Each year as we enter into December I begin reflecting on the last year and also start preparing for the next. I am sure I won't capture it all in this post, but we did a lot in 2012. 

The winter was mild, that was a treat.  The boys and I went to Florida in March for spring break to visit Scott's folks.  It was wonderful to wear capri pants and flip flops every day. 

The KC Blues had the best season ever taking both the D1 and D3 sides to the elite 8.  D1 finished the season ranked 4th in the nation!  Not too shabby.  We are very proud of Coach Adamson!! 

Oh, Oh, Oh...in mid May we adopted (from our neighbor down the road) the cutest, tiniest Yorkie...we named him Cooper, cause he's a mini! He brought a whole new level of smiles and laughter to our home.


At the end of May our summer nanny started.  It was the first time we have had a male nanny.  Eli's teachers and therapists referred to him as our 'manny'.  Dustin is a SR at Baker University, studying to be a special education teacher and bonus, he plays football for Baker, too.  The boys really enjoyed the summer.  Swimming, bowling, going to the park...Dustin was great fun.  I am certain this experience will benefit his future work as well as his most important job someday of being a dad!

June 1, 2012: Guess I better mark this date in my timeline! 20 year service anniversary with Sprint today. Love my job, Love my co-workers, Love Sprint!! I am so blessed!

June 10th - KSU football camp!  Blake and Auggie had a great time.


In late June, we planned a small gathering for Eli's birthday and it turned into a pretty big event.  Everyone had a great time.  We continued with the Spongebob theme, sort of...Scott fried fish.  Gibson Hobbs complemented him, "Most excellent fish, Mr. Scott!"  My post of Facebook: Today my sweet Eli is 9!!! A big day...and rest of the week ahead. The Lions Club of Baldwin is giving him a new bike for PT/OT at school and we are headed to the Royals game this afternoon. THANK YOU SurePoint for the great tickets...maybe we can stay in the AC for most of the game!!! Happy Birthday ELI! Thanking God for choosing me to be your momma! He knew I needed you!


Blake went to Silver State Baptist Youth Camp in June as well.  He loved the whole experience.  This year, he stood up in front of the whole congregation and spoke about what impacted him the most.  It was the messages on being humble and giving God the glory for all our accomplishments.  He related it to his athletic involvement.  I was beaming.  So proud of the wonderful young man he is!

Here is the online article about Eli and our family that ran on July 3rd! THANK YOU to our community, church, friends, family and all the other families who are blessed with a child like Eli.
http://signal.baldwincity.com/news/2012/jul/03/mother-grateful-baldwin-city-communitys-support-co/

In July we attended the annual Austin Family Independence Day Celebration with our church family. 
Blake attended Baldwin Jr. High football camp. At the end of the month we headed out for 10 days in Colorado.  Met with my parents and A. Susie & U. Buddy on Friday night, stayed in Salina. Made our way to Boulder on Saturday, visited Estes Park and Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park on Sunday. Blake and I climbed the Alluvial Fan (boulders pushed by water down the side of the mountain). Spent 2 nights with the Duanna Matthys family in Castle Rock and celebrated my birthday. Went on to Green Mountain Falls for 3 nights. While there we visited Garden of the Gods, rode the Cog Railway to Pike's Peak, went white water rafting on the AR River, walked across the Royal Gorge and I drove up and over a sky view drive...the scariest thing I have ever done...white knuckles the whole way. This wasn't a mountain, this was over the top of a huge narrow rock...no guard rails. Not doing that again, but feel like I can do anything now!!! We stopped at Prairie Dog Town, spent the night in Hays, then stopped in Wamego for lunch at Toto's Tacoz before kickin' it back into Baldwin. Whew...that was quite a vacation!!!

Back just in time for school to start!  BIG E is in 2nd Grade and my sweet Blake is in his last year of Jr. High...every time I think about it I nearly hyperventilate.

At the end of August, Patriot George Clymer "George" the smooth collie moved in.  At 8 weeks old he towers over Cooper and is at parity with Mouse the cat.  They all became friends and are rarely seen without each other.

September (wow, this is taking more time than I expected!) rolled in. Our sweet Eli is the photographic example on the GeneReviews website of what children with PTHS look like. Darling, happy, snuggly boy! We all have a terrific opportunity to learn many amazing things by knowing Eli. So blessed to have been chosen for the position of being his momma! http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK100240/

Blake and I attended the KSU vs. North Texas game in Manhattan (compliments of the Ekwensi Griffith family).  We had a great time at the game.  It was a rare mom and son occation as well.

