Happy 30th Birthday Heather!!!!

We love you!!!! Miss you and can't wait to see you. We hope your birthday is AMAZING!!!
Here's a few pics I had on hand of H & H from the past few years. There's OH so many more. Many that Harper will NEVER see - unless crazy Auntie Hedder shows her!!

In Vegas for my birthday. My 27th??? Not sure.

Cabo!!!!!!

Headin' to see Dave Matthews Band.

Another Vegas trip.

One of our MANY car pics. This one was waiting to get out of the parking lot of another Dave concert. We were bored.

Stupid Pet (Human) Tricks

Things we do to pass the time while the baby's sleeping...

Mini Cooper

Fred named Cooper after a car. Fred's favorite car. And Cooper was definitely one of our favorite dogs. Well, all of them are our favorites in their own way - and Cooper definitely had his own ways.

Cooper was the second dachshund we got after Lucy. I was still living with my parents in Corona at the time, and I remember he was the absolute tiniest puppy I'd ever seen. I remember being afraid the cat might try to eat him since he just looked like a little mouse. I remember when Cooper was born - it was November 2001 and we were pretty sure we were getting one of the puppies from the litter that Bryan's wife's dog was having. We got Cooper and someone else in the family got his brother Linus. My parents later met Linus and took video to show me how much alike the two were.

Cooper was the dog that forever stayed a puppy. He was 6 1/2 when he died, but still looked and acted like a funny little floppy puppy. We all called Cooper "dumb" or "slow", but in the most affectionate way. He was a dog's dog, and just wanted to play, play, play. Cooper was also our "delicate flower" since he was allergic to most vaccinations and didn't process medications well. The first time he got vaccinated, we brought him home and about an hour later his lips and face had totally swelled up. Another time, he was given something that made him completely listless and caused him to vomit uncontrollably. Both times he recovered just fine, but it gave us a good scare - and he never complained. My mom said that recently the vet told her he's one of the most docile dogs he's ever met. Which I think is why we always thought he was kind of the "Dopey" of the bunch. He never complained or made a noise, and was pretty much just always waiting for you to throw the ball or knot again.

A few weeks ago, after a few hard days of playing (exercising) with Benny - the newest (overweight) addition to my mom's clan, Cooper wasn't moving out of his bed. Mom took him to the vet and after x-rays, it was determined that he had calcification of the spine, a common thing to happen to dachshunds, and what we also think Lucy died from. It can be treatable with medications in some dogs, but can also get drastically worse and begin leaking, causing terrible pain. They decided to try the meds for 2 weeks to see how he did and to see how his liver was holding up. He was kept on total restriction from movement, and my mom even put him in the Pack N Play in order to prevent him from further hurting himself while they were trying to get him healed. Some of the meds made him completely out of it and he even had trouble walking straight, so mom adjusted some things and had least he was more alert. But it just wasn't meant to be...

Mom said he had 2 really bad days in a row where he barely moved and cried in pain. After seeing Lucy struggle so badly, they decided they had to do the humane thing and put him to sleep.

We're all very sad about him being gone, and I truly can't believe it still. Cooper was a very special little dog and people always fell in love with him right away. I always called him the little dog with the funny face, and most people commented on how it looked like his front two feet were on the wrong legs. That was just Cooper. He was a little 'off" and had his own definite quirks like therapeutically chewing away at the knot when he was nervous - which was often. Or eating his food VEERRRRRYYYYY slowly most days, taking the time to chew each morsel individually while all the dogs around him are inhaling it so fast it's gone in 3 seconds flat. That was just Cooper. And we'll miss him.

(I have a few hilarious videos of Cooper but am having trouble finding them on my backup disks. Hopefully they'll turn up soon and I'll be able to post them.)

One Day at a Time...

That has been my motto for this past week. Unfortunately, things didn't seem to get much better as the days wore on, so by Friday I was pretty much just a puddle of emotions trying to get through the final day without completely crashing and/or having a major breakdown.

