six already

Yesterday was our sixth anniversary! We went to second service, took the kids home and fed them lunch. The kids took a nap, and we had Ben & Amanda Fagerlie offer to babysit for the evening so we could go out together, so they came over at four so we could leave. We ant to the DV30 AMC theatres but stopped in the Starbucks to get a drink first. Amy got a grande caramel macchiato with an extra pump of vanilla, and I got a triple venti white mocha. We went to see Madagascar 2, which had already been out a month but we'd not seen. We both thought it was quite funny and an overall good sequal. We then ate dinner at Olive Garden near Arrowhead mall. We ate a lot and still had leftovers to bring home. It was a great day together. My wife is an incredible blessing from the LORD.  Thank you all for your well-wishes and congratulations.

personal shopper #19

The Neighborhood Ministries is a group that meets the needs of the poor community in the Metro area. Their headquarters/church/meeting place is in downtown Phoenix. One of the ministries they have is to the parents of needy families. They allow adults to volunteer there in exchange for ministry money. It's not actually money redeemable for cash, but it is redeemable for brand new items during the Christmas store. People donate brand new items to the Christmas store so that these parents can purchase them with the volunteer dollars they've earned throughout the season. Why have a store instead of just giving handouts? Well, the idea behind doing the store comes from wanting to give people a sense of dignity in providing for their families during the Christmas season when so many needy families find they have no ability to give to their children. Instead of someone coming in, giving them things, and the parents being left with a remorse and lack of dignity from not being able to support their family, they now are able to earn these gifts for their family. All that to say, KAIO, the college-age and twenty-somethings group at ncc, got to join in on helping out during the Christmas store. There were lots of different jobs, but we all were set up as personal shoppers. We got to partner with a parent, take them through the store's mad rush, carry their gifts, keep a running total of what they were spending, and make sure they didn't go over their amount. We got to do this three times. It was quite an ordeal. People rushing to and fro, looking for what they could get their family. There were bikes, video games, a PSP or two, an iPod Nano, a couple TVs, jackets, things for him, things for her, children's toys for both boys and girls, balls, movies, and even kitchen appliances (nothing huge, but there were a couple of smaller refrigerators about 3-4' tall). Carrying it all, getting it to the holding area, keeping a running total, trying to understand their Spanish (most were Hispanic and couldn't speak English), getting them checked out, and helping them to their vehicle. And all of that three times. It was quite a rush. I was truly blessed to be a part of it (and I got to utilize my Spanish a lot!). I was personal shopper #19.

aidan wearing daddy's glasses

Aidan just really wanted to wear my glasses, so I let him. Don't know how well he could see...what do you think from his expression?

old scruff to hot stuff

Now, I had not shaven or trimmed for some time at the point of taking the before pictures here. I decided it was time. What do you think?
The before scruff.

Nicely trimmed.

Neck scruff.

Cleanly shaven.

chilly weather

It has been pretty chilly around these parts for us desert rats. We decided to take a cartrip down to Pinal County, AZ, and we thought it might be good to make sure the kids were warm. Truly, they didn't end up even needing the hats but...

...yeah, we pretty much have the cutest kids on the planet.