Tutored!

Well, Cinco traded in is man card on Tuesday. We thought it would be a fun way to help him celebrate his 7-month birthday. :) He did really well and, as far as we can tell, isn't really concerned about his recent loss. We were kind of hoping that the rowdy puppyish-ness would be neutered as well, but that remains to be seen. He was docile for about 15 minutes as I was driving him home from the vet - but as soon as the medication wore off, he was back to his regular self once more! Cinco says there's no need to send him flowers. He prefers coke bottles (2-liter), fuzzy slippers, or toilet paper.

John 15:15

Darcie and I got to go to Danny & Ali's wedding this past weekend. Danny is a former student of mine (Forge class of 07) and it was such a great time being able to see the students again and celebrate the union of our two friends. They had been waiting a long time to get married and they did it the right way - so we were eager to be there for them.

One of the best parts of the weekend for me was that Danny asked me to be one of his groomsmen for the wedding. When he first asked me about it, I was a little taken back - half expecting him to ask me to officiate the wedding. What's neat is I think that being asked to be a groomsman was more of an honor for me. When you ask someone to be in your wedding party it communicates a certain degree of friendship. While I always hope to actually become friends with my students, I'm never sure that it actually happens. I fear that I always remain their 'teacher' or 'mentor' for the rest of their lives. So, I guess for me to have officiated it would have felt like I was still the mentor - but to be a groomsman meant that I was a friend. A tremendous encouragement for me as his former teacher. It was also the first time I had dressed up in a tux since my own wedding!

More Pictures from Colorado

We're back from Colorado, rested and ready to start the summer! Here are some pictures from our trip up to Rocky Mountain National Park. (except for the vertical picture - that was from our hike in Boulder at Chautauqua)

Rocky Mountain High!

Today we packed in Tiffany's car and headed up to Estes Park and Rocky Mtn National Park. We hiked up 2 or 3 trails in the snow! It was a georgeous day too which made our adventure even more fun! Tonight we're catching up with one of Matt's friends from college and then one more night in Denver before we head home!

Downtown Denver!

We've made it to downtown Denver. We sure did pick a great weekend to be here. It's 75 and beautiful and we're sitting in the middle of the 16th street mall - which is a pretty neat place to visit. It reminds us of downtown Ft. Worth - just lots bigger. Our hotel is great, too. Nice big bed, great mountain view, cool facilities - perfect for the last half of our getaway. Tomorrow we hope to visit Rocky Mtn Natnl Park for the day and get some good pictures in the mountains! More later!

Vacation in Colorado!

We're enjoying our 3rd day up here and we've had a great time! The only objective for this trip was to rest and we've been doing LOTS of that! The past 2 days have been pretty much the same: sleep in, read, nap, read, hang with Tiffany and Kelli after they get done at work and then back to bed again. Today we did venture up to Boulder for a 'baby' hike and a drive up the mountain. It was a pretty day and it made for a great time. Tomorrow the second half of our vacation begins as we check in to the Hyatt downton for 3 nights! More to come!

Through and Through

Well, we're overdue for an update. Life has been pretty busy for the month of April - but the nice thing is, it's not April anymore. Here's what's been cookin in our lives over the past month:

--We started pre-natal classes! That has been an adventure....for me especially! :) We watched "the video" this last week and this week we get a tour of the hospital and educated on all of the medications or "interventions" that could be utilized during delivery. Darcie is entering her 3rd trimester this month, so the reality of having a baby is growing larger and larger - especially when her belly moves and wiggles! (We haven't decided on a name yet - we're just not ready to commit....my guess is that we might even wait until she is born before we decide. We'll see.)

--I turned 30 years old and Darcie threw me not only a surprise birthday party, but also a celebration of my first 10 years of full-time ministry. Darcie was sneaky and managed to get people in town that have been a part of those 10 years who are very special to me. It made for a tremendously fun evening and Darcie scored some major points with me too. :)

--We graduated our 3rd class of Forge students. This year I was almost not even ready for it. They keep going faster and faster each time we do it - but it was a great year and a fantastic group of young men and women. They were so sweet to me - they gave me a Katana as a thank-you gift; the sword was forged by Charles Adams - someone whom I have gotten to know by running a program called the Forge. If you look in the group picture above, you can see Adam holding the sword up over his head.

--Saw Cinco through his first ear infection. He's fine, but he shakes his head a lot and we had the daily joy of putting ear drops in his ears - no small task, I assure you.

--We made 3 trips to our camp in Columbus, TX called Crier Creek - one for a manager's retreat, one for a family day promoting our new youth camp down there called the Outback, and one trip to rest and relax with the Forge students just before graduation.

It was a busy month, but a good one. We're looking forward to our vacation coming up here this week as we take some time to relax and unwind in Denver, Colorado! Some people have told us that we're going on a "babymoon" since it's our last trip together before our daughter is born.