Reading Buddies

Our family loves to read.  And as Gideon and I have become bed-time buddies, we read together.  As we have started putting him on the toilet just prior to bed, he's asked to be able to read on the toilet (not sure where he learned that...hummm).  So we dig in to our stash of bathroom books.  He either reads The Little Engine That Could or Burt and Ernie's Don't Forget the Oatmeal.  He sits on the throne and reads, I sit at his feet and read Learning Evangelism From Jesus by Jerram Barrs (a professor at Covenant Theological Seminary).  Both seem to be content (however, tonight Gideon asked if he could have a highlighter to "draw" in his books, too?).  On good nights (which is most now), Gideon gets to finish by flushing the toilet, washing his hands, and clapping!  Life here is good!

Papa and His Girl

The Process of Hunger

One second Hope is happy and content.  The next second she remembers she's hungry and...

she turns into Scream-o!

Gideon's First 6 Pack and a Pound from Taco John's

Looking at Gideon's face, I'm betting his practicing for what normally happens shortly after eating a 6-pack and a pound from Taco John's.  By the way, a 6-pack and a pound is 6 tacos and a pound of potato oles.  My brother Zachary and I have gotten this since I was in high school.  The only thing is that my brother Zach would take down his own.  I normally could do 4 to 5 tacos and the pound of oles.  Either way, Gideon has a lot of work to do to become my full-time Taco John's partner!

Gideon at about a half a taco and about 6 oles.  He has A LOT of work to do.  

Funny Faces with the Kristmas Karate Kid

Time With Great Aunt Beth and Uncle Larry

My aunt and uncle came up from Muscatine, Iowa, to spend a bit of time with us on Saturday.  Beth and Larry have always been so supportive and loving to my brothers and me.  It was great to have them here to see Kathee and spend time with Gideon and Hope.  

And they brought with them "just some things" for Hope.  As you can see, Gideon was right in there helping out.  

One of the huge perks for Gideon was a new book that Beth and Larry gave him.  It appears he loves reading and being read to by people.  This book, however, took reading to a whole new level.  This pop-up book about the jungle came complete with sounds.  Although Gideon was intrigued, he wasn't sure if it was safe or not.  So as Beth turned each page, Gideon moved back away from the book "just in case."  I also reminded us at each page, "not scary."  I think that was more of a mental reassuring for himself, but he thought we also needed to know.  Either way, we've read this book to him a bunch, he's had visitors read him the book now three or four times, and he loves his jungle book (as Kathee is upstairs putting him to bed he requested that for his bedtime reading book).  

Here's Looking At You, Kid!

My New Favorite View of Life

This is one of my new favorite family happenings.  Mama and Gideon snuggle up and team-hold Hope and just "take her all in."  Gideon is such a great big brother.  He is so gentle, so loving, and wants to make sure what he's doing is okay.  As Hope is "mine baby sister, Hope," we are excited that he takes to her like crazy.  

Want a Vasa Vagal with that Flat-Line?

To say this week has been a bit of a roller coaster is an understatement.  I'll do my best to re-cap and bring everyone up to speed with what's happening.

First, everyone is doing fine and we are at home.

Two, we had an appointment with the opthamologist yesterday for Kathee's eyes.  Her eyesight is fine and she suffered no long-lasting damage from the trauma.  So we are good on that end.

Three, another roller coaster ride at the hospital discharge.  As the nurse was going through all the "how-to's" about when we are home, she said something in passing that sent us back into partial trauma-mode.  In the span of about 3 minutes she inadvertantly upended our world.  She was telling Kathee to continue taking stool softeners when we get home so that she wouldn't be straining too hard.  Sort of in passing she said, "you wouldn't want to strain so hard and end up flat-lining on the bathroom floor, would you?"  We said nothing at the time as we didn't understand.  The reason we didn't understand was that our doctor had told us that the reason for Kathee's flat-lining was an air bubble in the IV tube.  So for us, case closed.  She explained to us why she thought that, etc, etc.  Done.

