January,
2006
Hi,
all.
It’s
been an amazing year and a half since the wedding.
Emily’s
mom made her
breathtaking wedding gown. The rest of the wedding (including the Cleveland reception)
was awesome. It was almost perfect
except in all the commotion we didn’t get pictures with Somia,
Ronda,
or Tracy. We love you gals and we’re sorry! Anyway, thanks to all who were with us in
Lee’s Summit and later Cleveland. To
those unable to be with us except in spirit, our thoughts and prayers were with
you as well.
Honeymoon
in the Smokey Mountains… very cool. Emily
proved tough as nails, hiking 4 miles on a sprained ankle the last day. Thankfully she fell INTO rather than OFF OF
the mountain after turning her ankle.
The 1.5 seconds of uncertainty about which way she’d go were pretty darn
stressful!
Christmas,
2004: Eyad was thrilled to have a stocking on the Lanoue mantle. We visited Grandma Rose and
came back for the Rose Family X-mas in January.
It was a great month.
May,
2005: Italy! A great 2 weeks, met some nice people (hi, Ryan and Jessica). Aside from the nausea and occasional vomit,
it was sensational. Oh, did we mention
we found out we were pregnant just before leaving?
The
next few months were difficult. Adults
throwing up is gross! Eyad held Emily’s
hair back for her and cleaned up if necessary.
We also did a lot of traveling since Grandma Rose and Nana both became ill.
Grandma
Rose went between the hospital and nursing home. The family rallied around her and we often
met each other while visiting. Her room
was peppered with letters from friends and family. She died in late May. Her funeral was a celebration of her
life. Her community prayed and sang for
her, and made a home cooked meal for us.
We shared treasured memories as we said goodbye. It’s one of the most beautiful gatherings
we’ve ever witnessed. Later, we had a monster
bonfire / weenie roast in Grandma’s back yard.
We took a family picture on her truck, stuffed ourselves, and generally
had a good time.
We
miss you, Grandma.
We
had little time to recover before Eyad’s Nana became ill. We were blessed that in the midst of it all,
she was well enough to enjoy a birthday party.
Family, friends, and most everyone at Little Sisters got together for
music, dancing, and good food. The
process of letting go was difficult. My
relationship with Maz was transformed by the experience, a gift Nana gave to us
even as she passed this August.
Thank
you, Nana.
Mostly,
we wish Nana and Grandma Rose could have met our gift from Santa, Elanor Marie.
Emily went through the sometimes difficult pregnancy with grace (and
looked darn good, too).
December
21, 2005 at 3:44am: Elanor Marie was born
7lb
12oz (3.5kg) 8
fingers
20.5in
long (52cm) 2 thumbs
12.5in
head (32cm) 10 toes
The
grandparents, uncles, and aunt spent the Holiday Season in St. Louis smothering
the poor kid with love, loading our freezer with food, and cleaning up after
us.
For
more pictures and details, check out Baby Stuff!
We’d
also like to welcome other new additions to our family:
Raelyn
Rose
Brady
Simpson
Kiefer
Kettenis
Naomi
Fleegler
Nora
Amsellem
Hannah
Bolin
Summer
Rose
And
congratulations to our now married family and friends:
Julie
and Josh
Tracy
and Mikki
Necia
and John
Grace
and Vince
Ali
and Neda
Jen
and Adam
We
are very excited for our upcoming weddings!
Michael
and Lynda (Eyad and Mike’s brother, Eric, will share Best-Man duties).
Beth
and Wiley
Beth
and Jay
If
you’ve read this far then you’re really interested in our lives… we’re worried
about you.