the airport pictures i've been waiting for

i've been hoping and praying for these pictures for awhile and i smile from ear to ear every time i look at them. they combine two things i have come to love...adoption and blogs.

when i was younger i often said i would one day adopt a kid from africa. i didn't really know what i was saying. i think my thought process went something like this: i love kids. african kids are terribly cute. this must be a good idea. i've since given the idea some actual grown-up thought and adoption is still something i'd like to pursue someday.

the pictures above are of the via family. their daughter alethia came home yesterday. it was a beautiful day. it's been a long, hard road for them. not as long as some, but long just the same. i met this family through my second new love...blogs.

the via's and i are what i like to call 2nd degree friends. not in a black belt kind of way, but in a 6 degrees of kevin bacon kind of way. they went to seminary with my friend lindsey and i got to know them through their blog. we've actually e-mailed back and forth a bit [she was my original cvs resource] and are kind of like real friends now.

i remember when i first heard that someone i knew was writing a blog. i thought they were nuts. why on earth would you want to type out your personal thoughts and memories for the world to see? i would never do that. well, as a wise lad once said...never say never.

originally i used blogs solely as a way to keep up with my 1st degree friends. [aka people i actually know] i've always loved knowing what everyday life looks for others, even before facebook and social media put it at my fingertips. i started writing a blog on a whim, and i'm oh-so-glad i did. it wasn't until recently that i realized this, but i'm not just sharing my life with others, i'm gradually writing my life story. i've come to love reading other blogs that reason...i love life stories. i've always been a fan of biographies, specifically ones with a good storyline. there have been multiples times in the recent past that i've come across a good blog and proceeded to read it from beginning to end. [or technically from end to beginning...that is a major drawback] at first i felt a little guilty about it being a time-waster, but then i realized it's really just an online biography. and i love them. 

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jumpin' jayhawks

it's been a rock chalk year at our house. not only did we get tickets to the ku homecoming game this fall, i can now say i've experienced the phenomena that is kansas basketball at allen fieldhouse. we got there plenty early so as not to miss any of the excitement and i have to say, even with the students gone for christmas break it was a pretty great atmosphere. the game itself wasn't exactly a nail biter [ku beat howard 89-34] but it was still a good time.

kim and i before the game

sarah . shelly . kim . mallory

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an ozark mountain christmas

my mom and i have been making our annual christmas pilgrimage to branson for fourteen years. you'd think we'd be getting tired of it by now, but somehow, it never gets old. while we like to throw in a healthy mix of shows for variety, there are two mainstays we cannot do without. it just wouldn't be christmas without the haygoods and silver dollar city. here's what we did this year....

1: we got quackers. my friend jen and her son collin joined us for our first ever ride the ducks adventure. we were by far the four most spirited patrons...and we got the most mileage out of our complimentary quackers.

2: the haygoods. i don't know what it is about this family...i just can't get enough. okay actually, i do kind of know what it is about them. i think i like the fact that the oldest brothers are about my age. every year i spend two hours living vicariously through them and imagining my own career in the song and dance biz. plus they're just flat out entertaining. best version of 'seven bridges road' i ever did hear. this year they added an improv comedian to entertain us before the show and during intermission...he was hilarious.

3: silver dollar city. i love christmas and i love lights, so there is pretty much no better place to be than a park covered in four million of the twinkling things. but aside from the obvious christmas cheer, sdc puts on some seriously good shows.

• the frontier fa-la-la follies: this saloon show is good ol' fashioned knee slappin' comedy...always good for a laugh.
• for unto us a child is born: focusing on who we're really celebrating at christmas is one of the things branson does really well and this living nativity includes a particularly fabulous song. the only downfall is that i miss the big black guy who was the narrator until last year...the dude had some serious pipes.
• a dickens christmas carol: words cannot describe how great this adaptation is. you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll leave inspired. it's broadway worthy...and i'm not just saying that.

4: the best surprise of the year...GREG BRADY! i almost passed out when i saw the billboard. a brady brunch starring none other than barry williams? yes please. the only bummer was that i didn't have my dvd box sets with me for the autograph line!

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