We love our boy for many reasons, and the pictures below are some examples of one of the many reasons. He is a happy easy going guy, and we only pray that personality continues.

WHAT UP YO!


Is this MY hand?


I think I see my mama!



"Mama said knock you OUT!"

Video of Joey at 11 weeks (plus a few days)

I've been told that your kids will teach you a lot of things....well Joey gave me my first of what I am sure is to be many lessons this last weekend. Lindsey, Joey, and I had gone to farmer's market (we left the dogs at home, simply because there are too many people down there with poorly leash trained dogs). Afterwards we decided to stop by our local outdoor retailer (Hyperspud, which is owned by a man originally from Cedar Rapids) to try on kid carrier backpacks. I was pretty sure I knew which one we should get, but I wanted to see how it felt with him in it, and how easy it was to put him in it. There were several color selections to choose from, which I was leaving up to Lindsey to make the call on. We were not planning on buying one that day, simply testing one out, so color didn't matter and I grabbed the first one I could see. I set him in the pack and he made a little fuss...unusual because he is typically pretty easy going. But then the cause of the fuss became clear as he yakked up about 1.5 oz of partially digested leche...of course it was projectile like, so very little got on himself, and most of it on to the pack. So we decided we were going to get one eventually anyways, let's just get the red one, well more like red and creme. So here in lies the lesson, if there is a piece of gear one really wants, forget the "Honey, I could really use this because...." and go with the "Wow this fits really nice, what do you thi..... huuuucgpphhh!!" New skis here I come...just gotta remember to eat easy to clean up foods, thanks for the insight Joey.

To celebrate the new pack Joey, Diesel, Denver, Maci (our friends dog we have been watching for the last week) and I went on a "maiden voyage" up on Moscow Mountain while Lindsey was working today. We got one of those rare fall sunny days, it was BEAUTIFUL out, and I wound up going further than originally planned. But Joey was more than great in fact after the first quarter mile or so he slept the whole way, and the dogs had a blast, that's twice this week they've been up there (we went mountain biking on Tuesday, don't worry grandmas/pas Joey stayed home with mom for that one), and the dogs and I are headed to the Wallowas again this weekend to do some work on the ski huts, so they are in puppy heaven.

So with no further ado, let the cuteness begin.

Those that have spent much time with Lindsey and I in the last few years know how important our two dogs, Diesel and Denver, are to us. And consequently how much attention they got from us pre Joey. Usually there were 3-4 mountain bike rides a week, and Lindsey would often take them running with her (depending on how adventurous she was feeling). Well the bike rides have reduced, and the running is mostly walking. They have clearly been feeling a little neglect, as we have a had a few more things chewed up lately, but most of that is slowing down as we get more into a routine, and they get more attention.

For those that don't know Diesel (my ski buddy and biking pal I can never ride faster than) is the great protector. He is always on duty, and as such he has become this way even more with the baby in the house. When Joey cries he circles the house checking all the windows and making sure everything is clear. Denver ever the constant cuddler was a little hesitant with the boy at first, mostly because Diesel would not let him close, but as of late he has warmed up to him...as this series of photos demonstrates.....

Today is Saturday, Sept 29th. Joey will be 9 weeks old tomorrow. This morning Lindsey had some responsibilities on campus having to do with ag days so Joey and daddy went to farmer's market. The temperatures have dropped here already, so it was necessary to bundle up. Of course I had to get a picture. Mama met up with us later in the morning and we all came home. At which time Joey was really happy in the Bjorn. The video I have posted is from that and it has a little footage from yesterday when he got hungry while I was working at the computer. It was with our point and shoot digital camera, so it is not that great of quality. But it gets the point across.

Life is good, time is flying, wish it would slow down, but we are enjoying every moment of our lives with the little man. Here are a few of the things we get to enjoy every day...


Sneeze

Contemplation


Staring at Daddy and smiling

What everyone should want but few strive for

Did someone say "Hawkeyes"?

