My Happy Surprise Day!

How cutie is this: last Monday night I came home from kickboxing and Mitch (in the hour I was gone) had rushed to the mall and picked me out two presents for my "happy surprise day." What is Surprise Day might you ask. That's a good question and my best definition would be, a day Mitch made up to be the most adorable husband ever and just make me happy! I walked in the door after getting home and he jumped up, gave me the biggest hug and then walked me over to the kitchen table where two gift bags were waiting. He got me the cutest new black shoes and an oil burner that I had had my eye on from the Body Shop. Now, what makes this so absolutely adorable is the fact that it was totally out of the blue, I hadn't even been having a bad day or anything like that. It was totally random and so sweet. Let me just say, I have the most amazing husband. He is constantly doing the nicest and most thoughtful things, even when it's not my "surprise day."

Auntie Em...

Well I've finally bought a ticket to go see my new little niece! Much of this is thanks to a very generous Aunt of my own (bless you Aunt Kathy, I couldn't be more thankful for your kindness) as well as an excited sister and mother. What's even better is I'll get to be out there for Natalie's birthday, yay!!! I'm really getting lucky this year because Jacob and my parents will be in Utah for my birthday and then the next week I'll be in Kansas for Natalie's. I'm so excited!
I was able to hear Amelia's little hungry wimper over the phone and that alone was just too precious. I can't wait to hold her and just let her know that even though I'm far away I love her so much. Natalie is doing so well too and even though being a new mom is tiring she is always so happy. I love getting to talk to her and just hear the little things that happen each day and make motherhood so wonderful. Enjoy the pictures; Isn't Natalie the most beautiful mother? I can't wait to meet you Amelia!

Lucky Guatemala...

Gua·te·ma·la (gwä'ta-mä'la)
A country of northern Central America. The site of a Mayan civilization dating back to 1500 B.C., the area was conquered by Spain in 1524. After independence was achieved (1821), Guatemala joined in a federation of Central American states (1825–1838) before becoming a separate republic in 1839. Guatemala is the capital and the largest city. Population: 12,300,000.

Although Spanish is the official language, it is not universally spoken among the indigenous population, nor is it often spoken as a second language. Twenty-one distinct Mayan languages are spoken, especially in rural areas, as well as several non-Mayan Amerindian languages, such as the indigenous Xinca, and Garifuna an Arawakan language spoken on the Caribbean coast. According to Decreto Número 19-2003, twenty-three languages are recognized as National Languages.

Russ got his mission call last week and yep he's goin' to Central America. He doesn't leave until October which we're all pretty excited about. All we know is that Guatemala is pretty luck since they get to have Russ for almost two whole years. I don't think he'll have any trouble learning the language(s), and we've heard from other missionaries that have served there that its the best mission you could ask for. Tropical rainforests in the North, Carribean sea coast, and lots of ancient ruins, what more could you want?
Oh and by the way, he is going to the Guatemala City, Guatemala Mission, Spanish speaking, and he goes into the Guatemala MTC on October 3rd.

Random Facts About Me...

I've seen a lot of people do this and I thought it might be kind of fun. I don't know that it will be all that entertaining but I hope you enjoy...

1. I really don't like it when people keep old nail polishes, you know the kind when the brush comes out all sticky and the polish stays in globs. Throw them away, there useless!

2. I like to sleep in two positions: 1. on my back with my legs crossed at the ankles, 2. on my left side with my right arm holding onto my neck.

3. I could honestly eat baked potatoes (potatos?) for the rest of my life, all I need is salt and butter (and maybe a little cottage cheese).

4. I am always in the mood to listen to Queen, I love Freddie Mercury's voice.

5. Even though I'm not a big fan of abstract art, my favorite artist of all time is Wassily Kandinsky.

6. I love Jewish Studies, it was my minor for a while but I couldn't buckle down and learn Hebrew. I wrote my capstone research paper on anti-Zionist Jews in America. Very interesting.

