2011 Valentine Card

Love Is Sweet Valentine's Day Card

Create personalized greeting cards and invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Happy Easter!

Okay, so it's a little late to be wishing you a Happy Easter, but I just had to share these photos with you.

Easter was Asher's first Sunday, and he was the talk of the church in his adorable little suit. I can't believe he was only 6 days old! The suit makes him seem so much older.

One of our friends saw Asher and Michael together and exclaimed, "Oh, it's a Mini-Me!" The nickname has stuck.

Here's a picture of the whole family. I think we are finally getting used to there being four of us instead of just three. Aliyah is loving her little brother, and is finally adjusting to not getting 100% of our attention. She is very helpful and even enjoys changing diapers (with our help, of course).

Asher is a great baby and is completely mellow. He already sleeps 4-5 hours at a time. He has changed so much already! He likes to be awake for about an hour at a time, at various points throughout the day, instead of just sleeping all the time. We are enjoying him immensely.

Asher Phoenix Has (Finally!) Arrived!

Here is a picture of our newly completed family:


After enduring a couple of weeks of Braxton Hicks contractions (false labor), we scheduled an induction on March 17th. We had to be at the hospital at 6:00 a.m., so Aliyah spent the night at my mom's house Sunday night so we wouldn't have to drop her off super early in the morning. We got to the hospital and they hooked me up to Pitocin. My doctor came and broke my water about 8:30. At 9:40 I asked for an epidural. I was fully dilated at 12:30. I pushed for a little more than 15 minutes. Asher was born at 12:54. He weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces, and was 19 & 3/4 inches long. As you can see below, he is beautiful!










I had to put green socks on him right away so no one would pinch him :) We are both doing well.

Check back later this week for tons more pics!

It's A Boy!

That's right! For those of you that don't know, we're expecting again. We're going to add a little boy to our family around the middle of next March. The ultrasound tech was so sure it's a boy, she said she'd work a day for Michael if she was wrong!

Weekend In Cascade

This weekend we took a much needed trip to Cascade with some friends for a short but rewarding break from reality. It's a little over two hours' drive, with a good thirty minutes of dirt roads, climbing up over a mile above sea level. We stopped a a small diner in Horse Shoe Bend on the way up Friday night and then made out way up around behind Lake Cascade and up the mountain.

When we arrived at the cabin the mosquitoes were plentiful and hungry and were already standing in line holding little numbers when we got out of the car; so we hurried to get inside the cabin and got the screen doors closed to protect our exposed arms and legs. The cabin itself was small and had not been cleaned well in quite some time. Old pet odors mixed with those of rodent-droppings and musty furniture; dim lighting and 40 year old decor also added to the first impression. But when the lights were on, and the curtains were opened, the dusky light and the 40 watt bulbs showed promise for a relaxing weekend.

We unpacked and chatted, moved some mattresses and pulled out the snacks - then got right into a rousing game of Acquire. After a battle of Titans, the game came down to the final tally, and after all the [play]money was counted we declared a winner and headed for the plastic covered mattresses.

The next morning Aliyah decided that 6:53 was wakin' up time and despite our best efforts, refused to go back to sleep. As we were trying (unsuccessfully) to get her to lay quietly, a knock on our bedroom door alerted us the the small brown bear scratching at a tree less than 15 feet from our window. Unfortunately, by the time I thought to race after the camera in the other room, the bear had decided to move on to better foraging elsewhere, and I wasn't able to get a picture of him. After that we decided that we were all awake and may as well get to the breakfasting.

The rest of the day consisted of some reading, some religeo-philosophical discussion, a puzzle and a couple of simple meals all with an eclectic selection of music being played in the background from a laptop and small powered speaker. Our calm day was broken only for a few minutes when a deer appeared just outside our cabin, and spent the next 10 minutes grazing through the ferns nearby. We all went out on the screened porch (still trying to avoid the militant hordes of mosquitoes) to take pictures of the deer as it ate and posed several times before jumping through a bush and disappearing. After dinner we set up a DVD on our laptop and had some popcorn; and when the movie was over it was time for bed.

Sunday began at a leisurely 9:00, and after breakfast we began a 45 minute worship set - led by a selection digitized worship songs on a laptop. After church in our PJ's we cleaned up the cabin and had some lunch. We packed our bags and piled them by the door; and after a last long look out at the lake from the screen porch we piled in and headed down the mountain. The drive home was fair, and we made good time, but it felt long because we all knew we were headed back into the mayhem of another work week. It is amazing every time I think about it, everytime I get away - whether it's a weekend or a month - there's a part of me that wants to stay in that smelly cabin with no shower and no television and just look out at the trees and the lake, but it's good to come home to the place where I live. If only I didn't have to go back to work...

Welcome Brooklyn Nadia!

Brooklyn Nadia Gates was born last night, June 11th, at about 9:15 p.m. Kendall was induced at noon, because of being diagnosed with pre-eclampsia. She started pushing about 7:45, but at about 8:45, was wheeled down the hall to have a C-Section because of complications. Come to find out, the cord was wrapped around Brooklyn's head twice, but she was delivered safely at about 9:15 p.m. She weighed 6lbs. 14oz. and was 19 1/4 inches long. Mother and baby are doing fine, and Josh managed not to faint.

I'm Going to be an Aunt...

The only question is how soon. This is my sister-in-law Kendall. She married my brother Josh. She is due June 24th, but who know if she will last that long. Stay tuned for pics of baby Brooklyn.