THE MAIN ADVENTURES

This weekend Heath and I each did our own things.  Friday after work we met our neighbor Jeff at Tonic for a couple drinks and appetizers.  We came home and both crashed on the couch.  I nursed my sore shoulder with a TENS unit and some good muscle relaxers, which wiped me out.  My shoulder injury is now going through workers comepensation and I was able to get a cortizone injection on Friday, which has helped tons!  The pain is now tolerable and I can tell that it is getting better.  I will start rehabing it this week now that the pain is under control. 

Saturday Heath headed up to Hubbard to work on my brother’s bathroom.  I headed to Des Moines to get my hair cut and highlighted.  I then met Mom, Grandma, and Wendy for lunch and then did a little shopping.  I came back home to get ready for my girls night out.  Rachel, Michelle, Amber, and Christy all came to my house and then we headed back out to eat some Mexican.  Michelle, Christy, and I went to Uncle Bucks for some more fun and dancing.  I called it a night earlier than the rest of the girls because my shoulder was starting to bother me.  While I was having fun with the girls, Heath was having fun with the guys at the Rob Zombie concert. 

Sunday was our usual day to hang out, watch TV, and do laundry.  We are looking forward to having a short work week this week and spending time with family.  We wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels!

Michelle, Christy, Me, Amber, and Rachel

Havin’ fun at Uncle Buck’s!

This blog is going to be short and sweet as I have a bum shoulder right now.  Friday evening we took Kade to see the Michael Jackson movie "This Is It".  It was really good!  It was entertaining watching Kade react to the movie.  Saturday Heath and Devon went up to Hubbard to go pheasant hunting.  This was Devon’s 4th time out this year and Heath’s first time ever!  Devon told me before they went that he was going to take it easy on ol’ dad and let him have the first shot if they saw a bird.  Well, they did and Heath got him on the first shot!  I guess they were both very excited, Devon more so as he hasn’t seen a bird all year.  The pheasant population is down due to the ice storm a couple winters ago that killed all the eggs.  While the boys were gone, Kade and I stayed home while our Directv HD got hooked up.  That evening Devon worked at Subway and Heath, Kade, and I went to church.  Sunday was the usual…football and laundry!  Fun times!  Devon took off early to go do some work at his grandpa’s.  Steve stopped by to watch the Cowboys vs. Packers game as he is a Packer.  Heath’s team got upset…somewhat due to the referees.  I know, I’m starting to sound like a Cowboy…guess it’s starting to rub off.  Well, that’s our weekend in a nutshell.  Gotta go get the ice for my shoulder!  Hope everyone has a great week and reflects on all the wonderful things we have to be thankful for with Thanksgiving right around the corner.  Too bad Heath didn’t kill us a turkey!

 Getting our orange on.

 My trophy pose, Devon showed me how to do it.

 Bug & Grandma at her work.

Bug jammin his bells.

What a beautiful weekend we had!  I wish I could capture it in a jar and pull it out whenever needed, especially when there is 6 inches of snow on the ground.  It was wonderful to have the windows open, hear active people outside and motorcycles racing by.  Anyways, now that the weather report is out of the way…our weekend was fairly uneventful.  We were kidless this weekend, so Heath went on patrol for the fun of it on Friday night as his hours are already fullfilled.  That left me at home to enjoy my TV time, which was very relaxing and much deserved after the busy week.  Saturday I did housework while Heath winterized the garage and cleaned it out.  We have had 2 lil’ mice in our garage, which are no longer, that had made a nice mess with our bird feed all over the place.  Those lil’ varments must be able to carry A LOT of food in their mouth to carry if from one place to another because we found a huge stash of bird feed in an area where there was no way we could have put it there.  ICK!  Saturday evening Heath and I headed out to go to church.  There were 2 bands there to our surprise, Mercy Me and Tenth Avenue North whom are 2 Christian Rock Bands and they were both awesome!  They were putting on a concert after church but graced us with their talent during the service as well.  We didn’t know about the concert, so we weren’t lucky enough to stick around and enjoy more because it was sold out.  We went out for pizza afterwords and then rented a movie to end our evening.  Sunday is football day at our house, so need I say more??  Mom and Mike were in Ankney, so they stopped by for a short visit which was nice.  That evening we had Steve Henning and his fiance’, Heidi, over for supper and to watch the Cowboys game.  Steve is a Packers fan, so I think he came over more for the company vs. to cheer on the Cowboys.   Today, it was back to another busy week of work.  Hope everyone has a great week!  Sorry, no pictures this week.

