Oh, correction: I meant to say Jerry and Sara and the girls and OWEN! Oops.
Last thing: I forgot to mention a seriously cute/funny moment from the wedding reception. For those of you who don't know, Miles loves the song "The Wheels on the Bus." It will calm and quiet him in an instant. So anyway, at the very end of the reception we were all waiting outside to send off the bride and groom. Miles had had it and was starting to cry while Uncle Garrett was holding him. So he started singing the song. At the same time he started he was surrounded by all of Chase's brothers and friends, etc. and there was an entire male choir singing "The Wheels on the Bus" in four-part harmony. It was as though they had practiced. It was straight out of Three Men and a Baby. SO FUNNY! Miles just sat there in a trance the whole time, just loving it and soaking it all in. Garrett, Brian, John, Corbin, B-Tek, etc. Thank you. It was awesome.

WOW! We feel like world travelers. Seriously, in the last five days we have logged over 3000 miles of travel with two small children in tow. Thank goodness for all of the family in all locations who were willing to help entertain/hold/tolerate the boys! We're really thankful that we were able to make it to Grandpa's funeral and then to Eric and Kathleen's wedding. We were able to see extended families on both sides. Weddings and funerals bring people out of the woodwork that you would never see otherwise! It's great! Grandpa's funeral was a beautiful service. Lots of people were able to share their memories of him and his work in preserving the history of the river and the area.
In Galena we were able to see, among others, the Mike Kilgore family (including Paul and his wife and daughter; Chris and his girlfriend; Maureen, who sang an amazing occapella rendition of "Old Man River"; Suzy, who now goes by Susan; and Justine); Joyce, Brian, Kelly and Robby (who now goes by ROB); Chas and his "harem"; Grandma Marilyn, who was sporting a very interesting red/gray hairdo; Jerry and Sara and the girls; and Alyssa and Bird who made the amazing 15 hour drive as well. We all stayed at the same hotel in Galena and all of the kids had fun at the pool and waterslide. In fact, a lot of the ADULTS had fun at the waterslide, too. Including Grandma Marilyn. Seriously, she would go down the slide (in her swim cap and goggles) and come up sputtering and coughing every time. We all thought she was going to drown! And then she'd have Jerry haul her out of the water and then she'd go up the stairs and do it all again. I think Sara got some pretty hilarious pictures of the whole thing. Anyway, the whole event was a great opportunity to see family.
The wedding in Utah was a whirlwind! We flew out Monday night and were back 48 hours later. Kathleen is a doll and Eric got pretty lucky! Chase gave her a pretty good interrogation when we got there and she handled it well. She seemed really comfortable with everyone right from the start. She'll fit in well with the family. Anyway, the sealer said such beautiful things about the ceremony itself and we were all a little teary-eyed. Eric made it through, but afterward in the receiving line seemed to lose it just a little bit when he saw his brothers. We're very grateful that we could be there. The rest of the day was filled with a luncheon and the reception and lots of pictures. Cameron took his turn on the dance floor early and by 9:30 was asleep on daddy's lap. All in all a very good day. On the return flight we sat on the same row as a guy who REALLY liked picking his nose. No, I mean, REALLY REALLY liked it. SO GROSS.
Anyway, we all got a good sleep last night. It's so good to be home.

