living up to his name

below is a video of one of my favorite isaac activities: tickle time. he has the best laugh ever, and when he gets going it is hard to stop. when you watch it i think you will understand why.

on a personal note, i am growing a goatee in preparation for my favorite party of the year: cinco de moustache. cdm is an annual event which requires a stache for admission. i figure that until the party a goatee is far less creepy than straight lip growth. it has been a while since i let my goatee grow this long, however, and the new found hair has made me aware of an unsettling trend: it is going gray.

it is not going gray all over mind you, only on the right hand side of my chin. apparently there is some sort of coup happening amongst my facial hair, and the guerrillas are gathering their forces. they are only about a dozen strong, but i fear many more may soon join their ranks.

earth day

there's no better way to celebrate earth day than to hit up your local potterybarn for a story time with friends (brighton and rhett).

officially 8 months!

loving life

pool time continues...

now this is a good happy hour!

8 months!

auntie and i are hiding our glow worms from grandpa ;)

mom found me standing up in my crib. time to lower the mattress.

mom and dad went to the longest game in 15 years. i stayed home with grandma chris and grandpa alan, cheering the padres on from my crib.

petco park... 22 innings ahead.

here comes summer.

grauntie came to watch me while mom , dad , grandpa and grammy all went to the SFC auction.


we all went out for dinner to celebrate uncle derek passing the CSET


have you ever seen a cooler pair of dudes?

this frog walks into a bar...

almost 8 months and thrilled!

"seriously mom, another picture?"

graduating to a sippy cup

isaac took a dip in our pool for the first time. the water was cold, but it felt good with the 85 degree weather

you mean to tell me the dodgers think they have a shot this year?!

the shelf life of grace

this past week i was in los angeles, leading a spring break mission trip for some of our students. for the second year in a row, we worked with an organization called center for student missions. csm has been operating in major urban centers for over 20 years, supporting existing ministries while providing outside groups with an opportunity to serve. they are great at what they do, and one of my favorite parts is called a breakfast search, where you are dumped in downtown la, given $3 per person for breakfast, and instructed to find somebody you can share a meal with.

dustin, kysha and i ran into john outside of mcdonald's. your stereotypical homeless man (matted hair, dirty clothes, pungent smell) he asked us if we had any money, and gladly accepted our offer to buy him breakfast. we bought him the breakfast special, two sausage egg mcmuffins for three dollars, and met him back outside. we were a little disappointed when he told us he would rather take the food and run than eat with us, but about the same time vern walked up.

the first thing vern did was add an unexpected order of hash browns to john's breakfast, before greeting us with a smile and an outstretched hand. according to his stories vern is an ex-navy seal who did five tours in vietnam, an estranged husband to two wives and an absent father to at least 8 kids, and an out of work carpenter who came to long beach three months ago to bury his mother. what struck me the most, however, is something he said when he gave the visible remainder of his food (little bit sized cinnamon rolls) to john 5 minutes later. "you are a generous man," i remarked. "well, i try to pass my blessings," vern said. "they weren't meant just for me."

this event pushed up against something i had realized late in the week before, that i am continually checking the expiration date on my grace. i treat it as some time sensitive dairy product, perpetually worried it has spoiled or gone rotten, that i have somehow lost what was given. some days it seems more natural to feel this way, and yet most days i realize i have more than enough.

our whole family continues to receive tremendous care and support from a myriad of sources. given our surplus, the question then becomes how do we pass our blessings. this grace is not meant to be stockpiled or hoarded, but to be given away to the extent of extravagant waste. when we try to close our hands around it we find it as manna stinking and full of maggots. i want to help isaac understand how much he has been given, and that being faithful with that means passing it along. in order for him to learn that lesson though, i feel like i need to figure out how to do it first.

the latest

tickle time

we talk, mostly to each other...and mom

dad and isaac - serious faces
and not so serious

aunt beth and cousin kate
auntie thinks i am a true thug

fun to see our friends, paige and frank get hitched.




isaac thinks we're a jungle gymlot's of fun with grammy.

easter in review... a few days late

the family shot

isaac loves the wrapping almost as much as the toys.

auntie and isaac

"hey guys, where are you?"

grauntie and isaac

grammy and grandpa

guess who was on the bbq

allison and catherine

the easter crew

andy came for a 24 hour stay

then on to the montgomery's to celebrate

lots of family to play with

aunt barb and kate