Life as a papa has been good. Lindsey is settling into the mama life as well. Yesterday was a pretty rough one, it was the first real day he was fussy for an extended period of time. I'm pretty sure it was just gas. The only thing that would console him was if I did tele turns, for those that don't know that's basically just lunges. He love it though and after about 15 min of that he fell a sleep.

We've been spending quite a bit of time going for walks with him and getting mama out and about. Our days have been pretty warm lately, which is typical, and our evenings have been fairly cool...40's and 50's. That is one of the things I love about this climate, warm summer days, cool nights. Of course if you are taking a baby out in a stroller it means you must bundle them up pretty good. He was not so sure about the whole process the first time we bundled him up. That is the first picture I have posted on here.

The other is of Lindsey's dad holding him. We made a trip down to Boise last weekend to see them. Joey was a GREAT traveler. He made it 3 hours to our first stop. Which was near Riggins, ID on the Salmon river. The dogs and I went down to the water and Lindsey fed him. We had to stop about 45 min later to change a diaper and by then we were in McCall, ID, so I got him out at the lake there and let him see the mountains for the first time. He acted unimpressed, in fact he just looked around and crapped his pants, which is not unlike what he does most of the time he is awake but I am sure deep down he really liked them.....

That's all now for now.

The Power of Parenting....watch this one through to the end, it doesn't end like most of Marty Stouffer's shows do. I think et says a lot about what a parent will do for their children and the power of your community.

As many of you know I turned 30 this last Tuesday. It was by far the best birthday I have had yet to date, as we got to come home from the hospital. The joy of bringing Joey and Lindsey home healthy was somewhat overwhelming. On top of that the dogs got to meet him and he was very quickly welcomed with loving licks from them. In fact Diesel has taken protection of Joey as his new charge. He rarely lets Denver come close to Joey and when he does allow it he watches him very closely. His guard mentality is even more accentuated than usual, and he is attentive to every noise the boy makes.

Lindsey is doing well. We have made a point of doing little outings every day since she has been out. One of those outings was actually a bit much, as we went to Spokane, WA to pick-up my parents at the airport. The trip itself would not have been bad, but the ensuing trip to baby's r us and Target may have pushed her over the top.

So like I said, my folks are here and will be until next Wednesday. On top of that several of our friends have been making a real effort to help us out during this time. Lindsey's folks arrived today (they are leaving again tomorrow, but will be back next weekend). Hopefully Joey will get to meet Uncle Charlie this week, as he is going to come up here for a couple of days. His aunts Joellen and Bethany are going to come out the end of August.

Sleep has been scattered for Lindsey, I have been doing my best to take Joey on little outings to give Lindsey time to sleep for a few hours during the day. Last night he was only up once at about 3 am, and that was to feed, and he went right back to sleep. All told we (me more than Lindsey of course) are feeling pretty rested compared to what we have been prepared for. But it's just the beginning so we are not getting our hopes up just yet.

Enough babble, here are some of our favorite pics over the last few days.

As most of you figured out from the last post, Joey is here. He made his arrival at 10.13pm on July 22. He was 7lbs 12 oz and 21" at birth. Lindsey is doing great, the labor was as smooth as anything called "labor" could be, and she is recovering very well at the moment. Joey is nursing, and seems to really enjoy eating, when he doesn't fall asleep in the middle of it. He is very alert, and does NOT like camera flashes.

I'm sure this is far from the last time I will post about the little guy so stay tuned if you are interested.

Dr. Shupe is having us come in tomorrow, Sunday, July 22, at 7.30am. He plans on breaking Lindsey's water, and hopefully inducing labor as a result. So by the end of the day Joey's lungs should be filling with his first puffs of CO2 (and a little O2 as well).

But for now, these are a couple of photos we took today.

Ready or not here he comes!