After the nurse left the room, I brought the "did you hear what she said" up to Kathee.  And so we were off to the races.  Does that mean Kathee can't poop again?  Or exercise again?  Or pick up Gideon?  Or Hope?  Does that mean we can't have children again?  And so it went.

When we asked the nurse, who we called back in after we talked, she said that the "air bubble theory" was proven false as they did a test or something and the air bubble came back negative.  So as that was what we were told by our doctor, I started smelling a rat (or so I thought).

As I reflected, the opthamologist I requested to check Kathee's eyes never came, nor did the cardiologist.  So as everyone but us seemed to know that Kathee's flat-lining was from straining and not from an air bubble, I thought they were covering something up.

So we went home, broke down and cried, prayed, and I let it go for a couple hours (to settle down and not blow up over the phone with our doctor).  So I called our doctor and waited for her to return my call.

I must say, I was pretty proud of myself for keeping my cool.  I also thought it was good that I had written notes so as to remain on task and not on emotion.  So we talked.  I shared with her what I was told by the nurse at our discharge.  In a nutshell, here was her response:

Kathee has nothing to worry about in terms of the straining.  After the air bubble test came back negative I narrowed it down to a Vasavagel episode (more on that later).  It was just a fluke thing, and nothing to worry about.  Kathee can go about her life without having any fears this will recur.  I changed the diagnosis and told Kathee when you were not in the room.  She was just waking up so she may have forgotten (I believe that is a bit hard to believe.  I think she forgot to tell us).

We talked about other things, but the real help came from my sister-in-law Sharon and brother-in-law Jamie.  Sharon is a family practice doctor and Jamie is an ER doc.  They were able to explain things to me that I understand.

So here goes.

As I was going through telling them basically step-by-step what happened, Jamie turned to Sharon (we were on Skype) and said, "I wonder if Kathee had a vasavagel episode?"  I stopped him and said, "that's the diagnosis that Pagadala gave after the air bubble theory came back negative."

A vasavagel episode is a big word for fainting.  Here's how Jamie described it.  "Isaac, it would be like running a marathon having not trained for it.  You run the entire marathon without a drink of water.  Getting to the finish line, you fall to the ground for 10 seconds.  After that you stand back up.  Doing that, you are going to pass out."

So here's the picture we've re-created.  Kathee pushed, without any medication for pain, for three and a half hours.  When Pagadala deemed a c-section necessary, they wheeled Kathee in to the OR.  Asking Kathee to walk from the delivery room bed to the OR bed, she walked the 5 steps and sat down.  A contraction started, Kathee put her head down, and was out.  Due to being dehydrated and weak from pushing, she passed out.  Trying to find a pulse, Pagadala was unsuccessful.  Trying to wake Kathee up was unsuccessful as well.  So they intibated her and started chest compressions.  Within 3 to 5 seconds, Kathee was up and running again.  At that point they gave her general anesthesia.  At that, they did the c-section and got Hope out and then went back to stabilizing Kathee.  They think that the temporary vision impairment was a side-effect from the morphene that they put her on (which is then why her eye sight came back within 24 hours of taking her off morphene).        

The air bubble test came back negative.  The EKG came back negative.  The Echo came back negative.  The CAT scan came back negative.  The chest x-ray (to see if bones were broken during chest compressions) came back negative.  The test to see if it was amnioc fluid came back negative.

So they landed on it being a vasavagel episode.

However, all the the above information was written on Thursday.  Today we had a week-follow-up with Doctor Pagadala.  Although she said she's keeping the diagnosis as the vasavagel, she said it doesn't make sense why Hope responded so badly when Kathee flat-lined.  She said that Hope shouldn't have responded the way she did had it been merely a vasavagel.

And so we move on in life.  Kathee's heart shows no sign of long-term damage.  Her eyes suffered no damage, and we've been told we don't need to fear long-term damage.  Doctor Pagadala said we needn't fear this happening again, and eased our fears that we'd no longer be able to have children.

