none but Jesus

in the quiet, in the stillness
i know that you are God
in the secret of your presence
i know there i am restored

when you call, i won't refuse
each new day again i'll choose

there is no one else for me
none but Jesus
crucified to set me free
now i live to bring him praise

in the chaos, in confusion
i know you're sovreign still
in the moment of my weakness
you give me grace to do your will

so when you call i won't delay
this my song through all my days

there is no one else for me
none but Jesus
crucified to set me free
now i live to bring him praise

all my delight is in you, Lord
all of my hope, all of my strength
all my delight is in you , Lord,
forevermore

(Brooke Fraser)
video

zebras are reactionaries, antelopes are missionaries

much to mommy's excitement, abigail recently discovered animals. of course, she noticed grandpa and grandma's puppies at christmas, but we also got up close and personal with some other furry friends at the zoo and the farm in fort collins.

we visited the farm on a beautiful day (don't be fooled by the snow still on the ground). abigail got so excited about the animals, we actually caused a scene. other people were coming over and taking her picture. she was squealing.

the tractor pose for daddy. he looked at the picture and immediately knew what model of tractor it was. once a farm boy, always a farm boy.


sheep breath! gross.


i didn't let her get quite close enough for a sheep smooch though.

she liked the goat...

but wasn't so sure about it eating her jacket.

we went on her first trip to the denver zoo with some friends on a free day, which also turned out to be a warm day- above 65 degrees. needless to say, the zoo was swamped.

all the kids

checking out the komodo dragon

easier to see in this picture.

abigail, haley and henry checking out the tropical fish.

staci was also a fan.

the little kids get the best view.

eating off the ground

a favorite activity at our house. she spilled almost the entire bag and then only ate the dirty ones.

abigail's zoo highlight- the ducks. what a kid.

posing with the giraffes.

o.k. this is getting long enough. soon maybe you'll see aquarium pics. that's the next destination on my list. these outings are really for the parents, not the kids.

happy birthday adam and abigail!

we've been very busy since christmas. we had a nice time in iowa seeing all of our family (both sides) and some extended family and friends too. abigail did well for her first long road trip. she loved grandpa and grandmas' houses (a hot tub, dogs, what more could a kid want, right?), and she officially had her first pizza ranch pizza. i know, so worth commemorating. she also didn't sleep almost the entire time, but we are now catching up because she has started sleeping through the night!!! it only took one year...i forgot what it feels like to be rested. i don't think i realized how sleep deprived we actually were until now. oh well, what's one sleepless year...i'm sure we'll have plenty more.

speaking of one year, we also recently celebrated abigail's first birthday and adam's 25th birthday. hope he doesn't mind me publicly announcing his age. here are a few highlights of abigail's birthday and her one year pictures. click on our photo link for the rest of the birthday photos and christmas photos. we've got some cute cake eating video as well...enjoy!

math

funny. this is exactly how i remember feeling, language aside, of course.
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/shitload_of_math_due_monday

seven things

I was tagged a while ago by janelle to do "7 things people don't know about you" and now amy tagged me with a different list, so this is the combination of those two. I also thought I should dedicate a few to adam, since this is also his blog, even though we all know who is doing the blogging.

OK. seven things people don't know about me and adam.

1. i once signed a contract with my sister margaret that i would be a tight rope walker in the circus someday or pay her a million dollars.


2. i can't sleep without socks on.


3. adam was scared of the vaccuum cleaner as a child.


4. adam learned to drive at the age of 7.


5. i, however, attemped to drive at the age of 14 and hit a wall.


6. i count my steps when i run.


7. adam is so addicted to this show about logging on the discovery channel, that i can't even get him to tell me interesting things about himself.

OK, and now i have to tag 7 people. let's do sarah, sar, becca, tara, amy, margaret, danielle. i can't imagine anyone male i would tag would do this.



mission accomplished. i'm trying to be speedy now, because both abigail and our little babysitting girl are sleeping, but i suspect it won't be for long.


