THANKS TO ALL!

Thank you to all who helped paint our house today. We got a ton done and I'm just glad I didn't have to do it by ourselves. I was done after 30 minutes. And I'm taking it personal that Doug and Kim didn't help.
So, Kirk had his spring break this last week and we worked everyday, all day on the house to get it finished. Of course, that didn't happen and we just found a new project to start. But that door to the backyard will sure be nice when its done. Then Kirk can have a break from projects. We took some picture but I'll post those later. Kirk has worked hard.
Speaking of Kirk, We found out last night that a student he had his first year who had gotten pregnant, was just found guilty for murder of said child. It's sad to see these teenage kids mess up their lives by getting pregnant when they aren't ready. It was sad.
On a happier note; Carter is doing great! We have only been feeding him by bottle for the last two weeks and Monday they are taking out the G-Tube (if he is still gaining). He has also been off his oxygen for three days and is doing great. He still spits up when he eats but we hope he will just grow out of that. And he still makes lots of noise from breathing. But he might always have that noise. To look at him, you see a healthy little baby and you'd never guess that hes been through all he has. We are thrilled he's doing so well and know it is only because the Lord has blessed us. I don't want to get all preachy but we are so grateful for the Lords hand in our lives. He has given us miracles not only with Carter but all our children.
Well, we are looking forward to the reunion this year and to seeing everybody. Porter looks through our book of last year and its amazing what he remembers.
Again, thanks you to everyone who helped. And we still love everyone who wasn't here. We know you would have all loved to paint right? I wish I lived in Alabama.

part one

part two

And the winner is...

Option 1:
45-Christy, Val, Jeff, Marshall
44-Shane, Jolyn
42-Kristen
41-Joe S, Kim, Weston, Rem
40-Kati
37-Joe Buck
32-Kirk
7-Doug

Option 2:
172-Val
166-Jolyn
162-Marshall
160-Christy
156-Jeff
152-Shane
140-Rem
138-Kim
136-Joe S
134-Kristen
128-Weston
116-Kati
112-Joe Buck
94-Kirk
14-Doug

Jeff, Marshall, Val, and Jolyn all guessed North Carolina to win it all. Rem was the only one with Michigan State in the final game. Who knew that after all this, it would be our parents that schooled us all? Thanks everyone for playing (especially Weston). Until next year....

Down to the Finals

Looks like Christy tooted her own horn a little too fast. The updated scores with one game to play:

Option 1:
45-Christy
44-Shane, Val, Jeff, Marshall
43-Jolyn
42-Kristen
41-Joe S, Kim, Weston, Rem
40-Kati
37-Joe Buck
32-Kirk
7-Doug

Option 2:
160-Christy, Val
154-Jolyn
152-Shane, Marshall
144-Jeff
140-Rem
138-Kim
136-Joe S
134-Kristen
128-Weston
116-Kati
112-Joe Buck
94-Kirk
14-Doug

Monday night the winner will be posted!

This just in . . .

Joe almost has a basketball team. We are having 2 BOYS! How 'bout them apples??

Down to the Final Four!

Congrats to Christy, the only one to pick all four final four teams! Mom was next with three.

Option 1:
45-Christy
44-Shane
43-Val, Jeff, Marshall
42-Jolyn, Kristen
41-Joe S, Kim, Weston
40-Rem, Kati
37-Joe Buck
32-Kirk
7-Doug

Option 2:
160-Christy
152-Shane
150-Val
144-Jolyn
142-Marshall
138-Kim
136-Joe S
134-Jeff, Kristen
130-Rem
128-Weston
116-Kati
112-Joe Buck
94-Kirk
14-Doug

Christy can still be overtaken if the cards fall right for others, so stay tuned...

Round 3 Scores

Option 1:
42-Jolyn, Jeff
41-Christy, Val, Marshall, Kristen
40-Joe S, Kim, Kati, Weston
39-Shane, Rem
37- Joe Buck
32-Kirk
7-Doug

Option 2:
136-Shane
134-Val
130-Kim
128-Joe S, Christy
126-Jeff, Marshall, Kristen
122-Rem
120-Jolyn, Weston
116-Kati
112-Joe Buck
94-Kirk
14-Doug

Three rounds to go: Final four, Finals, Champion. Who will win?

messaging?

Just wondering if anyone ever gets on the instant messenger anymore? Anyone... Anyone...

Round 2 Update

Here are the scores after the first two rounds, and now that we are down to the sweet 16. You begin to see more separation now, and that will continue, as brackets begin to change wildly from here on out. You can see my score dropped from round 1. Also, all Doug's teams are officially eliminated, so his score will not change.
Option 1
38-Kati
37-Jeff, Kristen
36-Christy, Shane
35-Marshall, Val
34-Rem, Jolyn, Kim
33-Joe Buck, Joe S
28-Kirk
7- Doug

Option 2
104-Kati
102-Kristen
100-Shane
98-Val, Christy
96-Jeff
94-Kim
92-Rem
90-Marshall, Jolyn
88-Joe Buck
86-Joe S
70-Kirk
14-Doug

Round 1 Scores

Okay here are the final scores for round one. Keep in mind, that the low score is the number guessed correctly (out of 33) and the second is the graduated scoring, which will just be double for this round.

26-52 Jeff
25-50 Marshall
24-48 Kati
23-46 Joe S, Kristen, Christy, Mom
22-44 Shane, Rem, Joe Buck
21-42 Kirk, Kim, Val
7-14 Doug (picked all upsets and BYU)

Yes, you may think I am doing the best, and for round 1 you are right. However, Wake Forest lost, and I had them going to the finals, so I can guarantee that I will not be up there at the end, as my bracket is shot. Good luck to the rest of you (Doug's BYU pick to win it all is also out).

Carter

So, Carter had another swallow test (he's failed two) yesterday and passed with flying colors! They said he looked like a normal baby. He is also down to 30 minute feedings as of today so he will be coming home this weekend. We are really excited! I also went in to feed him today by mouth and he took half a bottle. So I will have people coming to the house to help me teach him how to eat and as soon as he takes everything by mouth, they will take out the G-Tube!. He looked really good today and was really eager to eat but he also got tired really easy. We are also waiting to pick up our new van as we cannot all fit in the saturn. Busy couple of days but we are way excited to have things going as well as they are.
Love to all!

It begins!

The tournament officially began tonight with the play-in game. Congrats to Christy, Rem, Doug, and Jeff for picking Moorhead State over Alabama State! For the rest, it's catch-up time. Can you overcome the initial deficit?

Can Anyone Unseat Kim?

Here it is, the 2009 tournament. Same rules as last year, maybe someone will beat Kim this year? Sorry about the Hooters sponsorship, but this was the best bracket I could find to upload here-you can print other ones or use this one. Get me them back by Tuesday, and don't forget to pick the play-in game under #16 on the top left corner (you must pick a winner of that game to see who plays Louisville). Get them to me if you want in, and remember that only an increase of pride goes to the winner-but Kim can tell you how satisfying that is!

After Surgery

I'm sorry to write so much but it's not my fault if I'm the only one with news! I just wanted to let everyone know that Carter is doing great. They are continualy feeding him through the G-Tube and he hasn't spit it up once! They are still increasing his feedings and then they will start to condense them (so he will just eat at meals instead of continuously). This should take about 1 1/2 weeks if all continues to go well. His oxygen is really low and he should be off that in the next few days. So we are excited to say that after almost 3 months, he might be coming home soon! There is always the possability of something else going wrong but the fact that it could be soon is exciting! I was going to make this really quick so I'll end on that.