So in the end, we continue to live the same prayer we prayed immediately preceeding Kathee heading in to the OR.  Our God is sovereign.  Our God is faithful.  Our God knows what is best for us.  And we can trust Him with everything... our very lives, as well as, the lives of those nearest and dearest to us.  And that, in the words of John Piper, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.  And we are most satisfied.

Amen.      

The Story As Best As I Can Remember It

"Isaac and Kathee welcomed Hope Katharine by C-section on Friday night at 11:42pm.  Kathee and Hope are healthy and joyful.  However, Kathee had major complications leading to cardiac arrest.  CPR was quickly successful and doctors believe there will be no further issues with either Kathee or Hope.  Our God is sovereign and powerful and we praise Him for health and our new daughter."  

So went the text I sent to Elder Matt Williams in regards to what he could/would share with the church today regarding "the situation."  So I'll try to blog the full story.  Mostly to share it so people know what's going on, partly for me to think through and recall everything.  

So here goes...

Kathee's water broke around 1:30PM on Friday.  We called Rhonda McKinley to come and stay with Gideon while we were away (as was the plan for the past few months).  While waiting for Rhonda, we called our doctor to see what she wanted us to do (go to the hospital or to her office).  So we drove to her office.  Doctor Pagadala confirmed that Kathee's water was broken and that Kathee was in labor.  So she sent us down the street to the hospital, and we headed down.

We got all checked in to our room, went through all the paperwork that we didn't already have done.  Our nurse Jennifer put an IV in Kathee.  Labor was fine.  Kathee didn't receive any medication for pain and pushed for 4 hours.  After 3 and a half hours, when our doctor arrived (she came in, left for a few hours, and returned later), she said that if Hope wasn't born by 11:30PM, that we'd do a C-section.  We were just fine with that, saying we trusted her and want to do what's best for Kathee and Hope.  

The issue was that Hope just wouldn't come out.  I'm not sure all the medical stuff, but they said she just wouldn't turn.  The way it was explained was that Hope was angled a bit.  If she straightened out, she's come right out.  They also said that she was springing back too much after each push.  Before going to the C-section, suction was used, but also didn't work.  

Doctor Pagadala said it was time for the C-section, which was just fine with us!  For the whole labor and pushing, Kathee did just fine.  Nothing to worry about, nor be concerned about.  

I was given a set of scrubs to change into as I would be allowed to watch the procedure.  Just prior to moving her to the OR, Kathee and I prayed.  We praised God for His sovereignty, prayed His will be done, and rejoiced that He would do what is right and best for us and our family.  When they came back, they moved her out of the room and into the OR.  I was instructed to wait in the delivery room (where we'd been since 2:30 or so).  So I sat on the couch, with the door wide open.  My view was looking across the nurses station.  The OR door was on the opposite end of the nurses station.  

So I sat and waited.  I remember thinking that it was taking longer than they said, but wasn't worried.  At this point in the story, the stories divide.  I'll start with Kathee's story first, my story second, and what Doctor Pagadala told us lastly.  

After they moved Kathee in to the OR, she remembers walking about 5 steps from her bed to another bed and sitting on the side/end of it.  She remembers putting her head down in to position as she felt a contraction.  Behind her the anasthesiologist was prepping Kathee to receive the medicine for the C-section.  He had NOT given her any medicine yet.  As she put her head down, her memory stops.  

Now my story will pick up where Kathee's ends.  

