What's Up

"What have you guys been up to?" People ask me this all the time. I understand why because I ask people the same thing, but I never really know how to answer. Truly the answer is "so much stuff that I feel like every waking minute of every day is being wasted if I'm not working on at least three things within that minute while also hugging my babies and telling my husband that I love him. And yet most of the time I feel like I'm doing nothing at all." But, that answer is a little overwhelming, so usually I just say "oh, nothing." But, now that I have a minute to sit and write it down, here's what we've been up to around here:

- We are in the process of finishing our basement (And by "we" I mean "Mike"). This means that Mike is learning everything there is to know about how to build a basement (or anything else for that matter). I can't quite tell if he is enjoying every second of this project or enjoying every second of being alone working on this project, but either way he's doing a great job.

- Olivia is working on becoming independent enough to refuse to use the bathroom, but not independent enough to walk from the car to the front door without mommy holding her. She just finished her first round of gymnastics (which she loved) and has decided recently to sleep in mommy's bed at night instead of her own (which mommy loves) (and also hates). We are planning a tea party for her third birthday and she asks at least hourly if we can go to her party now. She seems unfazed by my insistence that daddy's birthday has to come first since obviously the rules of the calendar are negotiable if she just asks enough times. She also got to ride the train at the Orchards this weekend and blow bubbles, which basically made for the best Sunday ever in her mind. And, my coworker gave us a toy vanity so she has been diligently doing sissy's hair night and day ever since-- "Just like Aunt Carolyn."

- Sophia is doing everything Olivia does. Even when she laughs, she will keep a steady eye on O to make sure what she is laughing about is indeed funny and if O stops laughing for any reason at all, even to breathe, S is also done with whatever was previously The Most Hilarious Thing on the Planet.

- A couple weekends ago we celebrated Jackson Zuiker's first birthday and Kristen Gregory's upcoming baby boy--two very exciting milestones! These celebrations coincided with Kelly being coerced into giving up sugar for the month of March-- a long and miserable journey thus far.

- This past weekend we went to Madcap Theatre for a mops and pops night out. This turned out to be HIL-ARIOUS. Highly recommend for a fun night on the town!

Meanwhile, the time allotted for this blog ran out about two sentences in, so now I need to go convince O that it's not a good idea to play outside in a blizzard. I'm sure she will disagree. What have you guys been up to?

Christmas Letter 2013

“Noooo!” “Stop!” “What are you DOING?!?!” These are the phrases that have been most common around our house this year. Mixed in with a healthy dose of “Aww, she’s so cute!” and “Aren’t they just angels?” (usually said when they are sleeping.) Olivia is two-and-a-half now and Sophia will be 18 months on the 15th of December, so we are right in the middle of the toddler phase… times two. With that in mind, here’s what we’ve been up to this year:

January: We celebrated New Year’s Eve at Carter and Ashleigh’s house with an awesome downtown view and a dangerously delicious signature cocktail.

February: In an effort to get out of the house during the winter duldrums, we formed a bowling team—Roll With It. We didn’t win any prizes, but we weren’t the worst team either, thanks in part to Mike’s hidden bowling talent. Kelly also took a girls weekend trip with some dear friends down to South Fork.

March: Kelly helped Ashleigh prepare for the big day with a bachelorette party in Denver. We also celebrated Mike’s birthday with a poker night and dinner at the Melting Pot.

April: Carter and Ashleigh’s had a beautiful ceremony and brunch wedding at the Wellshire Country Club. We also celebrated Olivia’s birthday with a tu-tu party—complete with lots of adorable little girls running around in tu-tus.

May: Our long-lost friends Alex and Katey Johnson came for a visit from North Carolina and Olivia started a ballet class, which quickly became her favorite activity. She did great at her twirls and jumps, but most of all she looked adorable in her little ballet outfit!

June: Kelly and Mike took a (kid-less) trip to Yosemite National Park. The girls enjoyed some time with Mike’s parents and we enjoyed exploring the beautiful scenery around the park. We stayed in a bed and breakfast and spent our time inside the park biking, boating, hiking, and soaking in as much as we could of the gorgeous backdrop. If you haven’t been to Yosemite—it’s a must-see! After we returned, we celebrated Sophia’s first birthday with a “You Are My Sunshine” party.

