Fast!

I thought I would share this story with you all.

John was out riding his Spiderman bike, and he was riding up and down the driveway as I pulled weeds. (the front yard is about 1/2 done!!) So he we were talking and he said two things to me, the first one he said was when he was at church God told him he was going to be fast! Really how can you argue with that? I said well you are going to be really fast then, he said "yes mama I know". Then a little while later he came back over and he had his hand on his brake of the bike, I asked him if he knew what it did, no he didn't . I told him it was the brake for when you needed to slow down. He looked at me so seriously and said, "why would I slow down?" So I told him sometimes you have to stop for cars or people.
"Oh, ok." was his reply. Too cute.

Just a couple of clowns!

Grandma Mary is taking the kids to a fair today. she is running a couple of kids games, so whe asked John and Josie if they wanted to dress up. Yes was ofcourse the answer.

Too Cute!

Happy Birthday to... Grandpa John!

It was Grandpa John's 65th Birthday yesterday!

Josie sang Happy Birthday ALL day long to Grandpa. It was fun the first 30 times, then well it kind of lost the fun factor! Although she is a good singer and performer.

I don't have any photos of Grandpa, but I do have some of the cake I made for him.... you know it's all about the food!

John wanted to make Grandpa a car cake, so this was my best attempt! Not too bad.

The sun is shining.

So today the sunshine is out, the kids are doing well and it's a good day. I wish I had some miraculous news but well I don't . Just a normal day. I had a good mother's day. We all went bowling. Then let the kids play at a couple of parks. It was a very relaxing day and lot s of fun.

Thank you for the relaxing and fun day yesterday. It was really nice.

Em

Pictures from Greensburg, KS

This is what is left of Angelique and Travis Libby's home in Greensburg, KS. As you can see it is a total loss. You can see the story below of what happened. The address is below if you wish to send gift cards, they escaped with the clothes on their backs. They are in need of everything. They must rebuild their lives. Please keep them in your prayers, I can't imagine the emotional torture they are going through right now.

Family members are alive!

As I write this, I can't believe that yet again tragedy has struck in the lives of one of our family members. Derrick's cousin Angelique who lives in Greensburg, KS ** correction was made ( I always say Oklahoma for some reason, sorry I sent it out wrong on the email too) they live in Kansas! ** escaped the tornado that tore threw their town last night. The family escaped with literally the clothes on their backs. The family heard the warning siren go off, and quickly left their home and drove to Angiliques work to warn co-workers of the tornado. Angiliques family took cover under a desk, where Angilique held onto her two girls, while her husband laid on top of them. The building was left in shambles. She said it seemed like a freght train was going over the top of them. It seemed to last for 10 minutes, but they believe it was all over within a couple of minutes.

The family has lost everything, their home, their cars, all possessions. There is nothing left of what they used to call home. cnn is reporting that 90% of the town they live in, is gone.





I would like to say I am so happy and thankful that Angilique, Travis and their two little girls are alive! 7 people lost their lives in this tornado, so I praise God that they were able to survive.

I am starting a collection to help out their family. I will be asking churches and other local community businesses and people for donations of giftcards. **** Update 5/6/07 The family is currently staying with their inlaws until other arrangements can be made. I have found out that their is a Walmart in the area for both clothes and food... Visa gift cards can typically be purchased at your bank, that can be used at any store that accepts visa. The grocery store chain in the area is Dillon I am told it is part of Kroger. If you would like to send a gift card, or regular card to show support for the family.**** You can mail it to:

Travis and Angelique Libby

c/o Helen Libby

1653 200th Ave

Lewis, KS 67552

Thank you all for your support. Please lift them up in prayer.

You do the math... @ .31 it added up to only $4.00!!

Hopefully you all heard about the $0.31 scoop that Baskin and Robbins had on sale yesterday! Money went to support the Fallen Firefighters Fund, so ofcourse we had to go support a great cause. We had so much fun at the first Baskin and Robbins, well we had to go to another one! Yes we went to two Baskin and Robbins, we actually could have stayed and ate more at the first one, but it was fun to go to a different one too. So to justify all the icecream scoops, they were smaller than normal! (yes that makes me feel better) Next year I will let you know about it before hand so you can all go, it was nationwide! Pretty cool.