I remember hearing a door crash open and someone yelling, "We have a Code Blue in Operating Room __!"  From that point, chaos breaks out (well, chaos in my mind... everyone else knew their procedures and were carrying out.).  Over the PA system something along the lines of, "We have a Code Blue in Labor and Delivery, OR Room 1."  People are running from all over the place.  Nurses, doctors, a policeman (for me I'm certain), and others.  A few moments later over the PA something along the lines of, "we need an ER doctor/team in Labor and Delivery Room 1.  After a few moments, I walk out of the room the four steps to the nurses station and say, "That's my wife in there isn't it?"  I hear someone say (to the policeman?), "that's the husband." A nurse tells me that they cannot say who it is.  So I say, "I know it's my wife."  "Sir, we cannot tell you."  So I responded by saying, "Okay, I will return to my room and pray for my wife... or whoever is in the OR."  A nurse (could have been the same one I was talking with) comes in and asks if she can pray with me, and I responded that I'd love to pray with her.  As we walk across my room she tells me that "the woman in the OR is the one who was just taken in to the OR for a c-section (well, I watched from the time they moved Kathee and don't recall any beds being moved in the OR)."  So we pray.  After we finish praying, she asks if I have anyone in the area who would be willing to come and be with me while everything is going on?       

So I called Elder Matt Williams.  He graciously came down to the hospital and spent time with me.  We sat and prayed and read Scripture.  I honestly can't remember anything else we did, though I believe he was there when they brought Hope in, and then Kathee.  I remember calling my father, telling him what happened and asking he and Mom to pray.  Upon asking if he should come down, I told him I didn't know what was happening and what he should do.  Matt went home after that, I believe.

At some point, someone came in (I believe the anestheiologist maybe?) and told me that both Kathee and Hope were alive and recovering.  They said Kathee had passed out, flat-lined, and that they used CPR to resusitate her.  They said she was only out for 3-5 seconds.   

They brought in Hope to see me before they took her off to the NICU.  Sometime thereafter they brought in Kathee on the bed.  I kissed her forehead for a long while and cried with her.  

From there I went back and forth from the NICU and our delivery room to check on my ladies.  I got to feed Hope her first meal.  I got to pray over her and thank God for her.  

I remember taking pictures with my iPhone (which was the greatest thing on the planet to have in all this) to show them to Kathee, as she ultimately wouldn't meet Hope for another 12 hours.  I took the pictures to Kathee to show her.  Kathee couldn't see them.  So I made them bigger on the screen.  Still nothing.  We put on her glasses (that looked like they'd been driven over by a Mac truck during the chaos in the OR).  Nothing.  So i switched the direction of them.  Still nothing.  Kathee just couldn't see at all.  The nurse said she couldn't see anything and that that's "normal."  Really?  Because you run into situations like these all the time that you can say, "That's normal?"  Anyway.  I digress.  

I continued going back and forth, as well as, contacting Kathee's mom and dad who live in India.  Reason #3 for the greatness of the iPhone (the first being able to look up what a Code Blue is on the internet, the second being taking pictures of Hope for Kathee to see) is that Skype is an app I have.  So I was able to call India for free and call each hour to give updates on what was happening.  

As Kathee is coming out of the general anesthesia, she keeps asking me what happened.  I remember telling her that Hope was okay and that she had passed out during the procedure.  She asked about every 5 minutes.  And then she kept asking to touch my face.  "I just want to touch your face, I just want to touch your face."  So I'd put my face in her hand and she'd touch it for a long time.  As she got better, she began asking where Hope was and why she couldn't meet her daughter.      

From there, she continued to slowly get better and better.  

Now, on to the doctor's story.

Kathee was sitting on the bed and passed out.  They were unable to find a pulse.  They tried multiple things to wake her up but she just wouldn't.  They said she turned a couple different colors and then grey.  So they intubated her and started chest compressions.  Within 3-5 seconds she came around.  At that point the anesthesiologist administered general anesthesia.  As Hope didn't respond well at all to Kathee flat-lining, they got her out immediately upon the anesthesia being administered and then went to stabilizing Kathee.  No reasons were given (ultimately until 2:30PM the next day were we told anything about what had happened).  

At birth, Hope had spiked levels of sugar and then plummeted.  So, due to the traumatic birth and the levels, she went to the NICU.  I was able to hold her, etc, and she was awake, aware, and moving well.  She was not hooked up to tons of stuff and looked like a normal, healthy baby.  

