Arrowhead Stadium and Davi Cook's 9/11 Pre-Game Tribute

Ten Years...

Nobody really knows when the whole world is going to change forever, do they? Sometimes it can take years to pinpoint exactly when it was that the gears shifted and you changed or the world change and life became what it is verses what it was then. For me and for millions upon possibly billions of others, there is no question when that day happened.



September 11, 2001 was the most beautiful late summer day in New York. It was the kind of day that you'd image to be the climate of some sort of utopian society; there wasn't a cloud in the sky until the clouds of smoke, ash, steal, and I don't even want to think of what else covered Lower Manhattan. They say in the book GOOD OMENS that you would think that there would be storms on the night the Anti-Christ was born because something that monumentally sinister, an event in itself so evil that would throw off the lives of everyone in existence would start off dreary or a bit ominous but that that was not the case. That is how you would imagine September 11th starting but that would be a clue and as I said, nobody really knows when the whole world is going to change forever.



I was 15 at the time, a sophomore in high school, a time when you feel like you have sort of figured out the world with an entire lifetime still awaiting you. Wise fool indeed (if you don't get this look up the definition of Sophomore.) Ten years later I still can't explain exactly how I have changed or what I or my life would have been like had that never happened. I knew people who died but nobody who meant enough to me that loosing them would impact me. Perhaps it is all the people who never had a chance to become important to me. Maybe the events of that day made me more apprehensive and timid although, for all I know it might have made me braver. I can't explain how I felt on September 10th or who that girl was meant to become, I just know it is different.



No matter who you are, or where you were when you heard, that day drew a line through history and for as long as time exists, we will forever live in a Post 9-11 world.

****These photos are from the Newseum in DC, taken on the day Bin Laden was captured ***

365 days in...

It has been one year since Graham's adoption



Here's to many more with the happiest, most loving stuffed animal come to life!

prayers for Christian update

The following updates came in today:

-------Christian was taken off sedation and intubation yesterday. I'm told that he is "much more alert." I don't know the extent of that, though. I'm assuming that if he was communicative, we'd be told so. He is starting antiviral meds today.

Please pray that there are no adverse effects from virus or meds

-------Christian is much more alert, he is still in an "altered state" and unable to communicate. It could take 4 weeks! for the meds to work. His virus has been diagnosed. He has HHV6 virus. It is usually benign and is akin to roseola. But, for some reason, it attacked Christian's brain.

We all pray that he'll come out of this without any lasting effects.

HEY LOOK, A HALFPIPE!

I have been wanting to take Gigi to this one particular park in Hudson River Park, ever since I remembered that it existed about month ago. She had really enjoyed herself there last summer; it has man made creeks running through the cement and a water tree too cool children off along with your typical playground apparatus, who wouldn't love it?


Unfortunately, when the cold weather came around last year a playground on a pier above water isn't exactly an ideal place to play and, subsequently, I had forgotten all about it until late July. Then between my vacation, G's family vacation, and a million other little things popping up we still hadn't gotten there so yesterday we decided enough is enough and Lauren, Gigi, and I headed out to play there. On the way we noticed a halfpipe on Pier 54 and thanks to Google found the info:

A massive, all-ages halfpipe demo free to the public, with tricks by professional

skateboarder Hawk, Kevin Staab, Jesse Fritsch, Mitchie Brusco, Sandro Dias,

Neal Hendrix and Elliot Sloan"

Sounded like it could be fun if we could swing it and, as luck would have it, after playing, eating and Gigi's nap, we were able to stop in. I'm glad we did; there was Alt-Rock music which I love to hear and G loved to dance to, not to mention it was my first time watching stunt skateboarding live. The things that those guys can do is truly amazing, if you ever get the opportunity you really should take in one of these.


All in all, I think everyone had a really fun Friday afternoon.













*Photos are from my phone which explains odd sizes and quality

Please Pray

The following is from my friend Joyce:

Dear Family and Friends,

Michael's best friend, Christian, who is 11 and about to enter the 6th grade, has been in the hospital, Columbia-Presbyterian, since last Friday, He had a fever, which has now subsided, and was and is unconscious. They are treating it as a virus because any tests they have done have come back negative. Although his fever is now gone, he is still unresponsive. He was having an MRI late this afternoon. Please pray for his recovery, and please pray for his family.

Thank you.

A little Happy for your Sunday

Well we all survived Irene here in New York. While it did end up being less severe as was expected, I still believe all of the precautions were necessary, and there are still people dealing with flooding, outages, and just plain inconveniences. We were all blessed that it wasn't worse but I am sure a lot of people are down right now so I figured it was a good time to share my little instant pick me up.


Puppies make me smile. I know, I am a cliche girl that cute animals boost my mood but I dare you to go to IHasAHotDog.com http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif and not feel your blues melt away, at least momentarily.


here are some examples: