Otis' Newest Friend

So we say that Hayden was Otis's first friend since she stayed with us right after Otis arrived and as of this weekend Hayden has a little sister, Emerson! She weighs in a little over eight pounds (just like Otis), and he is excited to get to meet this new play-toy, I mean play-mate! We were able to see the new addition this weekend and pray that the Hults family has an easy (if that is possible) adjustment from one amazing child to two. We can't wait to get to know her more.

Proud Father Shot.

Playing around

A Smiley's Adventure

Ericka, who is Kirk's cousin and a college friend of mine had a great year of around-the-world travel which can be read about on her blog. We were able to spend some time with her and her family over the holidays for her welcome back party. If you want to hear what can happen in a year if you go out on a limb and trust the Lord to provide read some of Ericka's story. We are thankful she is back and can't wait to see her soon.

Where's my Mommy?

hi everyone. i hope you liked reading about my tooth. i've lost 4 now, but the rest hurt so i've been chewing a lot. my new big teeth are coming in before my old teeth fall out!

but that's not why i wanted to talk to you. i wanted to let you know that my mommy all of a sudden isn't around all day. i miss her, but she comes home pretty happy, so that is good, and then she and dad play with me. where is she? well, she got this new thing called a JOB, where she goes sometimes during the day. i heard her say it's at someplace called Williams Sonoma Home, or something, but all i know is she was very excited about it and seems to enjoy it a lot so far. and she says she works close to dad's office too.


on a side note, i see my parents posted about that little girl Hayden coming over to play. well, i didn't really like that. she got ALL of the attention for a whole day! how is a puppy supposed to compete? i was pretty sad and don't like sharing. after she left, mom and dad gave me lots of backrubs, played tug of war, and we ran around the house to make up for it, which was fun.

A Day With Hayden is a Day of FUN!

Lynne and I had quite a President's Day. Since I had the day off from work, we got in touch with Mark and Lynn Hults and arranged to take Hayden, our favorite little person in the whole world, to the Indianapolis Children's Museum. Lynn was coming to Indy anyway to visit some friends, so from 10am until 7pm, we got to play!

Well, Hayden LOVED the museum and did a such a great job. Despite running into her normal scheduled nap time, she had tons of energy, and there were no tears or sadness, only games, a carousel, Curious George, doll houses, mazes, and enough interactive displays to spend a week working through. After only about three hours there, I was pooped, and don't know how parents do it! Oh, and did I mention that it was one the few annual "free days" due to the holiday? I've never seen so many kids packed into one place. If I was three, I think I would have balked at the chaos of it all, but Hayden didn't mind and held her own with the kids (many much bigger than her).

After the museum it was nap time for both Hayden and Kirk on our new guest bed and trundle, and then fun with coloring, Dora, and Otis. Hayden loves to pet Otis and chase him around in circles. If only Otis would stop viewing Hayden's little hands as delicious snacks! Overall it was such a great time, and despite being exhausted, we always miss her so much after she leaves. Thanks Mark and Lynn for giving us quality time with your "fancy nancy!"

Hayden loved working the cash register and selling us fruit at the Curious George station. I loved it too since she charged me two $1 bills and gave me a $10 bill as change!

While running her farm stand, Hayden ran into her neighbor friend from home! What're the odds?
Move over Danica - Hayden's getting ready for the 500!

Lynne and Hayden had so much fun riding a pretty horse on the carousel!

Hayden was very interested in playing the giant Connect Four...not so interested in the rules though :)

Lynne and Hayden sitting with the bad "couch potato." Hayden seems to enjoy being a couch potato if Dora's on the TV.

Kirk and Hayden aren't quite as tall and the man in the yellow hat

Hugs for Curious George!

Greek Conference & Old and New Friends

Yes, I know, we have neglected our blog for some time, so I am playing catch-up here. Back on February 1st and 2nd, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the annual conference for Greek InterVarsity in Indianapolis. If you don't know what GreekIV is, it's a Christian organization that ministers specifically to fraternity and sorority students on college campuses. I was heavily involved at Purdue, and Lynne and I met on a mission trip (Global Urban Trek) through the parent organization InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

So, after attending the conference 5 times as an undergrad and being too busy with grad school to ever volunteer, I made the trip (a whole 20 minutes) to lead a small group at this year's conference. I got to meet 5 terrific students from all over the midwest in the World Changers track, where we talked about what the "Kingdom of God" really looked like and wrestled with what the message of the Gospel really was. It was a fantastic session, and I know I left re-energized to serve the Lord, and I hope all of the students did as well. Also, the conference has abundant large group time of worship, skits, stories, and a great speaker, and it also allows greeks from different schools to interact and hang out in the largest sober party of the year.

