more pictures of nueva york

Other than our honeymoon, this trip was our first vacation together.
I love to vaca with my sweetie, but I am definitely more of a
lay-on-the-beach-vacationer. New York was very fun, but tiring.
This is a flag that was a part of a 9/11 tribute. There were hundreds
of them on display in Battery Park. This is the second time I have
been to NYC on the anniversary of 9/11 and it was pretty powerful. It was
good to remember. The words on the flag: "Flag of Honor, This flag
contains the names of those killed in the terrorist attacks of 9.11.
Now and forever it will represent their immortality.
We shall never forget them."

This is us taking a photo of ourselves in the mirror. Cheesey.

Time Square is so great at night.

Gloria and I met during my DTS with YWAM in 2001 in West Africa.
She is a Dr. now and works in the Northern most part of Manhattan.
Here we are enjoying the classic New York treat, black and white cookie.

Timmy on the Brooklyn Bridge heading back into Manhattan.

The Big Apple

Our first day we wandered around the city most of the day checking things out. In the afternoon, we were sitting in Central Park, and suddenly Tim says, "hey, is that Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher over there?" Well, yes it was. 50 feet away, they were filming a scene for their new movie! It was fun to watch and we almost got to be extras. The darn papparazzi ruined it for everyone and when they wouldn't behave, they made everyone leave.Cameron and Ashton

We also saw Nikki Hilton earlier that day, but that was it for movie stars. All three on the first day. Well, 2 1/4 stars at least, who's Nikki Hilton anyway?

These are some of the friends we stayed with, Joe and Julia. They were terrific hosts!

Us and lady Liberty.

weekend in Duluth

A couple weeks ago, we spent the weekend with my folks up in Duluth. It was wonderful and they spoiled us! We are trying to squeeze in the family memories before we go :) We had a great time seeing the sights and hiking around Jay Cook Park - so beautiful. The weather was great and we ran into a few people at Canal park, which was a fun surprise.

Labor Day Weekend Update

After flying high from beating Dan in Disc Golf last week, we decided to play again. Since we had not played the course by Maplewood Mall in a while, Jer and I met Dan there for 18 holes yesterday. Dan beat me like a rug. However, a bad round of Disc Golf on a beautiful day is better than no Disc Golf.

On Friday night my sister, Sally, came to the cities to see her husband’s cousin, Justin Roth, play a concert at the Lake Harriet bandshell. Heidi and I rode our bikes and met her there. Justin puts on a good show, but the mosquitoes were so bad that we finally had to leave. We did get some ice cream from Ben and Jerry’s before we parted ways, so that was a bonus. It was one of those evenings where things did not quite go as planned, but we still had fun.

On Saturday and Sunday we were in Duluth with Heidi’s parents. After stopping for doughnuts (Mmmm. Doughnuts. Mmmm.) at Toby’s we visited Canal Park. We took in some sights, ate some ice cream, and walked around. Twice we ran into friends that we did not know were going to be there. That night we watched the Bourne Ultimatum and liked it a lot. On Sunday morning we hiked at Jay Cooke State Park. Wow. That place is amazing. We tooled around again at Canal Park before eating pizza at the Green Mill and heading home. Having cool in-laws is a good thing.

The game of my life and Baby's Daddies

On Saturday morning at Acorn Park, I (Tim) beat Dan Lundberg in Disc Golf for only the third time ever. Dan is the Tiger Woods of Disc Golf, only more dominant. Nobody in our group of semi-regular players has ever beaten him. Except me. Granted, I have only won three times in 11 years of playing, but I still consider it a major victory. Going into hole #18, we were tied. My first shot hit a branch on the way out of the trees and landed on the path. My second shot was too low and landed ten feet behind Dan’s first shot. My third shot was almost perfect, putting me a long putt from the hole, while Dan’s shot went into the trees. My long putt, from about 25 feet away landed perfectly in the basket, while Dan’s shot hit the side. I finished at +7 while Dan finished at +8. Victory was sweet, even when I have to have the game of my life and Dan has to play terribly for me to win.

Heidi once overheard a woman say, “that’s just my baby’s Daddy” in reference to a man who was nearby. That sentence is a sad commentary on our times. Travis Henry, the new starting running back for the Denver Broncos, just set a new record for “baby’s Daddies”. He has nine children with nine women in four states. The previous record holders for professional athletes, Shawn Kemp and Evander Holyfield, at least had a couple children with the same woman. (Holyfield draws my ire for claiming to be an Evangelical Christian, but is also alleged to have nine children out of wedlock with at least four women.) As much as I love Broncos football, I will have a hard time cheering for Henry. For another take on Henry, follow this link: http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/10319804/1

State Fair take 2

Thanks for all the comments on your fave foods at the Fair, we are headed out there again today. We're volunteering for a few hours and then hitting the great MN get together again. On Friday night Tim enjoyed the corn, pronto pup, ice cream, milk, and scotch egg. I had some mini-doughnuts, deep fried pickles and milk. We also split some garlic fries, cheese curds, Martha's cookies and malts with friends throughout the night. Strangely, we weren't even stuffed when we left!!!! Small amounts of everything is a good thing!

Tonight I am getting my deep friend candy bar, but then I will leave my options open. It feels like we have had a 5 day weekend of sorts. With some friends and family in town, 2 trips to the Fair and a lovely 20 mile bike ride last night with a picnic supper thrown in, the weekend has been quite fun. Tim still had to work normal hours, and I haven't been feeling too well, but we have had some positive distractions. This has been nice considering our house going on the market today. It's good to have something else to think about. Please pray that our duplex will sell quickly at a price we can afford to accept. Thanks!!

The Fair, the Fair, What to Eat at the Fair

Tim and I will be gracing the MN State Fair grounds twice this year. Once with friends on Friday night and again on Monday evening. We are volunteering at a booth for Tim's job on Monday and b/c of that we get in free. So my big question is...what should we eat?? Already on my list are some obvious choices:

deep friend candy bar
deep friend pickles (delicious!!)
mini-doughnuts

Other than those, I may have to choose spontaneously. So tell me, what do you usually eat at the Fair??

Tim's thought's for free!

Last Sunday I played an epic disc golf game with Zach “the Hurricane” Thompson at the course in Edina. With five holes to go I led by one stroke. On that hole I took a bogie while Zach birdied it. He ended up finishing at -1 while I finished with at even. It was the best round either of us had ever played at that course. Too bad he lives in the Deep South and we don’t get to play often.

I saw Transformers for the third time. Chris Heng joined me for this viewing. It was awesome again. In fact, the third viewing was the best. What a great movie. I love giant, battling robots.

The new Project 86 album is good. Dang good.

The NFL preseason is here. I hate the preseason. It has games that don’t matter while my favorite players get hurt. What a dumb idea. They should go straight from training camp into the regular 16 game season.

Fantasy Football season is almost here. This year I will have to limit myself to 2 leagues. The last two years I was in 4 leagues and that was too much.

I did some great shopping at Kohl’s on Wednesday night with Heidi and her mom, Lyn. I scored 5 shirts and some jeans for about $50. While I already dislike shopping, it is harder when I can only buy things that will work in Africa. Everything I got should work out fine. I also bought two pairs of Umbro shorts from Dick’s Sporting Goods for $10 each. Good deals are my friend.

I sure do love Heidi.

Weekend Update

This weekend we attended a wedding and an ordination. The brother of a good friend of Heidi's got married on Friday night. (We actually sort of invited ourselves to this wedding!) It was great to be a part of their special day :) Congratulations TJ and Anisha!The mother and sisters of the groom. Hot mamas! The one on the right is single fellas.

Heidi and Tammy

Tim's best friend Chris got ordained on Saturday by the Twin Cities Hmong Baptist Church. He's actually Chinese, but I guess they don't mind. His wife Zong is Hmong though. It was great to see friends, be there to see the ceremony and eat some delicious Hmong food. Not quite as good as if Zong had made it all herself, but it was still fantastic!
Congratulations Chris! He is now the Sr. Pastor!

We're OK

Well, most of you have probably heard about what happened last night on 35W, around 6pm the bridge crossing the Mississippi fell into the river. Tim and I are both ok. We both drove that bridge twice yesturday, Tim missed the fall by about 45 minutes. We haven't heard of any friends who were personally affected by this. And we pray that we won't hear any of that news in the coming days. We did bike down there last night since we live so close. I don't know what it is, but we wanted to see for ourselves what really happened. It was horrific. And there aren't words to describe it, but here are some pictures we took. We are praying for the families of those were killed. Right now there are 4 confirmed deaths, but many are still unaccounted for and rescue efforts continue to find more bodies. There are many people who need a miracle right now. Knowing who our God is, let's join them in praying for their miracles.

More pictures

We love camping!

We camped this weekend with the young adults group from church at St. Croix State park and it was glorious. Very hot and sweaty, but still very fun. We were at the group sites, which were nice...once you found them! Hopefully it was a good time had by all. We didn't take any pictures, but the mental memories should keep us warm at night. Thanks for coming everyone and don't forget: the Chases are always up for a camping trip!!!

Harry Potter (don't worry, no spoilers)

I (Tim) got up on Saturday morning and cruised to Target to get my very own copy of the new Harry Potter book. Whenever I had a chance I read, trying to finish before someone ruined the end for me. Last night, at 12:30 a.m., I finished the book without hearing the ending first. Without giving anything away, I have to say that I loved it. Anyone who has finished it can now call me to discuss the book. (I will say this much: Mrs. Weasley rules!)

My main task today will be staying awake. I finished the book late, and then I got up at 6 a.m. to play Ultimate Frisbee. Caffeine is my friend.

Tim's thoughts for all to see

Heidi and I have been getting up and running on the Midtown Greenway in the morning before I head to work. It has been nice to run before the heat of the day kicks in. We also like getting it out of the way so that when I get home in the afternoon we can do other stuff. Since we run at different speeds, we usually start out together on an out and back route, and then I go on ahead but turn around and catch up to her at the end. We have only been doing this for a week, but already we both feel pretty good.

Tomorrow I will purchase the final Harry Potter book. (I know I am a bad Evangelical. That will have to be the subject of another post.) If anyone hears how it ends, please do not tell me. Two years ago a Junior High kid told me the end of book six when I was only halfway through it, so I am trying to avoid the same fate. There are always going to be haters who love to ruin a mystery for people and I am going to try hard to avoid them. My other dilemma is figuring out how to read the book while keeping my wife happy and getting everything done. Not sure how that will work out. I’ll keep everyone posted.

Yesterday I finally found a t-shirt with an Autobot symbol on it. I have been on the lookout for years for one of those and finally found one at Target for $10. Heidi thinks I am a big dork. I still love her, though. Sometimes I ponder if people wonder what a cute girl like Heidi is doing with a dork wearing a Transformers t-shirt. You can come to your own conclusion.

THANK YOU!!!

A huge, amazing, and wonderful THANK YOU to everyone who helped
out at our work day on Saturday. We are so thankful to you! We got a
ton done in the yard and everything looks great. A special thanks to
Mom and Brenda who helped me sweep the nasty cobwebs from the
basement ceiling. We may all be suffering from the black lung now,
but hey, it was worth it!! (A nasty, nasty job.)

Candace, Stan and Matt rockin' and rollin' painting the steps.

Brenda showing off her muscles. I know, I can't see them either.
(That sweet truck is for sale BYW, talk to Eric Unger.)

Tim and Eric (our mulch master) working with the
manure-soaked wood chips.

There were more people helping us than what is represented in these photos but by the time I decided to take pics, Candace had just painted the steps so I had to wait a while and by then a few folks had to go. We are humbled and blessed by your sacrifice of a Saturday and praise God for such great friends. Thanks!!

Visit to Colorado

While we were in Colorado this past week visiting Tim's family we were thrilled to spend a night camping in the mountains in Golden Gate Canyon State park. Absolutely beautiful! Tim has always promised me, for about 4 years now, that he would take me camping in the mountains and he finally did! Here's some of the fam at dinner.
Ok, how cute is my nephew. I was wearing this hat and as I came out of the tent, he asked me if he could wear my helmet. Too stinkin' cute!
Us with out other nephew.

Family fun at Minnehaha

A few weekends ago, we had a lovely picnic with the fam at Minnehaha. good times.

Movie review: Transformers

Not since the last Lord of the Rings film have I (Tim) been as excited about a movie as I was about Transformers. I was nervous that Michael Bay would ruin my childhood memories like he ruined history with Pearl Harbor. Instead, Transformers was totally awesome. I saw it with some of my buddies in a packed theater at the first show in the Twin Cities. The crowd cheered during certain scenes and laughed at the inside jokes. (The crowd went nuts during the chase scene with Bumblebee and Barricade and laughed at the “more than meets the eye" comment.) It was a great experience.

Aside from sweet robot carnage, there is a ton of humor in this film. The pace moves briskly and the characters are just interesting enough to care about them. Best of all, there is no skimping on Transformers screen time. Unlike the Hulk, where they did everything in their power to keep the Hulk off the screen and instead turned it into a family drama, Transformers realizes that the audience paid for action, not drama. There are lots of robots and explosions. The special effects in Transformers are incredible. The robots look real, especially when interacting with the human actors, which is difficult. The way the robots move and fight was spectacular. The final fight was great. Be sure to stay during the credits for some funny bonus scenes.

Great scenes: The chase/fight between Bumblebee and Barricade.
Blackout’s arrival and attack at the military base.
Optimus vs. Bonecrusher on the freeway.

Great line: Sam 'Spike' Witwicky: So...
Maggie Madsen: What are you here for?
Sam 'Spike' Witwicky: I bought a car. Turned out to be an alien robot.
Glen: [whispered] Wow...!
Sam 'Spike' Witwicky: Who knew?

Turd in the punchbowl: The scene at Sam’s house when the Autobots are hiding outside was too long and relied too much on low-brow humor.

The Pursuit of Happyness?

On Wednesday night, after our friends Kevin and Marissa had come over for dinner, Heidi and I had a hankering for a movie. So, while I washed dishes, Heidi cruised over the McDonald’s Redbox. She returned with The Pursuit of Happyness, a movie we had both heard was good. It was . . . interesting.

The Pursuit of Happyness has great acting (Will Smith and his son where fantastic) and kept us interested the whole time. On the other hand, the movie just kept heaping so many bad things upon the main characters that it started to get painful for us as viewers. Also, the ending was so abrupt that I felt that we did not get any payoff for the pain we suffered. Just a couple shots of them being happy would have sufficed. The final words on the screen did not tell us much about what happened to them after the events of 1981. After the journey we took with them, there was no proper ending.

Here is my biggest beef with this and other “inspired by true events” movie. (Spoiler alert!) The movie was based on the fact that there was a guy named Chris Gardner and he had a kid, lived in San Francisco, and got a job. Almost everything else that happened in the movie was false. Chris was married, but cheated on his wife twice, the second time resulting in his son’s birth and his leaving his wife for the child’s mother. During that time he was a heavy drug user (including Cocaine and Marijuana) and a drug dealer (until a gang scared him from that habit). He did go to jail, but it was for hitting his girlfriend, not parking tickets, though they kept him twelve days for the parking tickets. The IRS never took the money from his bank account, he never solved the Rubic’s Cube, and he never sold bone density scanners. He did have another child with his girlfriend and then he left both children with her while he moved to New York City for two years after he got his job. Finally, the internship paid $1000 a month, not nothing, and they took everyone who passed the test, not just one out of 20. To sum it up, the movie was pure fiction about a man who was mostly a lowlife. How disappointing.

A good weekend.

Last night Heidi and I decided to take advantage of some nice weather for an evening walk. We took the footbridge over 35W and followed 24th St to Hennepin Ave before turning back for home. As we walked we admired the unique houses of the Uptown neighborhood and did some people watching. After we turned around and headed back to our house, I thought to myself how odd it was that we had not been asked for money yet. In the next 15 minutes, we were asked twice. Along with that morning, when we were asked for money in St. Paul, that made three requests. I always feel bad turning people down, but cannot accommodate everyone’s request. Along with that, it is almost impossible to discern viable requests from professional panhandlers. I guess I am jaded from living in the city. After 10+ years of city living, my idealism has faded. I miss it.

On Saturday, I participated in an epic 27 hole round of Disc Golf with Dan, Brian, and Robbie at Silverview Park in Mounds View. As usual, Dan mopped the floor with us, but Robbie, Brian, and I played a close game until the end. The final scores were Dan at -6, Robbie at +4, me at +7 and Brian at +9. The three of us played a closer game than it appears from the final score. I had a great time playing with those guys.

Heidi sure is cute.

How cool was that?

Heidi and I returned last evening from Warsaw, Indiana, where we were attending my nephew’s wedding reception. (That will have to be a whole other blog entry.) After dropping off my aunt Sandy, who rode back with us, we went to return the car we were driving to Heidi’s mother, Lyn. She had graciously let us take her car to Indiana since, unlike my car, it has AC, cruise control, and a working speedometer. We met her at work and got to talking in the parking lot and she suggested we grab some dinner.

We ate at a Mexican restaurant on Central Ave, near 694, but I cannot remember the name and don’t feel like looking it up. The food was pretty good and we had a great conversation. When it came time to get the check, the server told us that someone from another table paid for our dinner. Evidently a man sitting at a table near ours decided to bless us. We do not know if it was someone we know or just a complete stranger. None of us remember who was sitting around us and none of us recognized anyone that we knew walking by. If it was anyone who reads this blog, thank you.

DVD Review: Open Range

Kevin Costner movies are hit and miss. On one hand, there are terrible films like Revenge, Waterworld, and 3000 Miles from Graceland. Yet, he also made Dances with Wolves, Robin Hood, and Open Range. In my humble opinion, Open Range is his best work. The story is about a group of cowboys who are taking a herd through open country and get waylaid by a cattle rancher’s goons. The cowboys, knowing that they would never be able to escape the area with their herd intact, fight back. Along with some great action sequences, there is a sweet love story and some fantastic dialog. The lead characters, played by Costner and Robert Duvall, are men of action, not words. The dialog between them is sparse, but meaningful. The movie builds up slowly in a way that makes you care about the characters, so that when the final conflict comes, there is an emotional investment. Open Range carries an R rating, but the fight scenes are not graphic and the language was more on par with a PG-13. This is the best modern western in years.

Great scenes:
- When Boss brings the Marshall “breakfast”.
- During the gunfight when Baxter threatens the townsfolk. One of the wives yells back at him and then she looks at her husband to do something.
- The interactions of Charley and Sue in the garden.

Great line: Mack: Shame what this town's come to.
Charley Waite: You could do something about it.
Mack: What? We're freighters. Ralph here's a shopkeeper.
Charley Waite: You're men, ain't you?
Mack: I didn't raise my boys just to see 'em killed.
Charley Waite: Well you may not know this, but there's things that gnaw at a man worse than dying.

Weekend at the cabin

I like Watermelon

It's kinda hard to see, but the coffee cup is my favorite.

This past weekend we were priviledged to spend a glorious weekend up at a friend's cabin in Vining, MN. It was wonderful, that's got to be one of the best things about MN. Having friends with cabins!

There is an artist in Vining to makes fantastic sculpture out of scrap metal. Here's a toe. I love it! I don't really get into art too much, but if you can consider this art, I totally dig it.

Theme song

I (Tim) have been meaning to write some more meaningful blogs about the cool stuff going on in our lives, but have not had much time. Instead, I have another short entry about the Transformers movie.

The new theme song to the Transformers movie can be found through this link: http://www.myspace.com/mutemath

The band Mute Math, which recorded it, is a Christian band who has seen some pretty good mainstream success. They must have felt really silly singing the word "Decepticon". At least they will be able to pay the mortgage this year.

weddings, weddings, weddings

We have had 5 weddings to attend this spring and while it's been busy, it's been super fun! Three down, 2 to go! My little brother gets married TOMORROW and i will post photos of that fun later on. Last weekend we attended a very fun wedding of a co-worker of mine from Starbucks, someone who has become a very dear friend. Petra and JG came with us to Wisconsin for the weekend and we had a ball!

Kevin and Marissa

Chuck-E-Cheese

We took our nephews to Chuck-E-Cheese a while back and we were all wearing Crocks, isn't that fun!

weird

When we have company over, Tim does much of the cleaning and picking up right before they come as I am usually cooking. He likes to lay out my pajamas on the bed and then when we give people a tour, they see them. Weird. This time, my pajamas were prego. (Translation: pregnant.) Weird.

finally

After much coaxing, Tim has finally decided to let me start cutting his hair. Here is the before of the second time I cut it. You will have to let us know what you think when you see him!

Memorial Weekend Update

Did anyone else see the Season Finale of LOST? What a great show. Heidi and I did not see that end coming. I suspect that the survivors of Oceanic 815 are now in worse trouble than before. Hurley the hero was awesome. January is a long time to wait for new episodes.

We had a great holiday weekend. On Friday night Heidi and I walked around Lake Calhoun. Then, on Saturday we drove to Milwaukee with Peter and JG for a wedding. (This was after Heidi worked from 5 am to 9 am.) We arrived at Kevin and Marissa’s wedding with about 2 minutes to spare. It was a nice wedding and a fantastic reception. On Sunday we drove home, took a nap, and visited the Dan and Lindsey Lundberg’s new baby. What a cutie. I got up on Monday morning and went biking with my sister, Sally, and her family. After that I picked up Heidi and we headed to her parents place for lunch. I lost a couple games of Bocce ball and we all enjoyed the Batten’s new deck. Then we headed to Chris and Zong Heng’s house for some more food. They make the most amazing Asian food. I would rather go to their house than any Asian restaurant any day. Now we need another weekend to catch up on all the sleep we did not get in the last one.

A decent round

Last night I (Tim) played a round of disc golf at Acorn Park with Jer, Eric, and Nick. First we purchased some new discs at Fairway Flyerz. Nick, taking a practice throw before we even started, put his brand new driver in the pond. A guy that was walking by sold him a used driver for $5, and after the round Eric waded into the muck and retrieved Nick’s disc. We all played pretty well. I finished with a +9 on the day, which is a decent round for me. I enjoyed playing with those guys.

My nephew, Tim the Mann, is getting married on Saturday. I wish him and Amanda all the best. I love being married. If I had known how much fun it was, I would have done it years ago. Of course, when I was in college, Heidi was in Junior High, so that would not have worked so well. At least not in this state.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my Sweet Baboo? Cause I love her a lot.

I'm so excited. . . and I just can't hide it. . .

I (Tim) loved the Transformers toys as a kid. You can imagine my excitement when I heard that a live action Transformers movie was in the works. Now I just have to hope that it is not awful. I figure the only way to ruin this movie would be to pull a Hulk (where they forgot to include the Hulk in the movie). If there are lots of big robots and explosions, I will be happy.

Here is the link to watch the trailer: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808716430/trailer

A weekend in Kansas City

Last Friday morning, Heidi and I loaded up the Mazda (also known as the Oven, since it has no AC) and headed south on I-35. We arrived in Centerville, Iowa around 4 pm. I played a round of disc golf at the city park while Heidi did some shopping. (I played poorly and lost a disc in the creek.) After that we drove over to Uncle Jim and Aunt Marla’s place. We spent an enjoyable evening eating and talking. Uncle Jim is Heidi’s great uncle and one of the more interesting people I have ever met.

After breakfast in Centerville, we got back in the Oven and drove to Kansas City. Heidi’s long time friend Tammy met us for lunch at Panera. Afterward, I left them to shop and do girl stuff while I met up with my buddy Peter for a round of disc golf. We had fun, even though he beat me by one stroke. The course we played, Swope Park, was great. After we finished I picked up Heidi and we shared an excellent meal with Peter and Elizabeth. Mention must be made of their awesome baby, Glorie. What a cutie. We enjoyed hanging out with them.

On Sunday morning we had breakfast with Peter and Elizabeth, and headed out for brunch with PJ, Heidi’s mother’s best friend, and her husband Joe. We had a good time. On the drive back home we had a passenger. Sue, a British woman who was returning home via Minnesota, rode back with us. She was great and never complained about how hot it was in our car, even with the windows down.

Over the course of the weekend we had four support appointments and I got to play two rounds of disc golf. I would call that a productive weekend. It was also the second time that we visited KC but did not spend time at the International House of Prayer. I guess we will need to return to KC again.

An update by Tim

We have not given a financial support update recently, so here goes. We are at about 30% of our monthly support and about 65% of our cash project. We have our 2nd church officially on board and sending checks, with a couple more verbally committed. Our own church, Bethel Christian Fellowship, has committed to being our sending church, but has not given a support amount yet. BCF is an excellent missionary sending church, so we feel blessed that they want to send us. We are so grateful to everyone who has financially supported us thus far and those of you who are planning to join our financial support team. We are also grateful for the prayer warriors out there lifting us up. We cannot properly express our gratitude for you.

LOST is the best show on TV. (It is also the only show that Heidi and I watch regularly.) After that stupid episode about Jack’s tattoos earlier in the season, the show has totally redeemed itself. Last night’s episode was excellent. Uncle Rico rules.

Last Saturday Heidi and I attended the wedding of Carlos and Priscilla Conway at St. Paul Fellowship. It was a blast. The SPF crowd always has the best wedding dances. I love dancing with my Sweet Baboo.

It may have been the game of my life.

Yesterday I (Tim) ventured out to Acorn Park in Roseville for a round of Disc Golf with Eric Unger. It may have been the game of my life. I had three birdies on the day and finished at +7. It would have been a +6, but my shot for bogie on 18 rimmed out. The best I have ever played at Acorn before was a +8. It was a beautiful day with a light wind. Eric lost his only driver to the pond on Hole 1 and did not have such a good round. Life is good.

Last night’s Young Adult Bible Study (YABS) was great. Julie led us in an activity where everyone shared what we appreciated about each other. Afterward we had smoothies. Treats and affirmation. Does it get any better than that?

