Back by popular demand...

"Mommy and the baby, sittin in a tree...""Mami and baby, standin near a tree..."

Mami, Kiah and I at Garden of the Gods...

"Out of my face! Papparazzi!"

Gonna eat the camera!!!

Well then...

Ok, so the family was out here for the larger part of last week and into this week. Sarah's grandma Marge, her parents Jeff & Linda, and her sisters Kaitlin and Jessica. Here are some pictures from Glen Eyrie, the castle outside of town.







It's just been a very busy past few weeks. Thanks to everyone for your patience, and for even coming back to check the site. We'll get things going again, now that they've quieted down.

Kiah is smiling alot now, and mimicking our voices. He's 14 lbs. now... The nurse giving him his vacines the other day couldn't hold his little legs down without help. I'm so proud.

We had Kiah dedicated to the Lord at church last Sunday. Dedications are a vow to raise him in a way that's pleasing to God. I was dedicated in Sarasota, Florida at a little church called Grace Fellowship, and Sarah was dedicated at Moraine Valley Church in Palos Heights, IL. We've been waiting till Sarah's family was out before we had it done.

This next week, I am not at the front desk, but back in the Reservations department. It will be alot of fun, and hopefully a great learning experience. Yesterday, I was in there for 8 hours, and it was well spent.

Sarah's back to tutoring and Halie has been playing alot of catch up on work that's been missed due to the olympics.

My good friend Jim V. (the guy that always keeps me in check here on the blog) and his wife Paula have been going through some terrible medical struggles over the last few months. Please join Sarah and I in praying for a swift and complete recovery for Paula, and peace for Jim as he holds her hand through this season.

Garden of the Gods... and Kaitlin

Sarah's sister Kaitlin has been visiting us this past week or so. She'll be here for another couple weeks, which is cool... we're stoked to have family around.

Things have been good. Busy, but good. Work has been fun, and a good learning experience. I will be moving partially to reservations for the next few weeks, but I'll still keep my momentum at the front desk.

I'm staying home today because Kiah didn't sleep much last night and Sarah was beat this morninng. I didn't get July 4th off, but I got the PTO day, so I took it today. I took a few pics out of our buiding collection to share with you, so here we are...
Here's Kiah and me. We look like some goofy sort of gang.


Here's Sarah and Kaitlin at the Garden of the Gods. Kiah's in the stroller, and the mexican lady posing in the background has such a happy look on her face, I didn't want to crop her out...


Here's a pic of Kait, Kiah and I. We're so happy from a distance, but zoom in and...


Here's a pic of Kiah and I at the visitors center. I like the way it turned out.



And finally, here's a pic of Kait and Kiah. They're so cute!

Fridays are weird...

Well, Friday was no exception to my incredibly strange week. I mean, last week was like a script from a new sitcom. One of the ones that hasn't gotten it's feet under it yet. The writing is choppy, and the acting is sloppy, and this sentence is starting to sound like a song. It isn't... but it could be.

Friday morning, I checked to see if Neil Armstrong had checked in. He was in room 1202, and was due out on the 13th, so I was pretty sure I'd at least see him. Growing up a total space geek, I went over scenarios in my head to make sure that I didn't attack him when he came downstairs. I rehearsed "Mr. Armstrong, how are you this morning? How was your night? Do you have a car downstairs that we can bring up for you?" things like that.

Needless to say, that the morning went on fairly normally, and he did not come down before 6. One of the other navy officers from his squadron, however, did come down for breakfast. And as he was sitting alone, I struck up a conversation while he waited for the restaurant to open. We talked about the state, and where he was from, and he asked me where I was from. I said Ohio, and he commented that Neil was from there too. I said that Stryker, where I grew up, wasn't far from Wapekaneta, where Neil was born. Now take into account that while they are spry little guys, all of these navy officers are pushing 80, if they haven't already fallen into it. For those of you who don't know many 80+ year old men, they get excited easily, and then forget what they were excited about, and spend the rest of their day perpetually excited, but they don't know why. That's why they sleep like 3 hours a night. They are so excited about something or other. (Note: Sometimes, this can also translate into crankiness. Insert the word cranky instead of excited into the rule above, and it will account for about 1/3 of old men days per year. The other two thirds they spend mysteriously excited.) Anyway, he got very excited, and then ended up looking a little confused until the rest of his party came down for breakfast. I went back to work, and forgot the conversation for the moment.

About two hours later, I had just returned from bringing up a car, when I saw the navy squadron gathering outside to get on their bus, and get on with their busy and mysteriously exciting day, when I spotted Neil in the center of the group. He was wearing a light pink dress shirt, and was looking very healthy. The last few pics I've seen of him haven't done him justice. Anyway, he's a very private man, and I didn't want to scare him, so I took my look, and went inside. Just in the doors, I was accosted by the little old gentleman from earlier, and he said "Have ya met Neil yet?!?" I said no, and he hauled me out the door and toward the group. "Neil!" he yelled as he flung me in front of the first man to step on the moon... "This boy's from Ohia! (pronounced correctly, I might add.)" Neil asked me where, and shook my hand. I told him I was from Stryker, and he said he knew where that was. (Almost unbelievable, but he gave a reference town that established that he did indeed.) I told him that it was an honor to meet him, and that I hoped he had enjoyed his stay. I wished him a good day, and took my leave.

I was in a bit of shock. Introduced. How much better was that then pushing myself at him and saying something like "I'm glad ya made it back!" or "Way to beat those ruskies!" or something ridiculous like that. I was so happy, that I told a couple of coworkers before returning to the front to get back to work. As I approached the front desk, I noticed a slightly dishevelled customer waiting to be helped. I went up to ask him if he needed help, and possibly tell him about Neil Armstrong getting into the bus outside when he turned around. It was Ron White. Ron "Tater salad" White of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. He looked slightly drunk, which is, or course, his look. "Mr. White. How are you this morning?" I asked. He said he was ok, and I told him I loved his show. (He is easily the funniest part of what can be a thoroughly disturbing look at america.) He was simply looking for a place to buy socks, preferably where there was a pretty salesgirl, and I directed him to the right place. He went and ate breakfast, and spent the morning wandering around looking for something to do. Unfortunately... there IS nothing to do in Colorado Springs at 9am on a Friday morning. So he went over to the spa and flirted with the girls there. Avoiding the random "TATER SALAD!!!" screaming fan with grace. Needless to say, I was pretty shocked. Armstrong, I saw coming, but a week of naked old men, half drunk celebrities, and new shoes... it was a bit too much for me. I needed a few days to process it before bringing it to you my faithful readers.

Well. On to something else. Here is a montage of Sarah pics from this, our ninth and final month of pregnancy. Below it, you will find a desktop picture of Sarah's 9th month. (I'm a dork. But a freakin proud one...)

Pictures

Took some pictures this last week.
Here's me at my hotel...







Here's a montage of photos from the interior of the hotel, with a picture of Pike's Peak in the background.

The pic of the mountain is from the back parking lot of our church.