My biggest fans!!

My sister, Angie, took this picture and sent it as an encouragement heading into my defense.  My biggest fans!  It made my day!!

This is Heidi, Ben, and Katie...

And it must have worked, because I received this one the next day!

Thanks Aug, for knowing me so well to send these...and thanks Ben, Katie, and Heidi for being my biggest fans!!  I love you guys!

Mike & Kendra's Visit to Texas

Dan's brother, Mike, and his wife, Kendra, came to visit us over their spring break this April!  It was such a blast to have them here, although I missed out on some of the fun because I was preparing for my defense.  We showed them the best of Corpus Christi, and they even got some good beach days in while they were here - a rare treat with the spring winds we typically get!  Here's a snapshot of their fun:

Mike and Dan with Flat Stanley (our other welcome guest over the week)

Flat Stanley was sent to us by the daughter of our good friends in Indiana - so we got to show him a good time over the week as well!

Kendra and I with Flat Stanley - and Bubba - the crazy piano player at PanJos!

Dan at the beach with his new chair - complete with canopy to keep his Hoosier skin from burning!

One of my favorite places in the world...on the beach, reading, with a cherry limeade.

Dyeing Easter eggs...

The boys felt the need to sit on the big missile outside of the Lexington museum.

The four of us at the Hooks game - another one of Dan and I's favorite things to do in Corpus!

A Whole New Office!

Dan has told me that I am not normal, but I really looked forward to the end of my Spring Break.  The part where I got to paint our office/loft and clean and organize!!!  I spent most of the first 5 days working on my dissertation, and wouldn't let myself paint unless I was done with the latest round of revisions from my advisor.  Here are some pictures of the new office and hallway...my new favorite room in the house!

Office corner, before (you can look at the earlier blog post - 2/2/09 - for a wider view).

Looking down the hall from the office/loft - before.

I had painted the stairwell and entry way over Christmas break (it looks pink in this picture, but it's really not).

Same shot - after.  The brown that I painted it looks a little carmel-y in this picture, it's much softer in natural light.  I love love love it!!!

Looking from the hallway into the loft/office (future play-room).

The DVDs on the wall are slowly being digitized so they will one day be gone as well!

Different angle of the office - here the brown looks lighter than it really is.

I guess ya'll are just going to have to come visit to see how beautiful it really is!!  I told Dan if I wasn't married, I would want to marry this color.  Benjamin Moore (only the best!) - Dellwood Sand.

The Sweetest Words Known to Man...

I HAVE A DEFENSE DATE!!!!!!!!!!!!

The end of my graduate career is in sight!  I have scheduled my dissertation defense for April 9th at 10:00am.  For those unfamiliar with the process, it's a 2 hour meeting where I present my dissertation study for about 20 minutes, then the remainder of the time is spent with my committee members questioning me about my study.  Can't wait - really - it's gonna be great! (enter sarcasm...)

I wanted to thank all of you for your prayers and support thus far in the race - and give you some specific ways to pray over the coming weeks:

1. Diligence in working!  I need to really get my head back into this dissertation to finish out strong.  I have mostly only worked on this over the weekends for the past two years, but I need to be in it daily as I prepare for the final meeting.  Laura Hackett's song, "I Put on Christ" has been my "dissertation song" since I first heard it a couple of onethings ago.  I feel the battle raging around me in this respect the most. I will sit down to work and be distracted by many things...my spirit is willing, but my flesh is so tempted!  I want to put on Christ, making no provision for my flesh, and finish this battle strongly and victoriously!
2. This week is my Spring Break - during which I will be working on this.  Linked with the first request, I would like to have my written revisions done for my advisor by Tuesday, so that I can focus the rest of the week on pulling my presentation together while I am not on campus working. Pray for clarity of thought and revelation of logic as I write and revise.
3. Also linked with number 1, because I know that the battle is raging, I need truth to combat the enemy's lies.  Whether they be distractions from working, or lies of my ability to be able to do this.  I have asked God to give me a specific Word of truth every day from now until my defense, be that a scripture from my own Bible study, or something in a sermon, or a verse/thought sent form friends and family.  There's 27 days between now and my defense, so I am believing God to give me 27 truths specific to this battle in my life!!  If you come across something that you feel lead to share - please do!
4. Pray as I prepare for my defense meeting that God will prepare me for the questions I will be asked.  That He will lead me to re-read studies that will help me answer, and bring to mind these studies as I defend.
5. Pray for my committee members.  None of them know Jesus - and I pray that they will see Jesus in me during these final weeks that I will be in contact with them.

Feel free to forward these requests along to any of your own prayer circles/small groups!

Thanks always for your prayers and support - they mean so much to me!!!

Jesus make me Yours!!!

Dad's Arm

I mentioned in the Christmas post that Dad was in the hospital for the first 4 days of our trip to Colorado. It turns out he had a ruptured bursae sac that became infected. For a couple of days it was a little scary, because we weren't sure if the infection was MRSA or a regular staph infection. Praise the Lord it was just a staph infection (not that it made it any easier on my Dad).

This is a picture of what it looked like the day we arrived.

