Apple Pickin' at Parlee Farms

Ten minutes away from the Mill that is 'Harbor of Hope' sits the most beautiful orchard. We saw it a couple weeks ago on our way out of town and said to each other that we simply had to go as soon as possible. Sunday was lovely day and we spent about 2 hours in the orchard pickin' apples. Neither of us had ever gone before and we had a blast. Somewhere among the rows of Empire, Gala's and Mac's I remembered my first job ever. I was probably 13 or 14 and I worked at Fletcher's Orchard in Columbia, MO. My job.....? Cleaning tomatoes for like a quarter for ever 55 gallon trash can full. I'm sure it wasn't that bad but I...now that I think about it...it was maybe like $20 a day for all day. Nuts to think back that far.


We are not sure what we are going to do with a peck of apples and such busy lives but I'm sure we'll think of something creative. Right now there just sitting on the counter but it was a day that we will never forget. Later that night the students from the UNDERGROUND through Bird a surprise Birthday Party, which was the 17th. She had a great day. The kids showered her with all kinds of love and good words. We really are two lucky kids our self.

Thanks to all you UNDERGROUNDERS that made that night so special!

Trying out our new tripod!

For four years we have tried to take pictures with my long arm reacing out to get an always mediocre pic. The irony of traveling to Italy and Spain and then coming home and buying a tiny tripod is hilarious. But nevertheless this is our first pic with the new device and we love it. Bird is 29 going on 30 weeks on Monday and she is doing very good. A few nights she was unable to get good rest but the last two nights she has slept great. We are looking forward to this weekend. I will be preaching a sermon on 1 John 3:11-18, its the first time in nearly a year that I have preached at Harbor of Hope and I'm very excited. Bird is in the full swing with her internship and simply loving it.

Picture of the Whole Crew!

Alicia's 15th Birthday Party!

We Danced, we ate fruit pizza, and one girl had the night of her life!

Alicia, had been inviting us to her birthday party for over a year...the only problem was there was only hope in a little girls heart that she was going to be having the best birthday party ever. But when it all came down to it her parents had to move out of their house on the very day of her birthday. When the Underground students found this out they decided that they wanted to throw Alicia a suprise birthday party. The result was one of the best nights any of us has ever had. As we drove Alicia home that night she said, "This was the best party I've ever had in my life." One fruit pizza, Itunes radio set to a dance station, 6 friends and one girl celebrated, it was the best night ever. Here are a couple more pics.


Olivia and Amanda...I'm not really sure what they are dancing to. This may have been when we had the Spanish Station cranked up loud!

So What's New?

I realize we are so far behind in our blogging. Many of you are crying out for pics of Bird's progress and I'm once step closer to getting things in order. I've 98% of our pics onto my computer and have them at hand. However, most of the new pics are still on the camera and I haven't put them on my laptop yet. So....one step closer.

This is a pic of bird at the Opera in Prague, which we both fell asleep at.

Bird celebrated her birthday two days ago and unfortunately she was so sick. She fought through the sickness though to wake up for pancakes and was able to go to her favorite restaurant "Border Cafe" for dinner, but was back in bed by 9 PM.

I felt so bad for her, no one should ever be as sick as she was but especially on her birthday. The baby is doing just wonderful. Kicking and moving all over the place. We are back in the full swing of things. Bird has two days of classes and then is down at Melrose High School two days a week logging her internship hours.

I'm at the church 3 days a week and I preach on Sunday at our church for the first time in a very long time. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. We are filling our spare time with getting the house ready for the little baby and with eating all our favorite meals we missed so much over the summer.

Papers, Cars, Computers, Church and Lack of Sleep

Nevertheless we are back in Boston and looking to get back into the blogging business.

As soon as we landed in Boston I had 8 days to turn in two papers.

As soon as we landed in Boston both our cars went on the fritz.

As soon as we landed in Boston I got a new computer so I have none of our pics on my new laptop and Bird is using hers in class.

As soon as we landed in Boston I went back to work at Harbor of Hope and have loved every minute of it.

As soon as we landed in Boston it was like 5 A.M. Madrid time and we have just in the last couple days caught up on our sleep.

The last couple weeks have been great though. Bird is back in school (pictures soon to come) and she is also working on her internship hours at Melrose High School. Yes that's the same place where she worked as a nurse...now she's there as a counselor. I think that's so cool.

Our due date has not changed it is still December 3. Oh my goodness how can I begin to tell all the great things that have happened in the last few weeks.

OK I'll be better at blogging. I promise. Pictures are to come.

Thanks again for all the love and support we felt over the blog while we were in Spain. I think we have the best friends in the world.

Polish TV and the Baltic Sea

Our friends Mati and Jessica being interviewed on a Polish TV morning show, equal to our "Good Morning America". It was wicked cool being on the set of the show and watching them get all made up and junk. The TV station put us all up in a hotel on the Baltic Sea and we simply had a blast. We spent the morning on the set of the show and the afternoon on the beach. These are two of the craziest people I know, last summer they bought a double-decker bus and turned it into a traveling hostel. After that they toured all of Europe by bus picking people up along the way. The word got out to the TV station and they wanted to interview them on live TV. It was such an honor for Jess and Mati to be able to do this. In a couple of days we are traveling to Krakow and going to spend a few days there. We simply cannot image what we will see there. We simply love Poland. The people have been so kind and we love it. Today we took a kayak on the river and toured around the city where our friends live. Tomorrow we are going to the zoo.