The week started off with an early morning meeting on Monday at work, at which we found out that there were going to be layoffs. That day. Starting immediately. Some of the managers who were in that meeting with me, were some that were laid off. Though it was handled very well, it made for a very long day as they called people one by one down to HR to be given the news. By the afternoon, the dust had settled, and those who were left were able to breathe a sigh of relief. But it wasn't a day I'd wish for anyone.

Now, for several reasons, I and my position were never really in danger. There was a strategic elimination that we later had confirmed was based on performance and overall effectiveness of the position/department. Two things I didn't have to worry about. But even through Tuesday, I was still finding out about friends that were gone and it didn't make for a pleasant time. The only factor that softened the blow was that I found out what the severence package was they were giving to those employees who were let go, and the company is doing what they can to make sure those employees are WELL taken care of. For some, in a strange way, it might even be the best thing that can happen to them.

The rest of the week at work was just a rollercoaster with Execs in town, getting to work early, dealing with unexpected and changing plans, etc....

On Wednesday, I woke up and I felt like Harper had gained 3 pounds overnight. She just felt very "heavy" and VERY big in there. It was an unexpected shift and I think I finally made the leap over to the "perpetually uncomfortable" side of the pregnancy. This really threw me for a loop, as I've had a relatively uneventful pregnancy. She's always been very active, but now it seems like I feel her every single movement and I have to readjust as a result. It's a weird thing. I'm also swollen all the time now and can only wear my wedding rings since they were sized bigger to begin with. Even my bracelet doesn't slide on and off easily anymore and is uncomfortable to wear. I've gotten slippers to wear at work because even my comfy Crocs - which are the only shoes I can wear anymore - leave big indentations.

By Thursday afternoon, I had pretty much had it and got home and had an emotional breakdown. I haven't had *too* many of the hormonal outbursts or random cryings, but when they happen, they happen good. I had gotten calmed down and had settled in for some dinner and TV when we got the call...

Cooper had to be put to sleep. I'm posting more about Cooper in my next post (above), but needless to say, this was hard news to take.

SOOOO... I'd like to wash this week OFF of me and throw it away never to be seen or heard from again. Except in this blog, of course. But I'm really hoping these posts serve as a reminder that nothing is promised, life is gonna throw you curveballs, and hopefully we can have the strength and resiliency to get back up. ALSO, though these weeks don't happen very often (THANKFULLY!), soon I'll be able to look back and see a definite purpose in it all. The last time I remember feeling like this was in January of 07 where it was a terrible MONTH. But looking back, that whole month led us here to Texas... and look where we are now. A beautiful home, great jobs, a baby on the way... and a whole future ahead of us.

SNOW!!!

Okay, so we've had a few "dustings" since I've moved here, but this is full on, no doubt about it SNOW in Fort Worth, Texas!!! The news has been predicting it all week, and for once, there was something to make a big deal about!! I went to work this morning, but it was becoming quite obvious very quickly that things were looking treacherous out on the roads so I come home shortly after 2pm. It took me 2 hours to get home but I finally made it against all odds!!!!! Once home, I grabbed the camera and made Jon come outside to take some pictures. Soon the neighbors were outside with us, so I got some great shots of everyone. So much fun! Not sure about work tomorrow. They don't really have snow plows in Texas, so I'll have to wait for it to melt before I try to go anywhere. Oh, and I LOVE MY CAR!!! Iggy did such a great job, I had absolutely no problems as I trekked home. It was awesome!!

Jon and Sarge

The Parkers! David, Diana, Ethan and Noah.

The Kutz Clan: Christina, John & Hailey

Holly & Wylee

Wylee says "I'm not going out there!"

Hailey all wrapped up.

Jon and Holly

Quick Update

Don had surgery on Monday and it went very, very well. The only anticipated setback was never an issue, and the surgery only lasted about 2 1/2 hours. He recovered for 2 days at Baylor Grapevine, but was then offered the change to transfer to Baylor Irving to continue his recovery and participate in an inpatient therapy program. So that's where he's at! He'll be there at least another 10 days as he continues growing stronger and getting 3 hours of therapy a day. We're very excited he's doing it even though it means we don't get to stop by before and after work since that hospital isn't exactly anywhere near our way home.