1. What are your nicknames?

Unfortunately, most of them have to do with inappropriate rhymes and are not fit to publish here. On the appropriate list, Kater(s), Special K, Kate the Great, Katie Pie, Katie Bug. Also, I believe Cracker was the universal nickname for us white folk in my apartment junior year of college. I can't wait to tag Tara for this one, because her nicknames are hilarious.


2. What game show and/or reality show would you like to be on?
jeopardy or wheel of fortune. i can't imagine i would do well on a reality show.


3. What was the first movie you bought on DVD or VHS?
while you were sleeping and the princess bride


.4. What is your favorite scent?
i'm generally a fruity person, but vanilla is probably my favorite. if we're talking perfume, I love burberry weekend. it smells like candy.


5. If you had one million dollars that you could only spend on yourself, what would you do with it?
pay debt, college for the kid and future kids, TRAVEL! big house for my parents.

6. What one place have you visited that you can't forget and want to go back?
well, the reason i put travel in the previous question is that all my dreams of travel have been dashed since having a child. our travel fund became abigail's college fund. mexico and canada are as far as i've gotten. adam says my answer is chicago and he might be right. but my dream trip would be greece and turkey.

7. Do you trust easily? no

8. Do you think before you act, or act before you think?
depends on the situation and how emotionally involved i am

9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy lately?
being cooped up at home, especially when it is cold out! and seeing abigail so miserable when she's teething.

10. Do you have a good body image?
does any woman? we are always our own harshest critics. i hated being skinny growing up. ironically, my body image has improved since having abigail.


11. What is your favorite fruit?
raspberries and strawberries. always the expensive ones.

12. What websites do you visit daily?
facebook, cnn, theonion (maybe not quite daily, but often), craigslist b/c i am looking for another pack n play.

13. What have you been seriously addicted to lately?
well, it can't be politics anymore since the election is over. mint truffle hot cocoa, long walks, re-reading my anne lamott books, say yes to the dress on TLC.

14. What is the last song you got stuck in your head?
in a little while, U2

15. What is your favorite item of clothing?
jeans and tanks

16. Do you think Rice Krispies are yummy?
no, i eat them for breakfast all the time because they are cheap, and i'm really sick of them.

17. What would you do if you found $100 laying on the ground?
pick it up, rip it into lots of little pieces, and throw it to the wind. no, not seriously. i would suspect someone was setting me up.

18. What items could you not go without during the day?
almost the same as yours amy- cell phone, chapstick, but right now it would be my Newsweek rather than a book. and a hair tie.

19. What should you be doing right now?
resting. which is exactly what i'm doing.

20. Name 3 people who should be tagged. tara, becca, sarah, sar and janelle. I can't limit myself to 3.

silent water

"God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them."

(Bono)

This past week, I went to Step into Africa, a 3000 square foot exhibit about AIDS created by World Vision. You put on headphones and take an interactive audio tour, assuming the role of one of 4 children. The tag line of the exhibit is "Can you survive the journey of a child?" It was a great time for the exhibit to come to Fort Collins, as we have a small group of people at church right now who are meeting to discuss, read, and learn about AIDS in Africa. We're also following up the exhibit with a church wide African dinner and discussion about the experience this coming Sunday.

The AIDS crisis used to be a big interest of mine that unfortunately fell off my radar over the last few years. I recently finished reading 28 Stories of Aids in Africa (by Stephanie Nolen); each of the 28 stories represents a million people infected in Africa, and There is no Me without You (by Melissa Faye Greene), the story of Haregewoin Teferra, a middle class Ethiopian widow who takes in hundreds of AIDS orphans. Read them if you get the chance; the stories are fascinating and heartbreaking.

Visiting the exhibit and reading these books has reminded me yet again of the bizarreness of our world- we see almost non stop news coverage of the presidential election and the economic crisis, but rarely anything about AIDS. I understand why- it's too far removed, we've never seen anything like it, people aren't capable of grasping the statistics - 11 million AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa? The numbers are staggering.

