Happy Turkey Day!!

I know it's a little late...but just wanted to share about our fun Thanksgiving this year. We celebrated down at the Koegle's house in Camarillo and my parents and the "newlyweds" were able to go too. We had a great time watching football, playing with the kids, eating, hanging out and catching up, playing football, eating, playing charades and Pictionary and eating some more. I swear, Michelle, my mother-in-law, feels a definite need for everyone to gain at least 5 pounds before leaving her home. :) But we do love to eat all the goodies she puts out. We had a great time and here are some pictures from that day.
What a pretty spread for all to enjoy!

Doesn't Michelle do a beautiful job on the decorating? I think so!

Look at the pretty apple pie my mom and I made:

Katy and I being silly...

Cole hamming it up for the camera...

Some awesome action shots of the football game


Good form Mikey!

Beau & Brian being dorks for the camera...

All of us enjoying the holiday and getting ready to play charades!!


After playing charades until 1:00 a.m., we finally decided to hit the sack. Bev, Lindsay and I were a little crazy, but we got up at 4:45 and got ready very quickly and quietly and went shopping at the Thousand Oaks mall at 5:45 a.m. I've never done the whole "Day after Thanksgiving Early Bird Sale" thing, but I thought it would be fun to try this year. We had a great time and really did get a bunch of awesome deals on presents. And I would just like to brag a bit...I have (almost) all my Christmas shopping done and everything I've bought is already wrapped and under the tree ready to roll for Christmas! :) I'm very proud of myself. Last year I vowed I would not wait until the week before to start my shopping and be wrapping for hours and hours on Christmas Eve. And I followed through!! :) Yay for me. Now I'm able to start helping my mom with all of her Christmas present shopping. My house is totally decorated and all my holiday stuff is out and I've got the Christmas music channel on in the background at all times. I really do love Christmas time and I'm hoping that Cole will realize that it isn't about getting presents, it's about giving, and it's not about food and hulla-baloo, it's about spending quality time with our families and really remembering the whole reason for the season, Jesus Christ! Praise God for sending his Son to us...what a powerful event in the history of man.

Other news from the Koegle household...

- Yes, it is official, we have our house on the market. We actually put it up for sale about 5 weeks ago and I keep forgetting to blog about it. If you know of anyone in the market for a really cute townhome...send them our way. Please pray that the Lord's will is done in this situation, as it is very hard to just "wait it out" and work through the situation and stress of "selling" the home.

- Hallelujah...this last Friday was my last day working with Justin. About 3 weeks ago, I let them know that I have a couple of other options that are looking pretty good and that I am done watching him. This is going to be SUCH a huge relief off of my shoulders. Most of you know that I did not enjoy watching him, as he was a really hard child to work with. It was truly getting to me and Mike really encouraged me to pursue other options in order for me to be more happy. So...with that said, we are just praying that the Lord will make it very clear for what He has in store for me and for our family.

- Mike is rounding out the last couple of weeks of school (CSUN) and is doing wonderfully as usual. Please pray that the Lord will keep him motivated to finish out the semester with a bang and to just get to the end. :)

- Cole is doing really well these days. He's constantly learning more and more words, which just astounds me most of the time. I have a child that I can actually communicate with...it's totally cool! :) Once I was done decorating the house w/ all the Christmas stuff, I showed Cole what he could and couldn't touch. His favorite new phrase is, "Don't touch decorations." And you can truly tell what he is saying. It really is the cutest thing ever. He just babbles to me everywhere we go telling me about the cars, the trucks, the motos, the cows, the horses, the moon, the birds, the ducks, the coots, daddy, grandma, Pop Pop, Grammy (Ranny), Auntie Emilie, Brice, Sean, and many more friends. He is a total crack up. :) God is so good for what he gives us! :)

GO BUCKS!!

The Koegle Family certainly had a great time watching the Ohio State Buckeyes BEAT the Michigan Wolverines. They won 42-39 in a very close game and here are some pictures that showcase just how big of fans we all are...maybe a bit overboard at times, but too much fun!