Heidi is my favorite.

headache update and prayer request

About 2 years ago, I made a decision to stop seeking medical treatment for my headaches b/c I didn't want anything (like medication) to stand in the way of my knowledge of what I knew God was going to do in healing me. Near the end of summer I felt called to re-evaluate this decision and I "told" God that I was willing to go back to a Dr. but I wanted Him to make it clear and I even had some specific terms. I bet God just loves it when we pray like that!! :P In December, the Lord answered my prayer to the T and through a prophetic word, I knew which Dr. I needed to go see. So I have been seeing a dentist for the past few months primarily focusing on my jaw with some physical therapy and a splint to get me re-aligned. I am headed in for another appointment this Wednesday morning and I would be greatly blessed by your prayers. Before I see the dental team, I have a cranio-sacral appointment, aka physical therapy for my head. It works with pressure points and the plates of the skull, as well as some of the muscles in my mouth.

This will be the second splint that we have tried so please pray for accuracy. If the splint wasn't made right, pray that God perfects it before Wednesday! The last time I went in for this cranio-sacral therapy I was in so much pain that it knocked me out for two days. I know the treatment is beneficial, but it still hurts. Please pray that God would work through these treatments and bring healing to my body. Thanks!

Here's a fun pic of all the gear I had to wear to get fitted for the splints. I had to do all this twice! It took 4 hours each time!

Moments we will never forget

Back in 1993, my mother called me and told me how five people were shot at the Chuck E Cheese in Aurora, CO. Four people died that night at the hands of a sixteen year old boy with a grudge. My good friend Duane Trantham worked there (he was the guy in the suit) and had gone home less than 30 minutes before the killing occurred. I will never forget that phone call.

A sunny day in April, 1999, I heard over the radio about a school shooting at Columbine High School while I drove a van full of teenage boys to a track meet in Wisconsin. The first few reports did not identify which Denver area high school and my imagination began to run wild.

On September 11, 2001, I vividly remember Chris Heng telling me through the bathroom door about a plane hitting the World Trade Center and that I should probably listen to the radio on my way to work.

Some things will never be forgotten. Some things should never be forgotten. I think about these things as the worst campus shooting in United States history just took place at Virginia Tech. A place known for football and engineering, it will now forever be known for April 16, 2007. Many people will never be able to get that day out of their minds. Many lives have been changed forever.

These are the times when saying “God is in control”, is just not quite enough. We need something deeper. Sometimes we need to cry out in our prayers. It is no coincidence that many of the Psalms are songs of lament. In these situations I find Psalm 10 encouraging. Psalm 10:18 says the Lord hears our cries and defends us “. . .in order than man, who is of this earth, may terrify no more.” There will be trouble in this world, but God is good and someday justice and peace will reign. In the meantime, no matter what happens, it is true that God is still in control.

It freezes us!

It has been abnormally cold in MN. We are even supposed to get snow overnight and during the day tomorrow. Yuck.

On Saturday, Dan Lundberg and I played the coldest round of disc golf either of us ever played. The wind was awful. We both played terrible. At the start, the temp was about 20 degrees, but it did warm up some while we played. I also lost a disc in the water on hole 9 (we played Acorn Park in Roseville). The disc was floating upside down next to the ice, but the ice was too thin to hold me and I was not going into wade into water when the air temp was 20 degrees. There were not any sticks long enough, either. I loved that disc. Oh well.

Heidi and I had a good time on Easter Sunday with Sally (my sister) and Kent. Chase and Carver had an Easter egg hunt, but it was a little cold, so we did not stay out long. Easter is supposed to be a spring holiday.

Sally and Kent gave me a sweet "Life is good" t-shirt with an Ultimate Frisbee player on it. I love it.

Movie review: TMNT

Back in ’83 there was an independent comic book released about 4 wisecracking, adolescent, mutated turtles, that love pizza and had ninja training. From that unlikely source came several different afternoon cartoons, three movies, and many, many toy sales. In 2007, someone decided to update the franchise with a fourth movie. However, instead of turtle suits and white rappers, the turtles returned in computer generated animation. It was a good choice.

I loved TMNT. From the incredible graphics to the sci-fi storyline, it was a fun ride. There is even a scene based on the life of Duane Trantham, pre-1994. (If you know Duane, you’ll know it when you see it.) It is a family friendly film that shows the redemption of broken relationships, but mostly just has sweet action scenes and some great wisecracks. If you like stuff like that, you will like TMNT. If you are looking for something deeper, skip it.

Great scene: The Turtles and their allies fight the entire foot clan with POD’s “Light’s Out” in the background.

Great line: Michelangelo: Did anyone get the license plate of that thing that hit us last night? It looked like your mom, dude!
Donatello: Yeah, that would make her your mom too, doofus.
Michelangelo: Nuts.

Toby Mac, Demon Hunter, and Rocky

I (Tim) received three CDs for my birthday. Here are my reviews:

The other day someone that Heidi works with said “DC Talk doesn’t rap.” That is a sure sign that I am getting old. I am a long time DC Talk fan, but when the three guys started doing solo albums, I only bought Toby Mac’s albums. His first two albums, Momentum and Diverse City were great. His third album, Portable Sounds, does not disappoint. He still does a great mix of rock, hip hop, and gospel without sounding stale. I like this new album a whole lot.

Demon Hunter is heavy. Their previous album, Summer of Darkness, was about as heavy as I could take. Their latest effort, the Triptych, is a little less heavy but no less brilliant. They add even more melody and two haunting ballads. I got the special edition, which has three acoustic bonus tracks, including their show stopping “My Heartstrings Come Undone”. I bet they are great live. I like this album a whole lot, too.

I am a sucker for the Rocky movies. As well as being enjoyable movies, they contain great music, or, more specifically, great 80’s music. I now have the Best of Rocky soundtrack. It contains such gems as “Eye of the Tiger”, “No Easy Way Out”, and “Burning Heart”. Of course, there are also the fantastic instrumentals. This is the kind of music you listen to before or during a workout. Good stuff.

Yesterday was my Birthday!!!

Hooray! I love my birthday. Well, except for last year. Tim was sick and I worked, so we couldn't really celebrate. But that's ok, b/c this year was great! I had breakfast with a new friend from work, then got my eyebrows waxed at Juut (for the first time!) with some more friends from work, and then we headed across the street to Cafe Latte for some yummy dessert. And then I visited a dear friend at the Bibelot where she gave me a darling gift and then I headed home to my sweet husband who got me gifts I would never buy for myself but really wanted - perfect! Then we went for sushi and came home to munch on Good N Plentys and watch a movie, a wonderful day!!

I wanted to sent a special thanks to everyone who sent me emails and hilarious e-cards yesturday, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your kind words and watching those great cards. THANKS for making my birthday extra special, friends like you are great!!

Heidi's Birthday was yesterday!