34 years old!

Derrick turned 34 on Sunday!

We celebrated by going bowling, Derrick actually had the best score! Those of you who have ever bowled with Derrick know this is quite an accomplishent! Congrats babe on the game, and on turning 34. It has been a hell of a year, but we made it! Here is to many happy years ahead. ~~~Happy Birthday~~~

Josie made the cake batter, John and Josie whipped the icing and then Josie deocated the cake!!

Some fun pics!

Local guy ~ does good! UFC fighter Jens Pulver aka "lil evil"

Most of you won't read this whole article, cuz it is long. But if you like the UFC (I am addicted!) this is worth a read. Jens Pulver is a local guy from the area I grew up in. Yes I knew him, no we weren't close at all. So I am not jumping on the "he was my best friend band wagon" I thought it was pretty cool a local boy who came from a rocky background, is doing some awesome stuff!


Jens went to high school (a couple of years younger than me) in the sticks where I did... to say he had a crappy child hood is well probably putting it nicely. Rumors floated that he used to get beat by his dad ( I do not know if it was a step or biological) ... no one did anything. Jens is now giving back and helping to reach those that didn't reach out to him. He speaks publicly about domestic violence.

Yes he now fights for a living... I think it is great he took all the crud and turned it for good...


Thursday Nights on the Ultimate Fighter on the Spike channel you can watch his team ~



Jens Pulver – Bringing A Lil’ Evil Back to the UFC

By Thomas GerbasiBJ Penn was unbeatable.

