Dr. Mike!!

After 7 1/2 years of hard work, blood, sweat, tears, late nights, early mornings, moving to Colorado, running a marathon, having insomnia, breaking a few toes, moving back from Colorado and then going back to Colorado to do more measurements, writing a 160+ page dissertation, developing a 50+ slide powerpoint presentation, adopting a beautiful boy, and climbing a volcano, (did I leave anything out?), Mike McKinley finally graduated from Georgia Tech!!!

For those who missed the exciting moment, I've included it here for you. :)
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo BooksMike's parents and sister flew down from Spokane, Washington and Sun Valley, Idaho, respectively, for the occasion. My uncle Jerry and aunt Betty flew down from Cincinnati too! We were very blessed to have so many loved ones share this special weekend with us. :)

Here's a good one:
Mike: Ouch! I don't think the straight pin is supposed to go IN my head, honey.
Susan: Oh honey, just hold still, the blood won't show through the cap!

Wait, this one is probably better. :-D
He did it! He did it!!! Yahoooo!!!! (can you tell I'm proud? :-D)Betty and Jerry saluting Dr. Mike! We're all happy to smile for the camera, as Kaden looks off in the distance having some deep, existential thoughts I would guess...Kaden was diggin' the tassel.As shocking as this is to believe, it appears that Kaden preferred going to the Varsity over sitting in a 3 hour graduation for 800 students. Go figure...

Here he's enjoying his "naked dawg" with Aunt Susan. :)

Mike did great and then several of us went to Ippolito's (yum!) for a cheesy, meaty, pasta celebration! On Saturday we had a brunch at my brother's house that was a lot of fun. I'll include pictures of that PLUS my surprise gift to Mike in my next post! (ha!)

Kaden's Mom and Dr. Mike's wife :)

The Evacuation 07/10/08

I had never been evacuated before last Thursday. As a child, I had to grab the cat and duck under the staircase with my mom and my brother to seek protection from a hurricane. As an adult, I've grabbed the dog and Kaden and jumped in the bathtub seeking safety from nearby tornadoes. But until last week, running from a fire was only something I had seen on television.

Last Thursday my sister-in-law Dana called around 5.
Dana: "Do you see the smoke?"
Me: "What smoke?"

D: "Walk out in the driveway and look in the sky".

So, I did. I saw large puffs of smoke, but it seemed fairly far away. Then about 30 minutes later a neighbor or two called and we decided to watch the news, keep an eye on all the hubbub. A little while later we found out that Dana had a sheriff at her door ordering her to evacuate. (They live about 3-4 streets over from my in-laws where we were staying). About 7, I opened the front door and a huge wave of smoke came in the house. I could barely see the neighbors house across the street. No sheriff was at our door, but we quickly decided to 'head out of Dodge'.

Kaden was crying some. He's been through a lot of adjustment out here with all the people and flurry of activity. I think he wasn't sure what to think with his mama running around, grabbing some diapers and a bag and then him. However, he settled down after a bit and did great. Mom and Dad McKinley stayed cool and we divvied up the car keys. (They have 3 cars so we each took one.) We headed south to the Sandin's....a very nice family that mom and dad stayed with the LAST time they had to evacuate due to fires----17 years ago. Kaden loved their cows and dogs. :)

Meanwhile, Dana was loading up some friends' trucks, getting her two boys, and 3 dogs into the car. We spoke with them an hour or two later and everyone was evacuated and safe. We then spent the evening watching the news and seeing fire crews at the "command center" which was located at Dana and Blake Jr's church....1/4 mile from Mom and Dad McKinley's house.

We kept watching the orange triangle on the screen and waiting. Graphs and charts can be very interesting, but never more so than when YOUR house and all of YOUR worldly goods are located within that orange triangle they keep showing on the news. And you have no idea if they will be there when you return. We finally went to bed and woke up the next morning to find that the triangle marking the "at risk" zone had shrunk and changed form a bit. However, Mom and Dad's house and Blake and Dana's were STILL in the triangle.

The area north of 44th around the word "Rd." is about where Mom and Dad McKinley's house is.

Thankfully, we were able to enter the neighborhood (with picture I.D. only) around 11 and found Mom and Dad's home and homes near us unharmed. However, I heard that 13 homes were destroyed and hundreds and hundreds of acres burned. Blake and Dana's house was fine, and I think they're ALMOST done unpacking what Dana packed up on Thursday. :)

If it happened to you, a sheriff at your door, 20 minutes to grab your things...what would you grab?

Well, it's been an exciting adventure out here, but I think I'm ready to head home to my sweetie and my doggie in Atlanta. :)

Kaden's Mom

North by Northwest!

Kaden and I have been in Spokane, Washington for 2 weeks now! Except for the fact that I greatly miss my hubby, we are having lots of fun out here!! Some of the video can't be downloaded until I get home, but I do have a bit to share.

Quick Facts:
1. Kaden LOVES his cousins! Charity gives him lots of kisses and Emmett hugs on him and says "Amen!" with him.
2. Kaden LOVES having a backyard to play in and a swing set! (Not sure how I'll wean him of this when we return home).
3. Kaden LOVES to have Grandma McKinley or Grandpa McKinley read to him while taking his milk....that is unless I'm within sight...then much whining prevails... :-\
4. I think I might be getting the slightest ever tan. (Sorry to gloat in front of my Atlanta friends and family but the weather out here is GORGEOUS! We can actually sit outside in the evening or even during the day and not feel like we're in a sauna!)
5. Kaden has learned several words in the past week from his Stouffer cousins and started using them----to his mama's surprise. They include "Hi", "Hey", "Gampa"---or something like that, "Two", "Free" ---as in 1,2, free...,"Red", and "James".

Weirdest thing I've seen out here:
--Sprinklers....yes, you read that right. Back in Atlanta, we're facing such a severe drought, that you never see anyone running sprinklers, kids aren't outside using slip and slides, or turning the hose on. So it was very strange to come out here and see people regularly watering their yards and gardens!!

Biggest surprise to Kaden:
--G.ma and G.pa's deer alarm...it's actually a sprinkler that goes off if you get too close to their garden. It has gotten Kaden more than once and he does NOT like it! It probably didn't help that I was giggling the last time I saw him get caught by it...

Now, onto pictures!!

Kaden enjoying some homemade ice cream with the Stouffer cousins. From left to right: Owen, Emmett, Nathan. Then in front are Kaden and Garrett.

This morning 2 year old Emmett wanted to climb up into "Aunt Chewin's" lap, so of course Kaden had to as well. And how about some video! Here are Owen and Kaden enjoying the tire swing at the Ponderosa elementary playground.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

He did it!!

He did it! He DID IT!! He really, truly did it!!! Michael Dean McKinley passed his oral defense of his Phd in Electrical Engineering as of 12:30 PM EDT today!!!!!!

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

YEEEEEHAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!

PRAISE GOD!!!!! HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!

Dr. Mike! Dr. Mike!!!!!!!!!

Graduation on August 1st!!!!!!!

:-) :-) :-) :-D :-D :-D :-D

Yipppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (can you tell I'm excited??)