Yesterday was Heidi’s birthday. 28 years old. I sure am grateful that God brought Heidi into my life. Marriage has been even better than I expected. I sure do love my Sweet Baboo.

Last night we celebrated Heidi’s birthday by eating Sushi. There is a place near our house, on Nicollet and 26th Street, called Azia, that we decided to try. It was good. The California roll with Tempura was incredible. We also got a spicy tuna roll and a smoked salmon roll. We liked the salmon roll a little better than the tuna. The total bill, with tip, was $25. If you don’t buy beverages, Sushi can be a reasonable meal.

Diaper Wars and Flyboys

On Friday night we had an overnight event with the Lost N Found (young adults) group at church. It was great fun. There were about 20 people that showed up, but not all stayed the whole time. We started with mixer games and pizza, followed by Diaper Wars. The Fellowship Hall was turned into the Diaper Wars arena and a good time was had by all. Julie finally tore us away to play Sardines. After we had our fun sneaking though a darkened church, we settled in for a movie in the Sanctuary. Sahara was the film of choice. With the ending of the movie, the few of us that were left crashed on the floor of the Fellowship Hall. We all deemed it a success event.

On Sunday night Heidi and I rented Flyboys, a little known movie about WWI pilots that just came out on DVD. The movie is pretty clean and contains a sweet, but unnecessary, love story. The audience gets to learn a little about the dangers of flying the early biplanes and what it took to learn how to fly and fight with new and generally untested technology. While weak in character development, the movie’s strength is the aerial combat sequences. The scene where the pilots try to take down a well defended Zeppelin is just fantastic. Flyboys is not a perfect movie, but worth checking out.

It is a beautiful day. Unfortunately there will not be time for one of my favorite activities in the whole world, which is walking around a lake with my Sweet Baboo. I sure do love my Sweet Baboo.

Movie Review: Amazing Grace

Last night Heidi and I ventured out to the new Rosedale theatre with Eric and the Candace to check out Amazing Grace. The movie is the story of William Wilburforce, a member of the British parliament who led the crusade to abolish slavery in England in the late 1700’s. It is a good story and it was well told.

Heidi and I agreed that we would have like to have seen more interactions between Newton and Wilburforce, since those scenes were some of the best in the film. The scenes where the evil of the slave trade was portrayed were well done. I felt like we understood how awful it was, but it was not gratuitous. The movie was also realistic with how the fight for Abolition took its toll on the people. They paid a high price for another person’s freedom and that inspires me. The movie does make it clear that Wilburforce drew his inspiration for social reform from his Christian faith and the Christians in the movie were portrayed in a positive light. Heidi and I agree that we recommend this movie.

One last thought. Hollywood puts out lots of garbage. Let’s vote with our money. We should pay to see movies like Amazing Grace and be more discerning about what else we put into our minds. It begins with me.

Great moment:
The speech about Wilburforce after the final vote at the end of the movie was fantastic.

Great line:
John Newton: Although my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly. I'm a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.

Snow. Lots of snow.

We got a lot of snow on Sunday. Nothing like my poor family and friends have been getting in Denver, but it was enough to make my wish I had a snow blower. The funny thing is that everyone was freaking out about it, as if this is not a normal thing in MN. In fact, if it had not been such a mild winter, people would not even think twice about it. Now we are supposed to get another major snow tomorrow. I don’t mid all the snow, but it would have been nice to space it out more.

I was not going to post anything about football until next fall, but I have to write a memorial. Damien Nash, the Broncos third or fourth string running back, died of heart failure last Saturday at age 24. There was not any alcohol, drugs, or foul play involved. Evidently he had an unknown heart condition that caused his heart to stop working. He was with his wife and 7 month old daughter at his St. Louis home when he collapsed. Doctors could not revive him. From all that I have heard, he was a decent kid who loved football. He is now the 2nd Broncos player to die since the first of the year. Did coach Shanahan make some kind of deal with the devil? (Satan, not Al Davis) What the heck is going on?

A balmy February day in Minnesota

Yesterday it was a balmy 46 degrees in Minneapolis, so Heidi and I took a walk around Lake Calhoun. First we visited Jamba Juice so that we would have enough energy to make it around. The east side of the lake was a little cold with the wind whipping across the ice, but we enjoyed being out in nature. I love walking and talking with my Sweet Baboo.

Upon finishing our walk, we headed to Trader Joe’s to pick up a couple items. We ended up bringing some sushi home for dinner. It was tasty. During our excursion we felt like we were trendy Uptown residents. Every once in a while it is interesting to see how trendy people with money live, but that is not who we are or want to be.

Did anyone watch Lost last night? Heidi and I felt that it was a boring episode. There was a promise of mysteries being revealed, but what were they? The meaning of Jack’s tattoos? Who cares? I am not ready to give up on Lost yet, but they need to pick it up a little. It is moving too slowly for my taste.

I sure do love my sweetums.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tonight for supper I made heart shaped garlic-cheddar biscuits and heart shaped cupcakes with pink frosting and v-day sprinkles to be served on conversation heart valentine plates. (In addition to a meat, starch, and veggie of course!) Super cute. And I have heart shaped Gobstoppers on the table as a classy appetizer. Wow, I spoil Tim, you might be thinking. Well, I am sad to disappoint, but this is not for him. While he deserves the world for what an amazing husband he is to me :) , this is mostly for Kate, a friend who is coming over for dinner tonight to hear about Senegal. Wanted to bless her with a fun V-day since she's an available women :) - (Hope that's ok to say!!)

If we're still here next Vday we can invite some more of our single friends over for heart-shaped treats!!! Start the sign up sheet.

Some other friends of ours are still trying to find a way to "celebrate" be-headings today to honor ST. Valentine, who was martyred for his faith on this day.

Tim did give me flowers and candy. I just love Good 'N' Plenty's!!! Just wanted to give you a taste of our Valentine's Day!

Little Miss Sunshine: the new Napoleon Dynamite?

Heidi and I heard several times about this great new little indie movie, Little Miss Sunshine. When we found it in the Redbox, we figured it might be worth a dollar. In many ways, this movie is like Napoleon Dynamite, another indie movie that hit the big time. The similarities are many. Both movies feature quirky families with a grandparent that does not act their age. Both movies feature out of date houses and vans that almost serve as characters. (My first car had a problem with the horn similar to the VW bus.) Both movies feature a climactic dance sequence. Finally, both movies featured unique camera work, catchy lines, solid acting and redemption. However, there is one significant difference between the two movies. While Napoleon was PG rated and clean, LMS is dirty. Really dirty.