(Sunday - which was day 5 of his arm slowly getting bigger and redder, day 2 in the hospital)

While he was in the hospital, they had him on some pretty heavy antibiotics and drained it daily. That was his favorite part. :-) (that was sarcasm!) After spending 4 days in the hospital, they released him to come home, so he was home for Christmas! He still had to go back daily to have it drained, and was on an oral antibiotic. He was still in quite a bit of pain - which I'm sure the night I knocked it with the back of my chair didn't help at all. They referred him to an orthopedic surgeon to have the bursae sac looked at to determine if surgery was needed.

The orthopedic surgeon who repaired his ruptured biceps tendon a while back, and has done all of my Mom's shoulder and knee surgeries is the team surgeon for the Colorado Avalanche. Dan flew back to Texas that morning, so I went with my parents to drop him off, then to Dad's appointment. While there, Dr. Parker wanted to try an in-office procedure that would clean out the bursae sac and allow healthy tissue to reform. In 80% of patients, this takes care of it, so surgery is not needed. Below are the pictures from the procedure - be warned, they are cool (I think), but a bit graphic! :-)

He started by making about a 2 inch incision over the bursae sac to drain everything out and clean it up. He then swabbed out the area with about 10 huge cotton swabs (no more than 2 at a time) and a peroxide-type solution. Dad had blood and all the bubbly peroxide junk rolling down his arm - it was gross, but cool. Dr. Parker then packed the area with about 18 inches of a 1/2 or so wide gauze tape. Dad was supposed to keep this tape in for 2 days, then take out about an inch and a half each day until it was all out.

Dr. Parker making the incision.

Swabbing out the area with peroxide.

Starting to stuff the tape in.

More stuffing.

It looked pretty painful, and my Dad was in a lot of pain over the next few days. I felt so bad for him! The good news is he went back a week later and had all of the tape removed. It is healing up, and could take up to a month to completely heal over. Praise God that he didn't have to have surgery!! Still praying that it will continue to heal up completely!

Christmas in Colorado

We just got back from spending Christmas in Colorado. This year was a little different than most because my Dad was in the hospital for the first 4 days we were there. I'll post more on that later! Here's some pictures from the trip...along with some highlights of the stories!

Ben & Katie anxiously awaiting dinner at Subway.

I personally like Ben's choice of wardrobe.

Dan playing with the only girl who has more power over him than me!

Ben and I making a pumpkin cheesecake for Christmas Eve.

He was my "smash the graham cracker" helper (among other things!).

Katie and I playing "balls" on the pool table.

We've been told multiple times that she is a lot like me at that age!

I don't know where she gets it!

Every year I make a video slideshow of pictures for my Mom from all of us - which means every year we try to line up all the kids, get them to stay still for 10 seconds so we can record them telling Grammie "Merry Christmas". This year was actually a pretty easy year!

Lining the kids up for the annual "Merry Christmas Grammie" video.

We took a family trip to the WRAC (local recreation center) - the big boys played some 3-on-3 basketball (Dan was in his element) - while the sisters watched all the little ones.

Here's Gavin riding the exercise bike.

I'm sure you noticed the ugly Philadelphia Eagles jersey he has on...yes, this is the nephew I bet over the Broncos/Eagles game. The bet was if the Broncos won, I got to paint his nails pink and he had to leave it on for a day. If the Eagles won, I had to make a snow angel in the snow bank out front, in 26 degree weather, wearing (only) one of my Mom's swim suits. Needless to say, I lost. And no, there are not any pictures! :-)

Nathan teaching Grant some hoops moves.

Gunnar Wade gearing up to shoot some hoops!

After a while, we got tired of chasing 6 kids around the WRAC, so we shut them all into one of the racquetball courts with about 10 balls. It was all fun and games until Katie got her eye poked out...and Gage realized he was shut in...and well, the moral of the story is maybe 6 kids locked in a racquetball court isn't the best plan.

The view from above of the racquetball court.

I was working on Mom's Christmas video, and my parents have one of those nifty coffee tables that the top lifts up to make a desktop.

Gage P tried to take a seat, not realizing I had the top lifted...

Gunnar and Katie playing with Katie's stroller!

Gage, Katie, and I ready for church that night.

Every year my parents get us all matching jammies (big kids included!).

Gunnar had the original red pair on, but quickly wanted to change when a new blue pair arrived on Christmas morning from Santa!

Grant showing us his new marshmallow launcher from Uncle Mike & Aunt Angie and Uncle Dan & Aunt Stacey...you're welcome Lisa & Nate! :-)

Showing off our new AppleTV...love it!

Katie loved sitting at her new recording studio and singing "hump tee hump hump look at hos tee go" (aka, thumpity thump thump...).

This would be the night that Mr. Evans (my high school math teacher and track coach) stopped by and asked, "Are you still running marathons?" I stood up to give him a hug, and he said, "Looks like you slowed down a little." Wow. God bless Mr. Evans!

Gage, Ben and I making funny faces at dinner.

Gunnar sporting his new hat!

Katie sporting her new hat, Broncos cheerleader outfit, snow boots, and jumping on her new trampoline!

Gunnar and Katie watching a movie - CHEESE!

Another great trip home! We pray you each had a wonderful Christmas and happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas from the Gaines' (and the Gaines')

Thanksgiving in Indiana

Dan and I travelled to Indiana for Thanksgiving again this year. Dan spent the entire week before out there, and I flew out after classes on Tuesday. Unfortunately we didn't take many pictures... We were excited to have dinner with Dave & Jenni Peters, friends of ours who work at a church in Fishers (basically Indianapolis) doing sports and recreation-based ministry. Dave is a friend of Dan's from high school. That night we were also able to see Dan's brother, Mike, coach his high school varsity basketball team to a win! We then spent the evening eating some wings with Mike & Kendra, and Dave (thanks Jenni for letting us steal him for a night!).

Thanksgiving Day we planned to run the annual Drumstick Dash in Indianapolis - but cold weather and rain caused my teammates (aka, Mike, Kendra, and Dan) to convince me to not run. We did, however, get a good workout in that morning at Mike's school. Dan enjoyed playing around on Mike's new toy, Noah's Arc, a shot analyzer. I won't pretend to know what the heck it does..but they made me have a go around, and I have now been known to comment on the arc of players' shots. Geez. Thanksgiving Day of course was spent at Ted & Becky's, capped off by a BRONCOS WIN over the Giants!!!

Here's Dan and I sporting our his and hers Orton jerseys!

We were blessed to spend Friday afternoon and evening with our dear friends Jason & Emily and Josh & Katie. I always look forward to seeing my girls...and miss them so much!! How can you go wrong with a planned diet of scotcharoos, taco dip, a cheese ball, cherry pie, and pumpkin cheesecake. I think we were supposed to order pizza in there somewhere too...

Broncos-Cowboys Trip

Last weekend we travelled to Colorado for our annual Wisdom Family Broncos Weekend in Denver! Every year, we all get together and spend the night in Denver, followed by a Broncos game. It usually means the whole family staying at Lisa & Nate's the night before (14 people and growing!) in Greeley. Friday evening was spent playing in the back yard - because Colorado has a fall, and it's not still 100 degrees out! (yes, the Texas heat is wearing on us...we are expecting our first major cold front tomorrow - I'm busting out the Christmas music to bring it along!)

The little boys were jumping on the trampoline and playing on the swings.

The big boys played some football.

Grant tackles Gav in the football game.

Gav playing some QB - Grant defending.

Katie and I were in charge of cheering!

Saturday morning was nice and lazy - like they should be! The boys were watching a movie for about 30 seconds, so I took the opportunity to try and get a picture of all 5 of them.

Gavin, Grant, Gage, Gunnar, and Ben

Katie kept her distance and stayed on the other couch with Grammie!

Shortly after, it was time to wake up Grandad!

Katie stayed back with me to take pictures.

Gunnar loves his Grandad!

Later Saturday morning (after Grammie's French Toast!), it was Uncle Dan and Aunt Stacey's turn to watch all the kids while Lisa & Nate talked with Mom & Dad/Mike & Aug about the vision God has given them as staff members with Athletes in Action. (If you are interested in hearing more about this - see their website: www.buxmanfamily.com - it should be up and running by Friday 10/9)

Katie had to wait her turn on the bike...she didn't like that so much!

Uncle Dan showing Ben how to hit the baseball of the tee.

Grant fixing the bike seat so Ben could ride it.

Gunnar's turn at the tee...Ben and Katie watch and cheer.

Katie with Uncle Dan & Aunt Stacey

They call her "Little Stace" - can't understand why! :-)

Saturday night we stayed in Denver at the same hotel that the Cowboys stayed at. We went to dinner at Saltgrass Steakhouse - which apparently originated in Texas - we have never seen one or heard of it! Good eatin' though! The game was perfect football weather - 60s and sunny to partly-cloudy for most of the game. It makes coming back to 100 degrees a lot harder!

50th Anniversary Logo on the 50 yard line

Player introductions

Dan wants this as a tent in the back yard...

Flyover before the game

Ben's excited to watch some Broncos football!

So is Katie!

McDaniels laying into the offense

For the record, Dan & I have been McDaniels lovers since the beginning! :-)

Beauty...

It sure was fun to return to Cowboys crazy Texas with a Broncos win. I didn't bring it up at all! :-)

This was posted by the NFL - a fun montage of the game, including Coach McDaniels' commentary...

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-films-sound-efx/09000d5d8133b2d8/Sound-FX-McDaniels-wired

My personal favorite quotes:

"I don't understand what we've got to do to get a flag called on them. I know this is America's Team, but this is ridiculous!" (Coach McDaniels)

"Welcome back big boy!" (Dave Logan about Brandon Marshall)

On the flight out - we were delayed quite a bit for storms in Dallas. DFW was shut down for over an hour, causing all sorts of delays. On our flight from Corpus to Dallas, we could see this. The video doesn't do it justice...we could see a huge thunderhead with this lightening going on inside of it, then in the background it was crystal clear skies with stars all over...amazing!

Evidence that demands a verdict...