"But there's two lines!?!?" ... 14 years later

Today my baby boy turns 14! So hard to beleive it's been 14 years since my life was forever changed! Today seems like a good day to reminisce about how we found out about our little, unexpected surprise ...

A friend of mine suspected she might be pregnant so I went with her to Birth Right to take a pregnancy test. I thought I'd take one, too ... "Since I was there." So we get to talking with the little old lady running the place and she is explaining how to read the pregnancy test. She explains one line means you're not pregnant, and two lines means you are. As I look at the test I say out loud, "But .... there's two lines?". Her reply was simple: "Yep." I went to Donna's house immediately afterwards, where Graden was at. When I walked in I just said, "Hi ... Dad." He was speechless for quite a while. Not typical for Graden.

Then came the fear of telling my parents ... but it turned out to be a very easy thing to do. I was leaving for school one morning and stopped in to tell my mom goodbye. It had been about a week since we found out and I knew I'd have to tell her sooner or later, so I went for it. I reminded her that Dad had had a dream a few weeks prior about me being pregnant ... and that it was true. Her reaction was priceless and is one that makes me proud to call her mom: "Congratulations!" That moment went on to epitomize the support we had from all our friends and family. I still feel very fortunate and blessed to have fallen in love with such an honorable man, have such a great support system by our parents and Gretchen and our friends.

Although Hunter may not have been planned, I wouldn't change one thing about it all. He has made us who and what we are.

I will close this sappy posting with the lyrics to my song for Hunter. He should expect to dance with me to this song at his wedding ...



Baby mine, don't you cry
Baby mine, dry your eyes
Rest your head close to my heart
Never to part, baby of mine

Little one when you play
Don't you mind what they say
Let those eyes sparkle and shine
Never a tear, baby of mine

If they knew sweet little you
They'd end up loving you too
All those same people who scold you
What they'd give just for
The right to hold you

From your head to your toes
You're not much, goodness knows
But you're so precious to me
Cute as can be, baby of mine

Thanksgiving Happenings

We spent the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in Iowa. We arrived on Wednesday evening about 7:30 - after driving through some pretty "exciting" weather. We stayed at Donna's house during our visit! We even had Oz with us!
Thursday morning Graden got up early and went hunting with Thompson (and Oz!) while the girls prepared dinner.
We enjoyed ham, smoked turkey, dressing, sweet potato casserole, corn bread casseole, fresh green beans, rolls and of course ... pumpkin pie! Hunter was sweet enough to eat with the "babies" (TJ and Dayne will always be dubbed the "babies" - no matter how old they are!).


For the first time EVER I got up early and shopped on Black Friday with Gretchen (probably the last time I do it, too). We hit the stores about 4:20 am and shopped until about 11:00, then we had a great "girls only" lunch at Olive Garden! It was nice spending time with Gretchen and Erica! We even ordered a delicious dessert! : ) Mmmm .... might have to consider shopping next year, if only for the fun company!

One of the bargains I got on Black Friday was Guitar Hero III for Hunter's 14th birthday present. Here is a pic of him jammin' out!

Poor Kylie had a very rough day on Saturday! First, she fell off the bed and hit her face on an dresser drawer that was open (it hit her across the nose and eye socket), then the wicker stand over Donna's toilet fell on her, then she was sliding down the stairs and ended up going head over feet down the stairs .... Good thing she's a tough cookie!

The rest of the weekend was spent just hanging out with family and friends. Saturday night we met the Benhams, Chris and Jen, Chad and Adam for dinner and drinks at the OP. Graden, Adam, Hunter and Chad went to the UNI playoff game earlier that night so Hunter got to hang out with the old people ... not sure he should have been subject to everything he heard at a bar on a Saturday night ...

Sunday we went to my dad and Susan's house to have a mini-party for Hunter's birthday. TJ and Gretchen weren't feeling well, so Donna brought Kylie with her and we enjoyed Donna's home made chicken noodle soup (Hunter's favorite) and a Dairy Queen Blizzard cake!

We headed home Sunday about 6pm and got home about 11pm ... long night, long weekend .... it was good to get home!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We traveled to Waterloo for the long holiday weekend! Wishing happy memomies, good food and tight pants for all our loved ones!

Hugs to all!
~ Tiffany

Fishing update

Graden placed 23rd overall! He started his journey home late yesterday afternoon and should be home sometime this afternoon!

We are very proud of him!

Hunter's First Basketball Game

Today was Hunter's first basketball game of the season. He played the entire game and made some good shots, good blocks and lots of rebounds! He scored 14 points in today's game.

As good as all that sounds, the team didn't have what it took to win the game though. The team they were playing had quite a few big kids - 9th graders I suspect. Hunter said they had to be since they were "ripped and had beards"!

The team has next week off due to the holidays so I guess we will have to wait and see what the next game will bring.

Hunter is the biggest kid on the team so I am sure he will be the team member used for the tip off for each game.Hunter made two of two free throws here! During a team time out.

Final score Game 1: 26-42

Graden made the Day 3 cut! Yeah!

Graden finished day three in 17th (of 222) place so he gets to fish Saturday. This puts him in the position to fish for big bucks (first place is $100K!) and to be able to fish in the Bass Master Classic.

I am so proud of him ... I swear he does everything he sets out to do. There is nothing he can't do!

Final weigh in is today, I will be sure to post the final results!

What's the haps?

Hunter started basketball this week. He practices every Wednesday and Friday night from 8:30 -9:30pm. Kind of late, I think especially on a school night. And good thing we don't have an exciting life so this won't have too much of an impact on our social Friday Night Life!


Graden is in Georgia fishing his big tournament. He left last Friday afternoon and will be home this Sunday ... a looooong time away for fishing, but this particular tourney has a lot to offer! The tournament started on Wednesday and is four days long - hopefully. If he places in the top 25 he gets to fish the last two days. As of the end of today (day one!) Graden was in 29th .... sooo close! I am certain he can place well enough to fish days three and four. Here is the site on the tourney details: http://www.abaproam.com/.


Hmmm ... what else has been happening so far this week.


I was sick from Saturday last weekend until just today ... just some sore throat/body aches/headaches but I survived. Other than that, same ol' same ol' ...