7. When I get sick I like to watch Jurassic Park or Disney's Cinderella. Somehow they make me feel better.

8. Everytime I have to list my height I say I'm 5'7" which is a lie, I'm more than 1/2 an inch under that.

9. Mitch and I beat Halo 2 together playing co-op. I loved it, we're currently playing the first one. I love the X-box. Sometimes when Mitch is gone I just sit at home and play Tetris by myself. I know, I make the most of my time.

10. I love being the first one up in the morning...probably because I like to clean the house as soon as I get up and I don't want anyone else around to make more messes as I go.

11. When I'm in the mood for something sweet I always crave chocolate chip pancakes, I didn't discover these until college but for a few months I was making them at least twice a week.

12. If I could do it all over again, I would take more art classes in college.

13. I did two oil paintings before I turned 13. One of them is actually pretty good too.

14. If I could change one thing about my appearence I would make my eye lashes thicker and longer.

15. I'm a homebody, I always prefer staying in then going out. I don't mind crowds or people, I just would rather be at home on most occasions.

16. I've never been so excited to be a mother as I was when I saw my sister pregnant. Something about her and her tummy just made me long to do the same (don't worry it'll still be a while though).

17. When I was a teaching major I couldn't decide between teaching history or physics.

18. I love being outdoors, my favorite job was doing horticulture for the Parks. and Recs. dept. in Olathe. It was so edifying to spend all day outside just plainting and watering.

19. I took speech for two years in elementary school, I pronounced all my R's and L's as W's.

20. The one thing I'm addicted to is chapstick, I have tried to ween myself off of it but I just can't seem to stop.
21. Mitch and I have slept with separate blankets since we got married. I don't know what it is, we just don't sleep as well when we share.

22. I spend more money on organizational items than anything else.

23. Most of my nightmares are about animals, I rarely have a bad dream that doesn't include a spider, shark or bear.

24. I have a subscription to Reader's Digest, I've loved it since my childhood. I recommend it.

25. The one computer game I play more than anything else is Minesweeper. I beat my first expert level a few years ago and now easy and intermediate seem too boring.

26. Of late, the meal I crave most is Chicken Curry. I just love the flavor of the veggies and coconut milk. I add a couple Tbsp. of sugar too.

27. We have to sets of dresser each with four drawers. I use six of the eight. Mitch only gets two.

28. I always want to have things in stock, I hate running out. Right now I have 5 bottles of shampoo, 3 bottles of conditioner, and two tubes of toothpaste in a storage box under my bed.

29. When I was little I developed a major crush on David Bowie. I still like to watch The Labyrinth.

30. I've had four perms, all before the age of 15. They were all bad ideas.

31. The first CD I ever owned was Erasure. The first tape was Ace of Base.

32. During my Junior year of High School my parents recieved a letter from the principle saying he was in fear of my academic well-being. I had skipped 23 days of school with my friends (to the principles dismay I kept a 3.8 gpa or above all year.)

33. I've never read a Babysitter's Club book.

34. I love the smell of laundry detergent more than anything else (the powdered kind, the liquid stuff isn't quite as good.)

35. I don't like cinnamon rolls, peanut butter cookies, or pizza.

36. Some of my favorite places ever are the Botanical Gardens in St. Louis and Sea World in California.

37. My favorite actress is Ashley Judd. I don't think I have a favorite actor.

38. I love rollercoasters, one of my favorite memories is going to Six Flags with my best friend Anna. The new Batman ride had just came out and we both we're laughing and screaming so much that I had tears coming out of my eyes.

39. To me Mitch is perfect, except for one thing, he's allergic to cats (I know he can't help it but I still don't like it.)

40. I've run three races in my life (not including track in junior high). They we're all 5k's. My fastest time was just under 25 mins. I know that's not too fast but I blame that on the fact that all races are in the morning and I'm not a morning runner.

41. Every guy I've ever dated long term has been an Aries or a Pisces...until Mitch, he's a Scorpio.

42. I've never had stitches.

43. In sixth grade I won the drawing contest for our schools yearbook cover. The theme was "Kindness is Contagious, Catch It," and my picture got put on the cover.

