Opening Ceremony

Last Friday was the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics and we celebrated with an international potluck.  Here are Ryan and I as the host country, China!

There were lots of other countries represented - here are Italy, Belgium, and Poland:

Gus won the gold in cuteness!

Summer's Over

It's official! Summer has come to an end for one Kruse. I went back to school today! It's almost a welcomed relief to have a schedule once again, not have an excuse to do nothing but eat and drink once again, and start my annual countdown until school's out once again!

The other Kruse refuses to give up! Ryan has one more golf tournament scheduled in Fort Wayne next week. Though he didn't win any trophies on his last 2 visits, we're very optimistic for a win. (Not an actual trophy to store for reliving glory days when we're 80, but a win!)

I just can't seem to keep my nieces off this blog. First Ava's surgery and now Julia's first stitches.









I love this child dearly, but my first reaction was to bust out laughing. She ran into a door at day care. This probably wouldn't have been quite as funny if I hadn't seen her run down a hallway earlier in the week and simply forget to stop, throwing herself into the door at the end of the hall.

Other than that, nothing exciting to report. Ryan's been out of town for most of the summer. He went to play in golf tournaments back in Indiana. So in the mean time, I've just been hanging out, steering clear of public transportation. Hopefully more to report next week!
:)

Weekend Events

Well, there is really no easy way to describe my Saturday but to just come out and say it.  I t-boned a City of Phoenix bus yesterday afternoon.  Thank God no one was hurt and everyone involved was super nice about it.  Especially since it was my fault (which Ryan, along with everyone else told me to NEVER admit again, should I ever find myself in this predicament).

Other than that, we had a pretty tame weekend.  Friday morning was spent at Chuck E Cheese for me and work for Ryan.  Here's a picture of my cute nieces enjoying a ride: 

That night after Ryan put in a long, hard day, I welcomed him home with a nice dinner and a game of Monopoly.  I schooled him.  Hard.  Gus was the banker and did a very good job.

Then he was over it..

.

Saturday morning, I woke up early and met my sister, mom, and two nieces at the zoo.  They had snow trucked in for the kiddos.  So funny to think that these kids think that's what real snow is like!

In the afternoon, Ryan golfed and I provided sheer terror on the road.  Again - thank God no one was hurt.   Today my parents came up and lent me their third car.  Generous - yes.  Smart - we'll have to see.  Hopefully I won't slam it in to the light rail.  I think people might start thinking I have a thing against public transportation!

Ava

For those of you who have been praying for/thinking of Ava, our niece, she had her kidney surgery yesterday and all the positive energy was well received!  She did great and is already recovering nicely at home.  Here she is in her beautiful new gown!

 I felt a need to document her trauma.  I know we'll be talking about this to her when she's 16 and the poor girl won't even have a scar to show off!  Julia is being an excellent big sister and is helping tend to Ava's "owie".  What can we say - Ryan and I have the best nieces!  We're so proud of them!  Thanks for everyone's support for Ava's speedy recovery!

Phoebe lost the battle with her tumor today.  Though her body wasn't able to recover, her spirits never diminished.  She was a special kitty, friend, and sister who left to join her sister, Addy, whom we lost earlier in the year.  As you all know, our kitties are our family (yes, even Ryan agrees!) and these losses have been really hard this year.  Gus is doing his best to remind us that while we are hurting now, nothing could ever replace or lessen the immense love we felt from Phoebe and Addy over the last 13 years.  

Phoebe Guernsey May 19, 1995- June 17, 2008

Phoebe lost her battle with her tumor today.  Though her body