Trick or Treat...

Our neighbors have the CUTEST toddler in the entire world. Her name is Madison and I don't think I've ever encountered a more precious child. She dressed up like a black kitten and we were able to catch her before she went inside for bed. I had a huge bowl of candy left and proceeded to fill her bag with ALL of it (note: I only bought the candy to hand out to her... I didn't really care about the rest of the kids!) But she was a welcomed ending to an otherwise obnoxious evening. Read on...

Seriously, if you're over 10 years old you should NOT be trick-or-treating. We had a fair number come to our house tonight, though the majority of them were at least 14. COME ON, PARENTS!! When your kids are that old, they can buy their own candy with allowance money - or for that matter... JOB money since that's the minimum working age in the state of Kentucky. Don't let them beg for candy at people's doorsteps, especially when they haven't actually dressed up. FYI - a painted face does NOT equal a costume. My other favorite part about the age-inappropriate trick-or-treaters is the fact that they walk up to your door and don't even say, "Trick or treat!" They just stand there waiting for you to drop candy into their buckets. I should've refused them candy for not saying it... but the smarter side of me said, "Give it to them or they might be back later with eggs & toilet paper." Next year I'm thinking of posting a warning sign: "If you're not 10 years old or younger, DON'T BOTHER KNOCKING!" Our dogs certainly made an impression on most of the older ones. They love to bark when the doorbell rings, and while they're completely harmless, their sheer volume implies otherwise. Maybe that'll teach 'em :)

Well...

Not much can be said about this year's World Series. I guess the Rockies just couldn't compete with this Red Sox roster. But did it have to be a SWEEP???!! Oh well... another year of baseball now over. I do have to hand it to Boston's pitching line-up, you don't get much better than that. I feel the need to make a comment to all my friends who love to talk about the Yankees stacking their team... THEY'RE NOT THE ONLY ONES! I listened to the commentators talk this entire 4th game about how Boston has obtained their team, and what players they may sign for next season. I think I might puke if A-Rod goes to the Red Sox. That's all I have to say about that. I'm going to bed!

Rockies vs. Red Sox

Let me just say that the title of this blog was put in that order for a very GOOD reason! I cannot STAND the freakin Boston Red Sox. I'm thankful that I can still cheer for a team that I actually like in this series! The Colorado Rockies have waited a long time to get to this point, and they've worked hard to be here. I was sad when my Yankees lost, but they just weren't coming out to play. They didn't deserve to go to the World Series this year... though I'm sure my husband would argue that same point about EVERY year. Contrary to his agreement with my father, Shane is not a Yankee fan. It's really too bad, because he could finally begin to cheer for a winning team, rather than wishing for a ray of hope to come from Buffalo! ;) I was living in Colorado during their inaugural baseball season (as well as a few more seasons) and have always held a spot in my heart for the Rockies. It was cool to see them play at Mile High Stadium before Coors' Field was built. I attended many games with my church youth group and my family, so this is certainly a team I can stand behind. I hope they kick the crap out of Boston... stupid scrubs! Somone needs to tell the Red Sox that multi-million dollar paychecks should require them tucking in their uniforms properly and getting freakin haircuts. GO ROCKIES!!!

Toledo 10K

This past weekend we made a trip up to Toledo to meet Shane's parents, Dorian (brother), and Kristen (his brother's girlfriend). We all decided to meet in Toledo because there was a 10K race being held in the city of Sylvania - just miles outside Toledo. I can't begin to tell you how excited I was for this weekend! It's been a big adjustment for us to be living far away from our families, as we've been a little more than an hour away from each of them since leaving home for college and then, eventually, to get married. While being in Buffalo brought many challenges, we also loved being right in the middle in terms of travel to both hometowns. We were blessed to have had that time, especially after also being located in the middle during our 4 years of college. Our families mean the world to us and we're so thankful to be as close as we are.

The anticipation of seeing Shane's family had been building for a few weeks. Dorian & Kristen live out in Michigan and they don't always have the chance to get away, so for them to be able to meet us as well just made things that much better! On a sidenote: I just LOVE Kristen! She is perfect for Dorian and I don't think we could've imagined anyone making him happier than she does. I truly hope she will become a part of this family permanently (though I already think of her in those terms!). Kristen & I have become very close over the past few months and not only do I see her as a friend, but as a sister. She fits in so well with the DeHavens and I look forward to the time that we can all celebrate that. Dorian & Shane have always been pretty close, so it's neat to see "the brothers" reunite :) If you were walking behind D & Shane... chances are you wouldn't be able to tell the difference - unless you were me or their mother!! And on top of getting to see D & Kristen, we were also meeting up with Mom & Dad DeHaven :) I absolutely love being their daugher-in-law. I've never felt more accepted for who I am or loved so unconditionally, except (of course!) in my own family. God has truly blessed both Shane & I with wonderful godly families and we're thankful to be a part of them!

