Operation Recuperation

Whew! We had quite the Bluegrass this year. It was a fun, fun weekend with family and friends! I've included some photos of our stay in Winfield, but I sure wish I had taken better photos and more of them! We were lucky to have some good friends of ours join us for their first bluegrass ever. We hope Brett and Cindy want to come back! As usual, we are exhausted. The festival (or "Big Blue" as Dad calls it) really wears us out.. It seems like I'm still trying to catch up on my sleep, and it's already Wednesday! During my "Total Tone" class at the gym on Monday, one of the girls there had also been in Winfield. She said she even cried on Sunday because she didn't want to pack up and leave... This festival is serious business! :)

One very special family friend wasn't able to make it to Bluegrass this year. Janet was just too sick. In May, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, underwent surgery and some chemotherapy. Then she got a staff infection which never seemed to improve. Eventually, the infection took over, shutting down her liver. She passed away yesterday, and we will miss her so much. She is truly pain free, at peace and in heaven now.

Janet was actually the person responsible for bringing our family to Bluegrass for the very first time - 12 years ago. When we moved to Winfield, she worked with Dad at the bank, and somehow convinced him to give the festival a try. (He wasn't very excited about paying good money to park our camper less than five miles from home for the entire weekend!) One visit was all it took. We're hooked. As long as I live, Bluegrass will always make me think of Janet Menke. She really was like a grandmother to me.

Here are some photos from this weekend...

Brett, Cole and Cliff grilling and drinking.

Hannah and toothless Emma. :)

Bluegrass brings out the musical side
(and the not-so-musical side) in all of us.

Ready to head to the Pecan Grove!

Cute couple! BUT looks can be deceiving. They are ornery. :)

Another reason I ♥ mint.com!

I may be nerdy, but stuff like this is really interesting to me... Wish they had KC on this graphic, too! :) You may need to click the link to see the entire thing... Enjoy.

The Most Frugal Cities in America:


Budget help from Mint.com

Road to the Bowl!

Support our Junior League fundraiser by donating, and earn a chance to WIN a trip for two to K-State's post season bowl game. Of course, there is a SMALL chance that the Cats won't make it to a bowl game. In those unlikely circumstances, there will be a cash prize awarded of $1,000. To learn more about service projects of our Junior League, click here! To donate and earn a chance to win the trip, click here!

Any help you can give is GREATLY appreciated, thanks! :)

The countdown begins...

Football season kicks off in 12 days!

We're so excited for another K-State football season to start, whatever the outcome may be! Living in a college town can really stink at times (i.e. move-in weekend and awful traffic) but September always makes me thankful to live in Manhattan! "Hotel Eilders" as we're calling it, has been taking reservations for the first few home games already. We love having our friends and family visit us any time, and especially when tailgating is involved... We haven't scheduled the "2nd Annual Zubaz Tailgate" yet, (NO - we don't do this for every home game!!!) but it'll happen. Here are some photos of past tailgating fun:

It was painful for Cole to wear so much purple! :)

Mom's Surgery

Mom called Monday to say she would be having surgery on her neck/back on Tuesday afternoon... Talk about short notice! Evidently the surgeon was able to squeeze her into his schedule, but the message got to her only the day before her surgery.


In 1995 Mom had back surgery on a herniated disc, which the doctors originally diagnosed as bone cancer. Once they got in to check it out, they realized it was just an abnormal-looking herniated disc. Whew! Our life was pretty much a roller-coaster ride for a few years there... At one point they were just sure she had lung cancer, too. Nope. I guess doctors tend to assume the worst when they're dealing with a cancer survivor! I think we were all a little nervous, considering her history.

The surgery went really quickly once they started. Three. Hours. Late. I wonder, did God want us to spend a little more time praying, or what?! The operation only lasted about an hour and twenty minutes. What an enormous blessing to hear that things went well after all that waiting! Hopefully no medical professionals are reading this, because I'm sure I'll butcher some of the technical parts in this process...

