Happy back home

Ya-hoo! Liza and the kids came home yesterday after being gone for far too long. There were big smiles in the backseat all the way home from the airport. It's been fun having them home. Isabella is talking noticeably better and Zach is walking like a champ. We'll try to get some pictures up soon.

On the road

Today I'm writing from Minneapolis, Minnesota. I left Liza and the kids in Indiana last Sunday and went back to Austin to move in to our new office. Then, on Wednesday, I left with Matt, our new intern, and Rocky to go on a video trip. We started in Raleigh, NC where we interviewed Rhett & Link. They are a very funny comedy duo who have just been picked up for a fall show on the CW network. Rhett was in my bible study group in NYC back in 1998 when I was staff there. They've been with our company for the last 4 years, and have just left to enter the entertainment industry. I think they are going to do well. Here's a little video of theirs that introduces who they are....

You can see more of them on RhettandLink.com if you'd like.

On Saturday we flew to Minneapolis. Today we'll meet up with a bunch of girls who are in a Bible study with Student Venture. The story is cool- one girl decided she wanted to influence her friends and ended up leading 14 of them to Christ. We'll be interviewing them today and going to a soccer game tonight to get some good video there. On Tuesday we fly home and start editing everything right away. I still won't see Liza or the kids until the 20th, which is no good. I miss them a lot! - Chris

Zach Walks!

Our flight was delayed on our way to Chicago on Wednesday, so we ended up having a longer layover in Denver. It ended up being a good thing though, because while we were there, Zach decided that it would be a good time to finally walk. We was walking all over the place, but once we finally got the camera out, we only caught a little bit. Isabella really really wanted to help him too, but you can see him doing his first real walking right at the start of the video. Since then he's been walking more and more. It's still faster to crawl, but he likes walking and will take the time to do it.

Isabella's 3rd Birthday

Isabella had her first 3rd birthday party in Houston at her Nonnie's house. It was a pool party and she had a great time. Zach had fun too swimming with the big kids. Here you see Zach and his aunt "Nini" Kelli getting ready to get in the pool.

Belle, Zach and Hannah have fun in the water.

Isabella's birthday cake.

Getting ready for "Happy Birthday"

Click the "play" button to watch Belle blow out her candles.

Wow, this stuff is good!

Opening gifts from family.

She got just what she wanted from her Grandpa Roger and Grandma Carla- a basket ball hoop! She was so excited to have one to play with. Now every time she sees one on the street, she says, "I have one of those!"

We had another party in Indiana with all her cousins and family up there, but I don't have the pictures downloaded yet. We'll get them up once Liza and the kids return from Indiana.

Playground fun

Zach and Isabella love to go to the playground. Zach enjoys throwing rocks and moving them around, as well as chewing on them. Note the muddy drool on his mouth below. :-)

Belle also has fun with the rocks and she loves to climb on the playscape. This time Zach decided that he wanted to go down the slide too. Here is a picture of him going down by himself. You can see a little video below of him showing his "no fear" attitude.

Moved in

Moving has taken it's toll on blogging. We had no internet when we moved in, and with Liza gone on summer project, I had to pack up and move without her. Here are a few pictures of the house now that we've moved in...

Front door and porch

The garage and our master bedroom windows.

Formal living room... we bought a new sofa and loveseat on craigslist and put our sofa covers on them so we have something to sit on in the living room. We had our new blinds installed on Tuesday before we left for Indiana.. you can see some of the old ones still laying on the floor.

The family room with the new blinds in the window.

Liza in our kitchen. We got this table on craigslist as well, but it's a little too big. So we are going to try to sell it on craigslist again and get one from Ikea.

From a friend

We got this email from our friend Diana in our "New Parents" Sunday school class:

When I went to pick Brynna up from the nursery today, Zach had a hold of her pink piggy lovey. He was holding it and chewing on the ear exactly the way Brynna does. When I got it from him he got very upset. He screamed, threw himself on the floor, turned red, and had real tears! You would have thought I'd just stolen his most precious possession! It was so cute and funny. Brynna said she totally understood. She loves Piggy too!Thought you'd like that little story. - Diana

We are now working with Zach on his pig blanket separation anxiety. :-)

You'd be happy!

On Saturday, Isabella and I were coming downstairs. She got her foot stuck in her blanket and thought it was funny as she tried to come down the stairs anyway. I said ,"Honey, don't do that. You could trip and fall down the stairs and land on your head." She said, "That would hurt me." "Yes it would," I replied "it could hurt you so bad you could even die."
With out missing a beat she said, "Oh! Then I would go to heaven with Jesus and you and mommy and Zachers would be so happy!" I then tried to explain that while, yes, we would be happy that she was in heaven, that we would be very unhappy to not have her here anymore and would miss her a lot. "Ok- I be careful" was her response.

Feeling icky

Zach woke up with a fever for the third day in a row today. Poor little guy has been running a fever since Sunday morning. He is still remarkably happy for being so warm, but I'm sure he'll be glad when he gets over whatever this is. We've been talking to the nurse daily and if he still is hot tomorrow, he'll be going to the doctor to see if they can figure out what is causing it. Hopefully it is just a little virus that will pass.

After 2 weeks...

After 2 weeks of negotiating and terminating the contract once, we have finally finalized our contract on our new house. We'll close on May 22 and move in shortly after that. Now we just have to get everything fixed in time (they are doing some work on the siding and fireplace as well as servicing the AC) as well as get our blinds ordered and figure out everything with the new cabinet doors. We are also moving to a new office space at the end of May. Today I (Chris) was out buying paint and trying to get everything done for that. When it rains, it pours!

Thanks for your prayers for our new house. Don't stop yet. :-)