We had our weekly doctor's appointment yesterday, and Lindsey's blood pressure was a little higher than desired. She is currently at 39 weeks, so the doctor does not want to take any chances. Because of this he is giving her until Sunday morning to go into labor on her own, if she does not then we will head into the hospital and she will be induced. Until then she has been told to lay low and take it easy. Of course for Lindsey that means cleaning the kitchen, doing laundry, and attempting to make some cheesecake. I think I've talked her out of the cheesecake (however I am hesitant to leave the house because she may try again) but I did leave to go have lunch with a friend and when I got back she had been busy. So if you think about it, perhaps give her a call and keep her occupied.

We are excited, there is a slight cause for concern, as there is a potential for toxemia to develop, with her blood pressure elevated etc, but the other signs are not there yet, which is why we are going to have her induced. But by doing this now, hopefully we can avoid having to do a cesarean, which is the step they take if toxemia develops.

More info to come....soon we hope!

NEWS!!! NEWS!!! NEWS!!!

not that news.....I just realized I had not blogged that my ski is back. The ski I lost back in Feb is now back in my possesion, and none the less for the wear.....I even got to ski them when we were on Hood. Probably not the best ski for the conditions, but they are fun skis no matter what....
The pics are from the recent travels. Photo one is of (left to right)Denver, Diesel, and Jesse's dog Tamu on the flanks of Wing Ridge in the Wallowas. Photo two is Trevor expressing his self satisfaction with his wood splitting abilities, the Seven Devils are in the background, this photo is from Wing Ridge as well. The third is of a Patty's Mexican kitchen burrito (our favorite Moscow eatery) with Capn'Jon Totten and Jesse Sears, and Mt. Hood in the background. Finally a shot of "base camp" at the timberline ski area parking lot, yes. we did rule that place....

Well we are down to the final days. It's gotten hot here in Moscow the last week or so, and Lindsey is really starting to want the boy to make his appearance. We of course are and have been anxious to meet him, but this heat (and us with out A/C) has really gotten her wanting him OUT!

Life has been pretty busy around here, until about a week ago. At the end of June we both had a series of outings that left us away from home quite a bit. Starting in June I took my soccer team to a tournament in Redmond, Oregon. The tournament was a great one for us to be a part of, unfortunately it was a tale of two days and two teams. On the first day the girls just could not capitalize on their opportunities, while our two opponents found ways to capitalize on the ONLY opportunities they had, we lost both games 2-1. On Sunday, however, the girls got things figured out and they won the first game 4-2 (gave up a goal late in each half) and won the second game 3-0, with all of our goals coming in the first half.

A week or so later Lindsey took off for Reno, NV for 2 days to present at a professional conference. She was one of 5 keynote speakers at the main session, and had been invited to do so, so she felt it was important for her to go. They put her up in a suite at the Grande Sierra resort and casino, it sounds like the room was pretty plush (tv in the marble bathroom).

She was home for two days and I took off on that Friday for the Wallowas (one of my favorite places on earth). My friend Trevor and I left Moscow and met our good friend Jesse Sears (who was getting married in a week, more on that later) in Enterprise, Oregon. We then met up with Roger Averbeck (owner operator of Wing Ski Tours, which is for sale by the way) at the Terminal Gravity Brewery. On Saturday we headed into an area called Wing Ridge, where Wing Ski Tours has a series of wall tents which are used as backcountry ski huts. We spent Saturday and Sunday in there collecting firewood (not a small task, he needs 9 cords for the winter, we got 3).

We got home late on Sunday night, and I needed to get some work done on my research, which is going well be the way. Jesse came back with us (he lives in Boise) and then headed to Coure d'alene with Trevor. They were supposed to pick-up our friend Jon Totten whom had flown into Spokane from Bellingham, WA to be with us for the upcoming bachelor party for Jesse. However, early Monday morning Trevor's mother passed away, very unexpectedly. We delayed some of our plans, and waited to see what was going to happen with the services. Trevor encouraged us to continue on our plans as the services were not until later in the week, and he really wanted us to do what we had planned.