Congrats to Mr. & Mrs. Villaflor!!!

Okay, okay...I know it's been over two weeks since the wedding. I've been waiting until we have access to their proofs so everyone can see how incredible the whole wedding was!!! I, of course, did not have a camera and would not have had time to take pictures anyway. :) The link to the pictures is www.paigephotography.com. Click on "Info", then "Clients Viewing", then "Online Viewing & Ordering." Then you need to enter in my parents' email address: saddlenride@sbcglobal.net to access the page. Their set of pics is the first one on the page. Click on that and enjoy!! There are so many beautiful pictures that I know Em & Brice are gonna have a HARD time picking for their album.

The wedding went BEAUTIFULLY!!! I was so proud to be a part of it and so joyful to watch my best friend and sister marry the man of her dreams. Emilie looked GORGEOUS in her wedding gown and Brice looked SO handsome all done up!!! The ceremony was filled with smiles and tears. Emilie prerecorded herself singing a surprise song for Brice..."Come What May" from Moulin Rouge. It was unbelievable and Brice cried...hard. It was so cool to watch the two of them and also to watch my dad walk Emilie down the aisle!! :) Then Emilie and Brice had pre-recorded "The Prayer" together for the unity session & communion. I'm not sure if there was a dry eye in the place. John Dunkin did a wonderful job as the pastor and did a great ceremony. After the ceremony, the bridal party and some family took some pictures, then I drove the bride and groom and photographer down to the beach for their romantic shots. Totally awesome pics.

The reception started off with a bang as everyone was introduced to some rockin' music. And then out came Beau and me to "Ice, Ice Baby" which I decided to rap out and dance to the entire first verse. I was AWESOME!!! I had everyone laughing hysterically and Mike said that he's never seen me that outgoing. The reception was certainly off the hizzy!!! We all had SO much fun dancing and partying!!

To Emilie and Brice...CONGRATULATIONS on a long thing coming and we are SO happy for the two of you. We were so honored to be a part of your wedding and wish you the best marriage ever!! We are glad you're back from Hawaii and enjoyed your honeymoon and here's to a lifetime of memories as The Koegles and The Villaflors!! :) We love you!

P.S. When you are looking at the pics from the wedding...check out the "Getting Ready" pics and at the bottom of the page, there is the best picture of me that has ever been taken. I look like a stinkin' celebrity!! :) Yay!

Happy Halloweenie!!

Happy Halloween to all! Here are a few pics from Halloween. The first one is Cole and Faith at the retirement home I took him to, thanks to the suggestion of Faith's mama, Jody. We had a blast going from person to person saying hi and getting a little candy too! Then we headed over to Grace for the Fall Festival and had a ton of fun!! We worshipped with everyone in the worship center and then headed out to the cars for Trunk or Treat. We manned a car for the 3rd or 4th year in a row and had a great time!! Here are Brice and Mike and Cole in the car.

And here are Nate, Becky, Colin & Samantha manning their car.

And here's a picture of Emilie and Brice as Kate and Jack from Lost :)

Weekend Update...A Play, A Shower, and A Birthday!

Yay...what a fun weekend I've had. While Mike was away in Mexico for his missions trip at Rancho Sordo Mundo, I was super busy having fun this weekend. Friday night, I had dinner w/ my family up at Mom & Dad's house. Saturday, I had my hair done by my buddy Tammy who does such a wonderful job!! Saturday afternoon, Kristal came over and we decorated a beautiful cake for Debra & Nate's couples baby shower. Kristal - again, thank you for including me in doing the cake and I'm so glad we were able to catch up while you were here!!! Here's a picture of our masterpiece!!