Although back in our room, it appeared that Kathee was not out of the woods yet.  At some point I asked the nurses what Kathee's condition was so that I could hopefully set Kathee's parents' minds at ease.  The nurse said she was in stable condition.  I remember asking, "so does that mean she is going to make it or not?"  They said she would.  

That night, as Kathee would wake up, ask what had happened, and cry, I tried to get some rest, too.  I remember trying to sleep in the recliner.  It wouldn't recline far enough.  And as the room was dark, I remember not wanting to mess with the pull-out bed so as not to wake up Kathee.  Wanting to be as close to Kathee as possible (as she couldn't see yet, I didn't want her to wake up fearful and lose control).  So I slept on the floor next to her.  I remember thinking that if the nurses saw me they'd laugh like crazy.  As the floor was freezing cold, I remember grabbing my winter coat, zipping it up, and putting my feet in it.  I grabbed a pillow and put it under my legs, and another pillow for my head.  I grabbed my hoodie, put my arms in it, and tried to rest.  As it was pitch dark, the nurses never saw me.  

At some point, too, I remember realizing the possibility that I may lose my wife and become a single father of two children under the age of 3.  I remember praying and asking God to help me with the resolve to be okay with His will, knowing He knew what was best, and that He'd give me the strength to do what I must do.  I remember from the very beginning, maybe morbidly so, having absolute peace in His will.  Afterall, that's what we'd prayed just before she left the room for the c-section.  I was not worried in the least, as I trust my Heavenly Father to do what is best.  I must also admit, I was a bit concerned about raising them on my own.  I know me.  Kathee is an unbelievable woman and mother!  I am so far out of my league with her it's crazy.  I know children need a father AND a mother.  I know I have hard edges.  I know all the things about me that show the kids' needs for Kathee as their mother.  And yet, in all that, there was NEVER any bartering, begging, etc.  I was zealous for His will.  

And so, Hope and Kathee met at around 10:30 or so Saturday.  It was at that point that Hope was "with us" like other newborn children.  It was also around that time that my parents arrived, braving the horrible weather for the hour drive down.  They were able only to stay for a couple hours as they had to leave in time to beat the storm back to Dubuque.  Ultimately, they ran into the snow about 20 miles north of Moline and drove through horrible snow the rest of the way to Dubuque.    

While my folks were here and after, Kathee was getting tests done to see what caused her loss of pulse.  She got an EKG, an EchoCG (the EKG and ECG to make sure it wasn't a blood clot or amniotic fluid in the lungs or somewhere else that could have caused it), a heart ultrasound (because I want a cardiologist to look at her heart to make sure there wasn't damage done), CAT Scan, a chest x-ray (to see what, if any, damage was done from the chest compressions), and I forget what else.  All tests came back negative.  

Kathee continued to improve and improve.  I forget at what point a doctor came in and said that Kathee was now in recovery as anyone who just had a C-section recovers.  We sighed relief and continued to praise Him for His goodness.  

Things got better and better.  

Our doctor finally came around 3:00PM.  She gave us the update and asked if we had any questions.  I asked many questions, as well as, what happened in the OR (see above for what she shared).  I asked if there would be long-term effects for Kathee or for Hope.  She said she doesn't think so.  

We asked her what she thinks happened.  She said no one will ever know for sure.  She thinks that there was an air bubble in Kathee's IV line.  That air bubble made it through the line and in to Kathee's heart.  That would explain why she recovered so quickly.  That would explain why her heart started so quickly and she recovered so quickly.  If it was a heart attack, she said, Kathee would have died.  If was anything but that, she thinks, Kathee would be dead.  She called it a fluke.  Now, I think that's a pretty big fluke, but she used the term.      

We slept last night (with Hope in the nursery).  I woke up this morning (Sunday) by Kathee saying, "Isaac, we are switching rooms."  When I put my glasses on, there were already nurses in the room gathering our things up to move us.  And so we moved to the Mother/Baby section of the church.  We were only to be in the Labor and Delivery section 2 hours after birth if everything was normal.  So our extended stay was out of the ordinary too.  

