Congrats to Mary Beth and Dan!

Just a quick little post for our very good pals Mary Beth and Dan....

Starting with a big....


Their little boy, Luke Daniel, arrived yesterday! Can't wait to meet the lil' guy in person - hopefully in just a few weeks! And after seeing a few photos on Facebook, he is GORGEOUS (and healthy - came into this world at 9 lb 8 oz!)!

A big congrats to Mary Beth and Dan and I can't wait to see photos of Luke laying about on the Winnie the Pooh quilt I made for him back in August (link takes you to photos from their baby shower).

Heartfelt congratulations from the Greenies and here's to a few rest-filled nights!
~kerrie (& matt & carter)

Congrats to Debbie & Paul!

Just a quick little post for a fellow blogger, Debbie, and her husband Paul...

Starting with a big....

Their little boy, Cooper Paul, has arrived! He is indeed a beautiful little boy and Debbie has posted some fabulous photos (she also does photography on the side!) here.

Heartfelt congratulations from the Greenies and here's to a few rest-filled nights!
~kerrie (& matt & carter)

Look to the Sky!

And folks, this is my final post for the day (NINE in one day!). Might as well end on a high note, eh? And by high (no, I'm not talking about my cold meds), I mean high in the sky!!! That's right, the Greenies attending the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta this past weekend and Carter got up close and personal with some hot-air balloons! To summarize in just one word, the experience was: AWESOME!

Those that have been to the Fiesta know that it is nearly impossible to take anywhere less than 3 zillion photos. I've lived here for more than 10 years, I've been to the Fiesta three times, and I STILL took a zillion photos! It's just that cool! (PS I did reduce all of these photo sizes, so it you want to see any of them better, just click on them.)

So I chose my favorite 50 or so pics and thought I'd post them for all to see. Let's begin with arriving on the field - pre-5AM, no daylight just yet:
Carter was a little drowsy, but he soon got into the spirit (yes, these shots are taken directly from the launch field):
Let the "awe" begin!
Dawn breaking, Carter's already focused on the sky:
A kind woman from Kentucky took our family photo:
A few sit-and-watch shots (they were starting to inflate "Pencil Boy" right in front of us):
Another family shot - again, Carter focused on the sky:
Daddy and Carter:
"Look!"
Carter had a blast running around the launch field with Daddy:
A few more up in the sky:
This one was right in front of us. It was HUGE and we had a hard time guessing what it was going to be. Clearly it was in the "special shapes" category, but what the heck was it?!
I let Carter walk up and touch the balloon as they were inflating it. Needless to say, it was the highlight of his day:
The sky was filling fast (I think the paper said we had 500+ balloons this year):
The highlight of Matt's day - the "Darth Balloon" was being inflated right behind us. Awesome! They even have their own array of Storm Troopers that walk around the field and meet the guests.
The famous "Bees" were also being inflated right by us. This year they had three bees (and I'm pretty sure the owner is from Arizona, so luckily we get to see these each year!):
Even spotted a Jayhawk in the crowd! I know that it's an "international" event (we even saw a "Jordan" balloon), but it's always nice to see someone sporting the KU love in such a huge crowd!
About 30-minutes later we finally got to see what the giant balloon was... A chicken?
Carter watched it go up with glee:
And a few parting shots from the day:
I think it was perhaps one of the most fun days we've had as a family! Carter's excitement was contagious and I think we'll be cherishing these memories for years to come! It was especially fun to watch him point to the sky and say "boon!"

Hope you're enjoying the cooler weather and thanks for reading all of my ramblings!
~kerrie

Saucy Kid

Lately Carter has been an eating champ! He's quite adventurous and will pretty much plow through anything we put on his plate. He's also quite interested in "helping" cook dinner, so I thought I'd share the spaghetti sauce jar with him the other night (and don't worry, it was plastic, not glass). His first reaction? Drink it!

Umm, umm good!
Must be a theme to "taste" everything (I thought kids outgrew that...guess not yet, eh?)... The following morning he swiped the soap dispenser from the bathroom counter and carted it around the house:
Guess the soap wasn't as tasty as he thought:
Oh well, guess we know that "washing his mouth out with soap" won't really have much of an impact on him in the future... The kid is nuts, I tell ya!
Alrighty then, one post to go (balloons!) and then I'm calling it a day! Despite my best intentions to rest, I still did a little work today and even talked with a client. Let's hope these crazy meds didn't make me say something crazy!!! But hey, at least I caught up on the blog!
~kerrie

KU 10-Year Reunion - Part 3 - Banquet and Campus Drive

And my final post from our trip back to Kansas - the final activity as part of our reunion - the Formal Banquet.

My classmates and I got all snazzied up in our "nice clothes" and met for a tasty dinner in Lawrence. We invited our professors to join us, but unfortunately most have either retired, moved on, or were otherwise busy. We did get our Process Controls professor to join us, so we got some of the inside scoop about the chemical engineering department!

A few photos from the night - starting with the table, set so eloquently:
And THE CUTEST party favors - handmade by Tanja! Is that girl creative or what?!
The dinner (L-R: Eric, Denise, Doug, Kerrie, and Professor Carmarda):
More classmates (L-R: Tanja, Rich, Kimberly, Michael):
L-R: Eric, Denise, Doug, Kerrie, Professor Carmarda:
L-R around the table: Matt, Tanja, Rich, Kimberly, Michael, Eric, Denise, Doug, Kerrie, and Professor Carmarda:
And from the opposite end, L-R around the table: Eric, Denise, Doug, Kerrie, Professor Carmarda, Matt, Tanja, Rich, Kimberly, and Michael:And Sam (very left) joined us after working a shift at KU Medical Center:
The meal was AMAZING and the company was even better! Thank you to Denise for organizing such a fantastic event! And thank you to all of my classmates that joined us in Lawrence!

The following morning, after breakfast, Matt and I made a quick drive through campus. I'd been hearing a lot about the new hotel on campus, The Oread, so I had to see it for myself. Wow, snazzy and what a GREAT location to stay the night!!! I'm told from the upper floors you can see right onto Memorial Stadium! Check it out:
Where I spent MANY, MANY hours studying up for my chemical engineering degree - Learned Hall:
Where I WISHED I could have spent more time - Allen Field House, home of my beloved Jayhawk basketball team (might have seen a few photos of this in my living room...):
And to wrap up the posts from our travels to Kansas, I'll end with the best photo of them all! Of course, I had to snap a photo of the Jayhawk in front of Kansas Union (this one was part of the "Jayhawks on Parade" from a few years back):
Great memories, great times! It was so great to see everyone from KU, learn about their diverse careers, and most importantly, spend some time with my family! Until next time...Rock chalk Jayhawk, baby!
~kerrie