Then Saturday night, thanks to Tinna and James (Cuz Brian, Linds, and Addison were sick) I was able to go with my family to the Canyon Theatre Guild and take in the Halloween play "Terror by Gaslight." It was really fun and a great chance to see something spooky! :)

On Sunday afternoon, I attended the Baby shower, which was SO fun!! It was awesome seeing some of the guys eating baby food and gagging and watching John & Nate "chugging" soda out of a bottle! SO funny. After that, I headed over to the Precht household and celebrated Kyle's birthday with everyone. It was a costume party and Cole wore his super cool, Flash costume and I went as a birder...I know, I know...totally dorky, but I thought it was pretty funny! We had TASTY food and had a ton of fun!!! :) Here's a picture of Cole in his costume before we went...

Lombardi's Ranch...Here we Come!

It's that time of the year again, when we all head over to the Pumpkin Patch!! Last year, we took Cole and he had fun, but didn't really understand what in the world was happening. This time, he pointed out and said to me, "Mama...punkins, mama, choo-choo, mama...rocks, mama....horseys!!" He was quite excited. My mom and I took Cole and Justin during the afternoon and it was nice because there wasn't a TON of people there like last year or every weekend, I'm sure! :) Here are a few pictures from our adventure!! :) Cole did have a little fall in the petting zoo and truly "ate it" ... he had hay, dirt and goat poop in his mouth and stuck under his lips. SAD TIMES...pretty sad, but true.. He was pretty bummed, but got over it quickly and his nose is almost totally healed up.

Bridal Shower for Emilie!

On Saturday, October 7th, Michelle (my mother-in-law) and Jody hosted a BEAUTIFUL bridal shower for Emilie. There was tasty croissant sandwiches, hot quiche, a gorgeous fresh fruit platter, cheese and crackers, punch, tea & coffee. Plus, my mom made an ADORABLE bridal shower cake that was so yummy!! Michelle had arranged two AMAZING bouquets for the tables and had everything decorated so nicely. We played a few games, really enjoyed each other's company while eating outside in Jody's backyard overlooking the Robinson Ranch golf course, and just had a great time. Thank you to Michelle, Jody and Lori for putting on such an incredible shower for Emilie...I know it meant a lot to her and it meant a ton for me to see how many people just adore my amazing sister! :) Here are a few pictures from the shower!

Roses are red...wait, pink and white...

Here are some awesome pictures I took of some flowers in my parent's backyard with the rain drops still on them!!

Backyard Days...

Here are a couple of pics from this Sunday up at my parent's house. It was a gorgeous overcast day and Cole had fun stomping in the puddles in the backyard. Thankfully he didn't get too dirty!! :) But I guess that's being a boy, right?! He's pretty darn cute, huh? Here is Cole playing with one of his favorite things in the world...a ball! :)




And here is Cole playing with Grandma's BIG ants...always exploring and seeing how things are put together...




And here's Cole posing for the camera...

Cole's New Hair Cut...Finally!

So I was finally able to cut Cole's hair, as he was DESPERATE for a trim, and I do think he looks great if you ask me! :) Here's a before picture...



And here's a couple of after pictures...

Kitchen Shower Pictures...

Hello...it's been a while since I've posted something...It's been a bit crazy around here. Here are a few pics from the Kitchen shower we had for Emilie and Brice at my parent's house on Sept 21st. We all had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves. My dad was even feeling up to playing some tunes for everyone...I was very happy to hear him playing guitar and singing again! Emilie and Brice...we are so very excited for you can't wait for the big day!

Today is Tuesday...not Friday, right?!

Wow...what a weekend...Friday and Saturday were spent up at my parent's house getting ready for Emilie and Brice's Kitchen Shower. Friday morning was actually spent having breakfast with Kristal, Debra, Julie & Maddy, and Becky at Egg Plantation. Thanks girls for including me...it was a great time catching up with all of you, especially you, Kristal! Friday evening was spent with Kristal, Shaun and baby Natalie at Chi Chi's Pizza...it sure was tasty (that was for you Kristal :) and then we all went up to my mom and dad's home for a quick visit. Saturday morning and afternoon was spent readying the house for the party. The shower was great fun and we had a good turn out. Almost all of their bridal party and groomsmen attended and some family on both sides. Brice's mom even took a 10 hour train ride from New Mexico to surprise the two of them! We had a great time, great food, and great music. My dad was able to play some tunes which I know was a good thing for him. Emilie serenaded Brice with a special surprise song...that she could barely get through. :)

And I would just like to mention, that I have an incredible hubby. He spent HOURS on Thursday and Saturday taking care of my parents front and backyards. He mowed lawns, edged, trimmed bushes, washed off patios and the driveway, hosed down the garage doors, and I sure a bunch of other stuff. He has such a good heart and I'm so thankful for his servant attitude. It means so much to me that he would be willing to do all that for my parents. I love you tons, Mikey.