The entire conference was a blast, and it definitely made me miss my undergrad days, but I definitely felt old trying to keep up with the young-uns. Did I really used to stay up until 3am most nights? How?!?! It was also a great opportunity to reconnect with some friends who are fellow alumni. My fraternity brother Ryan Riggs drove down from Kokomo to volunteer, and Lynne and I were blessed to have him stay with us on Friday night. It was great reconnecting with him, and the many other friends I got to see. My ATO little-bro Grant Yost flew in from Texas, and I can't ever get enough of the Yoster Toaster. Also, I got to have dinner with some of the new ATO guys (ATO took around 20 guys to the conference!), which was a great opportunity, and it's so exciting to see the ministry still going on in the house long after I've left.

Unfortunately, I got a nasty case of the flu from those college kids, and it took over a week to get over it! Overall, I'd still say it was worth it though :)

ThE tOoTh FaIrY is cOmiNg to my HoUSe!

I lost my first tooth and it was a sharp one! I can’t wait to look under my bed and see what the tooth fairy is going to leave for me! I have another loose one that is going to come out soon and I am worried about getting a lisp, but as long as I can eat my puppy food I guess it doesn’t matter. Well, have a great weekend everyone and if the snow goes away maybe my grandparents will take me on another long walk (hint, hint)!

Baby Boilers, Emo, and Harry's

Last Saturday, we headed up to our old stomping grounds to watch Purdue beat Ohio State at Mackey Arena. It was a very exciting game, and the Baby Boilers notched a quality win over a tough team behind a career game from Marcus Green. Following the game, we were able to celebrate with my ATO little bro Erik Mosley (Emo to everyone who knows him) who made the trip from Cleveland for the game (Emo is the only guy I know as fanatical and emotional about Purdue sports as me, and he's the best person to watch a game with). A short trip to Harry's turned into quite the night as Emo and Rohit firmly secured Fishbowl (THE place to be upstairs at ahhh....smokefree Harry's) and we were later joined by a dozen current ATO's. Good times, and yes, I miss them. Hopefully we'll do this again soon...in March, when Emo and I head to watch the Boilers in the NCAA tournament!

Finished!

I learned to knit about six months ago and I finished my first project last night thanks to my mom teaching me how to tie up the loose ends. It has been very fun and a picture of the the scarf can be seen below. I realized part-way through that I was knitting a very fine stitch and it took a lot longer because of that. I also like my scarves long and so I kept adding one more ball. Now even Kirk likes it and wore it out last night for Otis' nightly business. Well, off to start a new project so I must be going.

Big Boys Do Big Boy Things

Now that I am getting older I have to do more. I got my last set of shots this week so that I can play with other dogs! I also had my fun cast taken off, and dad wanted to keep it but they could only save a piece of it. He wants to hang it on the tree next year but I don't know if that will really happen (mom doesn't go for all of that stuff). Well, during all that time in the cast, I had forgotten that I had a fourth paw! I am starting to use it more and once I get going it is great to have four again, but I just can't remember it is there sometimes! Well, I got to see my best friend Wesley again and we played lots together! Well, that was fun to have him at my house and show him my room and all my toys! It was really cold this week and I tried out my new cape thanks to grandpa and grandma Steckbeck! It helped keep me warm and since I have had problems flying in the past this should help me grow in my ability to defy gravity! (The one with the "O" is my favorite and I think that it is the one that helps my fly the fastest!) Then this week I had my first haircut! It was a little scary and I didn't like it when my mom left but I was fine...she looked like she was going to cry though. Well, they did a good job and just cleaned me up. It was just to help me not be scared for when they really cut my hair.







My new hair is so soft!

New Years '08

We had a very "funny" New Years Eve with our friends Andrew and Amy. We headed out for dinner and found many places closed! Who wants to lose all the business on New Years Eve? So in the rain we had to try to find a place open in Broad Ripple (who would have thought), but we found a decent pub (that was also showing IU getting whooped in their bowl game, so the boys liked that)! Then we went to Cracker's Comedy Club, and I had tears in my eyes more then once. By going to the early show at 7:30pm we were with the white hair crowd. But we wanted to have time for important things...like playing Wii and having a few drinks.

The next day Kirk and I stayed in our pajamas all day and then had our first fire in the new house. Otis loved the heat as much as I did! It was a great relaxing day to ring in the New Year!