I've heard people ask why they should worry about AIDS in Africa when there are issues like abortion, poverty, and hunger in our own country. With all due respect to those people, and recognizing that those issues are also important, I would still say that those crises are not comparable to AIDS in Africa. The disease is literally wiping out an entire generation of people who should be the breadwinners for their families, leaving a generation of children, who if they are lucky, might be cared for by extended family or grandparents. Equally as possible, those children might be shunned by their extended family due to the stigma of AIDS, or may not have any family left and will care for themselves. Imagine your children, nieces, nephews, or grandchildren, little ones aged 5, 6 or 7, caring for their younger siblings, even newborn babies. Think about the economic, social and political disasters that will almost certainly befall a continent swelling with orphans.

Stephanie Nolen puts it so well in 28 (p. 15): "When I talk to people at home about the pandemic, I get the sense that they feel a dying African is somehow different from a dying Canadian, American or German -- that Africans have lower expectations or place less value on their lives. That to be an orphaned fifteen-year-old thrust into caring for four bewildered siblings, or a teacher thrown out of her house after she tells her husband she is infected -- that somehow this would be less terrifying or strange for a person in Zambia or Mozambique than it would be for someone in the United States or Britain."

May we as Christians not let it be this way. Let us speak out and take action.

"For it is the calm and silent water that drowns a man."

(African proverb)

brainpower

brace yourselves people. this is the first time in over a month that i (kate) am not studying for the GRE while abigail naps. the more i talk to people, the more i realize how nerdy this is. nobody studies for the GRE this hard. if you did, tell me, so i feel less like a freak.

this also reminds me how long it's been since i've posted anything on here, because i haven't even written anything about my decision to apply for grad school next fall (CSU's masters of journalism and technical communication). yep, finally decided to get my act together and do it. i cannot be a SAHM for my only job, although it certainly is a full time job. being in baby care boot camp 24 hours a day is brutal for my brain. i need to use it for something else- hence, all the studying. it is the most exciting part of my day, and that's how you know when you aren't using your mind enough. i am so excited!! if they don't let me in, i'll be knocking down doors.

let's see, we've been up to about a million things since the last post, so let's go list style:

1. mini vaca to denver. wildlife experience. window shopping. swimming. picnicking. eating at the cheescake factory (my personal highlight). red rocks.

2. home improvements. third color of paint in the kitchen. new curtains, photos, etc.

3. habitat build. finished.

4. abigail. not crawling yet, but trying so darn hard. sitting by herself, unless she reaches for something and then tips over. sigh. mommy's looking forward to her gaining some more independence, i think. abs decided to like the jumperoo this week, and that's been blissful for adam and me.

5. working. adam is still in the office, and he's the only full time estimator now.

6. following the presidential race. i'm serious, this takes up an unbelievable amount of time. you have no idea.

7. volunteering. the usual, church, habitat, and i've also been helping the the Markey campaign a little bit. click here to see my sweet celebrity cameo. haha. adam couldn't even tell it was me.

clearly we've done more than this, but i'm at a loss for what. i swear i'll post again when i come up with more. check out our links too - i added our photo page.

vacation...sort of.

june has been a crazy month for us with both of our families coming to visit-13 people on each side, two weeks in a row. everyone left a week ago, so this past week was the quietest week EVER (not to mention slowest, since there was nothing going on). we miss everyone already!! but we did have an excellent visit- quick run down: first week. adam took the week off from work. hiking, swimming, and playing at the park in fort collins. enjoying the mountain views from our rental house in estes park and from the hot tub- wow, did i ever miss that while i was pregnant! hiking, driving, shopping and rock scrambling in RMNP. a few people even got a snowball fight in. week two. abigail and anneke's baptism, playing in the park again, shopping, decorating, graduating(margaret's medical residency) and re-upholstering our ottoman (courtesy of my talented sister michelle-thank-you!). we also pulled off two family pictures, both of which turned out excellent, but you can't really beat the background for the VW side (also the view from our rental house-bliss). we'll post more vacation pics later this week- i'm waiting on getting the VW pics off of adam's computer at work. you would not believe how many there are. the danger of digital cameras i guess.

