thought it was so cool that the guys that work with him on a daily basis, including his boss, really pushed the upper management to promote Chris. What a great testimony! He is doing very well at the new job. Also, this job allows his paycheck to be a lot more stable (as opposed to comission only!), and also allows him to actually TAKE his days off. I'm so excited to be able to spend more time together with him! YEAH!!

07-17-08 I took a day trip to Indianapolis to visit some college friends of mine. I hadn't seen them in over 8 years, I think, and had totally lost track of them until Jess found me on Facebook (LOVE IT!) about 2 weeks before that! I went up and spent the day visiting with Jess, then we met Kelly and her kiddos at the pool, then spent the evening at Kelly's house visiting together. It was great to see them again, and I am always so amazed when friendships pick up right where they left off! It was like I had seen them the day before, and we just picked up the conversation again! God is so good to give friends like that!Kelly, me, and Jess

Jess' daughter, Abby

Kelly's daughter, Jenna

Kelly's daughter, Olivia

07-27-08 Good friends of ours, the George's, came down to go to Sunday AM services with us. They are missionaries to Romania on deputation. They live about an hour from us, so we have been able to visit with them I think 3 times in the past year. We love getting together with them. Here's a pic of their family:

Noah, Sara, David, Bethany, Brent, and Danae

Oh, a side note here... everyone thinks that Brent and Chris look so much alike, they are always asking if they are related. Sara and I don't think they look that much alike at all! :-)

I have to run now... Chris is on his way home, and it is his birthday, so I should probably make dinner for him! :-) I'll post more on Youth Conference and other goings on later. Thanks for "listening" to what's going on in our lives! :-)

Happy 8th Anniversary to us

On July 22, 2008, we celebrated our 8th Anniversary! (Happy Anniversary to us!) :-) Here's some pics:

Our Wedding Day - July 22, 2000
Celebrating by going out to dinner at Outback Steakhouse Sat. night
Flowers Chris brought home for me on Sat. (they were actually from a friend/co-worker's wedding reception, but hey - I'll take flowers however I can get them!) :-)
At a Louisville Bats (baseball) game on our actual anniversary (not the greatest pic!)

I just have to say that I have a WONDERFUL husband! We've been through a lot the past 2 years, but I'm so thankful that the Lord has given us the grace to get through it all, and to bless us with an even stronger, better marriage because of the trials. Chris is amazing, and I'm so thankful that he continues to put up with me! I told him when we were at the game that he better be thankful that he has such an awesome wife... this is the 3rd anniversary out of 8 that we've spent watching a baseball game! :-P He's so lucky! Seriously, though, we probably would have done something a little more romantic, but we didn't know until the day before that Chris would be able to get off work early, and we also chose to spend most of the money that we had put away for our anniversary to use on someone else who needed it more. (Not to brag, just letting you know that we don't ALWAYS go to games for our anniversary!) :-)

It was great just spending time together. I'm so thankful that God knew I needed CHRIS as my husband, and I think HE's THE BEST!!! :-)

Playing catch-up - Memorial Day and Vacation

Sorry I've been AWOL so long from the blogging world... we've been busy!

First of all, I was gone over Memorial Day weekend to visit one of my best friends in MD. While I was there, I also got to visit with some other friends, including the moms and boys that I used to take care of while I lived there. It was a great weekend, and I'm so thankful that my hubby was so thoughtful to allow me to go!

I worked the following week, and then D - the little one that I take care of - had surgery on June 4th. He had his tonsils/adenoids removed, plus eye surgery. I didn't get to see him before we left on vacation, but he did really well, I guess.

Since D was in the hospital, I took the opportunity to go up to our camp (an hour away) and work in the kitchen on Wed/Thurs. I haven't worked that hard since the LAST time I worked at camp, I think! It was a lot of fun, though my ankles were very swollen from standing for almost 2 days straight. It didn't help that I only got about 2 hours sleep... maybe! I stayed in the cabin with the girls from our church - I know, I'm a glutton for punishment!

June 6th, we left for our big vacation. Most of you know that we are trying to get to all the MLB ballparks, so this vacation included four of them! Anyway, we got to the airport to find that our flight had been cancelled one hour prior to our arrival at the airport, and they initially told us that we would have to fly out the next day. Chris was adamant that they find something for that night, and we ended up getting the last seats on a Frontier flight that ended up getting us to Las Vegas at the same time the other flight would have arrived (Thank you, God!) We flew into Denver on the way, and now Chris can add another state to his list of states that he's visited.

