Hunter Senior Photos

A few months back I treated myself to / invested in a nice camera.  I have always appreciated photography from afar and finally took the chance that I might be able to express some creativity and appreciation.  Below are the Senior Pictures I took of Hunter one fall afternoon around our city:

2010 Football State Champs // 2011 State Semifinalists

Graduation date is set for Wednesday May 16th with plans for a Graduation Celebration Party on Sunday May 13th.

Saying Good Bye to Oz

Today was one of the hardest days of my life ... I had to take our sweet, sweet dog, Oz, to be put to sleep.

He had been having health issues for the past year or so, but nothing too serious or uncomfortable for him.  He developed a tumor on the top of his head some time ago so we took him to the vet.  At that time she was very honest with us and explained that it was either a tumor or some sort of arthritis in his head/neck.  She said they could operate to determine which it was, but ultimately there wasn't anything that could be done.  I appreciated her honesty and respect her immensely for that.

As time passed, the tumor became visibly worse.  In looked like Oz had a softball on the left size of his skull.  So bad so, that eventually the right size of his head started to cave in.  It was at that point that his health became much worse - he seemed to lose his balance, didn't always have a sense of equilibrium (walking into walls at times, walking sideways at others) and losing control of his bowels and, eventually he was not able to keep anything down.  It was at that point that we knew it was time to let him go.

Graden said it best in his farewell to Oz Facebook post:

One of the most heart wrenching moments was when Dayne expressed her worries that Oz would be alone in Heaven; that he didn't know anyone there.  I told her that he would make friends ... Oz never knew a stranger, after all!

Cleaning the house but can't get myself to clean this particular spot. It is where Oz would look out the window at the front door ... wiping his snot all over. Gross, yet adorable. It reminds me of his genuine excitement to see us and his unconditional love for his family.

RIP Sweet Ozzie ... until we meet again!

Love, Your Humans  xoxo

Chiefs vs. Vikings Game

A few months back one of my team members mentioned that his mom had four tickets to the Chiefs vs. Vikings game in October.  Knowing that my step mom, Susan, is a huge Vikings fan I thought I'd check with my dad to see if they'd be interested in coming down for the weekend and catching the game.  To no surprise, they were 'game'!.

Not only were our seats great - the weather was, too!

And to boost the day's excellence: the Chiefs, who were having a particularly crappy season! - beat the Vikings!  Up to this point the Vikings were undefeated so this was especially exciting!

As always, it was great having Dad & Susan down for a visit!

Homecoming: Senior Year

The football team did their part in making this years Homecoming a great one - with a win against Truman with a score of 42-3!

Hunter and his girlfriend, Ashley, joined several other couples for dinner at one of the kids' family's house.  Later they went on to the dance where Hunter surely made white people everywhere proud of his dancing skills ...