So what about that reunion?

Alright, if you're not Corey, John, Will, BJ, Rodney or Shiloh, feel free to keep reading, but you may not understand much of the rest of this post.

For the last two years we've kicked around the idea of a "reunion" of sorts with us "Brazil" brats. But we've never been able to decide on a time or place. With all of us living scattered across the country we've just never been able to get it together.

Now it may be the high fever (102 yesterday) or the narcotic cough syrup that I'm on, but I finally had a brilliant idea about how to pull this off. So I'm naming the time and place. All the rest of you just load up the spouses and kids and meet us in Nauvoo, IL on July 12.

See mom, dad, Hillary and Cody will be perfoming in the Nauvoo pageant again this year and Travis and I are already planning on going back to see them. (They'll be perfoming the 11th - 17th of July.) Anyway I thought since most of you are still in the midwest, Nauvoo is a fairly central location to get to. Plus, we'll get to go to the pageant, and there's lots to see there anyway. (Remember Youth Conference '96?) Anyway, Trav & I will probably be taking our camp trailer and camping. There's a big state park there that's pretty nice for those who are interested in rustic. But if that's not your style I know there are several motels and hotels around Nauvoo.

John, I know you guys have the furthest to travel, but I also know that you're the one most interested in doing this reuion.

So what do you guys say? Any takers?

For all of my other friends and family, you're welcome to come see the Nauvoo Pageant this year. It ought to be excellent, I know some of the cast. ;)

My first (and possibly only) attempt at quilting

As anyone who has known me for longer than 10 minutes knows, I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum from what could be termed a "Domestic Goddess." And while I doubt very much that it would make Grandma Eppert or Grandma Yoder proud, at least I can say that I did attempt to make a quilt at least once in my lifetime. This is a small lap quilt that I made as a gift to give to our birth mom (when we finally get chosen by a birth mom, that is.) Anyway, yes, it's crooked and doesn't look very good but I tried to make it personal. There are tulips (because those are my favorite flowers) and some of the fabrics feature ducks (because Travis likes the outdoors and particularly, ducks.) At any rate, I figured I should show the world my one attempt at domestication. I know many of you will be shocked by it, but it's true, I have my moments. (Just ask my siblings about the home made photo albums they each got for Christmas.) The day I told Travis I wanted to make a quilt his exact words were, "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

Will we ever wear shorts again?

Well, thanks to the flu (I went to the Dr. yesterday and the "good" news is that it's not strep throat, "just" the flu) I've spent basically all week crashed on my couch high on narcotic cough syrup watching the History Channel. I hope to be well very soon because this is no fun.

Also no fun, is that fact that as I'm typing this, my father-in-law is being admitted to the hospital because a scan this morning found that he had bloodclots (again.) Travis, who was supposed to report to a jobsite in Arizona on Monday morning, is furiously trying to convince his company to send him someplace closer for the next couple of weeks until we know what's really going on with his dad.

There is good news, however, Shiloh's kids are doing great. Lydia was able to come home from the hospital Saturday night and Adam cam home Sunday night. Mom flew home Sunday night as well, and based on all the drama that happened last week, we're all very glad to have her back. And dad flew in safely last night from Latvia. Although, I don't imagine they're very happy to be back seeing as how our actual temperatures this week have been -22 to -10 nearly everyday they've been home. Yes, they even called off school Tuesday because with the wind chill, it felt like -35 outside.


Adam on Sunday after they took him off the oxygen.


Grandma Cindy with Adam. (Yes, it's completely unnerving to me how much she looks like Grandma Charlotte!)


Lydia gets to come home!!!!!

Supermodel Sister

So Jesse can officially be called a "cover model" now. Her picture graces the cover of the 2008 Idaho Wedding Guide. For those of you in Idaho you can pick up a free copy at any bridal shop, photographer or other place that would have wedding related services. For the rest of you, if you'd like a free copy, go to www.idahoweddingguide.com

Have you ever changed a tire in sub-zero temperatures?

I certainly hope you haven't. I didn't even actually change the tire, but it was cold and miserable, just standing around waiting for it.

Thursday proved to be another hectic day. Cody slid off the road coming around a slick corner and then had trouble getting up the driveway at home. But as usual, he's fine. That evening as we left his choir concert in Rexburg, we discovered that one of the tires on his truck was completely flat. (In restrospect, perhaps that contributed to the trouble he had staying on the road earlier.) Thankfully he had a spare and everything, and a very nice man parked next to him and gladly stepped in to help. The tire got changed quickly, (which was imperative given that it was snowing and the bank clock said the temperature was -2) but in the meantime, I'm not exactly sure when someone will be available to take it in to get it fixed. So Cody and Hillary are sharing a vehicle that's on loan to them by my dad's company until mom gets back on Monday.

