Meet Aubryn Joy

We'd like to officially welcome our precious baby girl, Aubryn Joy, into the world! I'll rewind a little over a month to tell the story of her arrival.

I was due on December 24th and had an induction scheduled for the 29th if she hadn't arrived before then. So the evening of the 28th we anxiously made sure we had all of our last-minute items packed, and we tried to get some sleep before the big day. I was going to be waking up around 4:30 to take a shower and be at the hospital by 6, but at 1:30 in the morning (after maybe only falling asleep for 30 minutes), our plans changed. I woke up with pretty strong contractions, and within the next hour, my contractions went from 9 minutes apart to 4 minutes apart! This was really it! We got in the car, called the family, and then were quickly admitted into the hospital. Within the next hour I got all settled into my room and received my epidural. I was excited to see that I was already dilated to 5cm and didn't have to be induced...they say inductions make for tougher labor, so I was thankful my body kicked into gear on its own. My family arrived quickly, and we enjoyed visiting with my parents and sister while watching massive contractions on the monitor and not feeling anything! It was great! David and I tried to get a little snooze, and we peacefully watched an incredible sunrise while listening to the sweet sound of our little girl's heartbeat.

I was progressing steadily, and by around 11:30 we were ready to push. As I began pushing (which is challenging when you can't feel anything from your waist down!) Aubryn's little heartbeat would fall with each contraction and push. The doctors kept a close eye on us both, and I really was never worried. I LOVED my doctor- I felt very safe and confident in his care. Around 12:30 in the afternoon, the doctor decided to use forceps to get her out since she was already so low and in a perfect position for forceps. So, with a couple pushes and the biggest salad tongs you've ever seen...Aubryn was born. With a loud cry and an immediate cuddle on my tummy, I had my baby in my arms. She was a healthy 7 lbs 6 oz and 19 inches long.

It was such a surreal, incredible experience, and I really loved every second of the labor and delivery. God's design for life is so intricate, careful, and perfect. I feel so blessed and privileged that we were able to share in the process of God's creation! Stay tuned for one month updates!

We're ready for our baby girl!

With a little over two weeks until this baby girl is set to arrive, we are as ready as we know how to be! Here is a picture of me a couple days shy of 38 weeks. We are anxious, excited, thankful, and a teeny bit nervous about all of the unknowns. Mostly, we are just eagerly anticipating laying our eyes on our precious little girl and kissing on her.

Here are some pictures of our nursery. The room started with tan walls and a BLACK ceiling! I think we transformed it into a sweet, girly (but not too sugary sweet) room. I love it and find myself just standing in it and dreaming about this little precious baby. My dear friend, Emily, was instrumental in the execution of this room! Thank you, sweet friend!! And of course David was so wonderful to attack the black ceiling, install the chandelier, refinish the dresser, and do all sorts of guy tasks in the room. It was a group effort, and I'm very thankful!

24 Weeks!

21 Weeks!

17 Weeks Pregnant!

Seven Deadly Sins - Part 6 - Greed

Seven Deadly Sins - Part 5 - Lust

Seven Deadly Sins - Part 4 - Envy

Seven Deadly Sins - Part 3 - Wrath

Seven Deadly Sins - Part 2 - Sloth

Seven Deadly Sins

Our preacher is doing a sermon series on the Seven Deadly Sins and so we decided to make some videos to help illustrate each sin. Enjoy! All 7 parts will be coming soon!

Happy 5th Anniversary!

Happy 5th Anniversary to my amazing, beautiful wife! She makes me such a better person and I can't imagine my life without her. This has been the best 5 years of my life. I love you!

Shannon went to Scotland!

Blizzard 2009

On Thursday, Denver was hit with a blizzard! The morning started out calm and dry, but the weather forecast called for a huge storm front to roll in by late morning. Shannon's school was smart enough to see the writing on the wall and cancel their school day entirely, but went in to work only to close the bank early and send my staff home at 2pm. The roads were terrible and it took me 45 minutes to drive the 5 miles back to our home!

The snow wasn't as hard to deal with as the crazy blowing snow and white-out conditions. Here are some clips from the afternoon and next morning.

Typical Denver, it's already bright and sunny and the snow is almost gone!

Lake Tahoe with Stephen and Noemia

Lake Tahoe was beautiful in October, and nobody better to spend it with than Stephen and Noemia! Welcome back to the States!