My dad is doing better each day. He still gets tired easily, but that's to be expected, I think. He even ventured out by himself to the post office on Saturday and I sure enjoyed that 30 minutes of freedom. :) He has gone to 3 doctor's appointments in the last 10 days, and I think they are pretty happy with the results with all his tests. Please keep praying for his recovery and for the rest of the family to continue to get rest and keep up with the rest of the world!!

I'll post some pictures of the shower when I get them from Em...

Midweek Update on Dad!

Hello again...sorry it's been a while since I have updated everyone! Friday and Saturday, Emilie, Mike, Cole and I were gone for a wedding down in Santa Monica that Emilie and I sang in. Our friends Brian & Jessi Patten were married on Saturday at the Shutters on the Beach Hotel in Santa Monica and it was a wedding to remember! Saturday, my dad came home from the hospital and is starting to shuffle around a bit. On Sunday, after we went to church, we ran over to see him and he really looks good. He has started his medications and is having an allergic reaction to them, getting hives ALL over his back, bum, and legs. It is bothering him a little, but for the most part has been a good sport about it. On Monday night, he was able to get out in the back yard and show off his backyarding skills to show Mike the right angle for the lawn edger. :) It was cute watching the two of them figure "man" stuff out together. On Tuesday, he went to his first post-hospital doctor's visit and was enrolled in a medical study for his heart and the medications. Pretty cool because they will really be keeping a close eye on him. He is still fairly weak and is really tired all the time. He was however, practicing his guitar for this weekend...Emilie and Brice's co-ed kitchen shower. My dad is such an amazing guy and I really pray that he'll be around much, much longer. All in all, things are going pretty well. Side note, my mom found out yesterday that she'll have to go back to work part time on October 3rd. Not such good news, but we know that the Lord knows the best thing for her and my dad. Thank you all again for your prayers...keep them up, we know He's listening! :)

Friday Update on Dad...

Hello, hello. So last night Emilie, Brice, Cole and I were able to visit my dad. He was taken out of I.C.U. late Wednesday night and put in a regular room at Holy Cross. On Wednesday, the nurses got him out of his hospital bed and into a chair to sit up. I know he loved it because when my mom and I were down there, he had us rub his back and neck most of the time because he was sore from laying down so much. He has his own private room w/ a bathroom and shower which is really nice. Last night he was also sitting in a chair when we arrived and looked really good. I rubbed his back and neck again for a while and we just sat and caught up and watched a little tv with him, trying to just keep him relaxed. This morning, I got a call from my mom and he did okay during his second angioplasty procedure. The cardiologist, Dr. K., installed 2 more stents (they were only planning on putting 1 in, so that was kind of a shock to us), and repaired the same artery that they worked on on Tuesday as it had already started clotting again. :( They will be putting him on some medications to hopefully help stop more damage from happening and possibly repairing some parts of his heart. Dr. K. said that his heart is pretty diseased and it will be a long road for recovery as he will have to change a lot of things i.e. diet, exercise and stuff. They were planning on returning him to his regular room after his post-op checkup and letting him rest for the day. The doc said that he may be released as early as tomorrow afternoon, depending on his strength. Please pray for continued recovery and that the stents that they installed will do their job and help keep my Pop's heart beating for a long time! He's got a daughter to walk down the aisle in a couple of months and I'm sure more grandchildren to meet, hopefully in the near future!!! :) (No, I'm not pregnant right now) Side note...Em and I are singing in a wedding tomorrow and would appreciate your prayers for that too as with all the goings-on in the last week, we haven't been able to practice as much as we would have liked. We'll see how it goes! :) The rehearsal is tonight...maybe they'll fire us on the spot! :) Anyway, our whole family appreciates the thoughts and prayers of everyone and I'm still so thankful for how amazing the support has been through this whole ordeal! I'll give more updates when I have the chance or if anything changes. See ya!

Nightly Update on Dad...

Hi there everyone...I was able to go down to the hospital this morning with my mom for about an hour and was very glad to see that my dad was awake and much more coherent and responsive. He was actually bummed at my mom for not getting there faster and said he was worried about her. But was able to get about 4 hours of sleep over the course of the night. He didn't like his night nurse too much, but at least he's in good hands. They were able to have him walk over to a chair in his room in the I.C.U. and sit up for a while, which he was really happy about! His color was looking great and he was actually a bit feisty with the nurses while Em and Mom were visiting this evening, joking around with the nurses and stuff. :) His cardiologist stopped by to check on him while Em and Mom were in the room and said to them that he reviewed by dad's chart from start to finish and retracted his comment from the day before...he would have only given him a 5 - 10% chance of survival, instead of the 30% chance from yesterday if he had been at Henry Mayo because of the nurses and paramedics not being able to get a blood pressure reading (0/00) and only being able to get his pulse on his carotid artery. It truly is a miracle that he survived this ordeal and that he was there for me to hug today!! They are going to do his second stent angioplasty around 9:00 a.m. on Friday before they release him which we are very excited about. Please continue to pray for his recovery and for the doctor's hands on Friday morning when they do the next surgery. So far so good, but they warned us that there can be many complications from stents. I still can't believe that my dad had a massive heart attack...I just think it's still so surreal. It was really something out of ER that I would watch on tv, not something that would happen to my Pop! :) I'm so glad that the Lord was on his and our side yesterday and we are so thankful for the thoughts and prayers!!!

Out of the Blue!

