He's coming home!!!!!!.....

DEAN'S COMING HOME TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

His original plane he was supposed to fly home on was having some mechanical difficulties so this is the one he gets to fly home on. They're still working out a few structural flaws, but it looks pretty safe and sound to me. He'll be sitting under the left wing, third row back.

Answers to prayers...

Dad Holmes' surgery went very well on Tues afternoon, and the Dr.'s only had to do a triple bypass instead of a quadruple so that is something to be thankful for. He is still in the ICU recovering, and Dean spent the whole day there with him yesterday and said he made great strides just in the 12 hours Dean was there. His air intake and output improved tremendously throughout the day while using the spirometer which is something to be very grateful for since during surgery they deflated his lungs when they put him on the heart-lung machine. It's basically an apparatus that assists in making sure his lungs are making their way back to fully functioning after the surgery. He is right on track for recovery, and I'm sure he'll continue to make great strides.

We are so grateful for the many prayers that were offered up on his behalf, and that our Heavenly Father was gracious and merciful enough to make sure that Dad made it through surgery with no complications. Our prayers still go up to Him with many thanks for all He has given us, and will continue to give us. This life truly is a blessing and a gift.

Why did he marry me?...

Wow. He must really have loved me to marry me when he knew I could look like this when I yawn. You could drive a semi truck into that mouth.

Intimidating face...

How can I not love that face? That intimidating, tough, I-can-raise-one-eyebrow-with-pursed-lips face. I have one hot husband.


Tom is having his bypass surgery tomorrow, and Dean and Chelsey are in AZ with Mom, Chase, and Makenna. Any prayers on Tom's behalf are appreciated.


I miss my sweet husband, but I am keeping crazy busy in the meantime while he's gone. There are about a billion and one things to do around the house in addition to having to study for a Bones and Muscles test tomorrow, a chemistry test on Wednesday, and then I have a Theory test on Thursday. Wish me the best of luck because I'm going to need it. Chemistry is my Achilles heel so I am going to have to put a lot of extra studying into it in order to pass it. I guess I'd better get to it.

Please say a prayer...

Dad. Tom. Grandpa. Three different names out of many for one remarkable man.

Dad Holmes is in the hospital in Phoenix right now because he had a mild heart attack on Saturday. Thank goodness they caught it when they did because the Dr.'s said that it should have been much worse than it was. He will be undergoing either a triple or quadruple bypass on Tuesday so I kindly ask that you remember him in your prayers even if you've never met him. Tom is an amazingly kindhearted man who would give the shirt off his back to anyone in need. He is a pilot for Alaska Airlines, and flying is his life. After doing it for over 30 years he says that he still gets the thrill he did when he was first learning how to fly. We are praying that all will go well with surgery, and that he will able to continue to have the privilege of making a living at flying.

I just got home a half hour ago from taking Dean to the Midway Airport in Chicago so that he can go and help out in any way he can in Phoenix. We realize this is a very stressful time for Dean's sweet mom and for his sisters and brother, and we both felt it would be a good idea for Dean to go and be a support. He will be gone until Monday the 29th, and then he starts school again the next day. I am going to miss him, but I completely support him in flying to be with his family, and I would have gone too if I didn't have school. C'est la vie though. I'll be sure to update on how everything goes over the next couple of days. Again, please keep him in your prayers.

And the verdict is in...

DEAN PASSED BOARDS!!!!!

We just got the results on Friday that my sweet husband passed Part 1 boards!!!!!!!! Hallelujah!!! He took them over 6 weeks ago, and they make you wait forever because they have to grade the entire nation's tests first and they make you have a stroke waiting to hear if you have to take them again or not. It was absolutely adorable to watch him look up his scores online. The second that he woke up on Friday he ran to the computer to login and see, and he couldn't believe his eyes. I am so glad that I took pictures because his reaction was priceless. I am so proud of him and how much dedication he has put into his schooling over the past 2 years. I don't know how he does it, but he manages. Keep it up baby!

Dean is logging into the website that will tell him his scores. He looks like he's concentrating so hard in that picture. I love it!

He's already seen his scores, and he can't believe that he passed them all with flying colors. He almost looks concerned.....

Then he realizes that he really DID pass and a 500 pound weight was just lifted off his shoulders.

Now he goes back to looking at the screen and he can't stop grinning for the next 15 minutes.

4 down, 6 to go...