July:We spent the first weekend of the month visiting my dad and Crystal in Wyoming. The girls had fun fishing on papa’s boat and we all enjoyed an outdoor concert in downtown Saratoga. Sophia took her first steps after we got back and was running all around the house shortly thereafter.

August: We rented a house in Silverthorne with a few friends and made a weekend of Courtney and Brett’s wedding festivities, culminating with their nuptials in the backyard of a mansion in Breckenridge. While we were away, a storm cell hit our neighborhood and we got a call that a neighbor’s 10-ft trampoline had blown into our yard! Another neighbor lost the roof off their garage and a nearby bicycle track was half flattened. Later that month, Kelly led a retreat for the Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPs) steering team and we took a family trip to Colorado Springs for Kelly’s birthday. While in Colorado Springs, we visited the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and the girls had the chance to ride a gondola, feed giraffes, and ride the carousel. Sophia also had her baby dedication and was joined by family and friends for this special day. She was dedicated with about five other babies at The Well—the church in Boulder we have been attending since March.

September: Kelly helped host a bridal shower for Anna and we enjoyed the start of the football season by cheering on Peyton Manning and the Broncos. Olivia moved to her big girl bed and is still adjusting to her newfound nighttime freedom.

October: Mike again shouldered the bulk of the parenting load while Kelly spent the weekend in Silverthorne for Anna’s bachelorette party. And he took over again the following weekend when Kelly headed off to Kansas City for the annual MOPs conference.

November: We enjoyed celebrating Anna and Mike’s wedding in a lovely ceremony and reception held at Stonebrook Manor in Thornton. Alex was back in town to officiate, so we had fun hosting him and hanging out for the weekend.

December:Mike will travel to DC for work for a week and plans to see our friends out there. Then, we will spend Christmas with both of our families and host our annual ugly Christmas sweater party.

Meanwhile, Kelly is still working from home part time as a marketing consultant for MWH and a few other companies. She also continues to write curriculum for 252 Basics and wrote an article for the MOPs International weekly email. Kelly is also helping lead the MOPs group at Calvary Bible Church. Mike works four ten-hour days for the Department of Defense in the Denver Tech Center so he can be home on Fridays. The job is going well but the commute is terrible. He gets a lot of “reading” done on his drive, though, thanks to books on CD. The girls have a wonderful nanny who stays with them two days a week. She loves to take them to the park and the children’s museum and they enjoy their days with Jaime. Olivia has started potty training and is slowly getting the hang of it. Sophia is talking a little more every day; though Mike is a little wounded that she learned how to say “ferret” before she learned how to say “daddy” with any type of consistency. All in all, it has been a crazy year with these crazy girls, but neither of us would trade a moment of it for any other life. God has provided for us through all of the year’s ups and downs—including Mike being furloughed during the government shutdown, storm cells, and record floods in our neighborhood—and we couldn’t be more grateful for His provision. We are praying for each of you and hope this holiday season finds you healthy and full of joy.

Merry Christmas!

Spring-Time-Flies

From Mike: Well, spring is almost over, which means it’s time to update our neglected blog. I know you’ve all been on pins and needles waiting to hear what we’ve been up to, so I’ll get right to it. Now where was I? Oh yeah…March.

Kelly and I celebrated our 5-year wedding anniversary on March 1st! How did we celebrate, you ask? Well, I paid a visit to my eye doctor and got my pupils dilated, and Kelly worked. Exciting, right? Well, it gets better…that evening we romantically dined at a noisy steakhouse with Kelly’s mom and step-dad. I think Kelly and I can confidently proclaim that we are living the dream!

Now, let me caveat all of this by saying that it was around this time that the Federal government was threatening civilian employees with 22 unpaid furlough days due to sequestration, so Kelly and I were in all-out financial belt-tightening mode, which meant we cut a lot of “fun stuff” out of our budget... including eating out. Consequently, you may notice a lack of exciting, extra-curricular activities mentioned in this blog…you’ve been warned.

Anyway, the rest of March basically consisted of baby showers, bachelorette parties, and birthday celebrations…namely, Amy and Zack’s baby shower, Ashleigh’s bachelorette party, and my 31st birthday. Amy and Zack’s co-ed baby shower was at their house in Fort Collins, but we also had a bowling match that afternoon in Denver. Our plan was for us to drive up there together, and I would carpool back down to Denver alone with a few teammates, who were also at the shower while Kelly stayed awhile longer and then drove home with the girls. Sounds like a good plan, right? Well, it was, up until the moment in the car on the way to Denver that Kelly called asking where the car keys were. The stark realization that the keys were still in my pocket was only the first in several brainless mistakes I made that day; a day that ended with me arriving back in Fort Collins 5 hours after the baby shower began to my fuming wife, fussy baby, bleeding toddler, and two gracious party hosts, one of which was very pregnant. Oops!

Olivia officially turned two years old on April 4th! Kelly and I are amazed how quickly time has flown and refuse to acknowledge that she’s one year older, and thus one year closer to leaving the nest. We threw her a “two-tu” party that weekend and enjoyed watching her parade around in her adorable pink tutu, then promptly smear cake into it…*sigh*

For some reason, spring is garage sale time. Perhaps it’s supposed to coincide with spring cleaning? Anyway, a couple of weekends in April and May, we could be seen either wandering around various Erie neighborhoods looking for cheap treasures, or trying to pawn our stuff off on other people. Kelly began attending a monthly get-together with other ladies from our neighborhood and has been enjoying the opportunity to get to know other women in our community.

Olivia began attending ballet class in mid-May. This class is designed to convince parents that their kid is the cutest, most adorable little dancer in the whole world…which, of course, is true in our case. Seeing the pictures and watching the video of Olivia prance around in her leotard almost made me squeal from all the cuteness. Seriously, it’s ridiculous how cute she is.

After MOPs (that’s short for Mothers of Preschoolers) ended in May, Kelly made the decision to become the MOPs Coordinator next year. She hit the ground running and immediately began conducting planning meetings with the steering team. If you know Kelly at all, you know she has a gift for administration, and she’s looking forward to helping run the show in the fall. We received some great news near the end of May: my impending furlough had been cancelled! After three months of anxiety over our financial situation, God answered our prayers and we couldn’t be more thankful for His faithful provision!

Furlough notwithstanding, we had saved enough money to continue our tradition of visiting a new state each year. On May 31st, Kelly and I left the girls with the grandparents, and flew to sunny California for a kid-free visit to Yosemite National Park. We spent the next few days exploring the park and soaking up the breath-taking scenery. We were awed by the iconic vistas, sheer granite cliffs, towering sequoia trees, and thundering waterfalls that comprise the landscape in Yosemite. We rented bikes, took a canoe out for a spin and hiked up to a few waterfalls. Suffice it to say, we took plenty of pictures and were reluctant to return home, even though we desperately missed the girls.

Last weekend we celebrated Sophia’s 1st birthday. Kelly had the bright idea to throw her a sunshine-themed party. Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun. Anyway, our little ray of sunshine is growing bigger every day (not to mention her appetite!), and we love watching her learn new things and develop her own unique personality. She's not walking yet, but we expect that any day she'll be chasing Olivia around like a pro.

That’s it for now. See you next time!

Happy New... March?