This past Wednesday evening we carved pumpkins for Halloween preparation.  Thursday evening I made pumpkin bars for our Halloween party at work on Friday.  We didn’t dress up this year, instead we all wore our Physical Therapy t-shirts for celebrating the last day of PT month.  Friday evening was Trick or Treating night in Ankeny.  It was a wet, windy and cold one for the kids, but that didn’t stop them from going out.  Kade started out the evening as an alien, which was a very cool costume, but it kept fogging up on him in the mask so he decided to switch costumes.  He ended up being an army guy again, which was his costume from last year. Thank goodness it still fit!  He went around the neighborhood with a couple of the Jones kids and scored big.  I stayed home and handed out candy to all the kids.  I think the cutest costume I saw was a little 2 yr. old girl dressed up as a rooster….too cute! 

Saturday we stayed home all day, which was nice.  We got the leaves raked and hauled down to the creek.  Kade had a neighbor boy over most of the day to play with.  Devon hunted Saturday morning and afternoon and then worked late.  Sunday has been another day at home watching football.  It was nice to be able to get an extra hour of sleep today too!  Happy November! 

 Kade,Tanya,Heath

 My Micheal Myers knife.

Focused.

 WII Wars

 Bug the Alien

 Kade playing guns in the leaves.

October 27th was our 2nd wedding anniversary.  Wow, how time flies!  I came home from work and Heath had a candlelight dinner prepared with some very pretty flowers.  He grilled salmon, made steamed carrots, rice and potatoes. Yummy!  We had a nice quiet evening at home, exchanged cards, and watched our wedding videos.  I almost cry every time I watch our wedding video because it was such a beautiful and perfect day.  It was also funny watching Kade follow me around holding my train up.  It was crazy to see how much the boys have grown up in just 2 years too!  I am very blessed and look forward to many more years!(Dito love)

 Pictures from the last two years

Whew! What a week!  I don’t know where to begin?  First of all, Kade had the H1N1 this past week.  He had a temp that got up to 102.5, so he spent the whole week home from school.  Happy to report that he is back to normal and will be returning to school on Monday.  On Thursday, Heath had his interview with the West DSM P.D.  He feels it went well…now, it’s just wait and see.  Thursday evening Heath and I went to see Daughtry at Hilton.  It was a good show and we ended up getting great seats right before Daughtry went on.  We waited to see what seats weren’t filled and then headed down and sat in the first row on the lower level just 2 sections back from the stage.  Friday I took the day off of work, so I got all my house cleaning done while Heath was out finishing up a bid for work.  That evening we went to Taki for supper, which we haven’t been able to do for quite some time as Heath is usually on patrol Friday evenings.  He has fulfilled all his patrol hours, so we finally had a date night.  I had gotten a gift card to Taki from my staff for Boss’s Day, which was totally unexpected but very much appreciated.  After supper neither of us were ready to go home, so we buzzed over to Waukee to visit the Towns family.  We were bummed that lil’ Sophie was in bed when we got there, but she did wake up later on, so we got to play with her for awhile.  It was nice catching up with them and lovin’ Sophie up!  Saturday I spent the majority of the day making monster cookies.  Heath and I did watch the ISU vs. Nebraska game, which was ugly but ended up being a HUGE win for the Cyclones.  First win at Lincoln in 32 years!!!  Way to go Clones!!!  That evening Heath and I went to church and then went up to Huxley to Pastimes.  Tim and Lori Miner were having their wedding reception there.  They got married in Sept. and then took their family to Walt Disney World for their honeymoon.  Congratulations, Tim and Lori!!!  Today has been a very laid back day watching football, which is so nice.  Here’s a mix of pics from this past week…

 Kade’s 5th grade team went a perfect 7-0 to win the trophy. They came in 1st out of 18 teams.

 Getting ready for my oral interview with W.D.P.D(Kade insisted I use his gun).

 The owner of all the guns. That is his pistol in his waistband.

 At Daughtry

 T & T at Pastimes.

Tim and Jarod doing an acoustic ditty.

