Lindsay comes to Austin!!!

Once in a while, worlds collide and God kindly reunites you with an old friend....this was one of those weekends! Lindsay was in Texas for work and came to Austin for a quick visit. Though it was short, we tried to show her as much Texas fun (and sunshine) as we could in less than two days! These photos are yesterday at the beautiful gardens downtown which are now in full bloom. Last night, we had coffee on the dock at my favorite Austin coffee shop, Mozarts, while listening to live music--of course.

Afterward, we were caught in traffic downtown near the infamous 6th street for much longer than I think either one of us would have wanted...though we certainly saw some interesting sights. After being thrilled by cars with hydraulics, motorcycle gangs and some....amazing...outfits, we decided we preferred eating gummy bears at home to the Austin night life!

It's such a blessing to get to spend time with a true friend who loves Jesus with all her heart. It was truly a gift to have some fellowship with my sister in Christ. Thanks for coming, Lindsay!

Spring Break, March Madness, and Troy's Birthday

Last night, we celebrated Troy's birthday, which was Tuesday. We had a family "Iron Chef" competition, which always results in an amazing meal. Troy got to choose the secret ingredients this time, and each team bought 3-5 ingredients for another team. Wow! Let's just say we have some amazing chefs around here!


This picture is Jude and Josiah playing with Troy's new bingo game.
This is Troy toasting coconut to take to Erin and Cameron (we bought their secret ingredients). He wanted to make sure it didn't burn. They also received peppermint extract, chocolate chips, and coconut milk. The dessert and drinks that resulted were quite amazing.
This is Troy and his dad yesterday...both in the GU spirit! March Madness has definitely interrupted our routine, but it's a welcome interruption, especially since Gonzaga ROCKS!
This is Jude last week, happily using his new kitchen stool. He's sporting hives....we found out last week that he's allergic to penicilin.
This is Troy and Jude on Thursday, during the first GU game! Aren't they full of Bulldog spirit?
Back to work tomorrow!

Valentine's Day and Visit from Mom

Well, here are some more pictures....Troy and I went to a State Park near our house and went hiking baby-free on Valentine's. Also, my mom was here during February and we went to the Botanical Gardens. Jude loved the stream!

Jude's Birthday Party (1/21)

Here are some pictures of Jude's birthday party....a little old, but I thought they were fun. His favorite gift was his REAL remote control. You can also see his first attempt at coloring. So far, he's more interested in chewing on the crayons, but hopefully he'll get it soon!

No Video..

Hi. Let me explain why our son has now been walking for about two weeks, and we have no video posted. Well, we have a video camera. It's nice, it was a very generous gift from Troy's parents a couple of years ago. Before we had any kids, we used a bunch of tape to film our dogs, ping-pong tournaments and other such nonsense. Then, we had Jude, and there was some tape left, which we used to film him rolling over, sitting up, and laughing (which are all valid moments to put on video). But, there they stay--on the little bitty tape inside our camera. The little bitty tape is now full.

So, you say, why don't you just upload the video and move on? We don't really have an answer to that question except that we can't figure out how. Here are some options of why it's not happening:

a. We lost the special cord to upload the video and haven't bought a new one. After all, we've moved three times since we got the camera in 2006.

b. We have no video software on our computer, and we don't know why...something out both our laptops being wiped clean and neither one ever having the video software re-installed. (Does that even make sense? I am not techy, I just know that we can't upload video.)

c. We haven't taken our little tape over to Troy's parent's, sister's or other sister's computer to clean it off and put the current footage on DVD. The only reason for this is because we're absent-minded.

d. We haven't driven 3 minutes to our choice of Target, Walmart, or the going-out-of-business Circuit City store to buy another little tape we can fill up!

The answer is....All of the Above. Dumb! Anyway, imagine a little bald roundish child walking around like he's holding an air guitar all the time. It's pretty cool.

What?!!! Our son is one?

Happy 1st Birthday Jude!!!

A few months ago, we planned ahead for this momentous occasion and hid a few of his favorite things to give him as gifts for this birthday. He's stoked about his "new" toys and books and we are stoked about saving some dough!

Jude's favorite gift is that he now gets to turn his car seat around. He's lovin' being part of the family during car rides!

Jude is also very exited about having enough hair to get a cowlick. This picture was taken this evening, on his birthday. Two hours after he had fallen asleep for the night, we realized we had not taken a birthday photo, so we did what we felt was necessary...Sorry buddy.

The final exiting news of the day is that Jude finally worked up enough confidence to take a few steps on his own today. He has been steady enough for a while now, but he's a very calculating and careful fellow (Troy thinks he's a chicken-baby) and has refused until today to take even a step without someone holding him. He will now take up to 4 steps toward a couch without anybody touching him! This is a huge improvement from the 0 steps he would take yesterday!

We thought you would also enjoy a picture of Cameron the super-uncle with Jude and his 3 cousins! Our family seems to grow daily and we will soon be unable to gather together under one roof.

We're back!

I know many of you may be wondering if we got buried in a snow bank in Spokane, or if we are still stuck in some remote airport trying to return from our Christmas vacation...but the truth is, we're home and we're just now uploading our 400 Christmas pictures!

While we were in Spokane (Dec 19-Jan 4), about 70 inches of snow fell. While all the shoveling and snow removal was exhausting (mostly for Troy and my dad), it was absolutely beautiful. It's astonishing how God can change how everything looks with snow...so clean and quiet. Here are a few photos: