A crazy few weeks!

These past few weeks have just flown by! It seems that there are just not enough hours in the day anymore but I guess that is just preparation for what is to come, right! We got back from Iowa and I had to start 2 a days with the high school the very next day. Football hasn't been too bad considering it hasn't been as hot as we were anticipating but low 90's everyday is still hot to me! Being on my feet the majority of the day, running around and taking care of 50 teenage boys is not really my idea of a fun day anymore, but at least I see an end in sight now.

I finished up with 2 a days on Friday and had an all day conference to go to yesterday and Tom and I just got back from a bbq (indoors of course because it is like 98 outside today) at a friends house. Tomorrow I start back up with a "normal" schedule again and am back in the clinic seeing patients on Tuesday.

Tom finished up with his summer research on Friday and he is starting his internship in the lab at Vanderbilt tomorrow. He is really looking forward to starting and getting this degree overwith and graduating with his Master's degree in December. He will also be taking one night class this semester on Friday nights to finish up his requirements.

We are both looking to have a busy fall with all the working and preparing for baby, it should go by very fast for us both!

Bye Bye Monte Carlo!!!

Tom had to say his final goodbyes to his trusty ol Monte Carlo on Thursday morning...



It's been a long and stressful journey but we finally came to a decision on a Mazda CX7...

We went to look at the Mazda's on Tuesday and found this one and came to a deal on it but the dealer wasn't willing to let us "sleep on it" to make a final decision considering we weren't planning on buying a car that day and didn't have the Monte with us or the check book and it was getting late and I needed dinner. We decided to walk away and leave it up to fate because the dealer told us it would be sold the next day to one of the two people that had "meetings" for it tomorrow. Tom ended up getting food poisening from the place we went out to dinner at so we decided it really wasn't for us and we would let someone else have it... Sure enough the dealer called Tom the next day at 7pm saying we could still have it if we wanted it... We were kind of thinking we were going to get this call anyway so we weren't suprised. We decided to make them add on a tow hitch to the package and took the deal. Tom put a deposit on it Wednesday night and we finaced it though our bank Thursday morning and then set out to sign the contract and drove it home on Thursday. I am really happy with the car. It's sporty, roomy and safe... eveything we were looking for in my Mommy Car!!! Hopefully the dogs will like it too since they will be riding in the way back from now on which they are not used to... We shall see how that goes...

Saturday July 25th...

Joy, Lilly, Dasiey and Gwynie

James and Kimmy

Gwynie and Dasiey had a good time playing together.

It was such a nice suprise to see Mazie come in with Alan Friday night!!! She is the bestest, smartest dog in the whole world and we all love her soooooo much. The poor baby is getting pretty old now and she gets pretty sore trying to keep up with the younger dogs but she still has a really good time.

Weekend at Mom and Dad's

We left Grandma Kaufman's Thursday night and got back to Mom and Dad's around 9 to spend the night there. Both Mom and Dad took Friday off to spend time with us and the puppies!!!


The puppies spent the whole week at their Grandma and Grandpa's house to run around and play on the farm. They really enjoyed all the open space and especially the cooler Iowa temperatures.

Friday, we spent the day hanging out and Tom and Dad mowed the yard and Mom worked in her flower garden and I just rested a lot. Alan got in around 10 so I stayed up to see him in and hung out for a little while before bed.

Saturday Mom and Dad had a big family gathering since all of the kids were going to be in town. Dad and I went into Colo to pick up Grandma Kaufman. Grandma and Grandpa Kennedy came over. Kim, James and Gwyn got it around 2. Drew and Kendra around 5. Also there was pretty much everyone else from the Kennedy side and Marcy and Dean. Tom decided to break out his ice cream making skills for everyone and made two batches for dessert!!!

It was a really nice day out so a lot of people hung out outside.

The master griller at work!!!!

A Day at Grandma Kaufman's

After we left Ottumwa we stopped on the way and I got my dress fitted for Drew and Kendra's wedding. I was surprised to see the rather large size I had to order but oh, well that's what I get right. We got to Grandma's about 4:30 and Dave, Lisa and Sydni were in town as well for Ragbri. We spent the rest of the evening hanging out and had dinner with Dave, Lisa, Sydni, Marcy, Dean, Abby, Andi and Dane. It was nice to see everyone and catch up.

Everyone stayed over pretty late, we got to bed around 11:30 or so, so I was VERY tired but worth getting to see everyone! The next day we saw Dave and Lisa off just before lunch then we got to spend the rest of the day having quality one on one time with Grandma. For dinner she took us out to dinner at Niland's restaurant... a little cafe that she and Grandpa used to take me to when I was just a little baby.

It's not often that we get up to Iowa anymore; usually about once per year and we usually just spend the nights at Mom and Dad's and go visit our Grandparent's for the day or they come to mom and dad's. I really missed the time I used to spend by myself spending a few days at each of their houses and so I wanted to have that again this summer. Mom and Dad didn't like sharing us very much but I think they understood how important it was for me to be able to do. I just hope that as our lives get busier that we will still be able to find the time to do this... I just had so much fun and can't wait to get back and do it again!!!

Meeting Jenny and Roman Half Way...

After breakfast on Wednesday morning we headed off for Ottumwa, IA which we figured out was about 1/2 way between their house and Grandma Kaufman's house. We haven't seen them in a long time and they are expecting a baby in the begining of September so we wanted to see them before our lives become quite a bit more hectic.


We got there around lunch time and walked around Main street to find that Ottumwa is not the best town in Iowa; its a little run down and not the best place to find a restraunt. We ended up asking someone on the street and drove a little down the road and found a nice Applebee's and sat for a couple of hours and ate lunch and caught up on old times.

It's always fun to hang out with Jenny and Roman... its just too bad that we live so far away from all of our friends and family. Hopefully we will get to see each other soon. Especially now that we will have kids only about 4 months apart!

Day at Grandma and Grandpa Kennedy's

Ever since we went to Buckeye Days about 6 years ago Tom has not stopped talking about the home made ice cream that he ate there. For anyone that's had home made ice cream you know how much better it is than store bought. So Grandpa has been telling Tom for a while that he would help him learn how to make it. It turns out that we really haven't been able to make it to Iowa during the summer for a long time and that is the best time to do it. So we finally were able to get up there this summer and ice cream making was on our list.


First you have to cook the pudding on the stove and Tom thought the girls were going to do that part, but we made him do it all by himself :)

Tom had a great time! After you get all of the ingrediants together you have to hand crank it in the freezer for about 45 minutes then let it sit covered in ice for an hour. Him and Grandpa took turns doing the cranking.

Ahhh, the best part, tasting all of the hard work... And it was definately worth it... so good and we had it with mashed strawberries on top! Mmmmm!

We got to Grandma and Grandpa's pretty early on Tuesday morning and me and Grandma made kringla before lunch and Grandpa and Tom were in charge of the ice cream before we had dinner. After dinner we enjoyed the ice cream and strawberries and had a nice relaxing chat in the living room until bed time. We spent the night and then got up and Grandma made us scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast in the morning and we were off for our next adventure to Ottumwa, IA to visit Jenny and Roman.

Ryan's baptism. July 19, 2009

We headed back to Chicago just 2 weeks after getting back from the lake to go to Ryan's baptism. Tom stood up as Ryan's Godfather and he was just so proud!!!!

Lisa's sister Sabrina is Ryan's Godmother.

Ryan was getting a little cranky with all the picture taking...

We went over to Lisa's parents for a little gathering after the baptism. There was a lot of family from Lisa's side there as well as the immediate family from the Donohoe's. He got plenty of attention!!!