Wreck 'Em

...Kate visiting my office as a Tech pom girl for Halloween. We had been telling everyone she was going to be a cowgirl, but only to keep the element of surprise for my very Tech-centered office. She was a big hit, and as is evident, thoroughly enjoyed herself. She managed to give a good "Guns Up," participated in a cheer, played with pom-poms, and even did her super-excited neck-flex face. Seriously, the kid is just more fun than a barrell of monkeys. So, from Baby Kate to all of you, "Wreck 'Em!!!!"

Who Knew Hell Ponies Could Find Their Way To Lubbock?

...a visit from Kate's "Uncle" Jason. I say "Uncle" because really he's Kate's cousin, but we prefer using Aunt and Uncle with our family members. Jason was in town because his band was playing a concert that night, which, since his nights start a little later than ours, came over and hung out, had dinner, and got some down time before he had to go on stage. It was great to have a family member in Lubbock, and equally great to be able to have a conversation with Jason. I always enjoy talking to him about religion, politics, and conspiracy theories. Unfortunately because of his band's touring schedule we don't get to see him very often...usually only Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you ever get a chance to catch Jason and his band live, they put on a great show; and if you can't, let me recommend buying his latest album "Comal County Blues."

Thanks for coming to see us Uncle Jason!

What's a Week Between Friends?

....our trip to Oklahoma City to see U2 last weekend. It seems like all of our posts have been about a week behind lately, but hey, what's a week between friends right? We don't take many nights away from Baby Kate, but when we do we make them count. The concert was the best one I've ever been to, hands down. We even got to see the Black Eyed Peas, who opened for them that night. I would have never cared to see the Black Eyed Peas in concert, but they were fun and sounded good. U2 was a blast and Bono's voice got stronger and stronger as the night went on. He was every bit the front-man I expected and put on a great show. Here are a few pictures I took that night.

the stage before the concert started. You can see the 360 degree screen (silver) just below the main structure of the "rocket ship." The ship was as tall as OU's football stadium. I would not have wanted to change a light bulb in that thing!


As you can see the screen could also be stretched out during a song--very cool.



Can I be Bono when I grow up?

...a trip to Uncle Jason & Aunt Kaci's place last weekend. Kate got to see her Aunt, Uncle, and cousins Kason & Krece. She loved it at their house, especially since she spent most of the visit outside with animals. Here are some pics from the day...


Krece thought it was okay if Kate sat on the tractor, but that she was too little to drive it. Can you tell they're all related?!


Uncle Jason needed some help turning the horses out.



This is what it looks like when you are not real happy your daddy is carrying a girl to turn the horses out...at least Granny was there to stop the tears.

A Boo

...a saying between our friend Stephanie and us. We typically say, "a boo" when something doesn't go right. Well, something is definitely not going right for Kate. For a while Kate has had some unexplained illnesses. Sometimes she just has a fever and sometimes it's full blown puking. Well, about 2 months ago the fever would just not go away. We took her to the pediatrician a couple of times and they decided to test her for a UTI. Initial results revealed nothing but when the cultures came back they found lots and lots of ecoli growing in her pee. To make a long story short, and to skip explaining the terrible tests she had done, Kate has reflux in her ureters (the tubes that carry pee from the kidneys to the bladder). That means that once her pee gets down to her bladder it goes all the way back up to her kidneys. It can be a very dangerous situation and cause kidney damage. It comes in varying degrees and Kate's is pretty bad. Because of that, she is going to have to have surgery to fix the problem. They have to move her ureters down farther into her bladder and fix the openings of her ureters. We are finding out that it is quite a surgery. She will have a pretty big incision and will be out of school for 4-6 weeks (she is NOT going to like missing school). She will be having the surgery the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. That also means that we will not be home for Thanksgiving this year. So we have been saying "a boo" a lot lately. Everything should turn out fine but please keep sweet Baby Kate in your prayers.
A boo.

More Pumpkins, Different Farm

....a trip to a different pumpkin farm/corn maze place. We decided to visit this one while in Oklahoma for the U2 concert tomorrow night! We rode a train, went on a hay-ride, rode a carousel horse, picked pumpkins, visited the animal barn, and of course took pictures.

Family Saturday, the Afternoon Part 2

...some grilled corn. Kate had already had a lunch (and a snack) but she was eager to eat my grilled corn. It was a little tough for her so she munched on a hot dog. We had the best time.