Mayhem in Hutchinson. . .

So, I get this cryptic phone call from my mom late on Tuesday night, telling me to call her the next day, and sounding like something wasn't exactly right. Considering the events of the past month, it kind of freaked me out, but nothing prepared me for what she had to say.

Most of you still living in Kansas probably have heard about the Dillons hostage situation that happened on Tuesday. If you haven't, here's a quick synopsis: 30th St. Dillons gets a phone call from a guy who gives details about the interior of the store, indicating that he is either inside or able to see from the outside what is going on in the store. He says he has a bomb placed in the store and instructs everyone to hit the floor and comply with his request to have $1 million sent to a bank account in Europe, or he'll detonate the bomb. He also stated he would personally cut off the fingers of the store manager if they did not respond. Weird situation in itself, but the sad thing was my poor grandma had decided to go to Dillons to pick something up at that exact time. After everything that's happened this month with my grandpa passing away, this is not exactly what she needed to go through. She made it out OK and eventually connected with my frantic parents and aunt, so everything ended up OK, weird and bizzar but OK. They haven't caught the guy yet last I heard, but they were able to catch some local moron who decided that it would be funny to call in "prank" bomb threats to all the other Dillons stores and the Super Walmart the next day. I guess it goes to show you never know what's going to happen back home. At least things weren't actually exploding this time. . .

So, Raoul and I are off to Seattle for Labor Day weekend tomorrow after work. He's meeting with Matt for some guy time (which I think involves Metroid and movies I would never go with him to see) while I meet up with Trina, Katie, and Megan for a fun weekend in the city. I love Seattle!

Back in Clarkston to stay in one place. . .for a couple weeks anyway!

So, after two weeks of some crazy traveling, Raoul and I are back and settling into our routines again. Here's a quick recap of our travels. . .

We made an overnight mad-dash home to make it to my Grandpa's funeral. Although it was sad (and hard hitting for me since I hadn't actually seen him since my wedding), it was really good to spend time with my family. The whole thing has made me realize how much I love and enjoy spending time with my parents. Watching them have to deal with the death of a parent at different times over the last few years has not been fun, but everyone handled things very well considering the circumstances. There are so many memories of growing up and spending time with him, but I will always remember one particular time. Throughout high school and into college, he constantly asked my siblings and I when we were going to get a job. . .jokingly of course. When I found out about my job in Lewiston, I was so stoked to tell him because after so many years of finding excuses, I finally had an answer. . .and one I knew he would be proud of. I will always remember the bows on his head at Christmas time, rides on the four-wheeler on the farm, coming in the door to their home and hearing "Well, hi!" and when we'd leave "Now you behave". He will never be forgotten and I look forward to seeing him again some day for one seriously big family reunion.

The one upside of the funeral coming so close to my sister's wedding was that I was able to spend more time with her and Joe and help out with some things prior to the ceremony. What can I say. . .we've gone from near enemies to the closest of friends in just a few short years--funny how growing up will do that to you. It's funny too, because neither of us cried at our own weddings, but we sure did a good share of tearing up seeing the other walking down the aisle. The ceremony was really nice, and again it was so good to just have family together. An added bonus was getting to spend some time with Trina (albeit too short), and we even did some livin' it up at Applebees in Hutch the night before Karen's wedding.

And here are a few photos from the rehearsal dinner and wedding--

The week was really emotional, with highs and lows, but having Raoul and my family there made it a very good time--getting to really spend time with the people I care about most.

This past weekend we decided to take a fun trip with our friends Adrienne and Chet--otherwise known as Jason's twin :) --to Missoula, Montana, where they had gone to school. We spent the time just hanging out with some of their friends and touring the town. It was really great to spend some time just having fun--and we had some great company. My big accomplishment of the weekend was having my first real beer. Now don't laugh at me just because I was actually 26 years old before I had my first brewsky. I've been a big wine fan and also like girly drinks (you know, the sweet ones--amaretto sour, seabreeze, cheerleader beer), but after living down the street from several bars in college and waking up to the smell of cheap beer, I've never quite had the appetite to try it. Chet and Adrienne have been gracious enough to help me out by easing me into the world of beer rather than me just stabbing around attempting to find something tasty. The verdict? I still like wine and the sweet stuff better, but a honey-wheat beer with pizza was pretty good. Here's the photo to document the occasion--

Isn't Raoul just the cutest designated driver ever? And here's the road trip crew, and yes Chet "Jason" is on the right. More on our next travels to Seattle coming up soon!

A Sad Day for the Schraeder Family. . .

Just as Raoul and I were about to embark to two straight weekends of fun plans with family and friends (my sister's wedding and a weekend in Missoula with friends), we got a sad phone call early this morning. My grandpa had surgery last week to repair some valve problems in his heart. His recovery had been going well, and they were working on weaning him off of the ventilator. Last night and early this morning, they found a serious infection and attempted to fight it with anti-biotics. Because of his delicate condition after surgery, his body was unable to fight off the infection and he passed away early this morning. This was a sudden, unexpected turn of events as he had been doing better the last couple of days, so my family is taking it pretty hard. My sister's wedding is still on schedule for Saturday, and the funeral is scheduled for Wednesday. I was able to take off Wednesday and Thursday to be back with my family, but there hasn't been much time to get things in order with trying to distribute my patient load among my co-workers and finding a last minute flight that would keep me from missing as much work as possible. Raoul and I are planning on leaving late on Tuesday night, arriving in Wichita aroun 9:00 AM on Wednesday. Please pray for my family, especially my sister who is trying to hold things together for the wedding as well as grieving for my grandpa. I'll try to post an update when we return.