Weekend Review

Tomorrow starts the Bi-annual Staff Conference here in Fort Collins where every staff in the nation (and a lot from all over the world) come to be encouraged, taught, and re-aligned with our vision. Those of us who have been here all summer decided to take advantage of a three day weekend and find some cool places to vacation before the conference begins. A friend of ours was so thoughtful to invite us along with another family to join them in Vail. They found a rental house for an unbelievable price and so we said "Yes, please!" It was a fun, chaotic but restful weekend. There were 11 children in this house so you can just imagine what life was like...



I was so thankful to have some extra hands to take care of W. Phoebe and Lucy (above) were awesome with him and were troopers to ride with us the 3 hours there and back to entertain Wilson.

We also had fun nights of Nerts that took me way back to college. Andrew and I painfully lost every time we played as partners. (He won the game when I wasn't his partner so it's not too hard to discover the weak link.)
 

We spent one day in Beaver Creek...


And one day in Vail walking around the Farmer's market.


We saw some pretty interesting things there like this hipster dog. (I was thankful to learn that he is a Puli and their hair grows naturally like this.)


We tried to explain to W that this is a ski town in the winter, but he was pretty annoyed with our methods.



Mostly we just hung around at the house and enjoyed the magnificent views...





We are so thankful God provided a cheap (incredible) getaway! This apartment was starting to close in on us!

Official

It's official... Andrew and I are now bearers of the acronym: MTL (Missional Team Leader). We had our commissioning Friday morning and got to enjoy a nice brunch with the staff from all over the country (and world) who are being sent off as leaders and laborers. We are humbled to be a part of this.... humbled to lead a team (who we will introduce to you shortly!) and humbled to lead a ministry that really the Lord will be leading as we look to Him for direction.

A special THANK YOU to all of our family, financial and prayer supporters. This is a team effort and we are in desperate need of those holding the line for us.

Representatives from the Southeast Region, new MTLs and Coaches

Me with my MTL Mom Coaching Group... Meg (my coach) and Melanie (another new MTL Mom)

A Choo Choo and a Spook

We went for a family walk the other day and heard the faint oncoming whistle of a train. Andrew took off sprinting with Wilson and his stroller yelling "Let's hurry! I'm going to show Wilson the train!" I didn't hurry with them, but don't worry because I did not miss one minute of this very.long.train. W probably won't remember it, but I'm glad he got to do a very boyish thing with his Daddy (and photographer, Mommy). I'm not sure which boy enjoyed it more.

The train was pulling airplanes! You don't see that everyday.

He looked like this the whole time... cautious wonder

On a completely unrelated note... would you please take a look at this picture and tell me (or the computer) if you see anything abnormal?


Do you see it? The apparition on the right side of the roof? Let me spare you the heart attack and tell you that it is a man made out of very fine wire. ??? Yes, I am wondering also why someone would put that on their roof. We drove by it a couple of weeks ago and I froze for most of the way home thinking in my mind "Did I really see that? There's no way I saw a ghost. Surely it's not real. Would people put a fake ghost on their roof, though? Am I going crazy? Am I seeing hallucinations? Do I have a tumor in my brain?" Finally I swallowed my pride (I was just sure Andrew was going to have to drive me straight to the loony bin) and told Andrew we needed to turn around because I thought I saw a ghost.

I have such a sweet husband who didn't laugh at me or make me feel stupid... we went back and discovered the truth about this spook and I am currently still holding a grudge against the owners of this house.

A Dangerous Sign

I've hit a wall with cooking here.  When you don't have all of your normal cupboard-stock it's hard to make good food... not that I'm a whiz in the kitchen at home either, but at least I have more options. So last night after going back and forth about going out to eat or staying in we decided on peanut butter sandwiches with the incentive of going out for Mary's Mountain Cookies after. These cookies have been a temptation for me every day since we've been here. Normally a cookie is a cookie to me, but these give me Cookie Monster googly eyes.  And to make matters worse (or better, depending on your perspective) they will put your favorite ice cream between two of your favorite cookies and VOILA! ...

 Can't you hear it saying: "You must eat me and you must eat me now!"

 Wilson replied with "Sure thing, cookie!"

And just when I thought I would be safe from its siren's call in a couple of weeks, I spotted this sign...

Oh, brother.

Weekend Review

On Friday, W came home from childcare with a faux hawk saying "I'm ready to party this weekend!"

So party, we did! We had a full weekend. Friday we went out to eat at our favorite restaurant, Beaujo's Pizza, for the third time since we've been here. I need to get a picture of their addictive pizza pies.

Saturday we headed out to Boulder with our friends, the Robbins, and their three kiddos. We spent a majority of our time on the famous Pearl Street which is basically a four block pedestrian mall known for its eclectic street performers. It was fun to experience! Here are a few shots of our time there...

We spent a good 20 minutes playing with these wind up toys. They did things you would not believe!

W and sweet little Roe playing on the rocks

A bluegrass band that we've seen in Ft Collins too. They are so, so good but man do they need a shower.

Today has been mostly restful. We found a cool little park not far from here that is amazing for children who can walk/climb. It really had everything. Since Wilson can't do much on his own right now, we showed him around the park and gave him a taste of what he will be doing someday...

Then we ended up back in City Park, our favorite, for a rest in the shade.

It's been a refreshing weekend to get us ready to go back to "work" tomorrow! Andrew's been working hard in class. We came up with our (loose) strategic plan for the year and he had the opportunity to present it to a couple who are on the national board of Campus Crusade. Thankfully they approved and gave us some good direction. I know I keep saying this, but we are so ready to be in Hattiesburg and begin to see our dreams for the students materialize. Not much longer!