This weekend brought the end to the Ames Bears football season.  Friday night we hung out at home, ate homemade pizza and hit the hay early as we all had to get up bright and early Saturday morning.  Heath had to be at the West Des Moines City Hall Saturday morning by 7:30am for his physical fitness test.  I’m happy to report that he passed and is scheduled for his interview with the West DSM PD this coming Thursday.  While he was running, Devon was home sleeping as he worked late on Friday night, and Kade and I were up in Ames.  Kade had his last football practice from 8:30-10.  Coach didn’t work them too hard as they only practiced in helmets, so he wouldn’t tire them out for their game later on.  While Kade was at practice, I made a Target and Wal-Mart run to kill time.  Kade and I stopped for some Starbucks hot cocoa after practice so he could get warmed back up!  We came home, ate lunch and got ready to head down to Valley Stadium for Kade’s first playoff game.  The Ames Bears took on the Carroll Cougars, which was a nail-biter.  This was the first game that the Bears didn’t score.  The game went into overtime as neither team scored.  In overtime, each team gets the ball for 4 downs and the team to score or get the most yards wins.  The Bears pulled it off by gaining 17 yards!!  Kade played very well during that game getting his blocks!  The Cathcarts and Steve Henning came out to cheer on the Bears as well.  Saturday evening we hung out at home and had a couple visitors.  Jeff (our neighbor) came over for awhile and then my brother stopped by for a visit.  Devon worked until close again, so we didn’t get to see him much.

Sunday was the big day!  Kade had to be to Valley Stadium at 2 for his 3:30 game, so Coach could do some pre-game prepping.  Heath and I killed some time by hanging out at the Cathcarts…mainly so Heath could watch some NFL football.  Devon spent the day working again.  The Bears took on the Waukee Giants for the Super Bowl Championship.  This game was not as close and was a normal Bears game, which was a blowout.  Heath and I were a little ticked off as Kade didn’t get his first play of the game until the last half of the 3rd quarter.  We didn’t know what was going on!  He ended up getting about 12 plays in and didn’t play as well as he did on Saturday.  None the less, the Bears won which was very exciting! They are officially the 5th grade Super Bowl Champs of the Des Moines Pop Warner Football League!!!  Each of the boys got an individual Champion trophey and the team got a large trophey.  After the game, one of the coaches came over to Heath right away to let him know that Kade was feeling ill before the game, which is why he didn’t play much.  He was completely fine before the game so we were kinda confused.  We got home and took his temp, which was 101.1.  Hmmm…H1N1???  He ended up waking us up at 3:30am on Monday morning.  His temp was 102.5, so I gave him more meds, calmed him down and sent him back to bed.  Kade stayed home from school Monday and Tuesday and I believe his is still staying home tomorrow as he still has a fever.  So far the rest of us are still healthy!  Here’s some good pics of our Champ before the H1N1 got him!        

 The player’s Hardware

 The Champ

 Bug getting ready for the game.

Friday, I layed low and enjoyed a quiet house to myself to get all caught up on my TIVO’d shows while Heath was out discovering dead people.  Yes, he got to experience his first DOA (dead on arrival)!  He was on his ride-a-long and they got a call for a wellfare check from a lady checking up on her ex husband whom she hadn’t heard from in 10 days.  When they showed up the officers cleared the area while Heath sat in the car.  When all was clear, they signaled him to come in and asked if he wanted to see "it"?  Of course, Heath said "YES"!  Sadly, if was a middle-aged man who died of alcoholism.  He drank himself to death and they believe that he had been there for 5-6 days as that was when he made his last phonecall.  Heath enjoyed the experience, but was a little weirded out by it too. 

Saturday, I spent the day getting all caught up on my housework since I had the house to myself again.  Heath headed over to Iowa City with Brad for the Iowa/Michigan game.  Heath is a Michigan fan, so Brad said he would take Heath to that game as he has season tickets.  He was all bundled up when he left and stayed pretty warm.  That evening I had a night out at the Olive Garden with Steph Jones which was very nice.  After supper, I came home to catch the rest of the Iowa game, but quickly fell asleep on the couch.  Unfortunately, Heath’s Wolverines didn’t capture the win.

Sunday, Heath and I headed up to Ames for a Dougan family lunch as Heath’s aunt Carol and some of his cousins were back to visit.  It was nice seeing everyone, especially Grandpa Dougan.  He has been a little under the weather the past few days.  He was hospitalized yesterday, but is doing better today.  We will continue to say our prayers for him.  After lunch it was off to Kade’s last regular season football game.  They played the Dallas Center-Grimes Buccaneers and pullled off another victory, 34-0!  This makes them the Central Division Champs!  Kade got to be one of the captains,  played most of the game, and played very well.  He even got to play fullback and carry the ball 2 times, which he really was excited about!  He did let the Buccaneers receiver get past him on one play, which earned him a nice lecture out on the field from his coach…as you will see below.  Kade had his Grandma Renae, Jon, and Maga (his other grandma) all there to cheer him on too.  Now, it’s on to the playoffs this next weekend in Des Moines.  Let’s hope it’s not too cold out and that they come home Champions! 