From Mike: It’s March already?? How did that happen? That means “write a blog” has officially been on my to- do list for over a month now. Whoops! I guess here’s a recap of the past two months in the Nishi household… January: We rang in the New Year at Carter and Ashleigh’s apartment in the Highlands, which gave us exclusive access to their balcony where we got to watch the festive fireworks show light up the downtown Denver cityscape. Our annual celebration of the Japanese New Year moved from Berthoud to Erie this year as we gathered at my parent’s house for the traditional fare of mochi soup and sushi. I really stretched my culinary skills this year by bringing finger jello. I still occasionally feel the pangs of heartache and injustice when I think back to the Broncos’ unbelievable playoff loss to the Ravens, but being a longtime fan, I am no stranger to post-season disappointment. However, I would like to point out that Tim Tebow has more playoff wins with the Broncos than Peyton Manning does. That is all. ;) After months of schedule conflicts, we finally got an opportunity to visit a church in Boulder called The Well. The simple message preached that week (stop trying so hard to become a better person and love Jesus) drew us into this amazing community of believers and before we knew it, we were signing up to help with children’s ministry, and attending what the church terms a “missional community” gathering the following Wednesday in Erie. The purpose of an MC is to engage with their local community through activities that will draw non-believers into a meaningful relationship with Jesus. February: We celebrated Carter’s birthday the first weekend in February by enjoying some delicious (and entertaining) hibachi at Mt. Fuji in Denver. The next day we returned to the Vinson’s house for their annual Super Bowl party. While the Raven’s win was both a national tragedy and a disgrace to professional sports, we nevertheless enjoyed spending time with friends and watching the VW commercial where a father hysterically teaches his son to play “catch.” The following weekend Kelly attended the Zuiker’s baby shower, and we had our first bowling league match. That’s right folks, we joined a bowling league. If any of you have seen me bowl, you’re probably scratching your head right now. Well, rest assured, this is strictly non-competitive. We decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day on Saturday the 16th, and since we’ve had to tighten our fiscal belt with my looming furlough threat and Kelly’s inconsistent income, we treated ourselves to a tasty Mexican food dinner at La Fogata. Kelly’s dad and Crystal drove down from Wyoming that weekend also to spend time with their grandkids…and Kelly and me. Later that week we drove downtown to celebrate Kelly’s mom and her retirement from the Denver Business Journal. Kelly framed an old picture of Sharon when she worked for the Daily Camera and bring it to the party so her friends and colleagues could see what she looked like back in her heyday. It was a huge hit, and a major conversation piece. The last weekend in February Kelly left me and the girls and drove down to South Fork, CO to spend time with a few of her girlfriends. Although she had to get some work done while she was there, and found out the hot tub was busted, she enjoyed the quiet girl time, and eventually returned safely to us. I, on the other hand, did our taxes and shoveled 8 inches of wet snow off the driveway…and played video games…and occasionally spent time caring for Olivia and Sophia. I’ll not burden you with the early March events…yet. But here’s a teaser to keep you on the edge of your seats until then: Kelly and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary and lots of friends had babies...

God Gave Us Two

