Cole's First Birthday

Cole turned 1 year old today and it has been quite the wild ride for him in this first year of life. As mentioned in the Seattle post, Cole has been on 5 plane trips already, has been to the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, made a 2,000-mile move, saw the Gators win a National Championship in his first year as a Gator fan, found out that he was going to be a big brother, and won the hearts of everyone here on the Denver Seminary campus. As parents, we feel very blessed to have this healthy, growing, and very fun little man in our lives. And thanks so much to so many of you that were such tremendous supports for us during this first year of parenthood.

Just as a point of comparison, here is what the little guy looked like on Day 1.

Emily worked very hard decorating cupcakes for this birthday party. Doesn't it look great?!?!

We only had about 30 minutes to celebrate today, in-between my work schedule and Emily's class schedule. So a few friends stopped by for the festivities. Here is a video of us singing "Happy Birthday" to Cole.


Even without frosting on it, Cole loved the cupcake.

Despite still being sick, Cole is a happy birthday boy!
Cole opened up a few presents, including this sweet Gator basketball outfit that we picked up for him when we were in Florida for Christmas.

Happy Birthday, Cole!!!

The Emerald City - Memorial Day Weekend

We were blessed to get to spend 4 1/2 days in Seattle over Memorial Day weekend. We found some really cheap flights back in January and couldn't pass them up. With Emily plugging away at school, and with me working so much, and with our Baby Girl set to arrive in October, we knew that this would be our last trip for a while, so we tried our best to make the most of it. Here is a video and pictoral montage of our trip.

This marked Cole's FIFTH plane trip in his first year of life. It gets more and more difficult to keep him entertained on 3-hour flights. At least we didn't have to change any poopy diapers in those small airplane bathrooms. Here is a video of him blowing mouth bubbles on the plane to Seattle.

Nick Vu picked us up from the airport and took us straight to Kerry Park. This is probably the best place to get a great view of the city, the water, and the mountains all at the same time. In this video, Nick enjoys some quality time with his namesake (Cole is a shorter version of Nicholas).

We stayed at the lovely home of Mike & Katy Kneale. Mike and I met in 3rd grade and have been friends ever since. It was great getting to spend some quality time with them, as we hadn't seen them since their wedding almost 2 years ago.Mike & Katy live right next to the Seattle Center, so it was super convenient, putting us within walking distance to the Space Needle, as well as some of Seattle's other attractions. Here is a video of Emily and Cole enjoying a beautiful day next to the International Fountain.


After a relaxing first day in Seattle, Steve and Lindsay flew into town the next day and met us at Pike's Place Market. We walked around and bought lots of unhealthy food to eat. Here, Cole really enjoys riding the famous bronze pig.
Mike has his pilot's license, so later in the day he took Nick, Emily, and I up in a 4-person plane for an arial tour of the city. It was a very cool experience and we really appreciate Mike going out of his way to make it happen.

Here is a video of the Seattle skyline that we took from the plane.

Also, muchas gracias to Steve, Lindsay, and Asdo for taking such good care of Cole while we flew the friendly skies.

When we returned from our fabulous flight, we got some Thai food and hung out before heading downtown to check out the Seattle nightlife. In this Thai Terrific video you'll find four of my six groomsmen in one shot. It was such a blessing to be able to hang out with all of them at one time, even though I met all four of them during different phases of my life.


We set aside the day on Saturday to do a lot of the touristy stuff in Seattle. First, Asdo took us to Qwest Field to "help him" practice shooting t-shirts into the stands. It was a lot of fun to get the behind-the-scenes tour.
Even though the goalposts weren't up, Steve still wanted to "attempt" a field goal on an NFL field. Here is the video:

Next was a quick stop at the infamous "Gum Wall". Here is the obligatory picture of Steve licking the wall.

Next was a family picture at the Fremont Troll. Yes, Asdo is part of our family.

Next we hit up the tourist attraction to end all tourist attractions. You guessed it. The world-famous Seattle Space Needle. It was there that the whole gum and troll-seeking group met up with our wonderful amigos, Patrick and Paige. Here is a video of us chillin' at the top.

Finally, we ended our day with a very affordable sushi dinner. Here is the priceless video for your viewing pleasure.

Our last full day in Seattle was very relaxing. Mike & Katy made us all a delicious brunch, which was followed by a day-full of eating on top of Asdo's roof, looking over the Puget Sound. Asdo's slave, or uh, brother, Ross, did most of the cooking. Such a great day of food and friends.

It was a great trip and we miss everyone already. Can't wait for the next time we can all get together!

Cole Will Have a Little Sister!!!

Hi Friends & Family!

We just wanted to share the great news with you that Emily will be giving birth to a baby GIRL in mid-October. We had our appointment this morning and wanted you all to know! We are excited about throwing around some girl names as we work on narrowing it down. Just like with Cole, her name will not be revealed until she is born. Please join us in praying for her healthy development during the next 4 1/2 months.

Girl "Parts". It's Official!!!
Sleeping. I think.
There is one of the feet that she will use to kick Emily with during the last few months.A proud big brother crumples the ultrasound photo. Hopefully he will be more gentle with her once she arrives.

Cole thought that crumpling the photo was funny.

Em won't be out-numbered anymore!

Happy Daddy & Cole.
Soon-to-be family of 4 :)

Finally, here is a video taken just before the ultrasound today. Cole had no guess, Emily guesses "boy", and someone else makes the correct guess :)

Be on the lookout for future blogs about our trip to Seattle, visits from friends, and Cole's first pool time.