We got in late Friday night, and spent Sat. with Chris' family. We got to play with his niece, Korissa, who is 16 months old. Last time we saw her, she was 3 months old! She's adorable, of course! Sat. night we went out to eat at the Claim Jumper restaurant. It is SOO good, and the portions are huge! I'll have to post pics of their chocolate layer cake called the "Mother lode!" It's HUGE! Anyway, we had a good time with all of the family out there. Check out the pictures of family here.

Sun. am, we went to Chris' family's church, and then headed out to LA with Chris' youngest brother, Jon. He's 10 years younger than Chris, so it was fun for Chris to get some time with him, too. They are such goofballs together! Jon volunteered to drive his car on the trip, so we didn't have to rent one, which was a blessing. Anyway, Sun. night we went to an LA Dodgers game. I wasn't impressed with Dodgers Stadium at all! It just seemed really old, with nothing to distinguish it. But the game was fun, anyhow! :-) To see pics from the Dodgers game, click here.

Monday, we went to Disneyland. We had a great, relaxing time there. I'm sorry to say that I don't have any pics of that time at Disney... between Jon's computer and my camera, we somehow lost them. Monday night, we went to an Anaheim Angels game (or whatever the name of that team is now!) I am thankful, however, that we do have MOST of the pics from the Angels game... at least I have some to scrapbook (someday when I get around to it... I'd like to do a scrapbook of just our baseball stadium tour.) I did lose pictures of the outside of the stadium, though... they have 2 GIANT baseball hats made of metal... size 694 & 1/2!!! Also, in the entrance area outside the stadium, they actually have a baseball diamond embedded in the brick work. It was pretty cool!! While at the game, the guy sitting next to Chris was from Dublin, Ireland. Of course, Chris has never met a stranger, so we started talking to him. He was on a 3 week "holiday" from Ireland, and was here in the U.S. taking a bus tour and visiting as many baseball stadiums as he could. He told us that 60% of his yearly salary is spent traveling all over the world! It was really neat to talk with him! Oh, yeah, we also got John Lackey bobbleheads... wooo hooo! :-) I kept one, and Jon and I gave the others to a couple that was sitting behind us. They took them home to their kids. PICTURES


Tuesday, we slept in, then went to the beach there in LA. We had a great time, and there literally was maybe 3 other people at the beach! It was really nice. The funniest thing that happened there came at the end of the day... we had put our towels down on dry sand probably 30 feet from the nearest wet sand. We had gone on a walk down the beach and come back, and were laying in the sun for a little while before we had to leave. We started to feel the mist from the waves getting closer. My towel was first, then Chris, then Jon's. Well, all of the sudden, this wave comes up and goes about a third of the way up onto my towel, but totally soaks Chris and Jon! I haven't seen them move so fast in a LONG time! It was hilarious. Chris jumped up and threw his towel so fast! The funniest part of the whole thing was that we turned around to wash the sand off of us, and Jon ended up walking probably another 50 feet toward the ocean to get the next wave! We called it the "rogue wave!" It just kind of came out of nowhere, and the water wasn't anywhere CLOSE to us after that! Chris ended up getting a new phone out of the deal, since his got sand and water-logged. It actually worked, but wouldn't vibrate on incoming calls, which is imperative to his line of work. pictures... click here and here



Tuesday night, we got what will probably be a once-in-a-lifetime event for us. Of course, you know Chris grew up just outside of Boston, moving to NH when he was 12. That said, he is a DIE-HARD Celtics/Red Sox/Patriots fan... I think it's in his blood! Well, that Tuesday night the Celtics were playing the Lakers in the NBA Finals game #3 at the Staples Center. We ended up getting tickets and went to the game. It was so much fun, in spite of the fact that Chris almost got into 2 or 3 fights while defending me from drunk guys! I had never been to a sports venue that sold hard liquor in the stadium before I went to California! Anyway, I won't bore you with all the details of the situation, but thank God we didn't get shot or beat up or something! :-) Unfortunately, the Celtics lost that game, but it was fun to be there anyway! pics of the game