Throughout today, we've had loved ones come.  Rhonda brought Gideon down this afternoon.  I believe Gideon is pretty impressed with Hope.  Aside from being a bit freaked out by Mama's oxygen tube in her nose, he was great.  Loved holding her.  Loved looking at her.  Didn't freak when she cried.  It was pretty awesome stuff!    

Throughout the day Kathee has gotten better and better.  By tonight, Kathee was finally removed from the last tube and IV.  

Tonight Kathee has been growing in strength and able to sit in a chair, get up and go into the bathroom, etc.  She is sleeping with Hope next to her in her roller bassinet.  

Oh yeah, maybe TMI, but I know some will want to know this.  We were concerned that Kathee wouldn't be able to breast feed due to what happened, the duration of time elapsed, and the fact that Hope had already taken a bottle.  Interestingly, the nurses, nor Kathee, nor I, could get her to feed from the bottle.  However, Kathee has been allowed to breastfeed, and Hope has taken right to it!  God is so good.  

We have not been given specific-specifics about when we will be released and are receiving visitors by request.  That may sound arrogant, but we must as the three of us are recovering from an awful trauma.  

To end this, our God is great!  We love Him!  We trust Him.  We know Him and know He has and does what is best for us.  Whether it sounds, "oh yeah, you can say that NOW," or not- we firmly believe that, and have believed that from the second everything seemed fine to the second "everything went south" or "when all hell broke loose" (those are my two phrases of choice to describe it).  

I know I have gotten some things here out of place.  Some might not be dead-on accurate.  This is my recollection of the events.  And, just like me, this is raw.  I'm not going to edit it, check it for spelling, etc.  This is my ramblings.  There it's out.  If this has been helpful for you to know what's going on, great.  If you find this offensive, tell yourself that this was my processing what happened and that I let you in on my thinking (and then write it off as me being me and don't fret about it again).  

I believe that is all.  Goodnight.     

Oh yeah, here is our new family picture... enjoy!

Gideon Goes Under the Shears

Today Gideon and I went to the barber for the first time (well, believe it or not, I've gone a lot in my day.  It was, however, Gideon's first trip).  We "walked in" to Rare Essence, a barber shop in downtown Rock Island, to visit Tron.  We got his information from Simone (the young lady I blogged about a couple days ago).   

Although the trip ended with tears, I'd say his first trip was a HUGE success.  Tron seemed very impressed with Gideon.  He was very surprised to hear Gideon do almost all of the alphabet.  He also said that Gideon is incredibly well-mannered, patient, and smart.  He also seemed surprised by how much, and how well, Gideon speaks.  

All in all, it was a great day at the Rare Essence with Tron.   

Gideon and I played with blocks tonight.  His is on the left (and looks much like Chicago's Sears Tower).  Mine is on the right and doesn't look like much.  

Going WAY Back

Back in October, Gideon had a surprise visitor from India. Grandma Smith stopped off in the Quad Cities for a few days before heading down to Mississippi to help out with her new grandson Teddy. Gideon got to go swimming at the hotel, play with Grandma, eat with Grandma (like in real-life, not just over Skype), and have all kinds of fun. Gideon absolutely adores Grandma Smith. It was so good to have her (don't think for a second that we didn't miss seeing Grandpa Smith, too) here for a visit.

Here in a few weeks Grandma S will be bringing Grandpa S, too. The fun level in our home will go through the roof!

Gideon reading with cousins Ava and Miriam over Thanksgiving.

Steven Curtis Chapman Concert

Back in November, the T's teamed up with the Debrey's (another adoptive family from our church) to go to the Steven Curtis Chapman concert in Davenport. SCC has been very involved in the adoptive community, and has adopted multiple children from China. He also set up a ministry called Show Hope. In applying for a grant from Show Hope, the Lord provided $3000 for our adoption of Gideon.

Needless to say, we think SCC is awesome! And we most certainly wanted to support him and his ministry. Here is one of the pictures from the concert.