That's right my friends, Dean is all done with his 4th trimester of chiropractic school as of yesterday morning! HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!! We have to celebrate the small but very expensive victories, so what better way to celebrate than to go out to Mexican!?!?! Right after I was done with school yesterday we went with Keven, who also just finished up 4th tri, and Tiff and their sweet daugher Nyah to Los Agaves here in Davenport. Of course we ate way too many chips, drank too much water in attempts to get the burning salsa out of our mouths, and enjoyed too many fajitas, but Dean and I are cheapskates and we always share a fajita plate when we eat out to try to justify it. At least we're cutting our costs! I know, we're terrible. But you have to treat yourselves every once in a while.

Point being, only 2 more years to go until Dean is done!!! We sure are enjoying the ride though!

26 years old and 2 year anniversary

I just turned 26 on September 24th, and then Dean and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary two and a half weeks later on October 8th. Sadly, we only have 1 picture to show for one out of the two events....

Yup, that's right. Waffles. All we have to show is waffles.

Dean made me waffles on our anniversary and they were absolutely delicious. Somehow we forgot that we even had a camera for the rest of the day so I guess we'll have to depend on our memories for that. We both had school all day, and then we went out to Olive Garden for dinner. Ate way too much. Then went over to our friends Keven and Tiff's house so that Dean could finish a school project and so that I could study for a test that I had the next day. Then we watched our favorite show Heroes. And that was our anniversary. We'll have to do the whole romantic getaway thing another year when life isn't so crazy busy, and school doesn't eat up every spare second of our day. But at least we can say we've had a heck of a ride for the past 2 years. It's been worth every second, and I wouldn't change anything for the world. He is everything I ever needed and more. He is my life.

The vows and then the PARTY!

Here comes the bride...Our awesome Uncle Tim performed the ceremony and got quite a few laughs out of the crowd while doing it. It was hilarious at times, but also serious at the appropriate times..Dean, chelle, our awesome cousins Molly and Frank and I'm holding their ADORABLE baby Travis. I didn't want to put him down. We miss you guys!Look at how much fun mom is having. I love it!!!And that's right, she got Chase to dance to one song with her. It was so cute. He was trying so hard not to smile. Then Dean and Mom starting dancing swing and tore it up. They were all over the place. Then Dean grabbed the bride and they danced swing to the next song. Dean used to dance swing all time time in college so he was a force to be reckoned with.
And the best picture of the night.... Dean doing an overarm flip to Chelsey. That's right folks, she did a backflip over his arm with his help.

It was a beautiful wedding. We know Chelsey and Devin are going to have a wonderful and adventurous life together and we wish them the best. We love you both.

It's almost time....

Here's the bride putting her dress on just before taking pictures before the wedding.Awww, she looks so gorgeous. Her dress was beautiful.
Devin (in the white jacket) and his groomsmen getting ready for the big day.


Is that not the sweetest picture of mom and dad?

Dean and I taking a second to take a picture of us before commencing snapping pictures of everyone else.

Crazy kids.

Devin and his groomsmen holding up Chelsey.

Look at how sweet Kadin looks. Dean is so proud of his little buddy.

The 2 boys of the family. Handsome men.

Goofin' around...

Chelsey cheesin it up while setting up before the wedding!

Awww, look at the adorable siblings.
Picking up their soon-to-be-married sister!
Uh oh! They just about dropped her!

Chase piggybacking Dean over to go get some chocolate.

Awwww, cute brother and sister...

Awwwww, look at my devilishly handsome husband and his beautiful sister, Chelsey. Chelsey got married this past Saturday in Maple Valley, WA and Dean and I flew in to attend it and we had such a good time. Chelsey looked absolutely gorgeous, and Devin (her new hubby) looked like a stud. The wedding was beautiful and everyone had a great time. I'll post pictures from it later on tonight.

A wedding was a comin'...

Dean and I went to WA 2 weeks ago to Chelsey and Devin's wedding, and I have 5 billion pictures from it that I would love to post but I'll just start off with a few from the beginning...

I'm sitting on the ground in the Moline, IL airport doing homework waiting for our late airplane to take us to Chicago and then onto Seattle.

Here's my handsome Dean taking a self portrait in the airport.

We got to Seattle, visited our friend Anika, and then went right on over to Kristene's house and made centerpieces until 4:30AM, and went to bed at 5:30AM.

Then Dean, Makenna, and I got up at 8:30AM and started to get ready for the day. I did Makenna's hair and makeup and Dean went and got a haircut in the meantime. It was getting a mite long.

Here's the beautiful Makenna taking a picture of herself at Kristene's. Doesn't she look pretty?

And here's Chels eating some toast and cream cheese a couple of hours before the wedding. She needed to get a little something in her system so she wouldn't run out of fuel at the end of the day.