Monday, August 31, 2009

All about Joey and Kelly

Sometimes it just works - I have my camera, the lighting is good, and the subjects are agreeable to having their photo taken. That was the case on Saturday morning with Joey and Kelly.

Sometimes you just have to take a break from the fast pace of life and hug the one you love. Joey and Kelly, thanks for sharing your love with us. We should all take time to hug those we love.







Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Happy Birthday Jane

This photo of Harvey and Jane was taken during harvest in late June.
Jane is Nancy's baby sister.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Nancy's Uncle Ed was featured in the Idaho Statesman: Boise man named Resident of the Year

Nancy and Jane traveled to Boise, Idaho, last week to help celebrate 'Resident of the Year' with their Uncle Eddie Fager. I have included the link to the newspaper article from the Idaho Statesman. Uncle Eddie is a great, great man and well deserving of this award.

Boise man named Resident of the Year | Local News | Idaho Statesman


Nancy and Uncle Ed taken last year.

Uncle Ed and Jane taken at last year's visit.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Tour of our new building

Where are all of these hard-hat wearing folks going? They are entering the building site for the brand new building for the School of Leadership Studies at Kansas State University. Oh yeah, I am employed with the School of Leadership Studies and I will be one of the few lucky individuals to have an office in the building. It is scheduled to be completed by January. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather between now and then.

Mary and Dorothy were all smiles as they prepared to enter the site.

Bob gave some sort of sign that meant he was ready to see his office space.

Trisha gave a thumbs up to the thought of a new office.

Ok, there is a theme here. Candi gave a two-thumbs up.

As we waited to enter the site, Sue and Bob found a strange need to pose in the form of famous statues.

Mike and Trish found the 'teacher' space in the front of the large lecture hall. They wanted their photo taken in the spot where they will be spending lots of time once the building is completed.


Opus, the design/build firm responsible for - you guessed it- designing and building our building, painted one of the steel i-beams so that we could sign our names on the beams. The beams will be covered with dry wall, but our names will be a part of the building forever. Candi started the process by writing 'faculty' on the beam. There is another beam for our students to sign as well.

The founders of the School of Leadership Studies. Bob and Susan are the ones with the vision of creating a minor in Leadership Studies at K-State. Little did they know 12 years ago that we would have 1300 students and that we would have our own building. They are two amazing people and I am proud to call both of them friends.

My moment of history. You might notice the green beads on my wrist. We celebrated July and August birthdays on Wednesday at our retreat. I was one of the birthday folks, so I had a bead necklace that I decided to wear on my wrist.

Sue proudly signs her name.

More signing - we actually signed on several sides of the beam. Make a mental note - if you are around in 100+ years when they tear down this building, look for my name on one of the beams near the front door of the building.

The signed beam

Susan had a bold vision about six years ago - that a minor could have their own building. That's a lesson for all of us - anything is possible with the right vision and the right people working on it. Susan is the person responsible for making this building happen.

More of Trish and Mike as they admire the building.

This is my office. The view outside of my second-story office window is of beautiful trees. We do have a balcony off the east side of the second story of the building. You can see some of the structure of the balcony.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Natalie

Sweet Natalie
On our way home from the Wichita airport on Friday evening, we stopped to see John, Stacia and Natalie. Ok, truth be told, we were really interested in seeing Natalie. She was swimming in the back yard when we arrived. Enjoy the photos.






Hey, this isn't Natalie - it's one of the Vegas women, Gayle.



Natalie actually took this photo of her parents, John and Stacia. I am not sure what John is doing, but it seems he is looking for some DeKalb corn.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Sisterhood in Vegas - we only had one injury

Vegas Baby! That's right - Susan, Debbie, Gayle and I spent 48 hours in Las Vegas. We went to three shows (Phantom of the Opera, Mystere, and The Lion King) and ate at two interesting restaurants (Canaletto at the Venetian and Shanghai Lilly at Mandalay Bay). We had a great time. Oops, I forgot one important detail - Debbie was injured by a traffic sign at the Wichita Airport parking lot. It is one of those cross arms that raise when a car stops to take a parking ticket. As we walked by one on our way from the parking lot to the airport, the cross arm 'mysteriously' lifted just as Debbie was walking near it. The corner of the arm clipped Debbie on the forehead. It was the darndest accident, probably one of those one in a gazillion odds of it happening. Anyway, blood immediately squirted from Debbie's forehead. The blood squirted 3 or 4 feet from her head in rhythm to her heart beat. I immediately threw Debbie to the ground and put pressure on her forehead to stop the arterial blood spurts. Susan and Gayle both fainted at the sight of the pool of blood...... Ok, ok, so now I am embellishing the story. Debbie really did get hit on the head (and it was a one in a gazillion chance), the bleeding stopped, and we went to Vegas.

By the time we boarded the plane for takeoff, the bleeding stopped. It's a good thing I'm a doctor and Debbie is a nurse. We needed all of our medical skills to close the wound so Debbie could make the trip to Vegas.

Susan and Gayle provided lots of sisterhood support and empathy for Debbie as they helped highlight the injury on Debbie's forehead for this photo.

Debbie returned to the scene of the crime at the Wichita airport and pointed to the bar that mysteriously hit her in the forehead as she walked past it.


Debbie in the Bellagio gardens

More of Debbie in the Bellagio gardens

You guessed it, Susan, Debbie and Gayle in the Bellagio gardens

We stopped for a photo outside Caesar's Palace. The photo says it all - Vegas in August. Yes, it was hot and sunny. Did I mention it is a dry heat?

Siefers sisters

Susan thought she was being funny. Debbie had the camera and wanted to take photos of us. Susan just could not help herself. She had to give me rabbit ears. I am thinking that rabbit ears are becoming a recurring theme on my blog.

Susan is so serious when she is being funny.

At the Venetian - after a delicous dinner. I have no idea why they wanted their photo taken with this character. I think it was the child in each of them. Vegas can make you do things that you would not do at home. Oh yes, this photo was just the tip of the iceberg.


On the ride from Salina to the Wichita airport, Debbie told a very funny story about a woman stuck in a wheel chair. I could not resist taking few shots as she told the story. Have you ever noticed how much Debbie talks with her hands? Enjoy the many faces of Debbie. Oh yeah, these photos were taken before the injury incident.