Wild Willy

One of our friends started calling Wilson "Wild Willy" when he was first born.  I didn't like it then and don't like it now, but I'm beginning to think it may be appropriate. I knew Wilson was active, but I didn't really know that he was hyperactive until I am now seeing him around other children at childcare.

A couple days ago, when I picked him up, I sat down to watch him interact with the other kids. The others were all calmly sitting in one place playing with toys and then there was W... who was making laps around them. (The workers tell me just about every day that he is the fastest crawler in the class by far. They even call him "Mr. Crawl Fast"). I then see him push, yes push, a child down to get to a toy. I grabbed him and scolded him and one of the workers said "He's actually gotten less aggressive." Less aggressive?? What mother expects to hear that her child is the bully in the class?

I know he is not really being a bully, but aggressive is probably an apt word. He knows what he wants and no one or thing better stand in his way. Today when I picked him up, the other children were (again) quietly sitting in a circle playing with toys... and where was Wilson? Of course: on the other side of the room tearing construction paper flowers off of the wall. I sense an interesting future is ahead of us.

I've been trying to document fun things that he is saying/doing on camera, but this kid will not stay still long enough for me to do it. And so here is me showing you how well I can say "mama" "dada" and "uh oh" and Wilson showing you how incredibly busy he is. If you want time with him, you better let him know so he can pencil you in!

Wilson's First 4th

The morning of the 4th I found W having his own celebration in the bathroom...

 This is not the first time he's done this, but it was the first time I've paused to laugh and take pictures. As frustrating as it is (Come on W, that's like 75 cents you just wasted!), it's just so darn cute at the same time!

The night of the 4th we had a pot-luck with our regional staff team (I've forgotten how much I love pot-lucks!). We had been debating about going to the city park for fireworks.... Would they scare Wilson? Should we get him earplugs? Do we let him stay up until 9? Do we put him to sleep and then wake him up? Do we just stay home and pretend like it's not the 4th? We finally settled on letting him sleep for an hour at home and then packing him up to go watch the fireworks with friends. I know, we are terrible, selfish parents. At least Wilson thought so....

But right before the fireworks started he woke up more and was in a great mood (contrary to what his face is saying here).

We actually watched from an apartment complex so the noise was not too loud and near the end he would hold both hands up in the air and say "Oooooooh" with every bang. It was adorable. I wish we brought the video camera. (Again, we are terrible parents!) This is the best documentation we got of the cuteness:

Hope you all had a happy Independence Day!

Weekend Review

Andrew's parents are in town for the week so we made sure we were very touristy this weekend and hit all the hot spots around Fort Collins. Friday night we celebrated Baba's 60th birthday and had a night on the town. This town is  so full of life and art that it almost made me wish I lived in a "big" city.

Saturday we hit the road early and spent the day in Estes and Rocky Mountain National Park. Four years ago when I heard the words "national" and "park" together it made me yawn, but my first time in this park (last staff conference) totally changed my mind. The scenery reminds me of what an incredibly designed world we live in. I need a good dose of nature every now and then... it does the spirit good! 

See what I mean?

W enjoying time with Baba and Grandan

Snow in June!

On Sunday afternoon we headed east to Greeley, Colorado to experience the renowned "Greeley Stampede." We soon realized that we had been the victims of false advertisement... we basically traveled 40 minutes to go to a carnival where we saw totally normal things like...

kids riding bucking sheep

 and men wrestling alligators all the way from the (and I quote) "exotic state of Florida"!

 It was all worth it to get the world's cutest picture. Please brace yourself....

He was not a fan of cow kisses. He looked at us like "Excuse me? Did you see what this creature just did to my hand?"

It was a great weekend that was topped off with our favorite eatery here, Beaujo's Pizza. 

Now we (mostly Andrew) are back in class and excited to learn more about what it means for us to lead the ministry at Southern Miss! We can't believe how soon the school year will be starting!

Rejection and a Picnic

Well, we've had a small hiccup with childcare. We somehow (probably in the busyness of selling, packing, and buying homes) missed some forms we were supposed to have signed by our doctor in order for W to be eligible to attend. Several faxes, phone calls, and days later we are on the brink of his eligibility. I feel like we're trying to get him into Harvard.

Anyway, Andrew has been attending and enjoying the classes. He has been learning (and passing on to me) information about his job description as the MTL (missional team leader) at Southern Miss, what the broad direction of the US campus ministry is, how to get a vision for your specific campus, etc.

Meanwhile, W and I have been doing things like this.


Last night I decided it was time we get out of this apartment and asked Andrew if we could go on a little picnic for dinner. So we packed up our cooler and invited some good friends to come and join us. And, of course, had a little photo shoot before they arrived. This city is just beautiful.

He would rather have Mommy-Juice

Notice the "Wilson" ball? It's people's favorite response to his name. "Oh like 'Wiiilllssooonn' from Castaway?"

We are having so much fun here but I am ready for some childcare. It's not the same being at "home" all day in a place that's not really your home.

Home is where the toys are

We are here in Ft. Collins! We've just been settling in our little apartment today, visiting yard sales and consignment stores. It's a lot of work to make it livable, but we are just thankful to not be in a dorm room or hotel for these six weeks!

W is enjoying exploring every wall and corner and electrical outlet. He also enjoyed keeping our upstairs neighbor up all night last night (Thank you Mr. Peter... thank you also for letting us use your internet for FREE. We tried to pay him, but he was way too nice to let us.)

Tomorrow we will register and have a kick-off picnic to meet everyone else going through the MTL (Missional Team Leader) track and Monday morning at 8:30 our classes will begin! We are really excited to be here for the summer. We are thankful to have awesome leadership that will guide us and equip us in how to be leaders in the ministry we have been called to at Southern Miss!

And we are also thankful for having childcare this summer... because there is only so much to do in this apartment.