May 2025

Ray had her first vet visit on 5/1/25. She was curious and sniffed all the things. The vet checked her over and lined up her next visits and vaccinations. On her second vet visit on 5/29/25 she weighed 33 pounds.

We attended the Hutton Block Party for employees and their families. This year we all attended a WSU baseball game together, ate hot dogs and hamburgers, took silly pictures, and some got their faces painted.

Eric's baseball team started their season. So, far it has been great! The boys have played together for many years now and have improved so much over the years. I love the friendships some of these boys share.

Our church held a little graduation party to honor Sarah after service on May 4th.

Ralphie, Silas's Bearded Dragon, got to go outside on his new leash and harness. When outside in the yard he mostly just froze in one spot. I'm sure he was scared and on high alert for predators.

One of Ray's littermates, Myla, came to visit us for a week. She was not as great as Ray, in my opinion. She pee'd on the floor many times and just wasn't as loveable to me as Ray is. I told Silas I was super glad he picked the "pink collar" puppy. (Myla had a blue collar.) She did look very similar to her sister though...same coloring and size. Our other dogs got along well with the two puppies, but seemed worn out by the end of each day from playing with them. Gus liked (tolerated) them more than Belle did.

Three or four of our Iris bloomed for the first time this spring. We got the starts for them from Dad and Mom a few years back. I was glad to see them bloom this year. It made me think of Mom and how much she loved the Iris every spring.

 Silas was the only sixth grade boy at his school to be selected and inducted into the National Junior Society! (NJHS) Membership is based on scholarship, leadership, service, character, and citizenship. Then, the very next day, he brought home the Award of Excellence. This lead worthy character certificate was in recognition of his exemplary kindness. He was nominated for this award by FOUR of his teachers! Staff members were asked to nominate students that are helpful, welcoming, and consistently kind to classmates and adults, AMAZING, Silas!

Beaker, one of our Crevecoeur chickens, looks hilarious when her head feathers get wet.

Eric celebrated his 47th birthday. He is our rock. He keeps us grounded, makes us laugh, is the best Mr. Fix-It ever, leads well, cares deeply, loves Jesus, is honest, confident, and humble. We love him so much.

Silas played in his last Orchestra concert of the school year.

Mother's Day ~ 2025. I have been blessed.

Sarah's last day of High School was Tuesday, May 13th. It was a short day... lunch was served to the seniors followed by "Decision Day".

The Decision Day ceremony (all parents are welcome to attend) is an awards and honors assembly for all seniors and parents to attend. Sarah was recognized over and over for her leadership and academic achievements. Certificates and cords were handed out, Prizes were given away, and a couple of scholarships were also announced. Sarah was a recipient of several cords, certificates, and the Ryan Painter Memorial scholarship ($2000). It was an amazing afternoon! (full Mommy heart)

Sarah and a few of her elementary school classmates went back to visit their elementary school one afternoon before graduation. They visited a couple classrooms, had light refreshments, and looked at old yearbooks.

Silas performed and sang in his last choir concert of the year. It was their "Pop" concert with an 80's theme this year and it was really really good! They sang songs from footloose, Top Gun, and other popular 80's shows/movies. Each song was fun and had some dance moves along with the singing. Silas was selected and awarded the "Rookie of the Year" award from among all the sixth graders in choir. Great job, Silas!

We had a family get together at our house on Saturday, May 17th to celebrate Sarah and her graduation. We played outdoor games, some jumped on the pogo stick, talked, and laughed, and ate tacos. It was a good night.

Graduation! Sunday, May 18th ~ held at Charles Koch Arena ~ 1:00 pm

After the graduation ceremony, we had a party for Sarah. Lots of family, friends, teachers, and coaches came to help us celebrate Sarah and all her accomplishments. Below are just a few of the pictures - ALL graduation get together, ceremony, and party pictures will be posted in a separate blog post.

On Phoebe and Silas's last day of school we went to Rock'in Ricos for sno-cones.

Phoebe did not even show me the awards pictured below.... I found them in her bedroom on her dresser. She was nominated by three of her teachers for the school kindness awards. (Of course she was.) Yay Phoebe! Keep leading with kindness.

Phoebe and I went with Dad, Charles, Wyonna, Jerry, and Julie to eat lunch at Cracker Barrel and then to decorate graves for Memorial Day on Saturday, May 24th.

One Sunday afternoon we gathered with some church friends for fellowship at a local park. Several of the kids found LOTS of baby turtles of many different kinds.

Sarah got all four of her wisdom teeth surgically removed on Tuesday, May 27th. The doctor said it went well. Phoebe went with me to help talk to her and video tape/record her after the surgery. Sarah was only slightly funny after the surgery, more tearful than anything though. She cried the whole way to the pharmacy and home, only stopping to get upset about her "ice pack" that had no ice, "only water", and to touch her face and be very concerned about how it looked and felt. She also had forgotten that she had an IV and when she saw the cotton ball and tape on her right arm was alarmed and in disbelief...she said, in a very dramatic way, "WHAT is THIS!?!?" We thought things were healing well...swelling had gone down, and she was eating most foods again, but suddenly she was swollen again and in a lot of pain. She is currently fighting off an infection on the bottom right side of her mouth. We hope it will subside and heal quickly.

Eric got to climb the Tower Crane with a couple co-workers on one of his jobsites.

ERIC - I am not the best with heights.  In my mind, psychologically, I am fine.  I know that if I were to fall, I would go to Heaven and I am ready for Heaven now, so no worries.  However, physiologically, my body lets me know it doesn't like heights.  We have a tower crane on my 9 story construction project in downtown Wichita.  I have never been on a tower crane job and I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to go to the top of it.  On a recent beautiful day, three of my fellow construction workers decided to make the journey to the top of the 190' tall structure.

We briskly climbed the ladders.  Of course the guys I went to the top with were all young enough to be my kids, but I didn't slow them down.  I was surprised I didn't get winded.  Must have been the adrenaline.  About 1/2 way up, as I looked down, I thought to myself that this was going to be hard to push through.  Mind over matter.  After that brief thought, I kept moving on and made it easily.

The first picture(from up at the top) is of Intrust Bank Arena and the second is Century Two with Hutton's office in the background.  There is a picture of me sitting in the operator's seat.  I did not operate the crane, but I did get to see what he sees.

The most intense part was walking horizontally back to the counterweights.  There was an 18" wide wire mesh pathway with 12" wide openings on either side of it.  It would have been hard for me to fit through those 12" openings if I fell, but still possible.  I shuffled my feet and kept my hands tight to the rail as I eased my way back to the weights.  We were on the back of the crane while the crane operator swung it 180 degrees.  We then walked back to the operator's area and made our way back down the ladder.  Not long after getting down did the adrenaline rush end and I was exhausted.  It was a super cool experience that I am fine if I never do again.