Father's Day and a little bit more...

Father's Day is all about celebrating everything, manly, right? What's more manly than baseball, a hot dog, and teaching your son "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch? We had a great afternoon at the Colorado Rockies game, despite it being close to 100 degrees that day. Owen was such a trooper--we had a wet bandanna around his neck that kept him cool as a cucumber and he even fell asleep between the 4th and 6th inning (almost along with his mom). :) Just kidding, Shawn! I actually, surprisingly, enjoyed myself as well. You have to do a ball game in the summer--it just isn't summer unless you do!

On the O-man front, he continues to put smiles on our faces! He absolutely LOVES climbing the stairs (now we need to teach him how to go down safely), especially when you "chase" him. He just giggles and squeals. This is a favorite tradition of Owen and Shawn before bedtime (as captured above). If you look closely of the one picture of Owen turning around on the stairs, you get a good view of his newest accomplishment--3 teeth! And with those new teeth, he loves eating watermelon! He will seriously gobble up 2 huge whole slices of it--no problem! And as you can see, he loves sharing it as well!

Well, we are off to San Jose, CA for the Mennonite Convention this week. As worship leader for the Youth Convention, Owen and I are going out on Thursday and Shawn will join us on Sunday. You can keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I enter into this role--it seems a bit daunting...I'll let you know how it goes. We'll be back home on the 7th of July. I am looking forward to having my mom out there to help with childcare--so, until next time...

Cutie Patootie

Think Owen looks like Shawn? Perhaps, but here are a few other celebs that he resembles...

Friend visits!

We were so thrilled to have Colleen Rhodes here with us a few days this past week! Colleen is one of my best friends from Harrisonburg, VA who has just recently moved to Carlsbad, NM. We had a great time together doing things like: shopping, watching the Cavs lose, shopping, eating out, shopping, going to Starbucks, shopping, watching a movie, and shopping. It was fantastic...(and so nice to have a second opinion when clothes shopping!) I had to do some serious shopping to get ready for the San Jose Convention which is coming up in 2 weeks! AHHH! Anyhow, great friends are just like riding a bike---you just jump back on and take off right where you left off. Come back soon, Coco!

Owen is doing well, despite being drug around from places here and there these last few days, which cut into his afternoon nap time pretty severely. He absolutely loves climbing up the stairs now--always makes a bee line for them whenever in sight. He actually crawled up our 14 stairs 3 times tonight. And he could have gone more...that has to be like climbing a 10,000' mountain for a regular person! He also has a mouth full of teeth now--4 finally came down on top, to round out his bottom two. Hopefully he'll be a bit happier now. :)

We are looking forward to celebrating Shawn's first father's day tomorrow. I am taking him to a Rockies baseball game in the afternoon. So, I'll have to have him post his thoughts about his day tomorrow. So, until next time...

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

What a day! Shawn surprised me this week by making reservations at the Brown Palace Hotel for a high tea this afternoon. Yes, you heard correctly. Bless his heart, he did it for me (alas to say, he'd never go on his own accord)! However, I think I heard correctly that somewhere between his delicious buttermilk scone with Devonshire cream and strawberry preserves he said, "Wow--I think there is more to this tea thing than I first thought!" Needless to say, we had a great afternoon together, while Owen was with a babysitter.

Owen on the other hand, has had quite a week. Somewhere between a complete refusal of baby food, working on 3 teeth, and sleeping erratically for anyone other than me, has been fun. His new tricks include clapping (see new video) and "talking on the phone." Whenever you say, "Hello..." he puts whatever he has up to his ear and pretends he's talking. So funny. Dad, I took that picture just for you--from one "pilot" to another! :-) He has also begun repeating a few words---"duck," "light," "nigh-night," "nana" (for banana). And today, he just started crawling doing that 'tripod' thing...which most likely means walking isn't too far off.

I can hardly believe I am 29 years old. This year has been full of so many joys and new challenges. One of the better years, for sure. Shawn continues to enjoy his new work, and we are thankful for the opportunities that provides. I preached last Sunday, which is always such a "birthing process" all on its own. If you want to read it, you can go to: http://fmcdenver.org/sermons1/current.html and they should be posting it sometime soon. It's titled, "The song of the village." Thanks to all of you who wished me well for this new 29th year of life. I truly am thankful. It was a good day. Now that Owen is in bed, Shawn and I will retire to our newly finished patio and enjoy this beautiful evening...