Gilbert and Din Thomas, the question wasn’t whether Penn would win the UFC® lightweight title, but when. Simply put, Jens Pulver, the current champion, was merely a placeholder until ‘The Prodigy’ decided to take the crown.Penn had just one more obstacle to get by before he would get his title shot, and that was highly ranked contender Caol Uno at UFC® 34 in November of 2001. Uno had lost a hard-fought five round decision to Pulver almost nine months earlier, but he bounced back with a first round TKO of Fabiano Iha and was on the road to a rematch with ‘Lil Evil’.Sitting ringside to offer commentary on the bout was the champ. He wasn’t there long.In one of the most memorable moments in UFC® history, Penn blitzed Uno, knocking him out in 11 seconds, and followed up the demolition job by sprinting from the Octagon™ to the backstage area and back.Oh yeah, no one was going to beat BJ Penn. Not even Pulver, who put on a brave face for the fans watching the pay-per-view broadcast.“I watched the 11 second smacking, and I couldn’t be on TV going ‘oh my goodness, I’m worried,’” laughed Pulver. “So I said, ‘he might be good, but he ain’t evil.’ That’s what I had to tell myself, that I had something inside of me that can’t be taught.” But despite his 5-0-1 record in the Octagon and his status as not only a champion but as one of the good guys of the game, Pulver just wasn’t going to beat Hawaii’s ‘Prodigy’ in Connecticut on January 11, 2002. Or so people thought. And the disrespect motivated him.“Leading up to the fight and being a 6 to 1 underdog drove me nuts,” he remembered. “I just had to train harder and train harder because I wanted to beat him more than anything. He was the best guy on the ground, decoration-wise, and he’s knocking people out standing up. I was worried, absolutely. But when the week of that fight came, I could see it in him that I had it, because I was coming to fight.” Early on though, the fight went according to prediction as Penn started fast and even locked in an armbar late in the second round that almost ended the bout. As Pulver walked back to his corner after barely escaping defeat, doubt flooded his mind.“After that second round ended, when he had that armbar which I did not tap to, I remember sitting in the corner and going ‘oh my God, I’m gonna walk out in this third round, he’s gonna take me down, he’s gonna mount me and beat the hell out of me again – what am I doing?’” Then inspiration came from an unlikely source as he stared across the Octagon and saw a member of Penn’s camp mocking him.“Somebody in his corner, one of his little entourage, was jumping up and down and doing the cut throat (gesture) at me,” chuckled Pulver. “And I looked right at him and I was like ‘are you kidding me?’ So because of that guy, I said ‘no way’ and he never got another takedown. That was the thing that I needed in my head. If I get beat, I get beat, but I ain’t going out like this.”Pulver roared back into the fight over the next three rounds, showing the experience and heart that true champions have a patent on, and he rightfully earned a five round majority decision over Penn to retain his UFC lightweight crown. It was a great night for Pulver, and for the sport, which saw the 155-pound weight class take center stage for the first time here in the States.Then it was over.A contract dispute saw Pulver leave the UFC and his title behind, and with it, the lightweight division hit a wall. An elimination tournament to crown a new champion produced a final draw between Penn and Uno, and by the time Yves Edwards knocked out Josh Thomson at UFC® 49 in August of 2004, the division was put on the shelf.Some MMA scribes called it ‘The Curse of Jens Pulver’, but in the time after he left the Octagon, the Iowan wasn’t exactly living a charmed life. Two wins in 2002 were followed by back-to-back knockout losses to Duane Ludwig and Jason Maxwell, and though he bounced back in the latter half of 2003 with victories over Joe Jordan and Richard Hess, it was a far cry from the high profile exposure he enjoyed in the UFC.In 2004 though, Pulver started to get his groove back. He put together two wins in the Shooto organization in Japan, and went 2-2 in Pride, with his only losses coming to Takanori Gomi and Mach Sakurai. In between these trips overseas, ‘Lil’ Evil’ kicked off a pro boxing career, going 4-0 with 3 KOs and even getting some TV time on ESPN2. Yet there was still something missing for Pulver, and this was never more evident than just by watching the scene in a restaurant at Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel in June. Pulver sat with friends having lunch, and around him were members of the cast of the third season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter™’ reality show. These young fighters were getting swarmed by autograph seekers and fans, and some were even being followed by camera crews. But Pulver, the one and only UFC® lightweight champion, wasn’t approached. I asked him what goes through his mind in a scene like that. “This sport’s grown and I’m extremely excited,” he said. “I don’t think anybody doesn’t deserve it because the way the show and the hype is, anybody that can get in and do a good job, these fans are hungry for it, and we knew from the beginning that if it was done right, the fans would be hungry for it. But the part that has always haunted me, when I parted ways in the beginning, was the incompletion for me. Along the way I had to find some way of surviving, more or less, because I was the original – Matt (Hughes) wasn’t even champion, it was just me traveling around with Tito (Ortiz). And the rest
of the team was like, ‘aw, you’ve got to do your own thing – you’re too cool for us.’ And all of a sudden it 180’s and I’m not in and here comes all of MFS – now you’ve got Team UFC® here at Miletich camp. All right, whatever. But in order for any kind of survival for me and my career, I had to say, ‘you know what? This is business.’ I’ve got to fight because I need the money, I gotta fight because I need to pay my bills. And it helped. But in the back of my mind and in my heart, there was a lot of incompletion.”It could have ended up as a story full of what ifs. But in 2006, the UFC® reinstated the lightweight division on a full-time basis, and what better way to celebrate the return of the sport’s most exciting weight class than by bringing back the original king. At least that’s what conventional thought would have been. But Pulver, whose teammates Spencer Fisher and Roger Huerta are already in the UFC’s lightweight division, didn’t think that the return of 155-pounders automatically meant his return to the Octagon.“I never did, because we had Spencer and because I was gonna help out and corner Roger for this one, and they have some stacked ’55 pounders,” he said. “I kinda felt like the old man has passed – my window as far as the UFC® and that belt has come and gone. The biggest thing was that the new fans, the reality show fans, have no idea who I am. So they could have started over. But I’ve got a lot of love for (UFC® President) Dana (White) and one of the things, when it was all said and done, is that he said that when they had the TV time and had enough fights available, he was bringing them back. And four years later he lived up to it.”In June, White made it official, announcing the return of ‘Lil’ Evil’. Did Pulver ever think this day was coming?“Never,” he admits. “I never thought it would come. I didn’t know the future of the lightweight division or my future, what I was gonna be doing. But when I heard this, it was no decision for me. I knew immediately that this is where I want to be.” “I missed being home,” Pulver continues. “I missed being part of something extremely special in the United States, something that was growing. I was a kid the first time around, had a belt, and had everybody telling me how good I was. A lot of politics got in the way and it was so long ago now in my head and what I’ve changed to, that I’m just glad to be home. My team’s here, my family’s here, and to me, that’s been the hardest part. Everybody’s missing that I had to go off on my own, do my fight, and I come back and try to help everybody do their thing. And that was tough.”But he’s home now, and he’s got designs on rising to the top of his weight class once again.“The 155-pound division is what I built – that’s mine in this sport,” he said. “I’m afraid to talk about it and say I’m back – I don’t want to jinx it. (Laughs) I’m afraid it’s too good to be true.”So despite the vacant nature of the lightweight title, does he still consider himself the champion even if other fighters may fight for it and win it in the interim?“No, I left,” said Pulver. “Am I the only champion they had? Yep. Nobody ever beat me. They can find somebody, but they ain’t touching my belt because I didn’t lose my belt. But I am coming after them. If I have to win two, three, or four fights, I will go after their new belt and trade in my own belt and we can fight for both.”Spoken like a true champion. But what about some other business in the UFC® that fans may be itching to see, maybe, say, a rematch between Pulver and Penn? Does this fight have to happen considering that both are back in the organization?“I think it has to,” said Pulver, his grin widening. “I’ll make him a deal – I know he’s fat and he’s lazy, so I’ll help him out. (Laughs) If this is what people want to see and he can’t get under 160, I’ll fight him at 165. I know everybody wants to see it, so I’m not gonna be the one to stop it from happening. I’ll be the little guy taking on the chubby guy – that’s okay.”This time they won’t underestimate the power of a ‘Lil’ Evil’ though.