Should you need to reach me for the rest of the weekend, starting this afternoon I'll be keeping stats and running cameras at the Tiger-Grizz wrestling invitational. Cody should do really well, so I'll keep you posted. They are going to be doing live webcasts of some of the matches. Details can be found at www.idahowrestlingnews.com if you're interested. If we manage to keep body and soul together through Saturday night, I think Hillary, Cody and I will probably go into hiding for the rest of the weekend. I have a big screen TV and a fireplace downstairs, not to mention 3 DVR'd episodes of "Moonlight" I haven't watched yet and a good weeks worth of sleep to catch up on.

So before I get sucked into wrestling and crawl into my hole, I hope you all have a happy and safe weekend. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers with regards to everything that's happened with my family recently. It really means a lot. Love to all!

Update on Shiloh's Babies

I know many of you are waiting to hear the latest updates on the family stuff. Mom finally posted some pics, so here you go.


Adam is still in the ICU, but they removed him from the forced oxygen to his lungs, so he's just on humidified oxygen now. And they're allowing him to bottle feed a little bit now, even though he's still on the IV. The good news is, this is a definite improvement.


Lydia is doing great. She's off her IV and on the lowest oxygen level she can be on right now. They're hoping to have her off oxygen completely so that they can send her home within the next few days. (Shiloh doesn't look too bad here for having so many sick kids, does she?)


And Preston is still getting home breathing treatments every four hours. He had a little fever yesterday, but mom (aka Grandma Cindy) is spoiling him (and all the rest of them) so they seem to be enjoying having her there.

In other news (wrestling news of course) we found out that Cody is currently ranked 9th in the state in his weight class and division. It's pretty cool that he's broken into the top ten. But there's a good chance he could move up in the rankings next week because last night he beat the 5th ranked guy when Madison dueled Highland. (Dad was so excited that he called from Latvia at what had to be before 5:00am his time to get the total scoop on the match.) The Tiger-Grizz invitational is this weekend. They boast 32 different schools from four different states coming to Idaho Falls to participate in it this weekend, so it ought to be exciting to see how well he does. As neither parent is in town, Jesse, Hillary and I will be there to cheer, keep stats and of course tape the matches. (Sadly I fear that if we didn't tape it, we'd probably get disowned.)

One last Tidbit

I almost forgot to clarify, Cody wasn't with Hillary when she rolled the car, but he got his own truck blown off the road and stuck in a snow bank earlier in the day. Luckily a neighbor was able to pull him out and both he and the truck are apparently fine. But that was the news that greeted me when I woke yesterday morning.

To borrow a phrase from my niece Adrianna, "Ei-yai-yai!"

The Reason I Dye My Hair

As far as I know, I don't have any gray hair. But I haven't actually seen my natural hair color in about 12 years, so I really can't be sure. However, I'm having one of those weeks that begs the question, how long can the human body function on Diet Coke, adrenaline and concession stand nachos?

Some of you may have already heard that my sister Shiloh's two youngest kids are in the hospital. (Six week old Adam and 18 month old Lydia.) They were admitted with RSV, some kind of respiratory virus. It was pretty serious for both of them, they were running high fevers and had a hard time breathing. Her Preston, (who is almost 3) also has RSV, but he's at home, receiving breathing treatments every four hours, so they don't think they'll have to admit him.

As many of you who know my mother can imagine, with Shiloh in Columbia, SC spread between sick kids at home and sick kids in the hospital and mom stuck in Idaho, my mother was pretty desperate to get out there and help. So Monday morning when Shiloh called to report that both children had gotten worse over night, naturally, mom pretty much lost it. But that's okay, because within an hour, we'd booked her out on a red-eye flight that night, and made all the logistical arrangements to getting her to and from the airport. She arrived yesterday morning (although her luggage is, as I write this, still MIA) and I know Shiloh is very grateful to have her there. Especially since they upgraded Adam to the ICU and began forcing air into his lungs (the breathing tube just wasn't cutting it.)

Yesterday was a bad weather day in Idaho with sustained winds of 50 mph and gusts up to 90 mph, they actually cancelled school. They didn't cancel wrestling, though, so Cody had a meet at Shelley last night. But before we could even get there, we got a call from Hillary saying that somehow between the wind and the ice, she had ended up rolled on her side in a ditch. Thankfully she's not hurt. The same cannot be said for the car. They called the sherriff's department and a tow truck and towed it to the mechanic my parents use. I guess we'll find out this week what the damage really is. In the meantime, they're sharing Cody's truck to get to school and work and wrestling.

Cody did well last night, he pinned both of his guys, so at least we know he's not hurt. Hillary isn't physically hurt, but once the shock wore off, she did kind of break down last night about everything. I can't say I blame her.

News from South Carolina this morning is that Lydia is finally eating & drinking on her own, so they've taken out her IV, but she's still on oxygen, and it will be a couple more days before she's home. They're hoping to have her home by the end of the week though. As for Adam, his color is better now that they're forcing the air into his lungs and they've had to move his IV to the femeral artery because he was so dehydrated. He still has a long road, however, so keep them both in your prayers. Preston has more engery, but of course, he's still being treated at home.

