Jared week

Between Father's Day and Jared's birthday, last week was quite a week of celebration. Banner wore her special onesie for Father's Day. Many people at church commented on what a cute baby "he" is. Understandably. But I liked this onesie better then the girl options, which said "daddy's little princess". Anyway, we had a great day celebrating Jared as a father and celebrating our own great fathers as well. We love dads!







































The next photos are from Jared's surprise party - a birthday camping trip! Jared was (mostly) surprised, I think, and Banner did amazingly well. She was all bundled up and snug as a bug (still gets cold here in the mountains at night). Jared was also bundled up in this amazing sleeping bag with arm holes. Banner slept all night long! That's better then she's been doing at home. Maybe we'll move her crib out into the yard... Anyway, we had a great time helping Jared ring in the new decade.

Bike to Work Day!

This is one of my favorite days of the year in Boulder. People bike commuting everywhere, free breakfast stations with sausage and eggs, free Smartwool socks, and this year with some bike home stations. BV thoroughly enjoyed the morning ride and her first BtoWDay. We met up with Heath and Jen and Melinda at the Dushanbe Tea House before heading up to Ideal.

What made it even better this year was a US win in stoppage time to advance to the Round of 16. BV has been watching as many games as possible with me as I try to talk her through offsides which none of the refs seem to understand this Cup. Big game on Saturday!

Splish, splash BV was having a bash. (with video...finally!)

This was actually BV's third time at the pool, but her first time actually in the water. Before any of you Caddyshack fans get concerned about floating Baby Ruth's, let it be known that she is wearing a special swim diaper. This was the backup swim diaper because Banner was wearing the cute little purple mermaid one when we left the house and apparently got overly anxious or nervous about the pool. Lesson learned about when to put on the suit. We found a sunshirt for her and a madras hat. All she needs is her sunglasses and a camera around her neck to finish off the tacky tourist look. As you can see, she is concentrating very hard on enjoying herself.


It did not take long for BV to go from uncertainty in this picture...

to wanting to go swim over to the big kids in this picture.


Banner seemed to enjoy being in the water and the semi-weightless feeling in her legs. Most of the time I was holding her pretty tight as I did not want to have a Nirvana Nevermind situation on my hands.

The post swim contentment is all over her face. We gave her a little bit of a break before she was nagging us to go back in.





Take a look at a long overdue video of Banner enjoying the pool with her Mom. (After many painful attempts at trying to edit longer videos and then upload them. I have realized that snippets will have to do. Sorry the quality through this player seems to be a bit lacking)

This is dedicated...

Last Sunday, June 6th, Banner got dedicated at our church. Three friends, Laura, Travis, and Bryon, came to witness the event and celebrate with us. We picnicked in the park and then Banner, along with about 50 other kids, was dedicated. It was a fun day! Oh, and to make it even more special, Banner wore the dress that I
was baptized in 31 years ago. She looked beautiful. Enjoy these pictures - the really nice ones are, of course, courtesy of Laura and Travis. We hope that Banner will be a living reminder of our love for one another and God's love for us, and will grow to have her own relationship with God. We hope you'll join us in praying for that!

Hot Summer Times

Banner has been a busy girl, enjoying the warm weather and having lots of new adventures. She is no longer content to just lay down, whether on a blanket or in your arms, but is instead always straining to sit upright. Any day now she is going to do a full-on situp! She loves to look around and see the world and is finding her hands and feet. Also, everything is starting to go straight into her mouth for a taste-test. She also likes to "stand" and test out her legs. She gets stronger every day!
Here are some new photos, including Banner's first trip by bike (she loves motion of any kind) and greeting us at the finish line of the Bolder Boulder 10k. Thanks Travis and Laura (pictured here with Banner in the shade) for getting up way too early on a holiday weekend to watch Banner while we ran!).
Other news - I started back to work last week. It was hard to drop BV off at day care, but I am only working 2.5 days a week now, so it isn't too bad.
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