From Mike: My children are a precious gift from God. These are words I must utter to myself as I am awoken from sweet slumber at 2am to the hungry cries of my 5-month-old. It’s my mantra as I arrive home from a 10-hour workday to find my 19-month-old having an ear-piercing temper tantrum in the middle of the kitchen floor. It’s my battle cry while cleaning spit-up off of my favorite t-shirt, or changing an eye-watering diaper blowout, or spending our hard-earned money on baby formula and diaper rash cream. However, it’s also my thanksgiving prayer this year, because my children ARE a precious gift from God! It’s awesome how emphasizing one word in that phrase transforms it from a mere statement of fact, into a reminder that God is our sovereign provider. It’s my hope this holiday season, that you might view God’s gifts as a blessing, rather than a burden, and give thanks to Him who provides all things. With all that said, here’s what’s been happening with the Nishis lately: Our annual tour of the US took us to Arkansas in early October. Against our better judgment, we brought the girls with us…and it turned out to be a great trip! We had the opportunity to stay in two of the most gorgeous places Arkansas has to offer. The first was a very rustic cabin tucked away in the wilderness of Petit Jean Mountain in central Arkansas. While there was an overt lack of modern technology, (i.e. TV) this quaint little chalet was complete with electricity and running water, a spiral staircase, heart-shaped shower, and even an indoor swing! We spent some time exploring the mountain and spent the nights quietly reading, chatting, and listening to the rain patter on the roof. Our second destination took us atop the highest point in Arkansas – Mount Magazine. Again, we stayed in a cabin, but this one was a bit more updated, with cable and internet access, but the best part, by far, was the back porch that overlooked the Petit Jean River Valley. The views were incredible! Did I mention this amazing back porch also had a private hot tub? Well, it did…and it was awesome. The weeks following the trip were generally uneventful, although often peppered with random outings, nights out on the town, and of course, football. One such night out took us to Fort Collins to see Tap Dogs with Beth and Matt. Tap Dogs is a modern tap dance show set in a construction site and performed by lumberjack-costumed men in heavy work boots. It was both funny and entertaining and we would highly recommend seeing them next time they’re in town! After a lay-off scare that briefly had us thinking Kelly would be out of a job, (which, thankfully, appears to be over) Kelly took a quick business trip to Chicago in late October and came home bragging about all the delicious Chicago-style deep-dish pizza she ate…my mouth still waters just thinking about what it must’ve tasted like. Suffice it to say, I was jealous. The following week was Halloween, which was especially fun for us since we got to dress Olivia and Sophia in adorable costumes and proudly show them off to the neighborhood. Olivia wore a kitty costume and Sophia wore Olivia’s penguin costume from last year. Both kiddos were oozing cuteness, and we were sure to capture it with what seemed like thousands of pictures. We also hosted a successful pumpkin carving party that had the house full of friends, kids, and pumpkin innards. Olivia started up another round of swimming lessons last month and has proven to us that she’s quite the little water baby. She loves being in the pool and is actually getting the hang of kicking and paddling. It’s absolutely amazing watching her grow, learn, and interact with her surroundings. It seems like she learns to say a new word daily and more tightly wraps me around her little finger each time she says “I…love…daddy.” Sophia continues to be our squishy little butterball who I lovingly refer to as my “goo” – one of the few sounds she likes to say while conversing with others. While Sophie prefers to sit quietly in her jumperoo, watching the world busily move around her, any attention she gets brings to her face an adorably toothless smile that lights up the room. Well that’s our update for the fall. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Four Months Late...

