Amy's Birthday Parties!

I'm really glad that Amy has had a few opportunities to celebrate her birthday in the past few days. First, she and some friends had a "Girls Night Out" this past Thursday in Santa Cruz. They had a nice dinner together and then enjoyed spending a night at the Coast Santa Cruz Hotel on the beach (we had a free voucher!). I'm told that the theme of the night, which was also a celebration for Amy's birthday, was "Thirty, Flirty and Thriving." For those of you keeping score at home, that's a line from the moving "13 Going On 30."


Jenni, Robyn, Amy, Kylene and Michelle (L-R)


Then, tonight we got together with most of Amy's family to celebrate five birthdays in one party! Here's a picture of Amy goofing around during the singing of the birthday song.


Also, on Sunday we got to have lunch at Chevy's with my parents. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have them put a sombrero on Amy and sing to her!

Happy Birthday Amy! We love you very much!

Happy 30th Amy!

Today is Amy's 30th birthday! In the spirit of Amy's post a couple months back for my birthday, I'm going to unashamedly copy that idea! A list of 30 things for the 30 year old!

30 Things We Love About Amy...

1- She loves Jesus
2- She's my best friend
3- She's an amazing wife
4- She's an amazing mother
5- She's a great cook
6- She's ridiculously funny
7- Velocoraptor!
8- Rat face!
9- when she gets into bed she leaves all the covers completely askew, making me fix them before I get in bed
10- she teaches the kids about Jesus
11- she teaches the kids good manners
12- she's my partner in ministry
13- she supports me in my work and ministry
14- thanks to her the kids will have photo albums
15- she's a purse-sellin' entrepreneur!
16- she's a great hostess
17- she keeps our hectic family schedule organized
18- she keeps track of the finances
19- Mom My Ride
20- she encourages great family traditions like our own version of Dance, Dance, Revolution
21- she changes diapers! Trevor really appreciates it!
22- she's "Spice," aka "Spice E. Chicken," aka "the Duchess of Frontier Ranch"
23- she's extremely thoughtful
24- she's always the balance I need in my life
25- she prays for me and the kids
26- her "Disney eyes" are quite striking
27- she makes me laugh
28- she's very caring and considerate
29- she's beautiful on the outside and...
30- on the inside

If you get a chance, take a minute to encourage Amy by posting a comment here or sending her an email! I know she'll enjoy and appreciate that! Thanks!

Catchin' Up...

I finally got caught up on some blogging tonight. As you can see by the many posts I just finished (below) and the one I'm about to do (above), we've been really busy this last week. In addition to all of that, my first semester at Talbot has been winding down. In fact, I took a final exam today and officially finished my first semester back in school. I really enjoyed my classes, I had great profs and I'm looking forward to much more seminary ahead! =) I'm only taking a 2-week break... I'll be back in the classroom for four weeks in June in order to take two summer courses. I'm really looking forward to them... Pastoral Ministry and Disciple-Making in the Postmodern Generation.

The Reception Celebration!

Kaylin & Molly became instant best friends during the few days we got to spend with our dear Kansas friends, the Moore's.


Wow... that's a pretty... uh... excited face... I guess.


During the "money dance," Kaylin got to dance with Uncle Chops and...


T.J. danced with Auntie Kirsten!


A Stockton Reunion! Here I am with the newly married couple and some friends of ours from our college days. These amazing people were part of our Campus Crusade for Christ college ministry at Pacific.

The BIG Day - Chops & Kirsten Get Married!

Chris & Kirsten got married this past Saturday at Frontier Ranch! That's yet another reason why camp hold such a special place in our hearts. It was good to be back at Mission Springs, to see so many people that we love, and to be part of this amazing wedding celebration!

Our star of the show, the flower girl, did a great job! She just needed an escort before she'd start walking down the aisle. =) Once we were on the way, she began her cute little head tilting and smiling!



As I predicted, she was placing flowers do diligently that I needed to prod her every few seconds to keep us moving in a forward direction!


It was a beautiful day (a bit warm but beautiful) and a great ceremony. Here's Chris reading his vows.

Rehearsal Dinner!

This past Friday was the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner and bachelor party for Chris & Kirsten!


A candid shot of the rehearsal's main attraction couple


Ah, my friend Chris is finally getting married! We look forward to lots of good times ahead with these two cool people!


Chris... settle down... no need to yell at the pastor! J/K Here's Jeff Mazz helping guide the rehearsal.


Hang time with the guys included arcade, laser tag, praying for Chris on the beach, and a late night Denny's run... pretty good for a bunch of "old guys." =)

Mother's Day @ Mission Viejo Lake

On Mother's day we went with a bunch of Amy's family to spend the afternoon at Mission Viejo Lake. It was a beautiful day, we ate a picnic lunch on the grass next to the lake, the kids played and we enjoyed a boat ride!

Here are all the moms that were there that day... Aunt Bev, Grammy Shirley, Aunt Judy, Amy's mom Diane, sister Mindy, sister DeeDee and Amy (L-R)


The Olson's =)


Whoa... easy there Gilligan! A little seasick? Or one too many swigs of milk?

Flower Girl Practice

Earlier this evening when I got home from work, Kaylin immediately asked me if we could "practice for the wedding." In case you haven't heard, she's gonna be the flower girl in "Uncle Chops and Aunt Kirsten's" wedding next weekend. Anyway, we gathered flower petals that had already fallen off the rose bushes into a little box and Kaylin practiced walking down the "aisle" toward me (I'll be up front with Chris) while trying to spread petals on the ground and smile at the same time! Good times, good times! =)

She's rockin' it in this picture... we'll see how she does on the big day! She's so detail-oriented (I have no idea where she got that from) that she was concentrating on even petal distribution to the point of stopping every couple of steps and not smiling. Classic!