Democratic National Convention

This past week has been crazy here in Denver with the DNC here in town. I work in the same building where Obama was staying which made for a long week of being searched coming into the parking garage every morning, street closures, and crowds of protestors. Despite the hassles, I enjoyed the hype and even got to rub elbows with some famous people.

Even though I'm not a Democrat, I was thrilled to partake in the various festivities around town.
Right outside my office, I saw Hillary Clinton come out of her hotel and shake hands with the mob on the street. I strolled on out and shook the crazy ladies hand and enjoyed every second of it.

I also got to sit at a table and each lunch right next to Mike and Kitty Dukakis, with Walter Mondale straight across from me. We were all at a luncheon tribute to George McGovern. Other notable people present were Tom Daschle, Gary Hart, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, and Tom Brokaw. It was fun!

Finally, while I was walking down the street with a friend of mine, I asked him if he'd seen anyone famous yet. He replied, "No, but that Michelle Obama right there!" I looked over, and there she was about 10 feet away from us, sitting in the back of a black SUV stopped in traffic. She heard him say that and looked at us to see if we were a threat. Instead of expressing my political views in an inappropriate way, I smiled and continued down the sidewalk. We had a pretty good laugh about it as we went on our way.

New Home!

It was a long 3 months without a place to call home, but we feel very blessed with our new house! We moved in at the beginning of March and, as expected, we have been very slow to unpack boxes and start the decorating process. But things are moving along and we are so happy to get such a great deal on this foreclosure - and from some really great Christian people that took care of it well. Now we just need to figure out what to put on those bare walls!

We really want to thank our parents for letting us stay with them and being patient with us as we waited for the perfect opportunity. It was fun living at home again and being spoiled by you guys!

Come and visit us! We have a bunch of rooms and no one to fill them!

Spring Break!

I was blessed to be able to go to Scotland over my Spring Break last week. My sweet parents made it possible for me to go over one more time to spend time with Holly, Luke, and little Isaiah. Thank you so much, Mom and Dad!

The trip started a little rocky-- after arriving in Edinburgh to find that our luggage was still in Denver, scraping the rental car, and someone (who will remain nameless :) ) filled the regular gas tank with diesel fuel, we were anxious to get into St. Andrews and get settled. Once we finally got into St. Andrews, everything was wonderful. We stayed in a cute little flat that is a 5 minute walk from my sister's flat. We had a wonderful time playing with Isaiah, eating scones, playing with Isaiah, walking around the quaint little town, playing with Isaiah, having High Tea at the Old Course Hotel, and playing with Isaiah! I love my little nephew! He is at such a fun age, and you can see the wheels constantly turning in his mind. It's also really fun to see my sister and brother-in-law be parents. They are doing such a great job and are training up a sweet little boy. Here are some pics from the trip:

Cute "wee" little nephew!

We were visiting an old cathedral, and Isaiah found little statues just his size!

Isaiah LOVES Spot the Dog! When the grandparents saw a window full of Spots, they couldn't resist! As you can see, Isaiah is one happy boy!

My class is doing Flat Stanley right now. We had fun showing mine around Scotland.

My mom took Holly and I for high tea at the Old Course Hotel.

Isaiah's first Easter-egg hunt. :)

Kids Say the Silliest Things!

One reason I love my job is that the kids keep me laughing every day. Sometimes I have to turn around and face the whiteboard to not show them that I am holding back the giggles. This year I am trying to write down some of the funny things they say and do because I always forget! I hope you get a laugh out of them, too!

1. David came into visit my class for the first time. I asked the kids if he looked like they thought he would. The students all said, "No". I asked, "What did you think he'd look like?" One of the students replied, "I thought he'd look rich!"

2. When trying to drag the truth out of a student, I was asking him if something that another student did to him could have possibly been an accident. He finally replied, "I remember! It was half on accident and half on purpose, and they morphed together!"

3. When discussing what heirlooms our great-grandparents passed onto us before they passed away, one student said, "It was from my grandma. She passed out too."

4. After watching an introduction video on magnets, one of my very enthusiastic students was truly crying with excitement about magnets when I turned the lights back on.

5. Student: What is the name of this state?
Me: Pennsylvania
Student: Oh, that's where they make pencils!

6. Try to decode this phrase that a student wrote: akshiwol vertion of phonix

7. As a student was reading the lunch choices for the day, he said, "Oh, I always thought that sandwich was girl cheese".

There's never a dull moment as a teacher!

Remember this funny stuff from P-dine?!?! I just found this on my computer and am loving it all over again!