Engagement Pictures

This weekend Gregg and I flew to Lubbock to have our Engagement Pictures taken and spend some time with our families! It was a very busy and eventful weekend for us. We flew into Lubbock around 9am Saturday morning. We were a little rushed getting to the airport that morning since Gregg had worked Friday and didn't get off till 6:15am Sunday morning. Gregg dropped me off to get our luggage checked in and he went to park. I checked us in and got our luggage checked and was waiting in the security line when he got to me. We boarded our plane and headed to Lubbock. When we got to Lubbock and went to get our luggage only 2 of our 3 bags had arrived. My bathroom bag which had all of my make-up and jewelry in it had not made it onto the plane in Dallas (I know that I shouldn't have packed that stuff- especially the jewelry in the bag but I just wasn't thinking)! I panicked of course since we had to be ready to take pictures in 1 hour and I had only put on foundation that morning! Mom and I went to Ulta where I bought all new Bare Minerals make-up and the nice lady took pitty on me and gave me a make over! After that when we were leaving the house to head to Tech Gregg got bit on the cheek by a mosquito and that swelled up terribly (the mosquitoes are apparently terrible in Lubbock right now since they have had so much rain lately)! But we made it to Tech on time to meet our photographers and the rest of the day was really fun! We spend almost 2 hours with the photographers, changed clothes 3 times, and took pictures at 4 different places around Lubbock. We started at Tech and took pictures outside of the Chemistry Building, at the Seal, and at the Fountain. Next, we moved to McKenzi Park, across from the fair grounds, and took pictures in this wooded area there (again the mosquitoes were terrible and so we had to rush to avoid being bitten more). After that we went to some random building that was painted red and shot some really fun pictures (Gregg got to run and jump over me)! Our final stop was in downtown Lubbock where we took pictures in this alley behind an old building and on an old fire escape. Gregg especially loved the fire escape and has already said that he would really like to go there again for more pictures! My Mom went with us to be our extra set of eyes and make sure that everything looked perfect. It was fun to have her there and for her to get to share in such a special moment with us. There are a few of our pictures that have been posted on our photographers main website www.memoreebarrett.com. The rest are password protected but once I figure out what I want to buy I will post some of them on here!

Jeeping

On Sunday, our last full day in Lake City we took Jeeps out and traveled the "Alpine Loop" to cross the mountain from Lake City to Silverton and then took "Engineers Pass" back to Lake City. It was a lot of fun and pretty scary at the same time since part of the roads were very narrow and it was a VERY long way down to the bottom of the mountain! The trip took us about 8 hours total (and we only traveled about 60 miles) and by the end of it we were all covered in dirt! We saw some of the most beautiful sights and for part of the trip it even snowed on us. Here is a slideshow of pictures from our journey!

WIne and Music Festival

Saturday was the 8th Annual Lake City Wine and Music Festival at the town square. The people who own the BBQ place here that my parents are friends with had a Texas Bar B Q stand at the festival and we served Brisket Sandwiches, Turkey Legs, Sausage on a Stick, and Sausage Wraps. We brought the sausage and tortillas to serve with us from Lubbock so it was good! We flew the Texas Tech flag at our stand and even had the game blasting on FM radio when it came on. There were actually a lot of people here from Lubbock so we drew quite the crowd to our little "TTU Tailgate Party"! At the festival there were different bands that played all day long and over 100 different wines set up to try- you got an arm band with your entry ticket which allowed you to get a "pour" of wine at a time with unlimited visits back to the bars! (I tried a couple too many different types of wines!!!) Overall the day was a lot of fun and something that I can't wait to come back for next year!

Seth and Mom cooking sausage

The festival usually attracts around 2000 people

There were some rather interesting people at the festival!

This lady was pouring me a glass of my new favorite wine "Pink Truck"

The wines were separated into 6 different categories

Mom and Roxa modeling their new hats

Hutch and me celebrating the end of the day!

Shopping and Burger Cook-off

On Friday Mom and I spent the morning walking around Lake City and doing some shopping! We had a great time together and I got some Christmas shopping done! It is is peaceful and beautiful here. The city is just so laid back and the pace here is completely different from in Dallas! My parents talk about how they want to retire here and I haven't ever supported it since it is so far away from me but now that I have spent some time here I love it and totally support them!! Later that night we helped some friends of my parents host a Hamburger Cook-off. It was held out at this outside ampatheater here and there was a band that played all night. We served 3 different hamburgers- a Chipolte Burger, a French Onion Burger, and a Italian Burger and then there were 6 differnt Sutter Homes Wines that were served with the purchase of a ticket plus we had a full bar set up that served other beer and wines. The Chipolte Buger won the contest and so that recipe is now being entered in the Sutter Homes Wine Burger Cook-off and hopefully will be picked for the Championship Contest to be held in California next summer. Here are some pictures from our day.

They call this "The Postage Stamp" (these are the 1st trees in the area to start changing colors)

Of course, I had to visit the local Fire Department!