Hmmm...time to play catch up on the week past. Okay, Cam's birthday party was FABULOUS! We didn't get any RSVP's and really thought no one was going to come but everyone did. So there were lots of kids and lots of hotdogs and balloons and a great Costco cake (vanilla cheesecake filling, yum). It was really just a perfect day. A little windy, but who cares about wind?! The funniest part was watching the little kids try to hit the pinata. SO FUNNY. They would all come up and just barely tap it with the stick. Finally we just let the Bishop's older kid go to town and bust up the thing. The kids were so excited to see all of the candy and cars inside. It was a "Cars" movie themed party so my girlfriend put little matchbox cars in the pinata. Such a good idea. Too bad we don't have a digital camera right now or we'd have pictures to post. Oh well, with Cam out of diapers almost full time we have even more money to save!
Let's see, what else. Oh, I'm sick. The boys are still recovering, too. This has been a 2 week illness! ARGH! Poor Chase has had to put up with my whining over the fact that I can't breathe. I hate being sick with a fiery passion. There's nothing worse, in my book. I moan, I groan, I lay around as though I'm going to die. And seriously, I am so miserable that I think death would be a nice release. I hate not being able to breathe through my nose. Hate. It.
On Tuesday my grandfather passed away. It was a blessing because he didn't really suffer for too long and he was able to die as he wished - without any heroic measures. He didn't even want an IV! We will be attending the funeral tomorrow in Elizabeth, IL which is close to East Dubuque, IL where my parents both grew up. He was quite an amazing man. Here's an article that was published in the local paper the day after his death.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Radio legend Kilgore dies
KDTH broadcaster reported news and delighted audiences for 4 decades



One of the most distinctive voices to grace local airwaves was silenced Tuesday with the death of Gordon Kilgore. He was 81.
Kilgore died Tuesday at Dubuque Nursing and Rehabilitation Center from complications involving a brain tumor, said his wife, Helen.
Kilgore began his illustrious radio broadcast career in 1951, when he started doing play-by-play sports announcing at KDTH. Three years later, he was doing newscasts. In 1956, his penchant for seeking out and reporting solid local news earned him a promotion to news director at the Dubuque station.
Kilgore made his mark with his reporting on the 1965 Mississippi River floods in the Dubuque area. Decades before 24-hour news coverage was the norm, Kilgore received permission to broadcast live coverage of the flood around the clock for weeks. For his efforts, the city named a one-block street along Dubuque's floodwall after him.
"If it had been anyplace else in the city, it wouldn't have meant a thing," Kilgore said in a 2001 interview.
He retired from KDTH in 1993, ironically on
the day with the highest river level since the 1965 flood.
John Hafkemeyer worked as general manager at KDTH for many years when Kilgore was news director.
"(Kilgore's) experienced perspective was critical to maintaining our service to the community," said Hafkemeyer, who hopes to follow his friend's "uncompromising example" of how to live life to the fullest.
Hafkemeyer was reminded of Kilgore's contagious enthusiasm when he visited him last week.
"I went there to cheer him up, but when I left, he had cheered me up," he said.
Kilgore, a self-taught journalist, said accuracy was paramount. John White feels Kilgore fulfilled that goal.
"(Kilgore) reported it like it was. He was an objective reporter and the best public relations man I ever had," said White, a former city engineer who considered himself one of Kilgore's good friend.
Not just on the air, but in front of audiences both local and national, Kilgore enthralled folks with his tales of life in the Mississippi River Valley.
"He had an unwavering love of people, history and the Mississippi River. As a historian extraordinaire, he helped Dubuque define itself," said Jerry Enzler, executive director of the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium.
Kilgore was a longtime member of the Dubuque County Historical Society and served as president of the board of the National Rivers Hall of Fame. Enzler said he received the first "Treasures of Dubuque Award" from the Historical Society.
Kilgore's natural storytelling skills "captured our imaginations, conjured up truths, morals and principles, and held out hope for the future," said Teri Goodmann, the museum's development director. "Gordon was magical, yet firmly grounded in real life experiences. He loved to laugh, celebrate and make people smile."
Kilgore took every opportunity to tell tales, true or tall, about his beloved river valley. In 1993, he performed "Ticket to Dubuque," with Lou Fautsch at the Grand Opera House. Until recently, he taped segments that were broadcast three times per week on KDTH, called "From the River Bank."
"(Kilgore) was a great guy who knew Dubuque history better than anyone. He was Mr. Dubuque, and the city is going to miss him big time," said Fautsch, a local folklorist and retired teacher. "Everyone loved Gordie."
Kilgore married Helen, his second wife, in 1991. They lived in Elizabeth, Ill., and their extended family includes seven children, 27 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services for Kilgore are pending at the Law-Jones Funeral Home in Savanna.
Copyright 2006 Telegraph Herald. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sorry, I would have posted a link, but you have to have an account to get onto the site...So anyway, we're sad. He will be missed. But we're happy that we can celebrate his life and honor him.

