Some new stuff

I've added a couple of components to this page to make it easier for Krista and I to share information.
First is the twitter feed on the right. If you don't have a twitter account, get one. It's a dead simple, quick service for basically sharing status updates. As I tweet, the posts appear on the right.
Second is the news box above. This allows me to take articles that I read and easily post them here for people to see. I'll try to keep them relevant to the reader-base here and even comment if they're funny or informational, etc.

Pictures from HBC Boating

Finally got the pictures from boating with HBC folks posted.

Harvest people + lake = fun times

I was out on the lake yesterday with some guys from the audio team from Harvest. I was repeatedly laughing harder than I have in a while at some of our antics. Frank falling off the back twice trying to help Daniel ski was entertaining, as was seeing Steve and Rece break into the same song simultaneously based off someone's random comment.

Was a great time to step away from our typical roles and duties and connect on a different level. Hopefully we can do it again soon.

(I'll post a few pictures once Frank gets them e-mailed out)

The Lake

I was out on the lake on Friday morning (July 3rd) and it was nicer than I've seen in a long time. The highlight of the morning was getting the two guys with me skiing. Here's a clip of Brandon's success.

Photos

Krista and I have done two neat things this week. We canceled our home phone service (yeah, update your books) and we started an account at SmugMug.com. Very reasonable price, unlimited storage and bandwidth. I've got photos of Mike and Kathy Bouma's wedding up, along with some of my favorite pictures of Will.

http://mnkp.smugmug.com

Enjoy!

Useful Tip

Here I am - trying to be helpful again! If you're regularly copying files from one disk/machine to another, you probably already realize how bad the default Windows file mover is. Check out TeraCopy. It's free for home use and it rocks my socks!

Will's Photoshoot

So my sister is starting to advertise her photography skills which are superb! She took a practice round on Will which I am so happy with. She is such an amazing photographer. Here is just a taste of what she took. I love them all.



I love this little boy so much! If you're interested in having her come and take pictures of your kids or for a family portrait let Mike or me know.

I have been having so much fun at work lately. It has made the time fly by so I'm finally getting around to updating our site. So, while Will is content playing in the pool this gorgeous day, I thought I would post. Since work is the biggest part of my life right now that's what I'm going to focus on.

Will is having such a great time with the boys. He's learning so much from them and I really love the opportunity it has given us for Will to have 3 half brothers. Jack and Ryan are huge helps and Conor is the perfect little playmate (learning how to deal with fights and sharing). They are all so great in their own way. I'm really looking forward to summer when school is out, the schedule is relaxed and all the boys are home and playing together. I really miss them when their at school. (How am I going to deal with it when it's my own kids?) Maybe I'll just home school so I never have to say goodbye...Ha!

Anyway, here are some pictures of our springtime fun.

Will is talking more now and one of his favorite words is 'bubu' aka 'bubble'. Here are Conor and Will and one of their favorite outdoor activities.


Another favorite activity is pushing the lawn mower and riding bikes. Although there are several bikes to choose from, these two toys are the ones that Conor and Will switch back and for with the most. Will says 'baa' for 'bike'.


Ryan absolutely adores Will. They are very similar in temperament. They are both very aware of their surroundings, have more energy then they know what to do with, love to be loud, love to try new things, and generally think outside of the box.


The four boys, Jack, Conor, Will, Ryan. When the older boys are helping this is how they pair off: Jack with Conor and Ryan with Will. I fill an entire see-saw. They all love to do this together.


Conor and Will sitting at the picnic table at the park.

Pictures

We haven't posted any pictures in a while, so here you go!

He absolutely insisted on climbing inside my shirt. I had to take off my polo so it didn't get ruined...















Grandma teaching him the value of keeping things clean!


Uncle Steve reminding us that he's tall:

My Nephew Hunter

Hey everyone,

My nephew Hunter is 8 years old and on a mission. He has such a tender heart and has decided to raise money for childhood cancer research by shaving his red hair off. His best friend's sister is 6 and has been fighting cancer since she was 7 months old. If you are interested please follow this link.

Please pray that hearts would be touched and money raise for the cancer research. Thank you.

Updates

Ever had a month when there was so much going on that you can't even make time to reflect on each days activities? The last month or so has very much been that way for Krista and I. Now that things have settled I'm able to look back and see some interesting things that were entirely invisible during that time.

(I'm going to drop random pictures throughout the post to break up the wall of text!)