Seth, Mom, and me getting ready to cook burgers

All the kids behind the bar

This is the couple that own the restaurant and ampatheatre (Hutch and Roxa) and 2 of their kids (Hunter and Neeley)

My family

Final Stephens Family Vacay

Gregg has gone to Galveston as part of a relief team for the Galveston Fire Department (pictures to come once he's back) so I decided to fly to Lubbock to meet up with my parents and take a impromptu mini vacation with them! My little brother Seth's wife has gone to Colorado City for the weekend with friends so, our "original" family- Dad, Mom, Seth, and I- have come to Lake City, Colorado to spend a few days together. The city is having a burger cooking contest tomorrow and the annual Wine and Music Festival on Saturday so we are going to participate in those fun activities while we are here and then on Sunday we are planning on renting a jeep and touring the area or renting 4 wheelers to go play around here! Here are some pictures from today and I will post more pictures as the weekend progresses.

The Aspen Trees are changing colors right now and are so pretty!

The mountains

These are the mouth waters of the Rio Grand River

Seth and I posing for a picture in front of The Rio Grande

Mom and Dad

Lake San Christobal on the outskirts of Lake City, CO

This is our cabin

The Miracle of Birth!

Over my 4 years as an L&D/ NNICU nurse at Parkland I have seen many, many babies being born. I still feel that it is a beautiful and miraculous sight but on Tuesday I got to be a part of a delivery that had God's hand print all over it and it was truly beautiful and miraculous!

This story all started last year. It has a long and very sad background to it so be prepared now. On June 12, 2007 I was working an extra shift from 7pm-11pm in Labor and Delivery before working in the NNICU from 11pm-7am. I went back on a delivery of a 24 week baby boy. The baby was very sick and premature and was taken to the NNICU. When I went to the NNICU at 11pm to work I was assigned care of the baby for that night. Since I was working the following 2 nights also I got to care for the baby those nights. Over those 3 nights I fell for tiny Ricardo who was fighting so hard for life and for his parents. I signed up to be Ricardo's "Primary Nurse" meaning that each shift that I worked I got to take care of him, helping to promote continuity of care and be an advocate for the baby since I would get to know him and his likes/ dislikes so well. Because Ricardo was so very sick he was moved into the only private room that we have in our NNICU so that we could try to control the noise and prevent him from being over stimulated. So, I would spend just about every minute of my 12 hour shift either alone with Ricardo or with Ricardo and his parents Martin and Martha (this was their 3rd pregnancy- the first 2 she miscarried early on). I really got to know these parents and looked forward to work so that I could be around them. Martin and Martha would bring me some incredible Mexican food to eat, they taught me a lot of Spanish and I helped them with their English!

Ricardo lived for 44 days. He was so sick and although he fought very hard he just had too many problems. It was a tough 2 months in the NNICU for all the staff as we all got to know this family so well and were all pulling for this precious baby to survive. His death was probably one of the hardest things that I have been thru because I was so attached to him- he had become a part of me and my life. I helped the family plan the funeral (they didn't live in Dallas and all the funeral homes that we work with were so far away from their house that they wouldn't be able to visit the baby). So I called around until I found a small, family run place that was willing to work with this family and their situation. I went to the funeral and sat beside the Mom and held her hand and cried along with her for her loss.

Because of how much time I spent with this family we became very close and so I have kept in touch with them over this last year. In January I heard from a doctor at the hospital that she had seen Martha and she was pregnant again. I had just talked to her on the phone at Christmas time and she hadn't said anything about it so I decided not to call her and ask her about it but to let her tell me when she was ready. In July Martha called me and told me that she was 36 weeks pregnant (almost full term) and that everything was going great! The doctors decided to admit her to the hospital at 36 weeks, to keep her at Parkland till 38 weeks and then deliver her (she is also a diabetic and so that puts her at a higher risk for a still born baby the longer the pregnancy goes). On August 13 Martha was admitted to our high risk antepartum unnit where I have been able to visit every few days.

On Tuesday morning Martha was taken to the L&D unit and was induced. She was given a Misoprostil pill (for induction) at 9:45am and at 1pm I got the call that she was completely dilated and that I needed to come for the delivery. I got to help coach Martha as she pushed and be there for the delivery. At 1:55pm Tuesday, August 26 baby Alejandro made his appearance in the world. A perfectly healthy 8 lb 1.9 oz baby boy. It was the most joyous and wonderful thing that I have ever been a part of! I really don't think that there was a dry eye in the room when this baby was born. He is just the most beautiful and precious little boy! I saw God at work at Tuesday and over these last 9 months and I do believe that Ricardo has been a guardian Angel keeping watch over his Mom and baby brother. I am so very happy for this family- they do truly deserve this baby and I am so blessed that I got to play a small role in their joyous day!

Day at 6 Flags!

We went to 6 Flags on Wednesday with a couple of my friends from junior high. (The whole group of us went last year and had a blast but some people had to be responsible adults this year and not skip work so there was just 5 of us.) We still had a lot of fun while there and the weather only interfeared with our adventures twice so we were happy! We were able to ride everything that we wanted except for Titan and Tony Hawk which were both closed for repairs- BOOO! My favorite time of the day had to be when all 5 of us squeezed into one of the log chutes on El Aserradero- we were quite the site and I wish we could have taken a picture of us then! Here are a few pictures from our day of child like fun!

We are ready to go!!!

Susan, Gregg, and I on Superman!

Craig and Brynn on Superman

Cowboy Craig riding the bull!


Susan and Craig (in the 3rd car) rode Texas Giant while Brynn, Gregg and I watched


Gregg and I in our cute 3D glasses!