sweet summertime

it finally feels like summer is here! it's been sunny and in the mid 80s for a few days, and we have been enjoying the outdoors. becka is visiting (yay!), so we spent saturday in rocky mountain national park at the alluvial fan (in the first picture) and alberta falls (second picture). abigail's first trip:). as adam says, we're making an outdoorsy girl of her-she's also going on her first camping trip this coming weekend. it was a perfect, clear day, so we took some great pictures. where else can you hike in the snow wearing shorts or a tank top and still get super hot? adam figured out a solution though - stepping in 2 feet of snow wearing shorts...it's kind of tricky to hike in that.

sunday, becka and alysia and i also went and got pedicures and watched Made of Honor while dear sweet adam watched abigail. the ladies giving us pedicures (pedicurists?) were pretty insistent that we have flowers on our toenails, which led to a lovely photo shoot at nathan and alysia's. i think i'd skip the flower next time...although i'm guessing this will be the first and last time i'll get a pedicure. i wouldn't mind having one of their massage chairs in the house though. we also enjoyed grilling at nathan and alysia's on sunday night. very relaxing. until abigail started bawling - she'd had a little bit too much fun for one weekend.

let's see...the nice weather also inspired us to clean up our porch. i wish we'd taken a before and after picture. "abigail" bought mommy a beautiful hanging basket for mother's day, which is now soaking up the sun outside. we've been fighting a serious battle with a couple of birds who keep trying to build a nest under the plants in the basket. they were not happy when i kept removing their nest, but they were being pretty protective of their turf, and i didn't really want them swooping at us while we were outside.

we also visited some other birds in fort collins -glad i'm not picking a fight with these ones. the rocky mountain raptor program and maybe CSU(?) have a sort of bird sanctuary where they care for injured raptors. i LOVED this-we got to see a golden eagle, a bald eagle, hawks and an owl (forget what kind) up close. very beautiful and amazing animals.

well, abigail is waking up from her nap, and clearly is not interested in blogging any longer. we're getting very excited to see family in a couple weeks! we have a whole parade of people coming to fort collins in the next month, and abigail and anneke's baptism is coming up in the middle of june. most of our summer fun is happening in june, so i think we're going to be bored once it's over. friends, feel free to stop by and visit in july or august:).

welcome to the world, baby girl

we have all been sick on and off the last couple of weeks, so we finally get to see our new niece anneke tonight! we stopped by the hospital when she was born (a week ago), but didn't dare get too close. we're pretty excited to have a little cousin about abigail's age - and she is a cutie! we couldn't help but notice though, she makes abigail look even bigger! she's growing so fast - already into some 6 month size clothes - although a lady at king soopers assured me that this was not big; her grandson was the same age and already wearing 12 month size?! is that even possible?

we're also very excited for a visit from becca - 2 weeks away! becca, if you're reading this, i was thinking maybe you should bring along some chicago style pizza -it's just not the same anywhere else :).

today, adam is in denver for work, finishing a 3 day training on some software for work. sounds like it should make his job quite a bit more efficient, at least that's the plan. the weather is nasty here, and abigail has decided it is nap time, so we're procrastinating instead of going to the grocery store. how can it be cold enough to snow, when earlier this week we were lying on the lawn, looking at the clouds, and enjoying the 80+ degree weather?

i finally got around to uploading a few more videos of what abigail is up to. click here if you want to see them.

family photos

posting 2 days in a row...amazing! we actually ended up taking family pictures last night spur of the moment- mom was here to take them anyway, and we figured, who knows, maybe margaret will go into labor soon, so we'd better jump on it.


it was a great idea in theory, but abigail was already crabby, adam needed to quickly get a hair cut, and i (kate) had to wash my hair still. so it was a little chaotic, but abigail somehow (by an act of God most likely) stopped crying after the first two pictures. thank goodness. we didn't push her for a smile; that would have been way too much to hope for. we already made her wear a headband, which was cause for mutiny by itself. adam thinks it makes her look like a thug. i think she just looks pouty. you be the judge.

sunny days

it's been way too long since we've posted something on here. this is really the last thing i should be doing, because it's 70 degrees and sunny outside, and i've been anxiously waiting for weather like this. we'll get out there in a bit.