Lastly, and this will seem so trite after writing about my gramps, but it's big news in the Rawlins household. CAMERON HAS LEARNED TO PEE STANDING UP! Yay! This is awesome because it makes it easier to take him out and have him use the potty at the store (or wherever). It's great! Plus, now he can pee on the side of the road if necessary! No need to have accidents in the car!

Wow, if anyone read this far you are a SAINT!

It works! It really works! Cameron is using the potty all day! He doesn't do as well when we go out, but that's what Pull-ups were invented for, right? So he passed his 3rd birthday on Tuesday, so I'm considering Cameron as one of the 25% of boys who are actually using the potty by the time they turn three. The other 75% can eat our dust! I'm SO GLAD to have him out of diapers. Having two in diapers was getting expensive, and as you all know Chase, we don't "Do" expensive. He-he...
Saturday is Cameron's birthday party. We are having a double birthday party with Charlie Basilius who turns three on the 25th. He's Cameron's best friend, and his mom is my best friend. Charlie's dad is a lawyer and is too busy to have a best friend, otherwise he and Chase could be best friends and it would round out the whole group.
Anyway, in sad news...the boys are sick...AGAIN! Argh! I have no idea where it came from, though I DID have a strange premonition of it on Sunday. I thought, "Wouldn't it just be terrible if Cameron was sick for his birthday party?" Sure enough, two days later he woke up sniffling and sneezing! Let's just pray that it passes quickly!
Oh, and I just took these pictures of Cameron passed out on the living room floor. He was playing one minute and then I looked down and noticed that he was OUT! How funny! And you'll notice that he's wearing Superman boxer-briefs (daddy took him on a special underwear buying trip and came home with those). Cameron likes to refer to them as his "underwear pants." Isn't it funny the things they say?!

Well, I feel like I'm in the land of the naked! I have heard from other mommies that the Naked Method is the best, easiest and fastest way to potty-train, so that's what we're doing! Cameron is learning quickly. Of course the minute we put a pull-up on him (or underwear for that matter) he seems to forget everything he's learned...I'll write more later.

Cameron is currently spending time on the potty choo-choo train. He hears us talking about "potty training" him and he thinks it's an actual train that he will be taking. So everytime he sits on the potty he insists that he's on the potty choo-choo train. It's funny...
SO this weekend has been lots of fun and very restful. I love holiday weekends. We kicked off the weekend with some take-out from a Chinese place we've been wanting to try. We've heard it described as the "best take-out in the South 'burbs." It was okay. For such a big city you'd think people would have more refined tastes. I guess that's the midwest for you. We also watched a movie called "An Unfinished Life"with Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman and J. Lo. It was pretty good, too. Yesterday we got lots of deep cleaning done, and Chase studied for the CPA for a couple of hours before playing basketball with his work buddies. He came home sunburnt and totally spent, so he tried to sleep. Cameron had other ideas because he spent all of Chase's "naptime" climbing all over the bed and all over daddy.
Today we spent the morning at Church and then we ALL got naps this afternoon. That's a miracle! Cameron doesn't take naps everyday anymore, so it's a real treat when he does. It was SO nice to sleep for a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon. After dinner we read some excerpts from Jesus the Christ (Cameron didn't even pretend to listen), and sat around the piano singing Primary songs. So much fun! I love how easy it is to teach gospel principles with the primary songs. Cameron is catching on to the songs and getting better at singing them.
Tomorrow we are going to just hang out! Chase will have to study in the morning, but it will be nice to all go to the park together, or maybe hit the beach. We've got to soak up this beautiful weather while we've got it. In a couple of months we'll be in the dead of another Chicago winter and dreaming of the sun... Meanwhile, we're trying to decide just how many more of these Chicago winters we're going to endure. Dallas is calling our name...