Tuesday night after the game, we headed down to San Diego. Wednesday, we went to the San Diego Zoo, which was pretty cool! We saved ourselves a lot of time by getting the guided bus tour at the beginning, so we pretty much saw ALL of the animals in 35 minutes, and then we went back and spent more time seeing only the animals that we WANTED to see. They had baby panda bears, and we learned that the San Diego Zoo basically grows their own food for their animals and many others right there on the Zoo property. I thought that was amazing.
Goofy pics of us and vegetation; pics of animals


From there, we went to tour the USS Midway... an aircraft carrier there in the harbor. It was HUGE, and Jon was showing us the planes he plans to fly someday, Lord willing! Also, I found out that the USS Midway is the same size as the USS Ariskeny, which is the aircraft carrier that my dad sailed on while he was in the Navy. It was really neat. (pics to come later... I'll come back and post links when I get them all posted on Facebook!) USS Midway pics

Wednesday night, we went to a Padres game. We didn't realize that the wind off the ocean would be SO COLD down there! We ended up buying sweatshirts for twice what we should have paid, but we would have FROZEN if we hadn't... well, Chris and I would have frozen (I was cold WITH a sweatshirt on!) Jon was Macho Man, and didn't need a sweatshirt! :-) The Padres stadium was probably added to our top ten as far as stadiums go... we thought it was pretty cool how they built the stadium to incorporate an old brick building on the left field side. They did a great job of joining modern conveniences with the nostalgic feel. It was nice.

We were going to go to Sea World on Thursday, then head back to Las Vegas. However, we called to check on prices, and it was $60/person, and they told us that they didn't have any Shamu shows until 7pm. We decided to just sleep in and then head back to Vegas on Thursday. We got back in time to eat supper with Chris' family, and then watch the Celtics/Lakers game... and the Celtics win! :-) Chris was glad to be able to spend the time with his family, and watch the game with them, too.



Friday, we basically just relaxed with the family. We went to brunch with Chris' sister, Kim, and her husband, David. That afternoon, Chris' sister, Julianne and I took our niece, Korissa into the pool and played with her for a while. After supper that night, Chris and I, Jon, Tiffany, and Julianne went over to see Kim's house, then we went down to "the strip" to watch the Fountains of Bellagio. If you don't know what that is, it's a huge fountain that does shows every 15 minutes with the water choreographed to music. It is SOOOO awesome! I am mesmerized by it, and would have probably stood there all night watching it. It's about the only part of "the strip" that I like - well, that and the Coke and M&M stores! :-)



Sat. morning early we flew out to Phoenix, AZ. It was 108 degrees at 5 pm that night, so when we got to our hotel, we just relaxed and spent some time together there. I took a much needed nap!!! At 5 pm, we headed out and got some dinner, then went to the Diamondbacks game. I couldn't believe how empty the streets were! I guess no one else wanted to be out in that heat, either! Thankfully, the D-backs stadium has a retractable roof, which they had closed, so it was a nice 80 degrees at the game. Chase Field, we decided, is in the top 10 of stadiums that we've visited. It was VERY nice! The only down side to that game was that we didn't actually get to see much of it until after the 7th inning stretch because there were so many people walking up and down from their seats. It was rather frustrating! We can say we've been there, though, so it's all good!



Sunday morning we got up early and flew home. It was Father's Day, and Chris and I didn't really "celebrate," though I did get him a card. I told him that his new phone and the Celtics/Lakers tickets were his Father's Day present. It was a pretty hard weekend for us to not have a baby to hold here on earth. However, God knows best, and He has a reason for everything. Unfortunately, though, sometimes we know that in our HEADS, but our HEARTS don't want to listen so well! Just because we know that doesn't mean that we don't struggle with wanting it our way!



Well, this is a VERY long post, so I'll put the rest of catch-up on another post. I'm still working on posting pics, but I'm putting links on here to my Facebook albums so that you can see pictures if you want. It's much easier than trying to post a bunch of pics on here!