So we proceeded, with heavy hearts of course. Jon and Jesse came down to Moscow, we picked up the Hud (Eric Huddelson, a very good friend and also Jesse's brother-in-law). Finally by about 8.30pm on Tuesday we got on the road. We were headed to the Cascades with our skis and climbing gear. We were pretty sure we were going to climb/ski one of the volcanoes, it was just a question of which one. The basic plan was to buck the traditional bachelor party scheme and do what we loved most SKI and be in the mountains. So at 2.30 am we found ourselves at the Timberline parking lot at Mt. Hood. We threw our sleeping pads down and pulled out our sleeping bags and fell a sleep. We woke to Bram Roll (another or our friends) running over a couple of cones and swinging between us at about 7 am. He was reading and rearing to go, he had been stuck on the other side of the Columbia the night before because of bridge construction. We were hungry, we had some burritos from Patty's Mexican kitchen in Moscow, but they were for the climb. So we hit the lodge, grabbed some food (really roughing it) and started climbing around 10 am. We got to about 9500' and decided that the snow was just too inviting. It was too late to try for a summit anyways, so we made a fast/fun ski decent.

Eventually we found our selves in Olympia sleeping in some one's yard, and with a new quest. Find Jesse a wedding ring (his bride had failed to make a decision on one), we accomplished this task in record time and before long we were in Kirkland, WA (outside Seattle ) to help the bride's family prepare the house for the wedding (the wedding was an outdoor wedding at the bride's home). The wedding went smoothly, lots of good friends and good times. An interesting side note. Jesse and Shelly were actually married this winter, for logisitcal reasons. She had no health insurance, and they wanted to purchase a home, and it was much easier with a court document saying they were married. However, Jesse made the comment that it never really felt real until that day. My take on that, you can stand before the court and say "I do" until you are blue in the face, but who is going to be there to help you make sure "you do" when time get rough? Your friends and family, all the court cares after that is if "you don't". Anyways, I finally made it home to Lindsey (she chose not to make the 5.5 hour trip to Seattle, for the sake of comfort) on Sunday night around 7pm.

So we are back in Moscow, and will probably be here until it is time to take Joey on his first back packing trip, sometime in September.

Just a quick update. It's official, Lindsey's folks, Ken and Sharon, are moving to Boise, Idaho the end of June. Her brother Charlie, already lives there, as I have posted previously, but now we will have more family there. The great thing about it is that they will now only be 5.5 hours away, instead of 27. They are also only a 55 min plane ride away. Sharon took a job at a hospital in Meridian, so we are really excited not only for their move, but it seems like a job she will really enjoy.

Fortunately we are blessed to have in-laws that we really love. Having either set of our parents close would be great for us. We are not of the American stereotype that in-laws are a bad thing. Especially with Joey on the way I a finding myself wishing grandparents were closer.

As to Joey. He is growing at an incredible rate, as Lindsey's lack of comfort is testament to. We did have a little bout with high blood pressure a couple of weeks ago but Lindsey was able to get that back under control by slowing down a little, which is a VERY difficult thing for her to do. We are with-in a month and a half of the official due date, and are getting really excited to meet the little man. These next three weekends are going to be pretty busy with a soccer tournament, a ski hut work weekend, a bachelor party/climb of Mt. Adams, and said bachelor's wedding in Seattle. So that will really help the time fly, for me at least. Lindsey's folks are going to spend a little time here on the way for their move, which will help out keeping Lindsey company while I travel. Of course in the middle of all that Lindsey has been invited to be a part of the keynote lecture series at a conference in Reno (I will not be going on that trip).

Finally in July we will slow for a few days, HOPEFULLY before Joey decides to show up. I may do a little day trip river guiding just to get some extra cash, and log a day or two on the water. Which I was not anticipating getting to do at all this summer.

So that's the news from Moscow for now. There will plenty more to come later.

