My first dentist appointment.

While my Dad was getting his teeth cleaned (no cavities despite no visit to the dentist in a year and a half) and Mom was getting a crown (we pray that I have my father's teeth), I got to visit the dentist too! This is a picture of me and Curtis. He cleaned my teeth, showed me all cool tools they use (I even kissed the sucking tool!) and gave me lots of presents when I finished. Everyone said I did a great job because I even opened my mouth and let him look at my teeth. And I didn't get scared at all. My mommy said it must be because I have Daddy's teeth that I like the dentist so much already.

Paris

It was eleven years ago. A little shop in Paris. Croissants to die for. I think I bought a box of ten to take back with me to my dorm in Cambridge. I don't think I shared with anyone except Elizabeth.

My tongue has returned to Paris today. Thanks to this little shop. My Mom took Kate and bought the last five chocolate ones after an article appeared in the paper over the weekend. They were the best and the closest to true high quality Parisian croissants that I have had since I was there.

Bliss.
I think I will go broke visiting this shop, which is only fifteen minutes from my house.

One week.

my little man. gentle to his momma. sleeps and eats like an angel.

According to...

Travis: "Where's the hozzle?"
Nora: "The hozzle?!?!"
Travis: "Yeah. The hozzle. The sprayer."

He meant the spray nozzle.
I couldn't stop laughing.

Welcome little man.

Grant John Shank was born at 7:35 pm last night, following in his sister's footsteps as a change-of-shift baby. He weighed 7 lbs 12 ounces and measured longer than his sister at 20 1/2 inches despite being a week early. We adore him and he has been a very mellow baby thus far (compared to the wild indian, his sister).
The induction process went easily once it was under way. In fact, while we were waiting for everything to get straightened out (they had mistakenly scheduled me one day earlier than a full 39 weeks, which was against policy) I had dialated to twice what I measured the day before by 10am. Despite it being an early morning and long day, we are so grateful for the miracle of a healthy baby boy.

Under the hood 2...

You were probably hoping to see baby pictures.
Not yet.

In the meantime, here's some thoughts from Steve's second thought provoking email:

Except for Guam the Mariana Islands aren’t known for much except for what is beside them- the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on earth. If it were possible to take 2 of Colorado’s “14’ers” put them on top of one another and place them in Mariana Trench, They would still be one and a half miles under water. There isn’t anything deeper on earth… but this. “And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” Gal. 2:20


God loves me and gave himself for me. Every word is worth reflecting on. God…..loves….me….and gave….himself….for me…. Why is it important for us to cling to this truth daily and never ever let it out of our grasp? Because it is our only hope. “If God be for me (an expression of his love) who can be against me.” Rom. 8. Thinking deeply about this reality changes everything. The deeper and more often we think about it the more it changes our faith, our rest, our hope, our perspective, our… But how do we know God loves us for sure?

1. For reasons we are not told, before the foundations of the world in eternity past, God determined, “this one will know me.” He chose me (us), we did not choose him. Eph 1:4. Go figure

2. He sent God the Son, to pay for and remove the eternal judgment that rightfully hung over those who would one day believe

3. He sent the Holy Spirit at a particular moment in time to convict us personally of our rebellious independence and open our hearts and understanding to the person and work of Jesus Christ

4. He granted us faith as a gift whereby we could trust him, thus experiencing spiritual life, rebirth

5. Now, united to him by a living faith, we live with him and for him, not for ourselves

“God loved me and gave himself for me”.
It’s called the gospel.

We can never ponder it enough, get our minds around it completely, or exhaust the depths of its meaning or implications. But we will always be the be the better for trying.

Love,
Dad

Here we go...

We are scheduled tomorrow morning at 5:30 am for an induction for baby boy's safety! God has answered my prayers that I show some progress over the last week, some signs that we are more ready to deliver. Having never had an induction, it is both exciting to know when but also scary because of all the unknowns. Thanks for all the prayers and pray for continued safety and a smooth delivery.

Mother's Day

This picture grabbed me. The flavors sounded so fresh. So call me crazy, but I mostly cooked my own Mother's Day meal. Isn't the work worth it though sometimes? How could one not like shrimp cakes, eggs benedict and fresh hollandaise sauce? We had this ridiciulous brunch made from this menu out of the Arizona Republic from our local Four Seasons hotel. We made a few adjustments like shrimp jalepeno cakes instead of crab with chipotle due to the lack of available fresh crab meat, and a less alcoholic sangria; and beware of the proportions. They are really off for number of servings (leave it to a chef to resize wrong). Every bite was worth it. Here's probably one last picture of just the three of us before we gorged ourselves.

Under the Hood

Steve recently wrote us while on a retreat and provoked us with this meditation that I thought you might enjoy:

"There are categories that I am trying to drill down deeper in for my own life, and represent very deep rooted hopes for all of us…

I recently heard of a father giving his son a car for successfully graduating high school. There was one problem. The car was pink. The father insisted it was “salmon”, but the young man was not convinced. He tried to convey his gratefulness, but how in the world could he be caught by his friends driving a pink car. Then, at just the right time when the father discerned his son’s anguish was about to drive him crazy, he put his arm around his son’s shoulder and walked with him to the front of the car. “Lift the hood” he said. With considerable reluctance, the young man did so. To his utter shock, staring him in the face were 300 raging horses penned up in a modified engine. One hiccup on the gas pedal and no one sees the color of the car any more, only the color of your tail lights.

The father then seized this teaching moment. “Son, don’t ever evaluate a car until you look under the hood. Ever.”

Christians can look great (or maybe pink) on the outside. But it is what is under the hood that determines their true nature and thus fruitfulness.

The next e mail will be the first of a few categories where Christians need to look under the hood.

Most of my current retreat has been just that. Looking under the hood. It has been good.

I hope they will help you, the people I love the most look beyond the externals and under the hood"

Suprise!

Imagine my delight when we opened up our eggs for these next two weeks from our egg lady, Shaela, and saw this... guess we'll have to read about green eggs and ham again. Ever since I was a little girl, reading my Oma's Martha Stewart magazines, I have been in love with Araucana eggs. Another reason why farm fresh eggs are SO worth it.