40 Minutes with Asdo

In keeping with last week's post, it just so happened that Asdo had a layover in Denver on his way home for a snowboarding trip. Due to some bad weather his incoming flight was delayed and we only got to spend 40 minutes with him. But it was still worth the trip out to the airport so that Asdo could meet Gwen for the first time and get some high-fives from Cole.

Emily and Gwen eagarly await Asdo's arrival.

Video of Asdo meeting Gwen -- Crocodile Hunter Version

Asdo falls in love with Gwen at first sight.

Asdo hadn't seen Cole since last May. Cole got to show him how he could say "Asdo" and "Go Gators!"

Video of Asdo holding Gwen.

Emily pointed out that Gwen and I have the same facial expression.

This is the look that Cole gives to Asdo when Asdo is acting crazy :)

Join Team Blitz

I'm going to take a break from posting pictures of Cole and Gwen to let you all know about a great opportunity to partner with us in something that means a great deal to us. 14 months ago we received a phone call from one of our best friends (Ryan Asdourian; aka "Asdo") in which he told us that he had just been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). If you have ever spent more than 5 minutes with Asdo, you know that he is larger than life and in no way would he allow his condition to change who he is. In fact, he is probably crazier now than he has ever been (in a good way).

Asdo has been the mascot for the Seattle Seahawks football team for a few years now and has decided to use this platform as a way to raise awareness of MS and raise money to help find a cure for MS. Asdo and "Team Blitz" have a very lofty goal of raising $100,000 in their first try and they will need all the help they can get. If you happen to have $1, $10, $100, $1,000, or more just laying around, please consider giving to Team Blitz's efforts. You can click on that link to find out more about Asdo's story and what you can do to help.

While we will not be able to make it to Seattle for their walk on April 11th, we will be walking at the Denver MS Walk on May 1st. Feel free to join us if you are in the Denver area, or, find an MS Walk near you and participate.

Florida Trip - February 2010

We flew to Orlando last week and squeezed a lot of activity into our time there. We made a quick trip down to Clearwater where we got to reconnect with many friends and we also took the kids to the beach for a few minutes. Here is Gwen getting her first taste of the ocean.



The whole family at the beach.
Lunch at Moe's with Jeff, Erin, and Som :)

Hanging with the old youth kids.

Steve & Lindsay drove all the way up from Boynton Beach to meet their newest love-interest, Gwen. We also got a visit from Becky and Alan!
Much of the weekend's activities were centered around the wedding of Emily Taylor and Stephen Overholser. I have known Emily since high school, and Emily and Emily became friends during our time at Doulos Ministries in Branson. So since Emily was a bridesmaid she had a bachelorette party, a bridal luncheon, the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner to attend. My family was great with working around our hectic schedule and taking care of Cole and Gwen so that we could enjoy all the festivities. And enjoy them we did! Congrats Em & Stephen! They had a really fun photo booth at the reception. Here is a picture of one of our pictures.

We had a great night without the kids! Much needed :)

The next day we headed to Rex & Ashley's new house to 1) Take some family pictures, 2) Throw Colleen & Chris a baby shower, and 3) Watch the Super Bowl. Here are Colleen, Gwen, and Grandma Joanne before the shower began. Grandma was so great to fly in from Arizona for the festivities.
I don't think Cole is such a fan of the girl power. We are hoping for a boy cousin from Colleen & Chris so that Cole won't be so dominated.
Some of the Super Bowl Party paticipants.

It was a very tiring trip but so worth it! But we are looking forward to being home-bound for a while and not having to fly with the kids anytime soon :)

We obviously took more photos of our trip, so feel free to check them out at this link.