SWEEEEEEET 16!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(12) Arizona 71, (13) Cleveland St 57

And just like that, a mostly-crappy season has been redeemed.

kari

I had meant to post a couple comments about Kari on her birthday, and obviously never got to it until now. She deserves much more than I usually give, as our birthdays are 5 days apart and we tend to combine the celebration. I will work on doing better.

Perhaps the greatest praise I can give is in regards to her amazing response and growth through the trials she faced in 2008. This is not to say she did not have her moments of anger, sorrow, and depression. But the woman she has become (and is becoming) as a result of those experiences has been a pleasure to watch and experience. To see a beautiful woman, in all aspects, go through the hell she's gone through and come out the other side even more beautiful just brings joy to my soul. (I use the term "hell" within the context of this earthly life, and with recognition that pain is relative. Everyone has their own hell on earth, so to speak. Many others have experienced things much worse and much more painful, and that is their hell. The 3 miscarriages has been Kari's hell. The context of "beautiful" perhaps should also be clarified. While she certainly possesses external beauty, the beauty I speak of is in regards to her soul. At the beginning of our relationship (with the immaturity of a 19-year-old) I realize now that I was mostly enamored with Kari's external beauty. While that beauty continues to grow, it has become of less personal importance throughout our marriage. I've grown to appreciate the importance of the deeper beauty of the soul, and am now enamored more when that shines through and shows its fruit. I hope that makes sense.....perhaps I'm just digging a hole.)

So, all that to say, you are a beautiful woman, Kari. I have loved to see God reflected and shining in your soul more and more, especially as you turn another year older. Happy Birthday.

2-week summary

We've had an eventful past couple of weeks:

Mason and I were able to make his first snowman after a semi-heavy snowfall (rare this winter).

Due to the "cold spell" we had plenty of time inside,
which usually translates into Mase and I wrestling (Kari tends to steer clear).

We got to spend a weekend at Camp Elim, where we played "guns".....

.....hung out with good friends Dan and Georgi.....

.....and played a little Stolf (Stump Golf).

Fenny gave us Denver Nuggets tickets. Mase had a blast, but also fell asleep before halftime.

Mason was invited to the Children's Museum by one of his girlfriends, Hailey Page.


And my folks sent me a classic b-day card that I just couldn't help but share.

little helper

Mason's always shown himself to be a little helper, but sometimes it can get a little out of hand.

Kari makes an "ow" noise while cooking.

"Mommy, you okay?"

"I'm okay."

"Do you have an owie?"

"No, I'm okay."

Mason thinks to himself for a couple seconds.

"Daddy, you have an owie?"

"No, not right now."

"Daddy, I want you to burn yourself on the oven so you can have an owie and I can help you."

That's great. Maybe he won't grow up to be a fireman after all.

sniff sniff

1st and 25

Since Kari's last ultrasound at 12 weeks she's had 2 successful heartbeat appointments. Last week marked 14 weeks, so we've got the 1st trimester done and just 25 weeks (or so) to go. She'll probably have 1 or 2 more heartbeat appointments and 1 additional ultrasound around 20 weeks, where we plan on finding out the gender this time (or at least trying).

the concept of a rivalry in a 3-year-old's brain

In delayed celebration of Arizona's recent victory over #11 UCLA...

I was watching the game in my home last Saturday (a luxury for me since most of Denver could care less about the Pac-10 and instead prefers watching Broncos highlights year-round...which, having grown up in a college city, I find extremely annoying) with Mason on my lap (another luxury, since the kid will usually only sit still for Backyardigans and Star Wars), and we were having the following conversation:

"Daddy, is that Ona?" (pronounced "owe-na," which is Mason-lingo for "Arizona")

I proudly recognize that I've taught him well since he can recognize Arizona apparel without being able to read. "Yep. Go Cats!"

"Who is the blue team?"

"Those are the bad guys."

"Why they bad? They like to hurt people?"

"Well, no..............but Arizona's the good guys, so the Bruins are the bad guys."

"Oh............................................Daddy, what's a Bruin?"

"It's a bear."

"Oh. Are bears bad?"

"Well...............uh............yeah, sometimes. They like to hurt people."

"Oh."

Mason runs off. Which is about right, since he had been sitting still for over 5 minutes. A minute later he returns with two of his toys and sits them down in front of me without saying a word.


That's my boy.

round 4

There was no sad phone call this time. No tears, no confusion, no depression, no hopelessness. Just joy. Joy and joyousness.

And relief. A couple ginormous sighs of relief.

Through a series of fertility tests, a diagnosis (something called "MTHFR"), pills and injections, and a whole lot of prayer from a large handful of prayer-warriors, Kari is now 12 weeks pregnant. This marks the 4th time she's been pregnant over the last 12 months and the farthest along she has been out of the 4. Whew!!! The MTHFR diagnosis revealed a serious problem (her uterus was not metabolizing folic acid) with a simple fix (injections, and a whole lot of folic acid). And so far it looks like it might be working.

While we certainly aren't closing our eyes to the immense fragility of a pregnancy throughout the whole 40-week period (see Tony and Charity's recent heartbreak), we have high high hopes and expectations that this one is going to last. And our doctors haven't been shy about expressing their excitement that we've gotten this far. That certainly helps.

We will continue to take things a week at a time. Kari has another heartbeat appointment next week, and probably a couple more after that. But we're pumped. Enough to not be able to keep it a secret any longer.

We'll keep the blogs updated.

15 step

In case you missed it, here is Radiohead's "mindblowing performance" at the Grammys with the USC Trojan marching band:



Greatest band in the history of the world. Pure artistic genius.

bad day at the office

Sometimes at work I spend a lot of time on the phone trying to explain the intricacies of financial aid to prospective students. It can be a challenge, but usually I can effectively communicate the appropriate information in 4 or 5 minutes. Not so today.

This prospective student just didn't get it, but wanted to keep talking and talking. And then he wanted my opinions about random, non-financial-aid-related matters, but he kept interrupting me when I would try to answer him. He would start a sentence, then before finishing he would ask, "Do you know what I mean?" I never knew what he meant.

This was perhaps one of the most painful conversations I've ever had to endure.

This is me after 8 minutes:
After 15 minutes:After 30 minutes:Finally after 34 minutes and my 4th offer to send him an email with all the appropriate information, he decided he got what he needed.

These are actual scenes from the conversation, they are not a reenactment. My work study, Chad, was so entertained by my dramatic painful facial expressions that he decided to start taking pictures. All I can say is that guy better take some classes.

the fray

I wasn't too impressed with the first 2 songs, but the rest of the album is great. They maintained the quality sound that made them so popular in the first place, while making the songs unique enough from the first album.

Perhaps, though, the best thing about the band is their testimony. Here's a great article highlighting their faith. I stole it from Justin's blog. I tend to steal a lot of things from him.

super bowl XLIII

This certainly wasn't the most painful loss I've ever experienced (see UA-UNLV 1989 or UA-Illinois 2005), but it still smarts a bit.

So close.