So far, all is going well

Day 4 and all is going well for little Kayley and parents. She is a tiny but strong little gal. What time she spent in the womb was very quality time it appears and although there will be ups and downs over the next few weeks she is doing extremely well according to her doctors and nurses. One doctor called her a star. :-) An overachiever like her mommy it would seem. That is good. I have attached a few pics of Kayley. Lots of wires and tubes of course. She has jaundice now so the picture where she looks like a hollywood starlet getting her beauty rest is protection from the bright lights to combat her jaundice. The picture with Andy's hand gives some perspective of her size and also a pic of daddy changing her tiny diaper for the very first time. He was quite proud of himself, as well he should be! For more pictures and updates, Andy has started Kayley's own blog journal of her time in the NICU if you care to see updated pics, etc. Go to:
http://kayleysstory.blogspot.com/

In the mean time, Drew and I are playing house with a big dog. That reminds me, I am running low on bribery doggie biscuits and must make a Pet Smart run.............. Keep us in your prayers everyone! Love, Grandma, Drew and Sox

Absolutely gorgeous!!

Drew and I saw his sister and my granddaughter this afternoon for the very first time. What an experience that was! I had steeled myself for the meeting but was so overcome by how beautiful she was and how much bigger she was than I had in my head. She was 15 1/2 inches long and had the cutest nose I have ever seen. Am I prejudice? No doubt about that, but when I can finally take some pictures of Kayley you will agree with me. :-) I am sure there will be ups and downs as the weeks go by but right now we are in awe of a little girl named Kayley Renee Thiel.........

Kayley Renee

Our granddaughter decided to make a very early appearance into this world. We were not expecting to meet her until around August 27th. Megan's water broke on the Wednesday after Memorial Day. She has been in the hospital ever since and was able to keep from going into labor until early this morning. Kayley was only 27 weeks and 3 days at the time of birth and weighed in at three pounds. Considering she was supposed to have three more months of growing time the doctors were pleased with her weight. Right now all is going well for baby girl and mom and we pray that continues to be the case. Naturally Kayley is in the NICU for probably most of the summer but I really don't know that for certain. I "think" they usually keep them there until their original due date even if things go as we hope. Please keep Kayley in your thoughts and prayers for all of us! Thanks! Drew and I get to meet her in just about one hour and I cannot begin to tell you how that feels......Love, Grandma and Drew

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Drew and Sox

Tuesday lunch

Drew and I were invited to the Marriott Canyon Villas for lunch yesterday. Arne's two cousins, Marge and Eileen, a.k.a. Thelma and Louise were in town for a week's stay at a time share and invited us, Sharon and Arne and Lisa over for lunch. It was just a gorgeous place and they are enjoying their week there. Drew was absolutely perfect the entire three hours we were there. If Megan and Andy can have another like him, it will be a pleasure watching two. But, can that happen twice?!?!? :-) Here's hoping anyway!

Some pics from the Villas and our afternoon.

Memorial Week-end

I flew to the Iowa farm over the holidays for a quiet week-end with Mark. The weather wasn't the greatest but did shape up enough for me to get on that lawn mower and to dig in the flower beds on Sunday. The place looks really good and very, very green thanks to lots of rain. That same rain is keeping him from getting the soybeans in the dirt, but it will happen eventually.

I spent a day back at Ogden Schools visiting with old friends. It was so great to see them....it had been close to two years since I had been back. Wow. Time really does fly. Sue brought me lunch so I dined at the middle school with her and thoroughly enjoyed it! Had a good visit with Kris and Pat, too. I do miss the people immensely, just not the "other" stuff. :-)

We also spent an afternoon visiting Jan and Clayton. That always brings back good memories and lots of laughs. There new place in town looks fantastic!

Mark and I had a great time, even cool enough to head to the basement and build a fire and catch up with each other! It was finally getting nice but then it was time to head back to Phoenix. Oh well, I didn't come home for great weather. Sorry, not one picture to post from this trip.

Stepping down

Drew has been spending a lot of time practicing stepping down off of the patio unto the grass. He is most pleased with his accomplishment!

Serenading Grandpa

Cannas in the desert

Last fall when I dug up the cannas that Mark had planted on the farm I shoved several in my suitcase to try to plant at the town house in AZ. I put them in a pot in October, they were slow to grow over the winter even surviving a couple of frosty nights. They are finally getting into their full glory now. They aren't as tall as the ones we grow in Iowa, but they are just in pots so that limits their size I think. My geraniums are doing exceptionally well here, too. I love flowers!

A future UNI Panther

Celebrity Golf Tournament

Last week-end Mark and I went with Megan, Andy and Drew to a celebrity tournament here in Phoenix. It was mostly athletes but a few actors were also there. I was a little disappointed when Kevin Costner didn't show, as he was on the list! Anyway, it was a beautiful day on the course watching the rich and famous do their thing!