Jon has been busy staining the kitchen cabinets and they're turning out really well. He took a detour last weekend to get the backyard all trimmed and beautified and he did an amazing job. I really couldn't believe how great it looked. We're very excited to have our new patio furniture and looking forward to enjoying our beautiful backyard this spring and summer!


My computer has a virus that I can't get rid of, which has put a serious hamper on my blogging. I'm going to plan on working on that tomorrow.


The pups are well - silly as ever. I'm attaching a few cute pics of Sarge and a video of each that we took in the snow today.





This is Wylee taking his first steps in snow (that we know of)


This is Sarge having a ball playing with his girlfriend Maggie in the snow.

BBQ

This past Sunday Jon and I had a few friends over for a BBQ at our house. We had to borrow the BBQ from John and Christina next door, and everyone brought a dish to share. We had a great time! Here are some of the pics.


Ethan and Noah flexing for the camera.




The gang


Notice the beautiful yard! Jon's handiwork...



Next door neighbors, John & Christina.



Friends Heather and Les.

pics!

Here's some of the latest pics. We took these Valentine's night while we were just hanging out after taking the belly pics.

February's already halfway over!

Where the heck has the month gone?!?!

Quick recap on us: I battled a loooonng bout with allergies. Thanks Texas winds! Appreciate it! Jon managed to not get affected too badly - thank goodness!! And now we're just saying our prayers that we manage to avoid the flu that seems to be taking everyone down here.

The recent rain has the dogs sad, but me very happy. It will always be my favorite weather. I even got stuck out in it big time yesterday while staying out of the house so Jon could sleep. Crossing a parking lot, got absolutely DRENCHED in a downpour, but I loved it. No, I still don't own an umbrella. The only thing that makes me hate the rain is the MUDDY FEET!!! Especially those of the 4-legged variety. Each of our dogs have the things about them that make them less than perfect pups, and one of Sarge's is that he manages to bring in half the dirt from the outside in with him. Our white tile floor (and grout) does not cope with this well, so I just try not to get too frustrated and lay towels down and Swiffer as often as I feel like.

Unfortunately we had to cancel our plans for a road trip to Florida due to an unexpected major expense that came up (long story), but we're trying to make the most of our final 3 months with just the two of us. No babymoon in our future, but we're planning a small backyard potluck bbq in a few weekends and trying to scramble with finishing up a few home projects. This weekend we used the rest of Jon's gift cards to Home Depot and Lowe's and finally got a patio furniture set. We're VERY excited to put it to use. Jon and I have always enjoyed sitting outside as often as we can. And now that we have a huge (finished) backyard, we were looking forward to getting a bit bigger table than our little bistro set. NEXT: a bbq!!!! Eventually.... Maybe when his next birthday rolls around and we get more gift cards. :)

Jon cooked a wonderful dinner on Friday night for his parents and I for Jane's birthday. He did a wonderful job as always and she really loved it. Happy birthday, Jane!

Don's doctors have decided to do surgery, so he's got a couple more weeks to go until that. We're praying this will bring him the relief he's needing. Praying for the surgery to go well and for a speedy recovery.

That's all I've got for now! Til next time...

Holly

Blogs

Blogs I'm addicted to lately and can't stop checking in on. Amazing.

Nate & Trish

Pray for Kyle

Sorry ladies. Another one's off the market.

Randy Williams got married?!?!? What????

Yes, it's true. Jon and I witnessed it in person. For those of you who don't know him, Randy used to be the guitar player for Big Tent Revival, and is now the lead guitar player for Jeremy Camp. I've known Randy since 98 when I started working at Fishers and we did the west coast booking for Big Tent. About 10 years now! Jon has gotten to know Randy a little bit when we've gone and seen him play when he's been nearby the past few years.

His beautiful new bride is from right here in North Texas, just up the road. So it worked out great for Jon and I that they got married here. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful and Randily unique. Very special personal touches throughout were very memorable. It was great to see a few people I haven't seen in a long while - though most of the people I knew were Randy's groomsmen!

Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures. :( I really need to get better about that. But it was a great time, and a fabulous reception. We really had a great time and we wish Randy and Katie the best of love in their future!!!

