how to make a comment (by Bart)

Maybe you've read our latest blog and have seen all of the cute pictures of Kira and now you want to leave a little message. If you are a bit unsure of how to do this I have prepared a little tutorial for those that might have found some obstacles along the way to leaving a comment. This post was inspired by Meghan's encouraging words on her blog about wanting to hear from her readers.

Ok, on to the tutorial. First of all you want to scroll down to the bottom of the post you would like to comment on and click the comment link. This link will have a number anywhere from a zero on up with the word comments after it. Here's an example - 1 comments (see picture below).



After clicking the link you will be taken to a page where you can type your comment. First you want to identify yourself. If you are not a blogger account holder, then I would recommend that you highlight the "other" selection where you can then enter your name and web page if you have one. You also have the option to remain anonymous by highlighting the "anonymous" selection (see picture below).



After you identify yourself you then simply type your comment in the box provided and when your satisfied with what you have written you click the PUBLISH YOUR COMMENT button towards the bottom of the screen.



That's how it's done. We would appreciate hearing from people so feel free let us know you stopped by.

What have we been up to?

Well, I've posted a lot of pictures and videos of late but I have not written about our busy family for a few days. We think things will be slowing down a bit for now but I guess we'll just have to see about that.

Susie co-hosted her friend Emily's baby shower this past Sunday and now that it is over it has been a big stress relief for her. She had been spending so much time and energy preparing for the shower, including several late nights, that she ended up being sick on Sunday for the event. She is now feeling better and trying to relax as much as she can -which is about as much relaxing as a humming bird gets when it stops to suck sugar water out of a humming bird feeder-. She also hopes to not kill her tomato plants at the community garden.



Kira is continuing to improve her crawling, standing, and strolling skills. She has been very fun for us to watch. She is turning out to be such a happy kid that we feel like all of the struggles we had with her early on were worth it. We both feel very blessed to have her in our lives. Soon she will be running to and from us.



I haven't been quite as busy as Susie and Kira, but I have managed to get some things done. My big ordeal lately has been my "el cheapo" lawn mower. For starters, this thing is made by "Poullan" which is a company that primarily makes weed eaters. It has only 4.5 horsepower so basically if I mow grass it almost dies. And lastly, it is not self propelled like what most of society has, so I have to push the thing around a third of an acre.



A couple of weeks ago a small part broke on the starter rewind assembly so I had to order and install a new assembly. Everything was running fine for about 20 minutes and then it died again. After a bit of disassembly and inspection I determined that I was missing a bolt and needed a new spark plug. Both parts should have arrived today so hopefully my klunker will be up and running tonight.



Several weeks back our town had a "town clean up day" and one service they were offering was a door to door Chipper/Shredder with the option of keeping your wood chips. We took advantage of this service and we have been busy spreading mulch around our property. Last Saturday I dug a tree ring of sorts and spread mulch under a couple of trees during which I burned many calories in my effort to trim a few.




Well, that should catch up anyone that would like to be caught up. If you want a more detailed report, call Susie :)

It's been a while

It has been a few days since our last post so I thought I would put a little something on here which I might add to later. We have been quite busy lately with our normal schedule plus Susie is preparing for one of her good friend's Baby shower. Susie has also recruited me to assist her in a couple of things to help her with the Shower. Another thing we were busy with last night, which was long over due, was lowering the mattress of Kira's crib. She is now able to stand on her own and there was a danger of her falling out of the crib at the level it was at previously.

Now, without further ado, here is our little star.













Susie would also like me to point out that if you click on the comments link below any post, the website will send you to a page where you can leave a comment.

Ouch!

I was going through our pictures on the computer to make a picture CD of my nephew Travis for my sister when I came across this amazing video that must have slipped past me before. We must have one of the most gentle and patient cats in the world. You will know what I mean after you watch this clip starring Noah "Bubba" Saunders getting his fur pulled out by none other than Kira. You would almost think that he is dead but he's very much alive.

Daddy's little helper

Today I had the pleasure of spending some quality "Daddy/Kira" time while Susie was busy earning some extra money. I guess I should tell you she was cleaning a house just so you're not wondering how she was earning this money.

Anyway, it seems that Kira's interest in general household chores has expanded to emptying the dishwasher. This complements her extreme obsession with the vacuum cleaner. Maybe I will be able to put these fascinations to good use soon before she realizes that these things are not really that exciting.



I also want to let you know that I have added more pictures to Kira's web album.

10k... are you kidding?

(For those that don't know, a 10k is an abbreviation for a 10 kilometer race that is equivalent to 6.2 miles. This information will be useful later in this post.)

When one of our associate pastors talked about apathy in our lives, it dawned on me that I have become very comfortable with the way some things are in my life. Then the other night Susie suggested that we participate in the Bolder Boulder which is a 10k run/walk on Memorial Day in Boulder, CO. To this suggestion I immediately replied, "I don't even know if I can WALK 6 miles."



(photo is representation of myself on any given evening after 7pm)


Four years ago, Susie and I both conquered the Bolder Boulder in a fair amount of time; jogging the whole 6.2 miles. After I gave Susie's suggestion more thought I decided I had no excuse to not participate. In fact it might be a fun family event even though I might get a bit jealous of Kira's free ride in her stroller. Time to kiss apathy goodbye!

Kira's first bling

After a long rainy day in which most of it was spent vacuuming and shampooing the carpets, it was entertaining to see Kira put on a gold beaded necklace and keep it on as she shuffled about, playing with all of her toys.



After about a half an hour it came off and and I guess she liked her fashion statement because she decided to put it back on and wore it until mommy put her p.j.'s on.

On being a Father...

Growing up I did not give much thought to being a Father other than I would probably have kids some day because that's just what people do. After getting married I slowly started thinking more about being a Dad. The decision became a very big one to me because I didn't just want to be a Dad, I wanted to be a good one.

The day finally came when my daughter Kira was born and it was the most amazing moment I've ever experienced. That very instant I new that this little girl had a very big piece of my heart no matter what she did.

Now Kira is crawling and also taking some steps with help from Mommy and Daddy. With all of this progress she is making comes some scary falls and bumps on the head despite my best effort to try and catch her every time.



As prepared as I thought I was, being a Father isn't exactly what I expected. I didn't expect to experience such a great amount of love, joy, and emotion. I also didn't expect to understand the love of my Heavenly Father more than I ever did before. I now understand what great pleasure he takes in watching over us. He is always nearby to pick us up when we fall and he is there to cheer us on when we make great gains in any part of our life big or small.

Google has successfully conquered my computer.

It all started when I discovered the wonders of Google as a search engine and soon set it as my home page. Then I learned about the free web-based email program by Google called Gmail and soon thereafter I set up an account. Next I came across a wonderful photo editing program called Picasa which also bears the Google name. That lead to the recent creation of a Google Web Album to share photos with friends and family. After being a somewhat longtime user of Myspace (which is really beginning to suck), this Blog is what has finally turned my computer into a Google portal. I'm not trying to be a spokesperson for Google, I just happen to like all of these programs. Is Google really that awsome?