To Have Known You

My beautiful grandma passed away on Monday. Just when we thought she was coming home from the hospital, Our Gracious Lord called her Home. We were all surprised but also reminded that God has a plan for each of us and this was indeed His plan. I am grateful that in that plan we were already back in Oklahoma which gave us the opportunity to introduce her to Brett and have several wonderful last visits with her. She just thought Brett was the cutest baby and said she could just stare at him for hours...so Mom, maybe to her he was the most beautiful baby in the world (haha).

I will definitely miss our visits, her witty sense of humor and of course her advice on life, or rather, her predictions about our lives (I mean who knows Ali, maybe you will soon find that well-established man she was talking about).

Just as I was having a hard time adjusting to being back in Oklahoma and even questioning if this was the right place for us, this happened and I am reminded how wonderful it is to be only a 30 minute car-ride away.

Grandma, I am sad that you are gone, but am grateful and blessed to have known you for 25 years.

Welcome Home, Kochenowers

Well here we are, almost a week and a half later no longer living in the stone ages...COX finally hooked up our cable and internet. I don't know if we could have survived just staring at each other another day and there's only so many places to explore around the area.

Now that we've been back in good ole Oklahoma, here are some of my observations and thoughts:

1. HOLY MOLY WIND! I have already been pummeled in the back by my car door, Brett's pool has blown away and I have fixed my hair a total of one day. Really, 20-30 mph every day?!?!
2. Heat...not sooo bad YET. Well until above mentioned wind blows like a furnace in your face.
3. Bugs, bugs, bugs and spiders and FLYS! It literally sounded like it was raining as we were driving the other night, nope not a drop of water, but plenty of bug guts all over the windshield.
4. RANCH BEANS!! They're everywhere and I LOVE IT!!! Welcome back into my life Mr. Ranch bean. Really northern states you must discover the delicious goodness of ranch beans. I really don't know how I even made a legitimate Taco Soup these past 4 years.
5. Super Center Wal-Mart....again are EVERYWHERE and once again I LOVE IT! I once had a grudge against Wal-Mart, but you know they really do have everything you need in one place which is really what you need when your favorite accessory is a 6 month old.
6. Oklahoma DMV....UGH! You must get some advice from other states on how to operate. Of the 3 states I have dealt with you are by far the most unorganized.
7. Did you know that Oklahoma is one of the highest states with uninsured motorists? Thank you uninsured motorists for making my insurance almost equal to what it was in downtown Chicago.
8. Big Hair and even bigger hearts. I forgot how big the women where their hair, I finally fit back in! Hey, in the words of Paula Dean, "The bigger the hair, the closer to Jesus." Also lots of mams and sirs flying around everywhere, with friendly faces on every corner....and everybody knows your name...

Well those are just a few of my observations in our first week. So far we've had a great time with family and friends and are very happy to be home.

First Tooth

Mr. Brett woke up with his first tooth popping through Saturday morning! It's his right bottom front tooth. And here I thought he was chewing on everything before. I never knew you could chew on so many things. Anything and everything goes straight to his mouth...even his toes!

He's also turned into a big boy overnight...stories and pictures to come.

The Countdown Continues

So I sorta forgot I was doing the Back to the Sooner State Countdown . So I just went from 2 months and 2 days to 10 DAYS!!! I can hardly believe it. This year has gone by so fast. It just doesn't seem that Scott was graduating this time last year and we were packing up to come to Cleveland. And once again to follow our life's story, we're packing up again.

Well...I'm thinking about thinking about packing...

Maybe this weekend I'll get the boxes out...

Ahh, who am I kidding I'll get around to it later next week...

Ride 'em, Cowboy!

Brett's Aunt Linny had a special surprise for him when we were visiting last week...his very own rocking horse that she made for him in her woodshop class. He's a little too small right now, but one of these days he's going to be rocking away. Now we just need the hat and boots so he can get the real cowboy experience.

Thanks Aunt Linny. Such a special surprise that we will cherish for many many years to come!