 Bug and one of his biggest fans (Grandma Renae)

 Captains.

 Turn around and pay attention to the game Mr.

 Textbook blocking out wide.

 Kade getting tackled, he got to carry the ball twice.

 Kade getting his you know what chewed out.

 Brad & I getting ready for a cold night of football.

 My Wolverines warming up.

Pregame warm ups.

We had another busy, but good weekend.  Friday evening we got invited down to the Cathcarts for homemade pizza…but, that was the bribe so Heath would come down and hang up a ceiling fan.  They are working on getting their spare bedroom converted to Jaxson’s new room.  Kade kept Jaxson busy while Steph and I visited and Brad and Heath hung the ceiling fan.  Saturday morning we were all up at 6:30 as Kade was scheduled to have football practice from 8-10.  Well, it got cancelled due to the rainy weather.  So, since I was up I went ahead and went up to Ames to go into work for a couple hours to get caught up or try to.  Kade and Heath met me up in Ames and we went to Eldora to my Grandma’s house.  This past week my Mom, Uncle Randy, and Grandma all made a trip down to New Mexico to bring my Grandpa back up here to be buried.  He passed away several years ago and was buried down there where him and my Grandma were living at the time.  My Grandma is now at peace knowing that Grandpa is here with her and she can go visit him anytime she wants.  They had a short ceremony at the cemetary and then Grandma had everyone over to her house for lunch.  Before we went to my Grandma’s house we made a stop at the Hubbard Care Center to see Grandma Renae real quick.  Luckily she was on her break when we stopped.  After dinner at my Grandma’s, we headed back to Hubbard to visit my Dad and Brenda quick and then stopped by to see Grandpa Dougan.  Everyone is doing well!  Saturday evening we spent at home which was very nice.  Heath made chili and got the Tiger Woods Wii golf game to keep us occupied for the night.  Devon worked all day and didn’t get home until 9:30pm.  Sunday it was off to Ogden for the Bears to take on the Texans.  The Bears remain undefeated and only have 1 more regular season game left.  If they win their last game they will automatically be in the playoffs.  Today they beat the Texans 30-0!  We got lucky and the weather was decent for the game.  I think this next weekend won’t be so busy, which will be nice.  Hope everyone has a good week!

 Kade working on being a shut down corner.

Looking for the tackle.

After work on Friday I stopped over to Mary Greeley to pay a visit to the Peterson family.  Gloria Peterson, who was Heath’s kindergarten teacher and is the mom of Katie Peterson who I graduated HS with, is currently in ICU.  She suffered a massive brain bleed earlier last week and is not doing well.  So, I took some food over to them and ran into Sara, her oldest daughter, before even getting up to the room.  She filled me in on everything and lets just say that many prayers are needed for Gloria.  I came home and crashed after that.  I had the house to myself so got caught up on all my TIVO’d shows and fell asleep early!  I had woken up at 4am Friday morning with a terrible earache, drainage coming out of my left ear and loss of hearing.  So, I came downstairs and took some meds and watched TV until it was time for me to get ready for work because there was no way I could lie back down and try to sleep with that much pain.  Luckily, I got in to see our PA at work and sure enough I have ear infection. I haven’t had an ear infection since I was a child.  I’m on antibiotics and it is starting to feel better and I can sleep!  Heath did a ride-a-long Friday night and didn’t get home until about midnight…his usual time is around 10:30, so I was wondering what was going on.  He stuck around while someone got booked with multiple charges and then he locked his keys in his truck at the gas station. He had to have one of the officers come and unlock his truck, which took awhile since it was at shift change. 

Saturday we just stuck around home and then had date night.  We went to church and as we were walking in we saw Pastor Mike sprinting into the sanctuary, which we thought was a little weird.  Come to find out that the fire alarm had just gone off right before we got there and he was checking to see if it was legit or not.  They announced that it was a false alarm but the fire station would still be coming out to clear it.  It was kind of amusing to see about 10 fire fighters walking up and down the back of the church while we were singing.  After church we went to Biaggi’s to eat and then headed back to Ankeny to go to Tonic.  We sat there and had a couple drinks while watching the Hawkeyes.  No one was airing the Cyclones, so we cheered for the Hawks. 

Sunday was football day for Kade.  He played the Boone Colts, which were also an undefeated team. They pulled off another win 28-6!  Kade had a good block, which led to our running back scoring.  Grandma Renae and Jon made it to cheer him on today too!  Thanks for coming out to support our Bears!  Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend! 

 Kade going in motion on offense.

 Blocking the big man.