So I realized recently I haven't updated the blog at all since Sophia's birth. Poor baby! I wanted to at least get her birth story recorded, so here it is: I was due on the 14th (a Thursday), but had been dilated to 5cm since the beginning of June. Since I was already so far along, we kept thinking the baby would be coming any time. Especially since the doctor kept telling us to be prepared. But, I wasn't really having any contractions, just Braxton Hicks. The problem with being told "any minute" is that you expect the baby to come every minute of the day! Even though she wasn't even due yet, by the week I was due I felt like she had overstayed her welcome. Every day I would tell her "It's a great day to be born, Sophia!" But she was too cozy. The Wednesday before I was due (the 13th) I had some contractions that seemed a little different than usual. They seemed like real contractions except they didn't hurt. Since I had already been so far along at my last appointment, my doctor had me come in to the hospital to check things out. When we got there, they were so busy that they put us in an "extra" room, which was basically a storage closet with a bed. The doctor came and examined me and said I wasn't in active labor and that since they were so busy anyway it was probably best that I just go home and come back if it got worse. If it didn't, she would just see my at my appointment that Friday. I was really hoping not to make that appointment... But, alas, there I was at 11am on Friday the 15th. They did an ultrasound to see how she was doing and so we could figure out what the plan would be for inducing. The ultrasound looked good so we were planning to continue the waiting game. We were scheduled to see a doctor other than Dr. Eastman-Gallo, so we got all settled in the exam room after our ultrasound. A few minutes later a nurse came in. She said that Dr. EG had specially requested to see us and so we needed to change rooms. We did and when she came into the room, Dr. EG said "So, do you want to have a baby today??" She was thinking that the reason I wasn't really feeling contractions was that the ultrasound showed a very large amount of fluid. She said the contractions were just pressing on the fluid, making them hard to notice. When she did her exam she determined that I was about 7cm. So, she told Mike to go home and get our stuff and she sent me to the hospital. On our way out the door she told me she wanted to get me delivered by the end of the day at 5pm, it was 12pm now. When I got to the hospital the nurses thought I was crazy. They were like "um why are you here?" When I told them my doctor had sent me over to deliver they asked if I was in pain and I said no, but I was 7cm, making them even more suspicious. Nonetheless, they got me all settled into a room and I waited there for Mike to get back with our stuff. We called our family and then waited for the epidural. After the epidural, I wasn't really progressing, so Dr. EG came by and broke my water. There was an unbelievable amount of fluid and she wasn't at all surprised that I hadn't been feeling my contractions. She was hoping that breaking my water would make my labor progress further but I was still only about 8cm, so they decided to give me a low dose of Pitocen. This made my contractions start to come a little bit harder. Soon I was dilated to 10cm and it was time to start pushing. At about 4:45, the nurse told me to go ahead and start and she'd call the doctor in a little bit. Well I got about halfway through one push and she said "Stop! Don't push anymore, I have to get the doctor here right now." So I held off and waited until Dr. EG got there at 5:00. When she arrived, I pushed two or three more times and there was Sophia! She was born at 5:03pm and was 8 lbs, 15 oz, 21 inches long. I told the doctor I had honored her request to be done around 5! Sophia had dark hair and I was thinking she was going to be another baby who looked like Mike! I got her onto my chest right away and Mike got to cut the cord. The doctor said it was a good thing we had decided to go ahead and deliver because the placenta was really calcified and wouldn't have lasted much longer. Soon after delivery, they moved me into another room and our family and friends came to visit us there. Beth was watching Olivia so she brought her by to meet her new sister. However, Olivia didn't seem very interested in the baby, just in playing in the hospital room. That night we adjusted to having baby #2. I was in a lot of pain from my contractions, which get worse with each pregnancy, and Sophia was a very loud cryer! The nurse kept coming in to try to help us calm her down because she said she could hear her down the hallway. All in all it wasn't too bad though and we made it through our two nights at the hospital. When we came home, Beth had decorated our house to welcome Sophia and had stocked our fridge with lots of goodies to enjoy. It was both strange and exciting to be at home with our new family of four! Since then, things have been pretty wild around here. It seems like someone is always crying and someone always needs something. They both like to have all the attention, which can definitely lead to some jealousy. But, overall Olivia seems to be loving sisterhood. She is always trying to burp, feed or hug the baby. Whenever Sophia starts crying Olivia is there with a pacifier to try to calm her down and when Sophia gets her diaper changed, Olivia lays down on the floor to get hers done too. I guess that's about it for my belated Sophia update. She's in the 97% percentile for weight and growing every day. She has gorgeous blue eyes except her right eye has a little speck of brown in it. For the first few months she had an umbilical hernia, but it seems to be getting better now and her only ailment is a clogged tear duct in her left eye that leaves her eye goobers just about every morning. She loves to play with her rattle that she shakes all around, she smiles at mommy and daddy every chance she gets, she eats like a champ and sleeps well at night, and her favorite hobby (besides watching her big sister) is sitting with daddy and watching football on TV. Those big guys in bright colors always seem to calm her down. We love our little butterball and can't wait to watch her grow up!