Easter

On Sunday the Easter Bunny came by when the kids weren't looking and laid eggs in the driveway.

This is John and Josie and their friend Dimitri finding the eggs! We are in the process of doing the yard~ pics on the yard later... it looks incredible!

This will make you feel old!

Detrix turned 14 on Saturday! Yes, I wrote 14! Can you believe it?

We went to skate barn west in Tukwila where he and a group of friends all skated for 4 hours. It was cool to watch you could roller blad, skate board or go on a scooter. Pretty amazing to watch kids, do some cool tricks.

Saturday's Easter Egg Hunt

We started off our busy weekend with an Easter Egg hunt out in Grandma Mary and Grandpa Lou's neighborhood. We hadn't been in a couple of years, but boy they have the best parties out there! Thank you to both Lou and Mary for inviting us out.

I gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring? Tom Hanks in Castaway




This is one of my favorite quotes. Funny that my top two quotes from Tom Hanks movies! Weird huh. Just thinking about this quote gives me hope. When I am stuck in a rut, and searching, having a bad day or wondering why on earth I have been through so much in my life. I find comfort in knowing that the sun will rise. No matter what happens. No matter if I can see the sun or not, if the sun is blocked out by clouds it doesn't mean it is not there. No it just means it is blocked out though but given time, the sun will appear. Everyday is a new day, everyday is a new beginning. As I am in a journey that is currently taking me through some extremely hard stuff, I find comfort that tomorrow is a new day. With a new day brings hope. I don't want to lose track of that hope. It could be easy to lose sight of things when you feel like you are in a pit. But I have to remember that each day is a promise. The rain will stop the sun will shine again.

Grandma Candy

Derrick's Grandma Candy past away this past week. Derrick did the memorial at his aunt's house today. Our daughter Josephine Annie Forever is named after her. Everytime she would see Josie his grandmother would light up. I am happy that our kids got to know this spunky and fun lady. Although John and Josie only knew her after a stroke, both of them will take parts of their Grandma with them all the days of their lives. She leaves a wonderful inheritance of always staying in the fight. Always choosing to live each day to its fullest no matter what life may bring your way. She chose to stay in the fight, and to be a survivor and an "overcomer" these are some wonderful things that I am proud my kids will inherit.

This is a picture of the late Governer of Washington Dixie Lee Ray and Grandma Candy.