44. The one thing I really miss about Kansas is the warm rain. I love being outside without getting cold in the wet.

45. I hate not being able to tell what time it is, I need a clock in evey room.

46. I'm one of the rare people that actually really loves my inlaws. I was just as excited to go to Mitch's house for Christmas as I would have been my own. I'm really lucky to have married into such a great family.

47. I've been to over 35 states in the U.S. We drove to most of them. I've only flown once with my family, it was to San Diego (thank goodness, that would have been a really long drive).

48. In 6th grade I could do more pull-ups than anybody else in my grade, including the guys. I did 13.

49. I love animals a ridiculous amount. They don't always feel the same way about me but nothing makes me happier than being around cats, dogs, hamsters, guinea pigs, birds, etc. I really love the zoo too even though I can't touch the animals there.

50. This list has taken me almost two weeks to complete. It was much harder than I thought.

Our New Addition to the Dokos Family...

This week my brother Jonathan proprosed to his girlfriend Kimberly. They met at K-State last fall and have been falling in love ever since. Her father is currently serving in the military in Afghanistan so they wedding won't be until he gets back in another 6 months or so but we are all so excited. I just met Kimberly for the first time at the end of May and so I can personally say that I am really happy for my brother and her. She and Jonathan are a great match and I can tell they really care about each other. Ever since she started coming home with Jonathan on the weekends I have heard great things about her from everyone. She spent spring break with my family in Arizona and my Dad even said "having Kimberly with us was just like having one of the family." He was more right then he knew. Welcome to the family Kimberly!

Amelia Mae!!!

Here's the new baby girl! And yes, they finally picked a name...Amelia Mae. They had a difficult time narrowing it down but I think they made a good decision. Amelia ranked 80th on the Social Security name list so they made a wise decision, not too common, not too rare. The middle name comes from Grandma. Her and Mommy arecomforably at home now getting sleep in 2 hour increments. We're all happy to know that Natalie is healing very well (according to all the nurses and doctors) and she is having a great time being a new mother. Amelia likes to sleep alot (remind you of anyone else?), so Natalie spends a lot of time waking her up to eat. My mom says Natalie was just the same when she was a newborn. Here's a few more pictures, I especially love the one of Jacob, he's a very proud uncle.

One Year Ago...

Baby Kehr !!!

Well she's finally here. YAY! No name yet.. but who cares, she's so cute. Natalie ended up having to get a C-section but all is well. After waiting all day I think she would have done anything to get the baby out. Everyone was just so excited to meet her. She was born at 10:10pm. She weighs 7lbs. 9.5 oz. and is 20 inches long. Will and my mom were in the delivery room with Natalie through the surgery. Mom said the baby sounded mad when she came out, we think she really liked being in Natalie. The surgery went great and Natalie is...well, feeling as good as anyone else would. They'll all be going home on Saturday. Here's a few of the pictures. I especially like the ones of Will, he looks like a doctor.

my wedding day ~ June 09, 2006

This is a bit late but considering the fact that my one year anniversary is only days away I think it's appropriate to reminisce. (Plus, many of my friends have yet to see any pictures from my wedding day.) This has been the happiest year of my life. For all those who say your first year is the hardest, I completely disagree. Currently Mitch and I work for the same company and have thankfully been able to work all the same hours (which is especially nice considering we only have one car). Therefore we spend an incredible amount of time together, I would say we spend at least four times as much time together as most couples get to. This would make some people really sick of each other, but not Mitch and I. We know it won't always be this way but we are definitely enjoying it while it lasts. For now, we can't get enough of each other. Needless to say I love him completely and can't imagine a more wonderful husband.

Soon to be an Aunt...

Natalie is in the hospital today, I'm expecting a call when things start picking up. I'm so excited for her. Her and Will are going to be the best parents. They're a couple that just have a lot of love between them and you know it anytime your around them.
We don't know what the baby's name will be yet, either Amelia, Elena, Meridith, or who knows maybe a new one. Either way I know she will be beautiful!