abigail is finally on somewhat of a schedule, going to bed and waking up at roughly the same time every day. now that i've said that, of course it will change, but we'll take it while we can...she is also enjoying putting her hands, her rattles, her clothes, and anything else she can get in her mouth. it gets slightly confusing when i'm trying to feed her and she also wants her hands and her toys in there at the same time. being my child, i'm sure she'll have a big mouth, but not that big. she also enjoys books (hooray!); her current favorite is that's not my dinosaur - thanks to lauren from habitat for that one!

adam worked on the habitat house our church is sponsoring on saturday, helping rough in the electrical. it's nice for him to get out a little more and move around, even though he is still enjoying his office position most of the time. we bought a bike for adam this weekend so he can ride it to work and get more exercise- about 13 miles total. i've started running again recently after a whole year off - this is the longest i've gone without running since 7th grade. i feel like my lungs are going to explode every time, but it's also very exhilirating to be back at it. once a runner, always a runner i guess.

other than that, we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of abigail's newest cousin, baby "A," due in a week. i think dan and margaret are more than ready. my mom is staying with them right now, so we've gotten to see a lot of her since abigail's birth. she will be here for 2 and 1/2 weeks again.

we promise more pictures are on the way soon! since it's so nice, we're going to get outside and take some this week.

Pictures

birthday bash

Yesterday we had a very exciting celebration for my (Kate's) birthday. Lunch at Culvers-yummy:). I can never say no to ice cream and cheese curds for lunch. Sick, but oh so good. After lunch, Abigail and I got a chance to see Adam's office finally - so strange to see him sitting behind a desk. I never imagined it. He leaves for work in the morning wearing button down shirts. What happened to the grungy t-shirts, holey jeans and baseball caps? I kind of miss it.

Anyway, we also "celebrated" with a Habitat meeting at church. It's actually very exciting, don't be fooled. Immanuel is sponsoring a Habitat house and getting ready for the kickoff groundbreaking ceremony this coming Sunday! It seems like it's been a long time coming. We started talking to the church council about sponsoring a house last April (I think). It's awesome to see the Habitat team work so hard to make the details come together. God is good.

After the meeting we had brownies and ice cream at Dan and Margaret's house, followed by a rousing game of "tissue (pronounced teshue) paper" with Caleb in the kitchen. What more could an aunt ask for:)?

Oh, and so you don't think Culvers is the extent of Adam's romantic-ness, I also got some beautiful flowers and a date coming up on Saturday. But Abigail still won the prize for best gift - she almost slept through the entire night!

lights. camera. no action.

when my mom was staying with us a few weeks ago, i think i accused her of being the paparazzi during abigail's first ride in the stroller. we ended up with over 2o pictures -not that she is being very photogenic in any of them. i guess i developed a little stalker syndrome myself, because i spent the last two days trying to take pictures and video of abigail smiling. but she is quite the stinker when it comes to photo opps (see picture on left). next to her is her beloved rattle we've affectionately dubbed "shaky the snaky," even though he is a caterpillar. what rhymes with caterpillar anyway? even shaky couldn't keep her from crying when the camera flashed. however, we had a little more luck yesterday (see photo below) and even caught a couple clips of her grinning. I didn't bother to embed the video, so if you want to see them, click here or here. sorry, i'm just a proud new parent who wants to show off her baby. at least i'm not cornering you on the street and pulling pictures out of my wallet.
-kate

changes

so we finally decided to start a blog. i figure that since i'm staying home now, this isn't a bad way to spend some time. after four years of college and a year of checking e-mail every 5 minutes at work, it just feels normal to be at the computer. so here i am. life with abigail is busy, but right now she's sleeping in my lap, so i've got at least one free typing hand.

adam and i seem to make all our life changes at once. in 2006, we graduated, married, moved, and adam started a new job, all in the space of a few weeks. this january, adam left the field for an office position with his company, and less than a week later, abigail arrived. i completed my one year volunteer commitment shortly before january, and now take care of abigail full time.

we'll try to keep you updated on all the new events in our lives. God has truly blessed our family. enjoy!

-kate