A quick story of my recent adventures. About a month and a half ago my brother-in-law, Charlie, called to tell me that Robert Randolph and the family band were going to be playing a show in Boise, where Charlie lives. The show was to be on May 8, and RRFB was listed as the opening act for Ziggy Marley. This was a little dissapointing, because I really would like to see RRFB as the headliner, but regardless, I knew it would be a good show. One problem though. We were going to be in Iowa until the Sunday before the show (the show was on a Tuesday). And worst of all, I was going to be driving our new vehicle home (we purchased it in Iowa, flew there from Spokane, and Lindsey flew home, I drove home). The drive back from Iowa usually goes North across I-90, but by adding a 150 miles or so i can go the Southerly route through Boise.

So this is what I did. It was a LONG drive with a May snow storm on the Eastern edge of Wyoming and the Western edge. I wound up crashing on a friend's fouton in Salt Lake City for a few hours on Sunday night and then hit Boise sometime around noon on Monday. Charlie and I ran around the town he lives in, Nampa, which is more or less a suburb of Boise, until he had to go to work. That's when I caught up with my good friend Jesse Sears. He and his wife moved to Boise from Moscow last year so that he could become the director of outdoor programs at Boise State University (which should really be called Boise City College, but who cares about the details?). Jesse and Shelly have just recently moved into a new house and were excited to have me stay with them. Upon arrival Jesse informed me that he had a training trip for his staff going out the next day Tuesday, the day of the concert, and that he was planning on Charlie and I going with them. The trip was going to be to paddle raft run of the road section of the Peyette river just outside of Boise.

That night we grilled and I crashed about 10pm...I was pretty beat from the prior 5 days. During that time we had flown to Iowa to attended Lindsey's PhD graduation, spent some great time with her family. Some of our friends, Lucky, Angie and Benjamin Lindley, Dan Kelley Moriah Avery and Isabel Conner, and No Nutz Conner also hung out with us. We slept a little, but not much. I had dropped Lindsey at the Des Moines airport on Sunday morning at 6 am and then drove straight through to Salt Lake City, with the occasional stop for gas, coffee, and the eventual emergency coffee evac stop during which each time I cursed coffee and swore I'd never drink it again, at least not until the next gas fill up, where-in the cycle was repeated.

So Tuesday finally came, we got up early and headed to Goldies, which is one of the BEST breakfast places ever, it's in downtown Boise, if you are ever that way you MUST try it. Then we proceeded to the BSU outdoor program's office. The rigs were loaded and we took off. This was Charlie's first time on white water since his early teens. We had a great time, and were back in town in time to grab some food and relax before the show, that stretch of the river pretty simple with a few 3's and several 2's.

Once we got into the show (after a very rigorous pat down, just short of a rubber glove and two fingered salute) we found our way to a very nice ledge just above the dance floor behind some table and about 20 feet from the stage. The gentleman sitting in front of us had microphones and recording equipement. He informed us that he was not allowed to record Ziggy Marley, but he could record Robert Randolph. So security had taken his batteries away as he entered....wait, wasn't RR first?? NO!!! Ziggy had tired of opening for RR because he was just too difficult of an act to follow, so now Ziggy was opening for RR!!! Ziggy opened and it was a really fun show, I would highly reccomend checking out his new album, Love is My Religion. The unfortunate, or fortunate thing for us, is that most of the crowd was there to see Ziggy, which is understandable, he is a big deal, but RR is no slouch. Regardless, since Ziggy opened a lot of those people left after Ziggy's 1.5 hour set.... Which meant the venue was suddenly about 1/3 less crowded, and RR played to a less than packed house. It did make it difficult for the crowd to really get into it, but I truely enjoyed the show. Also, I am looking forward to it being posted on Bit Torrent in a few days. The guy with the recording equipment gave us his card and info on how to access the show. I will post that when it becomes avaliable.

The trip back to Moscow was uneventful and it was good to get home to Lindsey and Joey, who seem to be tripling his rate of growth!!! We are down to almost 11 weeks left...the excitement is building, he kicks and punches all the time, much to Lindsey's duerme dismay..