Annie Washo, born August 30, 1921 in Oakpark, Georgia: resided in Rainier Valley/Burien Area most of her years. Annie died March 27th 2007 at Providence Marionwood in Issaquah at the age of 85.
She worked at Bemis Bag, sold Beeline clothes & Empress Pearls. Her passion was her Doll Shop on Martin Luther King Jr. Way where her talent for refurbishing old dolls & visiting with neighbors flourished.
She had an audience with the late Washington Governor, Dixie Lee Ray. Annie presented Governor Ray with a look-alike doll & hand crocheted clothes replicating the styles & lime green colors she always wore; followed by a four page feature in "Women’s Magazine".
Annie’s other interests were dancing, gardening, reading, crocheting, and collecting: dolls, bells, thimbles, key rings, lamps & elephants. Her favorite celebrities were John Wayne, Dolly Parton & Elvis Presley. Annie is survived by her daughters; Mary Sorg of Bonney Lake, Sue Brundage of Everett, Clairette Somonski of Monroe, Charlotte Thomas of Mountlake Terrace, Margaret Mirza of Tacoma & her son, Tom Wirth of Arizona. She has 17 grandchildren & 20 great grandchildren who affectionately called her "Grandma Candy". There will be a private family service.

4 years ago today......

Our little boy ..................... turned 4 today!!

The theme of his party was dragons.... so the cake was a dragon cake by Grandma Mary, Thank you Grandma Mary your the best!

He recieved a call from Geoffrey the Giraffe from Toy's R Us thismorning and was all excitted that Geoffrey wished him a Happy Birthday! This is the first year John "gets" that it is HIS day. So today he would say, "Tooo day is MY Bithday, Tooday!" I write out the today part like that because he emphasis the too part. Very cute. We had a little bowling party on Sunday it is our new thing to do after church. The kids love it and it is some fun family time together. So we had a couple of friends come and wish John a happy birthday.

Happy Birthday John. As I always tell him, "You are my ray of sunshine!", " You make me happy, all the time"

Happy 4th Birthday son!

What a woman! Tammy Trent

As many of you know I am a long time fan of Tammy Trent. She is a "little known" Christian artist, well on her way of becoming "mainstream". I had the priveledge of meeting her in person when Derrick and I had been married for a year. It's funny because Derrick and I got to a peak inot the life that Tammy and her (late) husband had together. We had a misunderstanding early in the relationship, but did get it sorted out. These two were absolutely in love, and just perfect for one another. Trent (She took her husbands first name as part of her stage name) was an amazing man, and before his untimely death Derrick was talking to him about every other week. Trent died while they were celebrating their 10 year anniversary in Jamaica. 9/10 Yes it was one day before the attacks on the US. Tammy was stuck in a foreign country for over a week, thankfully her fatherin law caught the last plane to leave for Jamaica right before the attacks happened. So she was able to have someone there with her.

She is truly an insperation to me, for what she has been through ~ her journey is still long, but she is in the fight.

She is on the cover of Today's Christian woman on sale now. She has two books out as well, both are wonderful books about tragedy and overcoming all obstacles.

Sick (and tired) ~ remember that from Bill Cosby?~

It is so hard when your kids get sick. This past weekend (and still now) John and Josie came down with something. Poor Josie couldn't breathe through her nose, and it just ran and ran. John, well he started barking like a seal. For those with out kids it is the tell tale sign of I think it is called croup, I get croup and whooping cough confused. It's a lovely sound, coming from a child literally like a seal barking. So today they were both feeling a bit better. But still not the best. They rested alot today, and hopefully tomorrow will be feeling better.

The fun thing about kids when they don't feel well, is that they want nothing but hugs and cuddles! So I cherish the time spent on the couch!

That is all for now ~ more updates later.

Here is a fun photo from not too long ago~ I think around Christmas, Grandma Scilla (as the kids call her) got a new camera and we were happy to make silly faces for her!

A Moment made for a camera!

John and Josie were both in a "photographic" and "lovey"mood yesterday. I took full advantage and snapped off some fun photos of them both. This one was the best I thought. Look at those eyes! Beautiful, just beautiful!

Danskin

***** Update the Seattle 2007 Danskin Triathlon registration is closed! It opened Friday night and closed on Monday - wow it went quick! Hope everybody got signed up that wanted to. ********

Team YBC last year at the Danskin Triathlon!

For those of you who may be interested - the 2007 Women's Danskin Triathlon Registration has now opened.

It opened sometime last night and there are already over 600 participants. It max out at somewhere around 4,000 - 4,500 it will probably be maxed out in a week. So if you want to race - c'mon you can do it! Go to www.danskin.com

Hope to see you all there.

If you have never done a triathlon and want to do one this one is great for newbies, great atmosphere and the people are WONDERFUL!!