Food and Friends

The day Lacy returned from California, we were able to see two of our friends from Minnesota: Mark and Jenn Johnson. Mark lived in the house where Lacy and I were resident directors for a year of the Urban Cross-Cultural College Consortium. The house was in downtown Minneapolis and in a great location to be the incarnational hands and feet of Jesus to our neighbors around us.
Here is a link to the program we were a part of. U4C

Mark proposed to Jenn while he lived in the house and they got married last August. Jenn's parents live in Colorado Springs and we are super excited that we will be able to see them often. They are both passionate about Christ and we are tremendously blessed by their friendship. They came over to our place and we grilled hambrugers and shared stories from the year we lived together in Minneapolis. We reminisced about Aldi's, our Somali neighbors, and the mice and rats who decided to bunk with us at the house. It was a great night.

Single Parent Week

Last Sunday night, we found out that Lacy's mother was not doing well so Lacy decided to fly out to California the following morning to be with her. We decided it would be best to leave Violet with me since Lacy's mother was in the hospital and Violet would probably be happier if she was at home in her own environment. Lacy's mother is doing a lot better but will be in the hospital for another week or so. Lacy returned home last Thursday.

As a single parent of a two-year old for the week, I picked up a few insights.

1. You just do not eat as much as you normally would. This is because Violet usually wants to eat what you are eating or she wants you to play with her just around the time you want to eat.

2. You feel like you need to get out to see people, even if it is at the park or the mall.

3. Nap time is devoted to cleaning up the mess that Violet made while she was awake, only to repeat the process once she wakes up.

4. At the end of the day, no matter how tired you are, you stay up later after she goes to bed because you just need time alone.

In all seriousness, Violet and I had a great week. Our bond grew stronger and we shared quite a few laughs. I even graduated Violet to her own bed. :) The next time I am a single parent, I will have to find some other mom's in the area and have a playdate. Here are some pictures from the week.










Here are some pictures when I took Violet to the park.







After Violet went on the slide about 50 times, she needed a little rest.

Pulpit Rock

After my shift the other day, it was near 80 degrees and we could not find a pool so we all decided to hike Pulpit Rock. Since it was only a 15 minute drive from where we live, we decided to go for it. It probably was not the best idea to cool off but it was worth the views when we reached the top.

Here is Violet and I on the trail up to the summit.



And here is Lacy and Violet on top of the summit.



Here are some of the spectacular views we saw. The mountain in the background is Pike's Peak.




Those buildings in the distance are part of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. For those who do not already know, I will be attending this university in the fall as I pursue a second career as a high school mathematics teacher. I am pretty pumped. I registered for Discrete Mathematics and Higher-level Geometry on Tuesday.


On the way back to the car, Violet was energized by the spectacular views and was running toward me at full speed. :)