To sum it all up...

Someone (who's name shall remain anonymous) told me that tomorrow will be 1 full year since I've typed anything on this blog. So, as the title says, I will sum up the last year in the Felton house...

When I last left off, we had some hearing tests, eye exams, & the March of Dimes RIDE. Hopefully not to sound like a broken record, but the only thing I will leave out is the hearing test since there hasn't been a repeat performance of that. We have had another eye exam since then and we were told that McKenna has astigmatism. What that could mean is that she will probably wear glasses at an early age.

If February, we moved to a different house. We couldn't have been more fortunate by selling our old house 'For Sale By Owner' which saved us a lot of money. We moved to the Southwest side of Cedar Rapids to a beautiful newer home in a much more quiet neighborhood. Since the move we have been busy with getting settled, figuring out a routine, meeting neighbors (who don't like listening to music at 1:30am when some rowdy college friends come to visit), and putting in some landscaping. I have a much smaller yard now which takes 45 minutes to mow instead of the 2 1/2 hours it used to take me.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably all know about the severe weather that has slammed Iowa this year. Cedar Rapids was flooded beyond anyone's belief. On Wednesday, June 11th, I walked downtown for a bit of "gawking". Where I was standing that afternoon, if I would've been there 24 hrs later, the water would've been over my head. All of downtown Cedar Rapids was flooded and shut down. My office was closed and we were to work from home until further notice. That turned out to be 5 full weeks. There was 1 way to get from the West side of CR to the East side and that was I-380. Normally 3 lanes wide, 1 lane was shut down for emergency crews to get through, and the other 2 were backed up for miles and miles. Some of you in the "big city" are used to this, but in Iowa we still measure distance between A & B by miles, not by traffic jams, toll booths, etc. Suzanne had to leave work extremely early in the morning and it would take her just as long if not longer to get home at night after working her butt off. Oh yeah, Mercy hospital was also flooded and ordered to shutdown once the water reached their property 10 blocks from the river. This of course filled up St. Lukes hospital which is on a lot higher ground. Not only were they doing 1,000 more tests in the lab daily, but also had to make up for the staff who could not be there because their house was flooded as well. I thank God each day that I drive through the massive devastation that our house was not affected by this monumental flood. There are 4 water treatment plants in Cedar Rapids, 3 of which were flooded. Cedar Rapids as a whole was put on severe water conservation mode. We were not supposed to shower, flush toilets, use water to cook, etc. Only for necessity. By about day 4, showering with a baby wipe looses it's lustor. We had planned to go to a friends parents house in a different town to shower when they got hit with another storm causing power outages. As we got that call, it started to pour rain outside. On our deck, there is a 'L' shaped privacy fence and so we showered out in the rain with a little help from sump pump water. To all of you that are a bit squeemish, I smelled a whole lot better after that shower than I did before.

During this time, there was also a change in our family dynamic. Most of you know that we've had a dog since before we got married (6 yrs). Sierra for the most part was a really good dog and very loyal. It didn't matter the time, day, what happened the last time I saw her, she was always glad to see me/us. When we brought McKenna home from the hospital, she would usually be inbetween McKenna and the door in case anyone tried to come in. Sierra was a pretty scary dog sometimes. If she didn't think you were welcome in our house, she would back you out with some raised lips, growls, and some pretty mean sounding barks. I usually didn't worry about leaving on a business trip because I knew that she would protect Suzanne and McKenna until she couldn't fight anymore. On June 19th, a week after the flood, we were cutting her nails. Suzanne always did the cutting and I petted her and fed her treats so she would lay still. Suzanne was on the 2nd to last nail and all of a sudden Sierra jumped up barking and charging after Suzanne. She at one point had her entire hand in her mouth biting it until she could finally be distracted and Suzanne could get away. Sierra weighed 75 lbs and at last check McKenna weighs roughly 30 lbs. We just couldn't take the chance of anything like this happening to McKenna. I personally would NEVER forgive myself if it did so we had no choice but to humanely euthanize her. That day, I was playing frisbee with her at about 11:30am and by 2:00pm, she was no longer with us. It was a very fast decision, but we had to do it then or we probably would have talked ourselves out of it. For the most part she was a very good dog and we loved her dearly. We hope to get another dog some time down the road when McKenna can help take care of it. But Sierra was our first dog and will remain in our hearts forever.

Since it may very well be another year until I update again, here are some things that will happen in the near future...

This coming weekend, August 16th, we will again be the ambassador family for the March of Dimes RIDE. If anyone would like details to join us, the more the merrier. Otherwise, you can click HERE to sponsor us.

In October, one of my very best friends "Sleepy" will get married in Kansas City, MO. I am so excited for him and his absolutely wonderful fiance. The wedding and party afterwards will be a blast.

In November, Suzanne's college roommate is getting married in Cancun, Mexico. Jess is basically the reason that Suzanne and I are together. Long story short, I roomed with Jess' sister Rachel and we went to Ames for Veisha. Low and behold I met a beutiful blond that weekend who later became my wife. Pure coincedence but I thank God each day for allowing me to meet her.

Our love to each of you.