There were three problems I had with LMS. The first was that they used the F-word early and often. I had to check to make sure we were not watching a Quentin Tarantino or Spike Lee movie. Seriously, did copious amounts of swearing add to the plot? The second was the “gee, isn’t porn funny?” scenes. No, pornography is not funny. The final thing absolutely destroyed the movie for me. The climatic scene of the movie features a 7 year old girl doing a striptease as her talent at the pageant. That is not okay. Even though she was dressed the entire time and it was played for laughs, it was not okay. That is never okay.

For all the things that the filmmakers did right with LMS, there was just too much that was wrong about it. It feels to me like a waste.

It's getting cold out here, so put on all your clothes. . .

We were spoiled this winter with some pretty mild weather, at least by Minnesota standards. That came to an end last week. Now we have been having weather that only exists in a Floridian’s worst nightmare. Yesterday it was -17 degrees when I (Tim) drove to work. Today the high will probably be somewhere around 7 degrees and by the weekend we may have highs around 14 degrees. To top it all off, there is hardly any snow. It has been a strange winter in Minnesota.

My favorite Super Bowl commercial was the Taco Bells lions. Number 2 has to be David Letterman and Oprah Winfrey watching the game together for CBS. Good stuff. Did anyone else have a favorite?

Yesterday we had a training meeting with Paul McVety, our M:MM contact and the Herzbergs. After our meeting with Paul we headed to Chipotle (yum) with Joe and Cara and talked for a long time. It was fun to get to know them and just enjoy some fellowship. They are good people.

Our support raising continues to go well. We feel blessed.

2nd Anniversary

Tim and I were SO blessed to be able to get away for our second anniversary this month (Jan. 15th) and headed to an amazing B&B in Red Wing for 2 nights. (We have this credit card where we get money back for every purchase so the weekend was totally free! - I definately recommend that!) It's called the Round Barn Farm B&B and we had a fantastic time. It was wonderful to rest, watch movies, sit in the jacuzzi in our room and just enjoy one another. A perfect weekend for a perfect anniversary. God is good!

Christmas presents

This is one of my favorite Christmas presents. My maternal grandma and grandpa gave us money for a nativity set since we don't have one. I love it! Probably won't come to Senegal with us, but I'm still very excited about it. I love baby Jesus! It's funny b/c I'm not really into the Willow Tree stuff b/c I don't collect things, but I love the nativity.

Christmas party

It's been a while since I posted pictures, but here they are!

We had a Christmas party with our small group and went to sing Christmas carols at an old folks home. Very fun.

This is Emily's Christmas sweater. What a find! A thrift store bargain.

Tim's 2006 movie awards

The Academy Award nominations are out and, as usual, I have not seen most of the films. As usual, I do not care to see most of them. Since most of the movies that I have enjoyed this past year are “popular” and “money making” they are not up for an Oscar. (In fairness, Heidi and I plan to see The Pursuit of Happyness, The Last King of Scotland, and The Blood Diamond, since we have heard that they are good.) In my humble opinion, the best movies this year were Pirates 2, Lady in the Water, X3, and Mission Impossible 3. My favorite indie film was The Second Chance. My vote for best movie of the year is United 93. Worst movie of the year is Friends With Money. Two decent movies that could have been better were Nacho Libre and Invincible. In the category of comedies that were not actually funny are The Break Up and You, Me, and Dupree. The movie with the most potential and least payoff was Flags of Our Fathers. The movie that entertained me far more than I expected was Rocky Balboa. In 2006 there were no films like Lord of the Rings or Narnia that became instant classics, but there were some good ones.

Please add comments on your favorites and least favorites of 2006.

Update time

We got an $8,000 donation this week. That is somewhere around a quarter of the money we need to get to Africa. I had been a little down about the huge task of fundraising and feeling like it will take forever to get to Africa when this money suddenly came in. Lord, forgive me for having such small faith. Praise God for gifts from unexpected sources.

Heidi and I watched American Idol on Wednesday night for almost two hours. It was like a train wreck. We could not stop watching. The show was a parade of people, devoid of talent and style, making idiots of themselves on national television. I weep for our society. Heidi and I are now dumber for having watched it.

After dumbing ourselves down with American Idol, we braved the cold and headed out for a fundraising appointment. Our next couple hours were spent with Pat and Jane Khanke. Pat is the pastor that married us and he and Jane are great people. We were encouraged by their resilience in a hard time and the cool things that are happening in their church and in their own lives. I am still tired from going to bed after midnight that night, but it was worth it.

Tomorrow we are going sledding with the Lost N Found group at church. Should be fun. I love sledding. But not as much as I love Heidi.

The great, the awful, and the decent

On our weekend away, Heidi and I rented three movies. We each got to choose one and then we found one that we both wanted to see. The results were great, awful, and decent.

The movie I chose was the Fantastic Four. It was a decent, big budget, comic book movie. Neither great nor terrible, it was what we thought it would be.

Heidi chose Friends With Money. It was billed as a comedy/chick flick starring Jennifer Aniston. As a comedy, it was the anti-funny. (That means that not only was it not funny, it sucked the joy out of us.) We both hated this movie with a passion. Please trust us that this is one of the worst films ever made. Please do not be like a former roommate of mine that, after hearing how awful The Thin Red Line was, went out and rented it. Unless you like amoral rich women giving obscenity laced speeches about how lousy their lives are, do not rent this movie.

The movie that we chose together was United 93. I cannot heap enough praise on this movie and both Heidi and I agreed that it is a “must see” film. (There are only a few “must see” films. Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan are examples.) The movie focused on two hours of September 11, in real time. It was neither political nor sensational and it was respectful and gripping. This is not a movie for children, but should be seen by everyone else. This is an important and powerful movie.

i washed my hair

After 4 1/2 months of not washing my hair, I finally broke down and washed it this morning. I couldn't take it anymore! Sorry, Runions. I tried. I has still revolutionized how I care for my hair though. I am definately not going back to washing it every other day. Maybe every 4th or 5th day....we'll see. Tim should be happy now that it smells yummy again!

Amazing story

A while back my friend Bill Honsberger sent me this link. I had heard about this father and son team, but this blew me away. The story is written by Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated fame, but I do not know who made the video. Here it is: http://cjcphoto.com/can/

long entry, bear with me!

It has been a while since I (Heidi) have posted except for pics. My folks are planning to check our blog tonight so I wanted to post for them. Hi Mom, hi Dad! Thanks for stopping by!

Anyway, things are pretty good, as Tim said, our holidays were good and very busy. I was happy to have xmas eve and xmas day off from work - was good to chill with the fam. As usual, Mom and Dad spoiled us with too many presents, but it was very fun to hang out, play with new "toys," try on new clothes, and wear fuzzy slippers all day :) My brother bought his fiance a sweet keyboard so she dazzled us with wonderful songs all day.