School:
I am officially done with my bachelor's degree. I now have a BS in technical management with concentrations in database administration and computer information systems. If anyone has any suggestions on how to best abbreviate that - I'm all ears. I went back a few days ago and looked at my grades for my time at DeVry and laughed a bit. It's very easy to see my level of commitment in my grades and workload when you look at it chronologically. I started off with a light work-load and got mostly B's. Then I had a term with a full workload and got A's and B's. Finally, I can look back to the semester I got tired of picking away at classes and decided just to do it. Since that term I've earned nothing but A's and I'm proud of that. I know that when I actually commit to something I'm capable of performing well.
I'm looking toward options for grad-school but I kinda of don't want to start immediately. I could use the break and I think I will take it.

Work:
We had a team member get laid-off/fired in a very abrupt manner in February. He wasn't the best employee and didn't get a lot of work done. Even still - he has been with the company for 15 years and was a reasonably nice guy. Tough times for everyone I guess. I feel bad for him, but I'm glad it wasn't me, so I am trying to be thankful for that. I did get to move into his cubicle (signficantly larger and better located) so that's a bonus.

My new desk


Family:
Here's where a lot is going on! Steve just bought a house in Des Plaines - he closes in the middle of April, Kathy rented an apartment with Mike Bouma in Des Plaines and I just helped her move some furniture in last night. She will likely be fully moved in within a week or two. I'm also seeing Kathy's approach/timbre to life change pretty quickly as the wedding approaches. You can sense the weight of her financial independence and personal responsibility growing when you talk to her. That stuff wasn't there six months ago and it's interesting to observe. She still likes to screw around and is certainly still the Kathy we all know and love, but she also becoming this person who can invite you over for dinner and be the hostess for the night. Eric and Seren got married just over a week ago. Was a very nice wedding in the Grove in Glenview. It brings a sense of closure for a lot of things and opens a lot of doors at the same time.



Everyone at our house simply cannot wait for winter to be over. Whenever Krista and Will are home for the day cabin fever sets in like crazy. I want to get out on my bike, hopefully with Will in a carrier seat and the exterior of the house needs cleaning badly. Finally, we replaced the Malibu. Steve basically rented me the Mailbu for a year for cheap, and I appreciate that, so Krista and I were able to buy an Honda Accord which we're both thrilled about.

What's coming:
Since I don't have school anymore, I'm learning to rebalance my free time, church, work, etc. I'm doing some audio stuff for a 20-something's group at Harvest called Connect on Thursday nights that I'm excited about and I start a men's morning bible-study next Friday with an old friend, so I'm looking forward to that as well. We're also going out to dinner with Ken and Julie next Friday without the kids and I'm looking forward to adult conversation that doesn't revolve around the word 'ball'.



Will has a few words now - everything that isn't a book, banana, or tv is 'ball'. It's really fun as he learns how to communicate in ways other than crying and having fits! He has learned to throw stuff, which is both good and bad. At dinner on Sunday he was chucking toys across the table and Kathy and Bouma and we had to get him to stop. I forsee those being tough things to teach - situational 'okays'. Sometimes it's good to throw balls, sometimes it's not - maybe he'll learn quicker than I think.

Sorry for the giant wall of text - I'll try to update more frequently so it's less each time!

Will's Dedication

Colossians 3:17

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Last month, we dedicated Will to Jesus Christ our Lord. We gave our first born son to God and pledged to raise him to know and serve God our Heavenly Father.

It was a wonderful time with family and I thank everyone for coming and supporting us. Here are some pictures of that wonderful day that I will treasure.

And finally, Will with his cousin Kiana. They really enjoy each other.

Visiting family

Check out the fun!

Life

It's been a while since our last update. Christmas was a blast and the new year is here. Will is as entertaining as ever. Here are some picture of life as it happens.


Will has now moved into a big boy bed and loves it. When he wakes up in the morning he just sits by the door and plays with the few toys there. We get an extra 30 minutes of sleep this way which is nice.
One day we had ski gloves lying around and Will kept picking them up and trying to put them on. It was really funny seeing him walking around with these giant gloves. He would then shake his hands, the gloves would go flying off, and he would crack up laughing.


Will loves hats, helmets, and anything that goes on your head. At work, he always wants to wear the bike helmets. It's hilarious because it is always falling over his eyes.


Will found a pair of Daddy's socks and made me put them on him. Too funny.


Will with the boys at work. Jack, Ryan, Conor, and Will. So cute. To bad Will wasn't looking at the camera.

Well, that's all for now. We should have more to come soon. Thanks for taking some time to read into our lives a little bit.