As far as I can tell Shiloh has managed to keep her sanity, and is doing better now that mom is there to help. Jason never had any sanity, so no loss there.....

Travis, missed out on all of this fun drama, because he got sent to a jobsite in Casper, WY on Sunday. His dad visits the doctor today to find out if they got all the cancer in his recent surgery. So we're crossing our fingers for that as well. Sadly, he hasn't been recovering as well as they hoped he would, so the doctors are being very conservative about what they tell us at this point. We'll know more after his appointment today though.

In the meantime I'm playing the roles of substitute mom, wrestling cheerleader and stats keeper, long distance wife, dutiful daughter-in-law, big sister and (in between all the drama) mortgage professional. So with all this jugggling, I don't think I'll be going back to my natural hair color anytime soon. Simply because I really don't want to know the truth.

Emily's Tooth

Okay so my oldest niece Emily lost her first tooth a couple of weeks ago. (Right before Christmas actually.) But somehow I don't remember there being that much blood when I lost my teeth. This photo almost seems graphic. But I still thought it was funny even though it makes me a little queasy to look at the photo. (I have no hope as a parent, do I?)

At long last and by very popular demand.....

And here are the photos of the nursery I've been promising everyone forever. Those of you familiar with classical children's literature will recognize the Beatrix Potter characters. We did our best to keep everything neutral since we have no idea why type of baby we may eventually get. Anyway, enjoy.

Weekend Warriors

Okay so busy weekend. Mom, dad & I drove to Boise to watch Cody in the Rollie Lane Wrestling Invitational. There were 43 different schools that participated. Friday was round robin tournaments to determine who would move on. The top sixteen from each weight class moved on to wrestle Saturday. Cody did an excellent job and out of 37 kids that began the tournament in his class, he was one of the 16 that advanced. So he got to wrestle again on Saturday. Even though he didn't place, he wrestled some of his very best matches, and he had a lot of fun doing it.

On a side note, while I was in Boise, I had dinner with Matt McKinney & his wife Jama & their son. I really did mean to take a picture so I could post it, but was so frazzled that I forgot to pull out the camera. So sorry Matt & Jama, you didn't make the blog this time. But I'll be back over there at the end of February and we'll take a picture then. By the way, their son Quinn, is already a lady killer at 10 months old. And such a flirt! He's so cute!

Enjoy the wrestling pics. If you want to see actual photos of Cody in action, you'll have to check out mom's blog. All of the actual wrestling photos were taken with her camera.

Cody's fan club


And his biggest cheerleader (I was told this weekend I could pass for a college student. I'll take that as a compliment.)


Rubbing him down and keeping him loose between matches. Yes, he's spoiled, we already know.


And this is how wrestler's kill time in between matches. Texas Hold 'Em betting goldfish and Andes mints.


And when they're finally for the day, they get to eat. (And they eat A LOT!)

Cunningham's New Year's Rockin' Eve!

Rang in the New Year up in Menan with the family. It was low key, but way, way, way fun!


Eucher and hearts, our two favorite card games.


Cranium anyone? (That's Hillary and her friend Eric and cody with Laura Clark.)


Privacy please for our New Year's kiss.


Cody & Laura

Another Trip Around the Sun....

So here we are at the start of another year. And as always this inspires me to reflect over the last year, and take stock of what I've done and what we've learned. And in 2007 there was much to be grateful for. We danced well into the night at the wedding of my sister Jesse. We celebrated the birth of another nephew when Shiloh gave birth to Adam in December. We crossed the threshold from renters to homeowners. We jumped off cliffs at Waimea Bay. We ate raw tuna, lomi lomi salmon, poi and other "delicacies" at the luau celebrating the wedding of my sister Skye. We stood in line at midnight to secure our copies of the final installment of Harry Potter. Travis chartered a boat and went deep sea fishing (and got seasick.) We rode a train through the Royal Gorge in Canon City, Colorado. For the first time in my life I got laid off from a job. (And found an even better job which I love.) We taught an "Adoption Prep" course to other couples interested in, or at the beginning of the adoption process. We surfed on the North Shore of Oahu. (Or, well, tried to surf.) No one would let me ignore the fact that there were 30 candles on my birthday cake. And we survived a blizzard on Christmas Eve which has left our yard and house and street under several feet of snow. And through all of this, we've managed to strengthen many friendships, develop new ones and prepare ourselves for whatever the Lord may have in store for us.

Already anticipating the wedding of my cousin Scott in February and the birth of a new niece or nephew (to my sister Cami, in June) 2008 promises to be amazing. So our wish for each of you is a blessed and happy new year!

Keep coming back to the blog to check on our adventures. And as always, please keep us abreast of yours. Much Love to all!