My Camel

A few months ago I wrote in a post about my drive to and from work, and the things that I pass daily including rolling green hills, longhorns and a camel. Well "my" camel was shown on the news and he has a name! Jon named him Leroy, but his name is actually Teddy. Here is his story and his lovely picture.

Camel Takes Drivers By Surprise

WESTLAKE, Texas -- Drivers along state Highway 114 in Westlake are doing a double take, thanks to Teddy the camel.
The camel has been at the Circle T Ranch for about four years.
He recently moved to an area closer to the road, so he could interact with the buffalo grazing there.

Donald Jack Dunn: November 09, 1945 - January 05, 2008

My sister's father-in-law passed away this past Saturday night. He fought a long, hard battle with lung cancer but he is now finally able to breathe deeply again. He will be very missed by those who knew him, and by his two grandsons who will grow up being told of stories about their Granddad who loved them very much. Here is a link to his legacy.com website.

I'll miss Don for his genuine interest he took in me and my life, for his enthusiasm and love for my sister as a daughter-in-law and for loving my nephews more than any Granddad could.

New Year's Visit

Randy and Rebecca were in town and they stopped by on the 2nd for dinner and a nice visit! We had such a great time and it was so wonderful to see them. Viviana is soooo adorable and a little social butterfly. She looks and acts exactly like Randy - but she's a lot cuter. :) Jona was my little buddy, smiling and laughing and just taking it all in. We had such a blast and wish we could have visited longer, but we were thankful for the evening!!

I'm waiting for Rebecca to send me the pics she has, but here are pics of the kids I took on New Year's Eve.

End of '07

It's 2008! I can't believe it. Jon and I keep reminding each other all that 2008 holds for us, and it's unbelievable the events that lie ahead for us this year.

The last few weeks have been great, though very different for me. All the holidays fell during Jon's schedule, which means there wasn't much time for celebrating. We did manage to meet each other at IBC for Christmas Eve service, then grab a quick bite at Dickey's before he had to go to work. Christmas morning he got home at 6:30, just after his parents got here. We enjoyed breakfast and opened presents together, then they were gone by 8:30 and he was in bed! It was a very early and short Christmas this year.

I thought it would be a rather depressing day hanging around the house with nothing much to do but hang out quietly while he slept. Usually I would try to get out of the house and find something to do, but that's hard to do on Christmas day as nothing is open. I managed to watch A Christmas Story in bits and pieces and just hang out and do nothing, really. It was tough being away from all of my family and not having Jon around to really celebrate with, but I made it through pretty well.

New Year's Eve came with a nice surprise. I worked, then drove to downtown Fort Worth to meet up with Randy and Rebecca and the kids! It was soo great to see them, and we're planning on them coming over tomorrow night for dinner and another visit before they leave to go back to Colorado. I like what Rebecca told me "it's like we've never been apart!" We just picked right up and it felt like it hadn't been a year and a half (our wedding) since we've seen them.

Today I am so thankful for our cable company! I managed to find the KTLA coverage of the Rose Parade, and I was so happy. Right now I'm watching the Rose Bowl and of course am a happy camper as USC is beating the pants off of Illinois. Go Trojans!

Keepsake!

Jon and I thought it would be a fun idea to start buying Hallmark Keepsake ornaments each year to commemorate significant events in our lives for that year. We had the idea quite a while ago, but unfortunately we didn't actually go to Hallmark until this past Thursday - less than a week before Christmas! Needless to say we didn't have a great selection.

I was hoping to find something like this:

But unfortunately it was sold out. However, I think the one we found suits us just as well!!!

It's called "Do It Yourselfer" so we found it very appropriate. Love it!

sick

I've been officially SICK for the past week now. A hideous cold has taken ahold of my head and it's been terrible. Thank goodness I'm finally seeing the other side of this cold and there's a light at the end of the tunnell. And thank goodness for Tylenol Cold!!!!

Hanes Family Christmas Party!

Last Saturday we had the Hanes Family Christmas party at our house. It was our first party at our new house, and we were very excited to have everyone here. It was so great to see everyone and we all had a great time. It was my first time meeting little Molly and I hadn't seen Braylen since he was a month or so old. They are too precious. And most of the family I hadn't seen since the last Christmas party I went to 2 years ago. All of the kids have gotten so big and we really enjoyed having everyone here. Unfortunately not one single person took any pictures!!