Basically, they went in through her old scar on the front of her chest. They cut out the bad disc, removed several bone fragments that were pushing on her nerves, inserted a titanium plate and added pieces of cadaver bones to grow over the plate. The bones will eventually connect with other discs in her back, limiting her mobility, but greatly reducing the pain she has been experiencing. For years she has had migraine headaches, tingling in her right arm, and severe back pain. She had been considering spinal decompression therapy, but two weeks ago she was told that there was only one millimeter of tissue protecting her spinal cord from permanent damage, and she decided it was time to go forward with the operation.

Wednesday afternoon Hannah and I were able to take her home, but I was really surprised they let her out so quickly. She'll be wearing this oh-so-stylish brace for about six weeks. I'm sure she'll be good and ticked off that I posted the picture. :) Just remember - I love you very much, Mom. You've been a blessing to my life in more ways than you'll ever know!

Layla learns to sit.

Ahh. Puppies. They are so stinkin' cute, but we forgot how much work they can be. Here's a video of crazy Layla, who joined us on our recent trip to Iowa. She was a hit with the family... Especially Cole's great-uncle, Dick, who after two days with Layla, was convinced that he and his wife, Elaine, are ready for a new puppy. Pretty much everyone loved her... Everyone except Grandma Betty, who "doesn't like dogs." I think she was more than a little sweet on Layla, but just wouldn't admit it. :)

Okay, so she doesn't actually sit yet... It's a work in progress.

By George, I think we've done it!

We've been meaning to visit Cole's grandparents in George, Iowa for several years now. Each time they're in Kansas we hear the familiar... "You come visit us. Okay?"

Betty and Gordon

Last weekend we finally made the trip to join them for the holiday, and what a fantastic weekend it was! George had great reason to celebrate; 2009 marks the 125th anniversary of the town, which also happens to be the hometown of Cole's grandparents, Arvin Eilders, who now lives near Salina, and Betty (Smid) and Gordon Siebring.

Our stay was packed with activity... We watched the cutest little circus ever, ran a 5k on the town's new bike trail, ate tons of delicious food, watched a parade with more farm equipment than you can ever imagine, toured Siebring Manufacturing and of course, watched the fireworks! The town of only about 1,200 pays for their impressive display each year by auctioning off pies made by local residents... Many sold for over $200!

There is just no better place to celebrate the independence of our great country than small-town USA!

Betty and Cole watching fireworks.

Happy 125th Birthday to George!

My favorite float in the parade... Only in a small town. :)

Introducing...

Layla Lou

She's a sassy thing! We just picked her up this weekend, and Layla will be seven weeks old on Friday... SO tiny! She especially looks small next to Royce, who weighs about 75 pounds. Now that she has gotten to know us, she has really started to show off her personality... Royce was a really low-key puppy, but Layla is certainly not! When she wants to play she jumps around so much that she can barely control her own body. It's actually very funny. Hopefully I can post a video sometime soon.

We're in for a long haul. The last two nights she has woken us up three times to let us know that she needs out... NOW. At least she's not "going" in her kennel! :) Cole thinks this is good practice for babies. I'm pretty sure Cole has another thing coming...

"Listen here, pipsqueak. I'm in charge!"

After assembling the kennel I was pretty sure it would hold her, but Cole and Royce had to prove that it's big enough... For an entire litter!

My first night at 4-H camp!

As a child, I was never involved in 4-H. Some of my friends went to camp each summer... and I was always a little jealous. It sounded like so much fun! As part of my job at Rock Springs, I'm spending this week at camp. It'll give me a chance to better learn our facility and the processes that I'm not usually a part of with my "day job." Last night was my first night at 4-H camp as the administrator on duty. Let's just say it was... exciting. Here are a few highlights:

• Cleaned up vomit.
  
• We were in a tornado watch, and there was quite a thunderstorm, complete with lightning show.
  
• To keep them out of the lightning/rain, we moved campers to our primary storm shelter (which is also an auditorium) and tried to entertain them with movies.
• They 'booed' my movie choice of Robin Hood. I guess I'm old and boring. They preferred Tarzan and Mulan.
  
• Woke up at 4am to L O U D thunder. Storms don't usually wake me, but I was a little on edge. When you're responsible for 359 kids... Yikes!

I'm sure I'll survive the rest of my stay... but I'm exhausted already! Hopefully the weather cooperates for the remainder of the week.

Thought for the day.

A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.

- George Bernard Shaw