Good quotes

These quotes were taken from an e-mail I received today, and I thought I'd post them here for you to think about:

'Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem' -- Ronald Reagan (my BIL is a Marine... Semper Fi)

'If we ever forget that we're One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.' Also -- Ronald Reagan

One last thought for the day: In case we find ourselves starting to believe all the Anti-American sentiment and negativity, we should remember England's Prime Minister Tony Blair's words during a recent interview. When asked by one of his Parliament members why he believes so much in America , he said: 'A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in.. And how many want out.'

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you:
1. Jesus Christ
2. The American Soldier

One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.

And I, for one, am eternally grateful for BOTH Jesus Christ, and our American soldiers! We love you, pray for you, and are proud of you!

Happy Independence Day!

Today, as we celebrate our nation's birthday and our freedom, I just wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU... to all of you who have family in the military. Freedom is NOT free, and I thank God for all of the men and women who have sacrificed, fought, and/or died to give me the freedom and liberty that I now enjoy. No, America is not perfect... but I would rather live here than anywhere else in the world! I get goosebumps and/or cry every time I hear "The Star-Spangled Banner." I guess it affects me more now that Chris' brother is in the Marines, and is, as we speak, serving our country... it hits a lot more close to home now.

So - again, our gratitude and appreciation goes out to those who are actively serving our country in the military, and to their families, who sacrifice just as much to have their loved ones out there serving as well. We can't thank you enough, nor can words describe our gratitude. Thank you, God, for a country that was founded on Christian principles... we are thankful for that, and thankful that we are still free!

Please remember to pray for our country today and every day. Please pray for our troops, and support them in any way possible. They need to know that their sacrifice is not in vain. And most of all, please pray and ask God to truly bless America.

II Cor. 7:14, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

And lastly, check out this website... it's pretty cool, and it supports our troops: http://oldbluewebdesigns.com/mybeautifulamerica.htm

Happy Birthday, USA!

Some new things Lil D is doing...

D is getting so much bigger and doing all sorts of new funny stuff. He now will pretend that he's a dog, and crawl around on his hands and knees barking, and even playing "fetch." Here are some pics of more of his "new" things:Dumping out his stuffed animals on the floor to take the basket and capture the cat. In this particular picture, he's giving his paci to the cat.
Chewing on his toes - the other day I was sitting on the couch and heard a weird sound. I looked over to find D sitting like this, sucking/chewing on his toe! The funniest thing about this was that when I went to take the picture, he said, "CHEEEESE!!!" (around the toes in his mouth!) What a goofball! :-)

Here he is playing with the new puppy, Halo... an Australian shepherd/German shepherd mix (as if the black lab & rotweiller weren't enough!)

Sharing paci's... D gets the good ones, the puppy gets the ones D doesn't like...

Lining all the cars up in a row. He did this and then came running over to me to show me what he had done! He was so proud of himself!

One more thing... Tues. morning after his mom had left to take the kids to school, D immediately starts singing "Clean up, Clean up..." and proceeded to pick up every one of his toys, and then crawl up on the couch for his breathing treatment... WITHOUT BEING TOLD! :-) It will be a sad day when I have to say good-bye to this little one (but I'll be glad not to have to deal with his temper tantrums and ugly attitudes!)

Bat's Game

OK - I'm a little behind in my blogging again, so I'll post each event separately (so you don't have to read FOREVER!) Fri, May 16, Chris got us tickets to the Louisville Bats Game. This is the minor league team for the Cincinatti Reds, and the mascot is Bats - like the animal - not like the Louisville Slugger bats (which is what I originally thought!) :-) Just wanted to clarify that for you! The game ended up being a double header that night, due to another game being rained out earlier in the week. The Bats played the Scranton Yankees (NY Yankees minor league team.) Chris' boss has season tickets, and we can just sign up for them and get them free. It's a cheap weekend date for us! (You may be seeing a few posts about games in July... we have tickets for 4 games!)

Anyway, our friend (and bus captain) J.R. came with us, bringing his girlfriend, Abby (now fiancee as of Sunday May 25th!) We are enjoying getting to know this couple better, and are super excited about their engagement and upcoming marriage. Here's some pics:

Louisville Slugger Field
Chris&I and the field
Chris, Heather, Abby & JR Chris and I
Chris and I in the cool glove chairs in the lobby!

By the way, the Bats won the first game, and then they had fireworks between the games. Abby was still living in our college dorm, so she had a curfew, so we left before the second game ended. :-) It was a good night of fun with good friends!