Jon did most of the cleaning before the party, as well as wrapping all of the presents which looked PERFECT, of course. He also made a beautiful green salad and two amazing cherry pies which were a huge hit! I did the rest of the baking, churning out sugar cookies, rice crispy treats, ghiradelli drop cookies, brownies, holly treats and of course - apple cake! Jane brought the dinner which was ham, green beans, mashed potatoes, and rolls. Eddie and Nancy brought Sy's fruit salad, Craig and Karyn brought drinks and homemade spinach dip, and Darryl and Cheryl brought drinks. We had so much stuff!!!! It was great.

We did the gift exchange and I was so excited to get a mini food processor! I had already thought about trying to make homemade baby food, so this will be perfect! Jon got a cozy blanket and The Bourne Ultimatum, so we are so excited to watch it. Oh! And Craig and Karyn asked us to open our gift from them, and we got a digital photo frame!!! We love it!

The whole day was great and we can't wait to do it again next year!

Vegas Visit!

Jon and I flew to Vegas last Wednesday for an early Christmas/late Thanksgiving/Birthday celebration with my parents, Wendy and the boys. We were so looking forward to a change of scenery and of course seeing and hanging out with the family most of all!!! The boys have both gotten so big, I couldn't stop staring at them! They are both so sweet and I miss them soooo much. I tried to absorb every minute of being with them.
Jon and I were able to steal some time away to go check out some of the newer sights on the strip including a few of the sites he used to send trucks to at his old job, and the site where The New Frontier used to be!!!! We also stopped by his old work and mine and said hi to a few old friends. Oh! And I also managed to squeeze in TWO trips to In-N-Out which was WONDERFUL!!! So yummy.
Thursday night we took the boys to Opportunity Village to see all the Christmas lights. It was freezing, but it was so much fun to see their faces light up when looking at all the lights.
One of the major accomplishments of the weekend was getting all of the tons of baby things home to us that have been building up at my mom's house. So many people including my sister have been so generous in giving us all sorts of necessities. We are still awaiting our 3 huge boxes to arrive that we sent to ourselves.
We had such a great time seeing everyone and exchanging gifts, celebrating birthdays. We came home exhausted but so appreciative of every minute of the time we had.
Jon turned 32 the day after we got home and slept most of the day because he had to work that night. I felt bad for him having to work on his birthday, so I went and picked up dinner from Johnny Carino's, one of our favorite places, and brought it to him at work. It was a nice treat for both of us.

Tobin!

Jon and I at the Bellagio

Holly, Wendy and Tobin

Wendy and her hat!!!

The gang and their hats

The boys got a sparkler on their birthday (cheese) cake!!!

Which Camden was absolutely fascinated by.

The painting is DONE!!!!

Jon has worked SO HARD and finally - the painting is DONE!!! We are so happy with how everything has turned out. We still have the hallway to paint eventually, but we've crossed it off our list of things to do by Christmas. The things he has done all look great.

One of our walls in the kitchen, looking through the arch to our niche - Jon picked out the statue!

Dining Room - dark brown on the bottom and a light beige on top.

Living room - Jon hanging up our sconces.

We've also put up the Christmas tree and decorations. It's been a bit of a struggle to not want to go out and buy a boatload of new decorations to fill up this house we now have. But so far I've resisted and I think I'll do okay until things are on clearance after the holiday. We did finally get to put up our tree that we haven't seen since we bought it half-price the day after Christmas last year.






Jon put the Christmas lights on the house today and they look FABULOUS!!!! I need to take a picture of them -- coming soon.

Oh, and we've both had our first door-busting Black Friday shopping experience. We jumped out of bed at 3 and were out the door by 3:30 all ready to go. Kohl's was absolutely INSANE and we failed by not having a real plan for our day. But we made it through that madness with a few treasures and headed over to JC Penney for a few more things. Overall it was a good experience, and I'm ready to do it again next year! However, Jon is anxious to stay home with the baby. Here's a picture of us before we left the house.