Simone

Up until now, Kathee and I have had no idea how to take care of Gideon's hair. We have kept it short from the time we got him, as that what was easiest. As he's gotten a bit older, I want to see what he looks like with longer hair.

For those of you who don't know (and if you are Caucasian, you most likely don't), African and African-american hair is WAY more difficult to take care of than Caucasian hair.

And not knowing any black people, we were a bit nervous about how to take care of his hair. Sure, Kathee could have read from other adoptive families and whatnot, but we wanted someone who actually knew how to take care of his hair.

And the Lord provided Simone. She attended our church once last summer. While there, she met up with a girl who attends my youth ministry. That girl, Caitlin, invited Simone to come to our weekly supper and Bible study that we host at our house. So Simone started coming, and has been coming consistently for a few months now. By the way, as a super-cool aside, Simone has also been bringing another young lady, who's mother is a refugee from Liberia. As another way cool aside, Simone and Victoria have a teacher at Rock Island High School who is adopting an Ethiopian sibling group (so we called her and will be meeting with she and her husband after our Baby Hope is born).

Anyway! So one night we started asking Simone about how to take care of Gideon's hair. The next week she showed up with a whole bunch of product and has been teaching us how to take care of Gideon's hair (he now sleeps in a silk sack, will be getting a durag shortly, gets hair grease once a week, etc, etc).

See his hair is SUPER-DRY. We were washing his hair at every bath, now we wash it once every week or two. Well, I won't bore you with the other hair care stuff. Suffice it to say, we are learning a ton and loving it.

So now Simone comes over early on Thursdays and takes care of his hair (and teaches us). She lined me up with a barber for him and we'll be taking him there shortly too. Simone is a fantastic young lady, and so cool how the Lord brings things about.

Hump Yard

Like most boys his age, Gideon is all about the trains. When we are at church (which is in downtown Moline), every time Gideon hears a train going by he gets all excited and says, "Papa, train!"
A few weeks ago, we took him to the hump yard in Davenport. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a train yard. At one end of the train yard is a hill of sorts (thus giving it the name, hump yard). Below the hill are a bunch of different tracks. This is where they build the trains (this train car goes on that train, etc) until a full train is build and then off it goes.
The great thing is that it's normally really noisy! So the engine with all the cars goes passed the hump. Then a guy releases the train cars one at a time (after he's switched the track so each car goes to each correct train). I know this sounds confusing... reckon it to my inability to explain it well. If you saw it, it'd make sense immediately. Then the engine pushes the car over the hump, and gravity takes over. The train goes rambling down the hill and slams into the other cars, and it automatically connects with the car, and so on and so on.
So Gideon loved it. And we watched them do this for a while. Here are the pictures.

We were able to get really close to the trains as this, apparently, doesn't seem to be a huge destination point for most people.
Gideon chillin watching the trains being built.
Upon returning to the car, we found Moma chillin, too!

Thanksgiving in Buke!

Okay, so it's Dubuque, but Gideon pronounces Buke. Here are some pictures with his cousin. It was pretty cute watching them play together all weekend. Here they are checking out Grandma's moving picture frame. They LOVED watching it! Might have something to do with many of the pictures on it were of them?!

Here Gideon is waiting for something. Seems unimpressed about having to wait!

Keeping Up With The Jones'

The last few months have been rather hectic for the T's and Jones families. Tonight was one of the first nights in a while we've been able to go hang out with them. We went out, had supper, made Christmas cookies, and had a great time catching up.

Gideon absolutely loves Anavah and Asher, talking about them all the time. So it was pretty neat to see them playing together tonight in the play room while the parents caught up on things.

I thought this was a pretty cute picture myself. Even nicer is the fact that Anavah colored the picture and gave it to Gideon.

A Note From the Secretary

So Sally, the church secretary, notified me the middle of last week that I have been falling down on the job with my blogging. She shared that she has even received phone calls of that nature, and that I best get back in the saddle and do a better job of updating it. So I'll get going here. Thanks for keeping me on the ball. See you shortly!