A fun day in the park

I took Mark and Drew to the McCormick-Stillman RR park today. Drew has been there before but Mark had not. We had a great time!!

It's time.....

for some Drew stills....been too long! :-) Poor little man is under the weather since these pics were snapped. I was not feeling at all well this past week (sore throat, aches, etc.) and I evidently gave it to him. Dr. says he has the croup! I saw him today and he was better than when I left him on Friday. Sorry Drew!!!

Rather depressing

Poor sister Jan! First photo shows her basking in the sun and pool under a waterfall in AZ.....the second photo: Back in Osakis, MN scooping @#$%# snow from her office sidewalk. What a difference a plane ride can make. :-(

Time for a swim

Well, he is not exactly thrilled with the little pool I got him. But, he had some fun with it anyway!
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Simply breath taking......

From Tuesday through Friday I felt like I was in another world. The trip to the falls at Supai Indian reservation was awesome! We saw so much beauty and the pictures don't begin to do it justice. We started down the trailhead around 10 am on Wednesday morning. It is an 8 mile journey to the Supai village where we would reside for two nights. The first 1-2 miles were switchbacks, getting down the mountain. After that we walked the canyon floor for 6 miles. What goes down MUST come up, so we knew in 2 days we would be climbing up those switchbacks! But, we didn't dwell on that fact while we were there. :-) We got to our lodge around 1 pm. After all 16 women were safely at the lodge Sharon, Jan and I and 5 others ventured 2 more miles to view our fist look at Havasu Falls. Words cannot describe our feelings when we saw it.......if you are in the area and feel like walking about 30+ miles in three days, I would recommend this hike. You would NOT regret it. May I suggest you train a bit beforehand, though. :-) I always said that before one leaves this planet they should raft down the Colorado River on the rapids through the Grand Canyon. This ranks right up there, both are a once in a lifetime experience.
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A few shots from the hike enclosed.................

Off to Havasupai

Sharon, Jan and I and about 13 other gals are leaving this morning for a three day adventure hiking to Havasupai, which is on the south side of the Grand Canyon. We are pretty excited to go but have been watching the weather. A front is moving through just then, bringing some very gusty winds and cooler temps. We won't let Mother Nature suppress our excitement to do this, though!

Sister Jan is loving her vacation here. Yesterday was 98 so it was a far cry from the freezing cold and snow of her home in Osakis, MN. Saturday the three of us hiked then went to lunch with Jane, a fun gal who we had gone down the Canyon river rapids with several years ago. I pretty much laughed through the entire lunch! Then it was off to the putting and chipping green for a bit of practice. Sunday Jan and I stayed at my town house. We went to a driving range close by me, then to Megan's for a visit with her family. Sharon joined us, also.

I will be out of Internet and phone range until Friday so this will be my last post for awhile. Hope everyone has a great week wherever you are........

Pics are from the week....

Great Aunt Jan to visit

Sister Jan flies to Phoenix this afternoon. She has had a horrible winter in Osakis, Minnesota so I think she will find the weather here much to her liking. She's going to spend almost two weeks here with Sharon and I so we are really excited about that. Next Tuesday all three of us are going on a hike to Havasupi with about 12 other gals. Sharon went last year and says it is quite an adventure. We return on Friday. Fortunately Andy's brother and family are coming here for a visit so they were going to take some of those days off anyway so babysitting won't be such a burden to them while I do this hike.

Jan and Drew have never met so he will be seeing one of his great aunts for the very first time. That will be nice! I will post pictures and video when I get them. Big surprise there? :-)

Monday, monday

I used to really hate Mondays but they aren't so bad now. When I arrive Drew greets me with a beautiful smile and Sox gives me a mini-bath in greeting. My Ogden greeting usually consisted of something similar to "the server is down" or "e-mail is NOT working" or "Accelerated Reader is down at Howe". The people reporting these things usually said so with great distress and urgency in their voices so it was not a great way to start one's day. I am glad those days are behind me! Life is much more peaceful now. :-)

Mark arrived back at our farm last Wednesday afternoon. He spent his first night in Tucumcari, NM and the second night in Lincoln, NE. He didn't think Matt was available that night so he didn't go on to Omaha to see him. He was pooped and wanted to quit for the night. Turns out Matt was free so he just drove to Lincoln and had dinner with his dad. That was nice. I wish I could have had dinner with them, too! I think Mark is still used to this Phoenix weather. He said it is very cold in Iowa and so dreary. You can use a lot of adjectives to describe AZ weather, but dreary is definitely not one. It is almost sunny and cheery every single day. I hope Iowa's weather shapes up soon so he can get the crops in the ground.

Pictures of Drew and Grandpa, a crane putting in a new air conditioner next door at the town house and shots of Drew from the week-end.