Birthdays and Baby Steps

From Mike: Has it really been over a year since I contributed to this blog? Man, I obviously suck at pulling my weight around here. Anyway, here’s what 2012 has brought to the Nishi household so far… We returned to Winter Park in January for our annual ski trip. We were fortunate to stay in the same house that we rented two years ago, which to our surprise and delight was newly equipped with ping-pong and air hockey tables! We enjoyed a fun and relaxing weekend of laughing, lounging, and sledding with friends, and got to soak up the beauty of God’s wintery creation, which we all so often take for granted. As most of you know, with the pending arrival of Baby Nishi #2, Kelly and I decided to put our townhouse on the market last August. Well, after our first two offers fell through, we were beginning to believe that God didn’t want us to move after all. However, after 6 months of praying and waiting on God to deliver, we finally got a third (cash) offer, which we eagerly accepted. Although the whole experience was an emotional roller coaster of real estate woes, and a true test of our faith and patience, in the end God was faithful. He also gave us the new house we had been eyeing, a quick and painless loan approval, and the best mortgage rate our lender had seen in over two decades! What do you know? Jesus wasn’t kidding when He said that if we believe, we will receive whatever we ask for in prayer! We closed on both properties on February 10th and began moving into our new digs that same day. After a myriad of address changes, utility transfers, furniture-arranging, picture-hanging, wall-painting, and weed-pulling, we’re finally starting to settle down, and are enjoying the process of transforming the house into our home. March was a month of celebrations that began with our 4-year anniversary! Fortunately, our anniversary always falls during Denver Restaurant Week, so we get an opportunity to eat at a restaurant that’s typically out of our price range. This year, it was the Vesta Dipping Grill in downtown Denver. The March celebrations also included two other anniversaries and five birthdays, including mine. Since I was turning 30 this year, Kelly figured that I should experience as many adventures as possible beforehand; lest I have any regrets as I ring in a new decade, and mourn the loss of my youth. As a result, she planned five surprise “adventures” for me to enjoy each weekend until I officially turned “old.” (Apparently, partaking in most of these activities when you’re six months pregnant is frowned upon, so poor Kelly was forced to sit out) The first weekend, Beth and I went indoor skydiving! After a short tutorial on proper skydiving position, we suited up, and stepped into the wind tunnel and were blasted upwards by winds up to 200 mph! It was quite an experience floating around the clear glass tube, and trying not to do a face-plant into the mesh of wire that made up the floor. Overall, it was a great time, and I can’t wait to go back! The next adventure was a trip to an indoor bouldering gym called The Spot. Daniel and I went to the gym in North Boulder and pretended to know what we were doing as we climbed around on the rocks and tried not to make fools of ourselves. After a taxing few hours of straining muscles we haven’t used in years, we admitted defeat, and headed home exhausted and sore, but motivated to return. The third adventure took us down to Morrison to a go-kart track; only these weren’t ordinary go-karts. These particular karts can go up to 55 mph! Joined by Matt, Carter, and Beth, I geared up, (with jumpsuit, full helmet, gloves, and even an anti-whiplash neck brace) and were escorted to our karts. Racing around the track in those karts made 10 laps fly by, but it was insanely exciting, and the experience is one I hope to repeat soon. Adventure #4 was a day of snowboarding at Winter Park. Jacob and I headed up early one Friday morning, ready for a full day of gnar-shredding. Unfortunately, we were greeted by a mountain covered with sub-par snowfall, consisting of mostly icy packed-powder. As the sunny day went on, the ice turned into slush, and made for even less desirable conditions. After lunch, we decided to call it a day and head home. Despite the uncooperative terrain, it was great to get outside, get some exercise, and enjoy the scenery. The fifth and final adventure, and my personal favorite, was a round of golf at Arrowhead Golf Club in south Littleton. I met up with Alex, and thoroughly enjoyed the amazing scenery, the amenities offered by the all-inclusive course, and actually managed to play a decent game. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present! I was also fortunate to spend the day with Alex because later that day Kelly and I attended his going away party. Earlier in the month, Alex was offered a job as the site pastor for a church in Asheville, North Carolina. The bittersweet news brought mixed emotions of happiness and excitement for Alex’s opportunity to further pursue his calling, but also deep sadness because it meant the inevitable dissolution of our tight-knit church here in Denver. While we will sorely miss Alex, Katey and Josiah, and cherish the times we got to spend together, we are now plagued by the arduous task of finding a new church. We rounded out our March by attending Amy and Zack’s wedding in Estes Park, which also gave us an opportunity to spend a night at the historic Stanley Hotel! In other news, Olivia turned 1 on April 4th! It’s hard to believe a year has passed since that unforgettable day in the hospital. Kelly and I fall in love with our sweet little girl more and more everyday as she continues to grow, learn, babble, and develop a personality of her own. It’s amazing how becoming a parent changes you. I think Kelly and I are better people for it, now that there’s a little person in the world that we are solely responsible for. Neither of us are the center of attention any longer, and perhaps that’s a good thing! Around that same 1-year milestone, Olivia took her first steps! It’s amazing, and also pretty funny, to watch her waddle around trying to keep her balance. It’s a good thing she’s got that puffy diaper to break her fall! Now if only she’d grow some teeth! Kelly is now officially in her third trimester of pregnancy with baby Nishi #2. (Just to clarify, that’s #2 in chronological order, not preferential order…) Despite the unrelenting discomfort, Kelly has managed to maintain a positive attitude, and is looking great! The baby is measuring normal, has a strong heartbeat, and according to Kelly, is constantly moving. We can’t wait to meet her in June! Well, that’s a wrap. Until next time!