Hello all - Some of you know...some of you don't, but here's what's been going on in the last 24 hours or so. My dad, Trout, had a massive heart attack yesterday morning. He woke up around 7:30 a.m. and told my mom, who just so happened to have just walked in the room, that he wasn't feeling great. He went to the bathroom, came back into the bedroom, and sat there saying, "Wow, I really don't feel good." My mom then asked him to explain what he was feeling and he said, "Well, my chest hurts a ton, I feel a lot of pressure and I'm loosing feeling in my arms and my legs. In fact, my neck is feeling really weird too!" Well, my mom having worked with the school district for the last 17 years, knew that these were all the "classic" heart attack symptoms and signs so she right away called 911 and gave him an aspirin. At this point, Emilie was in the shower getting ready for work and my mom came into the bathroom and told her what was going on. She cut her shower short and wrapped a towel around her and raced into their bedroom. She helped and sat with my dad while my mom waited outside for the paramedics and ambulance to arrive. They got there fairly quickly and came in to help my dad. When all these guys came in, they told my sister, "We've got it from here, you can go get dressed now." :) My mom called me before the paramedics arrived and told me, very calmly might I add, what was going on and I absolutely freaked out!! I immediately started praying that the Lord would have His hand in the situation and that he would protect my dad. So he was taken to Henry Mayo Emergency room with my mom. When my mom called to tell me where he was going, all she could tell me was that the paramedics said that Dad was very, very sick and he needs help fast. (Not what you want to hear, by the way!) Mike raced home from school and picked up Cole and I and we went over to the ER. They did some very quick preliminary tests and determined that indeed, it had been a massive heart attack and he needed better care than what they could provide. Meanwhile, the ER would not let Emilie or I see him at all. In fact, they only let my mom see him very briefly. The ER doctors told us that transferring him to Providence Holy Cross, although very risky, would give him the best chance for survival. Right after we arrived at the Henry Mayo, Ben Trehan, the pastor on call at Grace was right behind us and there with us the whole day. And my mom's best bud, Judy, was only behind him a few minutes! While we were waiting for the critical care ambulance to arrive for the transport, Todd Roughton met us at the ER and whisked Cole away and he and his wife, Summer, watched him all day. He was able to play with their two kids, Ashlyn and Jeremy and we were able to relax knowing that he was in excellent hands! Thank you again Summer and Todd. What a blessing you guys are! :) As my dad was being rolled out to get in the ambulance at Henry Mayo, Em and I stood outside and were able to get a glimpse of him and yell to him that we love him. He was coherent enough to wave to us and to take his oxygen mask off and blow his daughters a kiss. :) We all piled into our CRV and followed the ambulance down to Holy Cross. Katy, Mike's sister, and Brice were able to meet us down there too. He was immediately taken into the Heart Center there and had an emergency angiogram done to figure out what needed to be done and how much damage there was. The procedure (angioplasty) only took probably 45 minutes to 1 hour and the cardiologist, who just so happened to be Pastor Tom's and two other guys at church's cardiologist and an extremely strong Christian, Dr. Samuel Kojoglanian, came out and explained what had happened. My dad had a massive heart attack because his main artery going into his heart was 100% blocked, which they cleared and put a stent in to help, and his left anterior artery was 95% blocked which they will have to go in and repair with a stent either later this week or next week, depending on Dad's strength. He said by the grace of God he survived through just getting from the house to the first ER, let alone being transported in extremely critical condition, to the next ER and the surgery. Many doctors said that it truly is a miracle that he is alive and they would have given him a 25%-30% chance of survival at Henry Mayo and lower to survive the transport and angioplasty. The artery that was 100% blocked is called "The Widowmaker" because not that many men survive any major blockage in that artery. Pastor Geoff Beckwith and Pastor Mike Broyles made it down to Holy Cross just in time to see my dad after his angioplasty with all of us in the hallway. And Gary Catalde, after his terrible bike accident on Monday, even trekked down to Holy Cross and got to tell Dad to hang in there. Mike's mom, Michelle, told me later that God really must have had a tsunami of prayers between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. when the word was getting out to friends and family. My dad was then put in the I.C.U. at Holy Cross and that's where he is now. We were able to see him briefly before and after we went to lunch when we finally got something to eat thanks to Ben and Grace treating us. Mike and I and Cole went down later that night and I was able to sit with my dad for about 20 or 30 minutes and talk with him and rub his back and his arms and just remind him that we all love him so much and how proud we are that he pulled through with the Lord at his side! He even cracked a smile for me. He is still in critical condition, but is stabilized and they actually took out the balloon pump that was helping his heart pump this morning. My mom called down this morning and he is doing okay and is still really weak from everything. Apparently he didn't get too much sleep last night. Go figure with having about 7 I.V.'s in him, that balloon pump going up through his groin and through his femoral artery, and about 15 monitors on in the background. :) Hopefully he'll not be as nauseous today. He vomited many times yesterday which is never fun. Steve Lively and Mike Wilke also were able to come down yesterday and pray with Dad. Thank you everyone for your prayers and thoughts. I know the Lord heard them and please continue to pray that the Lord will continue to heal Dad and that there will be no complications with any of the procedures that they already have done and will do in the near future. And thank you for your generousity...everyone that we have talked to has said, "If there is anything that we can do, let us know." It's such a wonderful thing knowing that you have so many friends and family right there in times of need. Praise God that my Pop is still here today and he had survived this "out of the blue" attack. He has never had any heart issues and there is no history of heart issues, attacks, or disease in his family. Again, thanks for your prayers, I know my Dad feels better just knowing that he has so many people out there praying for him. Besides, he said last night that he needed to be well enough to play guitar at Brice and Emilie's wedding shower on Sept. 16th, and for sure well enough to walk Emilie down the aisle for their wedding on November 11th!! He reminded the docs of that many times yesterday! :) What a cutie-pie! I'll give more updates as we get them from the doctors!