I was sad to miss a few friends that were here in the cities for the holidays, but hopefully my sadness with dissipate. :P

On a serious note, I wanted to share something that God has been speaking to me over the course of the last month. It started when we were in CO for a conference in early December. We had the privilege of meeting some amazing people with tremendous stories of God's faithfulness, care, and provision on the field. After we returned home, I continued to ponder some of these stories and they began to really affect me. One story in particular spoke powerfully to the provision of God in the midst of hard - really hard - circumstances. Thinking about this family and all that God carried them through brought me to thinking about other friends who have been dealing with hard trials lately, as well as what God has been taking Tim and I through in preparation for missions, as well as my personal trial of these headaches. I found myself asking the question: God, who are you? Who is this God that is SO good, so very, very good, yet allows his people to struggle so profoundly. I can't explain it, but the question lingered in my mind, Lord, who are you? As I have prayed about this over that past fews week, I am increasingly filled with awe as I consider how great my God is and how faithful He is.

During the worship time at church yesterday the word of the Lord came to me to answer this question. I was having a particularly difficult time entering in due to the pain, but as I worshiped God and thanked Him for the blessings in my life, He answered my question and said: I am the God who sustains his people.

Maybe that doesn't seem very powerful to you, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. Obviously, the Word says that very thing over and over again, but to hear it for myself from my Father in answer to my prayer during a very painful day was heavy. And to think of his answer in regard to friends who I know are struggling on a daily basis to remain faithful in the face of great trial was overwhelming. He is the God who sustains his people. I can tell you that He is the one who is sustaining me. And just when I think I cannot bear this trial anymore He gives me grace and fills my with strength b/c I hope in Him.

super gross

someone pooped on the floor in the men's bathroom at my Starbucks the other day. gross. i am glad i wasn't there to have to clean it up....poor Stacie.

Team Wolof

This pic went out with our newsletter but here is 80% of our team! They rock!

Here is the same 8 eight people and then a couple from the team in
the South of Senegal - they also rock!

Sad

This will be my final football blog until next fall. My Broncos pulled the worst choke job I have seen since the 1996 playoff debacle against Jacksonville. Losing in overtime to San Francisco at home in a game the Broncos absolutely had to have was demoralizing. However, something happened that makes football so unimportant. Darrant Williams, one of the Broncos bright young defensive players, was killed in a drive by shooting hours after the game. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, at a nightclub at 2 a.m. in downtown Denver. It is so sad to see a young life snuffed out. Sadder still that I do not think he knew the Lord. We live in a fallen, sinful world.

quirky neighbors!

We said we live next to a professional clown and here he is. Meet Bobbles the Clown :)

Christmas

Heidi and I kicked off our Christmas weekend on Saturday night. We met up with Kent and Sally (my sister) and the boys at Maplewood Mall. After some pseudo-Asian food in the food court, we rode the Carousel. Chase and I sat in a Tilt-A-Whirl type of seat and spun in rapid circles the entire ride. Afterward I felt awful, but he had a good time. We made our way to Savers where we played with the toys and Heidi and I scored a half-price steamer trunk.

After saying our goodbyes to them, we headed to Rogers for 48 hours with my in-laws, the Battens. Heidi’s brother, Dan, was in town from law school in Spokane, WA, so got some quality time with him and his fiancé, Ellen. Lyn made us some great food and I enjoyed watching football with Don. I am blessed to enjoy spending time with my in-laws.

In other news, the Broncos got an early Christmas present when the Bengals missed the extra point to tie the game at the end. I guess it is better to be lucky than good. The Broncos indeed got lucky. They must be living right. Everyone who follows football knows that the Bengals are not.

I still love Heidi more than I love football.

Here we go a caroling. . .

Last Thursday Heidi and I went with the Lost and Found (young adults) group at church to go Christmas caroling. What a blast. There were ten of us that sang at a nursing home in St. Paul. A few of the residents seemed to really enjoy our singing and the staff assured us that the others did as well. After we finished at the nursing home we headed over to sing for Paul and Cara who were sick and could not join us. They gave us candy. We finished the evening at Emily, Brenda, and Candace’s apt with refreshments and a White Elephant gift exchange. Heidi and I scored the two best gifts. It was a great evening.

The Broncos finally won a game on Sunday. They put a butt kicking on the Arizona Cardinals. With that win and losses by the Bengals and Jaguars, the Broncos are back in the playoff mix. If the Broncos can win the next two games, both in Denver, they are in the playoffs. In related news, I failed to make the playoffs in all four fantasy football leagues.

I have been to the Mall of America three times since Thanksgiving. What a crazy place. MOA is great for people watching and walking around, terrible for anything else. The sheer volume of people is astounding.

My Sweet Baboo will be on a silent prayer retreat the next two nights. That means I will be back to living the Bachelor life for 48 hours. She made me a pan of lasagna so I do not either starve to death or spend all my money at Wendy’s. I will miss my sweetie while she is there, but I am glad she gets this experience.

Fathers

The two years that I spent working at Rawhide Boy’s Ranch were valuable for many reasons. One of the important lessons I learned while working there was the importance of fathers. The boys at the ranch were all juvenile offenders and every single one, without exception, had fathers who were absent either physically or emotionally. In American society as a whole, there are men who sire children, but few fathers.

I have been thinking about this since two of my good friends have become first time fathers recently. Noah Orton Schurr was born to Matt and Denise last month and Glorie Claire Herder was born to Peter and Elizabeth last week. (Props go to Denise and Elizabeth for doing the hard part.) I am comforted to know that these children will grow up with fathers who will love them and nurture them. These children are in good hands.

My father (and mother, too) was there for me while I was growing up and I am grateful. God made the family to rely on both parents and we can see what happens when that system is broken down. Kudos to fathers!

A foggy, wet Tuesday

Heidi and I had a good time in Colorado, but the trip was too quick. It was nice to see family again. The Navigator’s HQ, Glen Eyrie, is like Rivendell at Christmas time. Beautiful. We got to spend some time with our future teammates in Senegal. Both of us enjoy the people of Mission: Moving Mountains, especially our team. We are excited to get to Africa!

The Broncos have gone from one of the elite teams in the NFL to a middle of the road team that is weak in all phases of the game. To make the playoffs, the Broncos have to win all three remaining games. They’ll have to play better than they did on Sunday.

Our support raising is going well, as far as we know. We are grateful for the support we have received thus far. We are kept pretty busy with appointments, but it is fun.

I am confident that I found a Christmas gift for Heidi that she will love. I accidentally found out what she was getting me but I am excited about it. It was a good choice. I sure do love my sweet baboo!