Eli's music program went splendedly.  He stood on the risers with his classmates and was smiling the whole time.  It was awesome to see him up there with his friends.

Halloween, though a bit uneventful, was a success.  Eli dressed as a Karate Kid for his school party, I went as a KSU WildCAT, Scott wore his traditional "this is my costume" t-shirt and Blake spent the evening hangin' out with the teens at church.

November - Trip to Joplin for Doug and Heather's wedding...Congratulations! Enjoyed visiting with family and friends. Made it back to KC for Blake to compete and place 3rd as the youngest in the 14-15 age group of the regional round of the NFL Punt, Pass and Kick competition. Good job son!! Our annual trip to Big Cedar was awesome. 16 year anniversary!
"I love being married to a man who knows what he thinks and why he thinks it! A man who is strong physically, mentally and most important spiritually. He is funny, really funny, with his quick wit and under the breath humor. A man who loves his children; he is fun and kind, but also loves them in such a way that they learn right from wrong and good from bad, they understand boundaries and respect those boundaries. A man who recognizes and desires The Wife of Noble Character (Proverbs 31:10-31) and makes it possible for me to strive to achieve such status. "Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value." I am a blessed woman to have found such a man with whom I will spend the rest of my life. Happy Anniversary to My Man O' Destiny, you are my super hero!"
We were joined by the honeymooners: Doug and Heather! Aunt Susie, Uncle Buddy, Micah (and Shultz & Gertie) and my parents (with Shaggy and Magic) all came to our house on Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  It was a great visit.  We did it all...horderves, traditional drinks, big dinner, big breakfasts, yum-o desserts, shopping, WWI museum, dinner at GoJos Japanese Steak House, a quick drive through the JC Nichols Plaza, shopping at Cabella's, a new underground dog fence, the makings of a fabulous new Pet Tech/Pet Stop website, target practice, played games, watched Christmas shows and a few movies, all while visiting and laughing and enjoying being together!  A truly Happy Thanksgiving!

An now the Christmas season is upon us!  This means that it is also time to celebrate Blake's 14th birthday...it really can't be that on this day, 14 years ago, we were awaiting the arrival of our treasured gift, our first born son!  He has been a joy since the day he arrived.  Certainly, like all of us, he has his moments of making his parents crazy, but we could not have dreamed up a more wonderful child to bless our family.  As he grows into the man he is to be, we are constantly reminded of his outstanding character and compassion.  He is a smart, funny, handsome, athletic kid who is the best big brother anyone could want, he is kind, courteous and knows he is loved, by all of us and by our Savior.  Dear Sweet Blake...oh how we adore him!

In case I don't post here again this year!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to my loyal blog followers...there are only a few of you, but I am so glad you are out there!!  Thank YOU!

My 2013 focus: If I incorporate all of these things listed below I will reach my other goals, too!!

Optimizing Your Cholesterol Levels, Naturally


There's really no reason to take statins and suffer the damaging health effects from these dangerous drugs. The fact is that 75 percent of your cholesterol is produced by your liver, which is influenced by your insulin levels. Therefore, if you optimize your insulin level, you will automatically optimize your cholesterol. It follows, then, that my primary recommendations for safely regulating your cholesterol have to do with modifying your diet and lifestyle:

•Optimize your vitamin D levels. Research by Dr. Stephanie Seneff has shed additional light on the extreme importance of appropriate sun exposure for normalizing your cholesterol levels and preventing heart disease. For more information, please see this previous interview.

•Reduce, with the plan of eliminating, grains and sugars in your diet. Ideally, you'll also want to consume a good portion of your food raw.

•Make sure you are getting plenty of high quality, animal-based omega 3 fats, such as krill oil.

•Other heart-healthy foods include olive oil, coconut and coconut oil, organic raw dairy products and eggs, avocados, raw nuts and seeds, and organic grass-fed meats as appropriate for your nutritional type.

•Exercise daily. Make sure you incorporate peak fitness exercises, which also optimizes your human growth hormone (HGH) production.

•Address your emotional challenges. My favorite technique for stress management is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).

•Avoid smoking or drinking alcohol excessively.

•Be sure to get plenty of good, restorative sleep.

Unlike statin drugs, which lower your cholesterol at the expense of your health, these lifestyle strategies represent a holistic approach that will benefit your overall health—which includes a healthy cardiovascular system.