Trip to IOWA!!!

Hey there friends that live in Iowa. Lindsey and I are making a trip to the midwest next Thursday. We will only be in Ames for a few days, so unfortunately we will not have much time to see most of you. However, the purpose of the trip is for Lindsey's graduation. She will officially be recieving her PhD and getting "hooded". If any of you are going to be around and have the time the weekend of Saturday May 5,drop me a line. I am thinking about throwing her a little open house of some sort. Most of the weekend will be spent with family, but it would be cool if others could offer her their congrats. She has worked really hard for this (to say the least)....and I am VERY proud of her!!

We had our first ultrasound on Friday. With this post are the photos from said ultrasound. Everything looked good, and Joey wasn't shy, we now know that Joey is going to be a boy. This doesn't change much, but having the chance to see him really starts to make this exciting for me.

(This is a copy of a post I put on the blog my buddies and I have www.mob2006.blogspot.com) I finally allowed myself to watch an inconvenient truth. Usually I avoid movies like that because they tend to sensationalize otherwise rational arguements (re: Farenheit 911). But in light of the current hype around the movie and my general sense of being in a good mood lately I decided to watch it.

If you can get past the obvious self glorification Al Gore tries to make about himself the evidence presented with-in is well worth the watch. The data he presents is not new, it has been around the scientific community for years. Unfortunately (or possibly fortunatley) scientists are not very good at sensationalizing the data they find. They know better than to claim "proof" or "truth", that is not the objective of any good scientific research, but they are willing to assemble data sets and make hypothesis about what they have observed.

How does this apply to Al Gore's powerpoint presentaton? I have heard many calling him a hypocrite, which may be true $30,000 for a year of utility bills is excessive to say the least. In fact I may find myself calling him the same. It is really too bad that he had to be the one to make himself the most recent spokesperson for the human impact on global climate change. The reason it is unfortunate is because it has sparked very LITTLE intelligent debate. Most people's response to ALL of the incredibly condeming data that he presents is, "Well he's a hypocrite." WHO THE H CARES! if he is a hypocrite, that has NOTHING to do with the data he presents.

If you do take the time to watch the movie, pay special attention to the ice core data, this is some of the most accurate climate data we have avaliable to us. But please take the time to watch the movie before responding to this. Again you need to get past the fact that it is Al Gore and pay attention to the DATA! Hypocracy or not data is data, it's NOT facts, it's not absolute truth (as his title implies), but it is the closest we can come to knowledge about our earth and our impacts on it. If you consider yourself a Christian (as many Americans do) then as God's "stewards" of this earth are you not implicitly commanded to take responsibilty for it (re: the creation account in Genesis)?

It's been a while (kind of a trend). The lack of posts is not due to a lack of news. So here is the news in no particular order.
* Lindsey and I went to Fernie B.C. for president's day to relax and ski with some friends and family (video/pics to come later)
* I've managed to reach my goal of 30 ski days again for the second year in a row
* On day 32 of the season I had one of the BEST powder days of the year, until then, I've had two better since, but that day is significant becuase I managed to get one of my skis (my fat powder skis mind you) buried deep enough that it is STILL on the hill, it wasn't even a crash!
* Lindsey has decided to stop skiing for the season, she stopped with 7 days
* Lindsey got offered a tenure track assistant professor of Family Consumer Sciences position at the U of Idaho
* Lindsey's terms were fully accepted by the U of Idaho and she signed the paper work, her new contract starts July 1
* Lindsey will probably only work half of July
* Our first be'be' is due July 27!!!!

So that's the brief news from here. Been meaning to get it up sooner, but now is good....

Quick one here. This should be a link to a video I made just before the new year. 3 buddies of mine plus Diesel made a trip over to Wing Ridge just outside of Joseph, OR for a couple of bluebird days of skiing. The fun part about this is that I made all of the music in Garage Band, Apple Rules....

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5063644539197057777&hl=en