We're expecting a baby!

By this time I think most people in our lives know that we are expecting a baby in late May! We are excited to move into the next chapter of our lives and have had fun sharing our news! Our families are overjoyed to welcome the first grandchild on both sides.

We started to suspect that we were pregnant one weekend in mid-September that happened to be the weekend Kelly was visiting from Tahoe. Since we had a house guest and basically hosted a Century HS reunion all weekend, we decided not to take the test or talk too much about it until after Kelly left. Monday came, Kelly, left, and the test was positive. Thankfully, I have been feeling well throughout the first part of this pregnancy, and pray that continues.

We drove home to Wisconsin Rapids on Friday, November 7th to share the news with my family. That morning was the first snow fall in Mpls and the new snow lifted the anxiety I had about starting to share our news. My mom shrieked with excitement and kept saying "we're ready!" My brother and sister-in-law are also very excited for us and were surprised since they had seen us the previous weekend and had no idea. My dad promptly named the baby "Cletus the fetus" that weekend and it has stuck ever since.

Luckily, we were able to share the news with all of our immediately family in person. On Friday, November 21st, Jason's parents came to Mpls to embark on our family cruise. We shared the news that evening with "grandma" and "grandpa" gifts. Jason's mom jumped up & down cheering and everyone cried. We saw Jason's sister and brother-in-law two days later in Fort Lauderdale and announced through my "due in May" t-shirt.

Since then we've had fun sharing the news with friends, co-workers, and extended family. Most people are not surprised. Luckily, we have many friends and co-workers with kids, so the advice and some maternity clothes to lend are free-flowing right now.

Stay tuned here for more updates on the progress of our little Cletus. I'm sure we have many surprises ahead.

Caribbean Cruise

We have just returned from 7+ days in the Caribbean aboard the Crown Princess with Jason's family and it was a fantastic break! Six of us departed from Fort Lauderdale and visited the Bahamas, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and Grand Turk along the way. This was our first experience on a cruise ship, but we learned a lot from the pros, Jason's parents. Our favorite parts were the experience of being on a huge ship, waking up in a new place every day, exceptional food & service, and a chance to spend extended time together and with Jason's family. It was also an important time to celebrate the news of our pregnancy and Jim's near-end to cancer treatments together. Photos posted on picasaweb - see link to the left.

Yellowstone

Finally a whole week of vacation to get away and spend some time together! We've just returned from a good old fashioned road trip to Yellowstone National Park. It was Katie's first trip out west. We started with a family wedding in Billings, MT, headed to Yellowstone for 2 nights in the Old Faithful Inn, drove through Grand Tetons National Park, Jackson Hole, and then back through the Black Hills of South Dakota. It was a memorable trip putting more than 2500 miles on Kate's car. There are oodles of photos on our photo web site. Enjoy!

Weddings, weddings, weddings

You may notice that many of our summer trips have coincided with weddings this year. In fact, it feels like weddings have become our new hobby! We have had so much fun celebrating with friends and family this year. Congratulations goes out to Kris & Jason; Mary & Joey; Ruth & Trent; Renae & Allen; Alana & Sean; Mandy & Tim; Molly & Eric; and Alicia & Thuyet!

Calgary & Banff

We spent a long weekend in Calgary to attend Kate's friend, Alana's wedding. Luckily, we had a bit of extra time to drive out to Banff one night for a look at Lake Louise (pictured here,) a gondola ride, and some beautiful scenery. More photos at the link to the right.

Hamburger University

I have told stories for many years about the unique artwork at Hamburger University in Chicago and this year we have finally captured it to share with y'all. I attend LeaderShape training there every April and this year Jason joined me for the weekend. More photos of the artwork and our time as tourists here.

Puerto Rico

We had an exciting opportunity to visit Puerto Rico as an extension of a college recruiting trip and spent four days in San Juan. We visited El Yunque rain forest, Old San Juan, the Bacardi distillery, and the beach of course! Photos available here.

To be Certain of the Dawn

On February 12, I had the opportunity to perform and record with the Minnesota Orchestra through my Basilica choir. We performed a piece commissioned by the Basilica in 2005 called "To be Certain of the Dawn" by Minnesota composer Stephen Paulus. It was written as a Holocaust memorial oratorio, a very powerful piece of music, and the recording will be available in spring 2009.

LeaderShape!

Katie just returned from a week of LeaderShape at Michigan Tech. Although it's no fun to be away from Jason & Roxy for a week, LeaderShape continues to be one of the most fulfilling things I do. It's a 6-day leadership institute for college students and I travel to a different campus each year. This was year #5 and we couldn't have asked for a better group of students.