So we made the trip on Saturday morning, arriving in Toledo around 2pm. As we pulled up to the hotel, we could see Mom & Dad D waiting outside for us - "The DeHaven Welcome Wagon" as I now call it :) Everytime we're all together it's just such a great time of sharing, laughing, and talking about the future. Again... I can't say it enough - I LOVE MY FAMILY! So after some long hugs we took our stuff up to the room and decided to come back down to wait for D & Kristen. They came rolling into the hotel about an hour later, completing our weekend crew :) We went out to the mall first so we could help Mom D pick out a dress for the Hunter's Hope Candlelight Ball and then went out for a steak dinner. Nothing like some extra protein before a race! We got back to the hotel after dinner and D & Kristen decided they wanted to go swimming. So we all sat around the pool as they swam... and I must say that I felt a bit like a hovering mother :) After a few minutes of them romping around in the pool I said, "Okay, kids - a few more minutes and then it's bedtime!" We all had a good laugh about that one.

The next morning we all got up to watch the boys run in the 10K (Racing for Recovery). It was a beautiful day to run... the sun was out, but it wasn't hot just yet. The boys were looking strong and we were standing by with cameras in hand :) Shane finished first among our 3 guys and I've never been more proud. I love watching him accomplishing his goals! He ran at a great pace and kept saying that he didn't feel too tired, which is good since he's training for a full marathon this coming January :) Dad D and Dorian followed a few minutes later and we all celebrated their hard work. Shane & Dorian actually received medals for their placement! :) NICE WORK, BOYS!

After the race was done we had to say goodbye to Mom & Dad D as they had to get back to Jamestown for some church events. It's always the hardest time for us, as we know it'll be a while before we see each other again. D, Kristen, Shane, & I went out to lunch together at Don Pablos and just had a great time of fellowship. We then decided to get some Tim Horton's (since we knew we couldn't get any back in Lexington!) and went our separate ways. While it was hard to watch everyone drive away, we knew it would only be a few weeks before we saw them all again for Thanksgiving. Thank you, Lord, for the amazing privilege to be a part of this family!

Praise & Thanks

Well... we have seen LOTS of answers to prayer over these past couple days. Tyler's PET scan came back showing NO ACTIVE CANCER!!!! GOD IS SO GOOD! We are more than ecstatic about this news and are so grateful that the Lord has healed him! He will continue to have chemo, as the doctors want to be sure that everything has been "zapped" (as my mom likes to say). He took his SATs this morning and is now on his way to the hospital for another weekend stay. This round of chemo requires that he go in for 2 to 3-day treatments every other weekend. He never looks forward to these stays as boredom sets in rather quickly. He's also one of the oldest kids on the floor so there's really no one for him to talk to once my family has to leave. But, he only has 1 more hospital stay after this weekend which he's VERY excited about :) I got a phone call from Tyler during his last hospital stay and it was quite amusing. He was saying things that were slightly out of character, though he was extremely lucid and understandable. A few days later, I received a note from him asking if I had called him, or if he had called me that night. I told him all that had happened and he had almost NO recollection of the entire phone call - mind you... this conversation lasted for almost 2 hours! The doctors had him on some sort of medicine that made him a bit loopy, though you would never have known by talking with him! :) We had a good laugh over that, though.

The other praise involves our new niece, Hannah. A few days ago we received a phone call from Shane's mom telling us that Hannah was admitted into the hospital for seizures. She had 2 in one day and (needless to say) Corey & Danielle were scared and uncertain of what was wrong. After multiple tests and check-ups, the doctors determined that Hannah's "episodes" were not seizures at all, but a reaction her body had to acid reflux. She had been diagnosed with that about a week and a half ago and since she's still so young, her body didn't know how to respond to that kind of pain. The episodes resembled seizures, but there was no proof of that in the brain scans the doctors performed. So we're VERY thankful that Hannah is back at home and doing extremely well. She's now up to 6lbs., 3oz. - much bigger than when she was born. We'll be visiting the whole family in Raliegh at the end of this month and cannot WAIT to finally meet her, hold her, spoil her... all the perks of being Aunt & Uncle! Shane & I are also excited to have some time with Corey, Danielle, AND Mom & Dad DeHaven! It'll be one big family reunion :)

Please continue to pray for both Tyler & Hannah. We want to thank everyone who has been steadily praying & providing words of encouragement for these situations. We love you!! I'll leave you with a link to a newspaper article that was written about Tyler a few weeks ago. Pretty cool :)

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070914/SPORTS0102/709140344/1007/SPORTS