Trademarks

The episode in which we discuss cookie cravings, stupid farts and crap, gas masks, and HDTV and AppleTV.

Download the MP3 — 13:50

The episode in which we share the heartbeat of baby Hunt.

Download the MP3 — 0:58

Well, we’re in the 16^th week of the pregnancy now. That’s almost the end of the 1^st trimester. The baby’s heartbeat has slowed down a bit, as the circular system is more complex now and requires fewer beats per minute. The heartbeat is a steady 152 bpm. Tyler bought a special machine that allows us to listen to the baby from home, which has been a real treat, and, I must admit, reassuring. My tummy hasn’t grown very much to date so every once in a while I find myself doubting that we really are pregnant.

We’ve decided to wait until the baby is born to know the sex, which is a very surprising fact if you know me well. I myself am surprised by how comfortable I am with waiting on that point. In fact, I don’t really think about it at all unless someone questions me on the sex of the baby. So, in light of that, we’re trying to find a few boy’s name and a few girl’s name that we like in advance. Any way you look at it the delivery day will be full of surprises and excitement.

There’s a little Hunt on the way. Tyler and I are 10 weeks pregnant and couldn’t be more excited. We had our first ultrasound on Thursday, and got our first glimpse at the baby growing inside me. We were amazed at the clarity of the images. The baby is only 10 weeks old, and already we could see fingers and toes! The technician was also able to show us the inside of the brain and the beating heart. The heartbeat was 170 beats/minute, so I guess he’s really working hard.

Our due date is July 5, and we’ll be sure to post more updates here as we have more to report.

Melissa and I have had a fairly busy summer, and have done some traveling along the way, including our first vacation together since our honeymoon. When looking for discount airfares, Melissa stumbled across some cheap flights for Puerto Rico, so we took advantage of the Independence Day holiday to maximize vacation time and spend a few days on the Caribbean island. Neither of us know Spanish very well, but it sounded like an exotic enough destination for us to be able to see some new sights, and try some new cuisine.

We spent most of our time in Viejo San Juan, where we spent our time perusing shops, visiting museums and historic sites, and exploring the fortifications along the shore of the island. Then we took a day to visit the rainforest known as El Yunque. We also traveled to the southern coast to Ponce where we stayed in an historic hotel, visited an famous fire station, ate some delicious meats, and had ice cream on the plaza (twice!).

Since Carter has been out hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail for the last few months, and we miss him dearly, we went out to meet up with him in Lake Tahoe. What a beautiful place. The photos truly don’t do it justice. Carter is doing well, and we had a good weekend catching up with him while rafting, sailboating, and eating. We even had our own close encounter with wildlife when a bear climbed up a tree right outside our cabin.

It has been a busy summer, but one that has brought with it lots adventures and good memories.

Melissa and I went garage saling last weekend. We got up early, scoped out the classifieds online, mapped our route, and set out to see what amazing finds could be had. A few of the sales were busts. The variety of crap that people drag out of their homes onto their driveways is always astounding, but we did hit upon a few stops there were worth our time.

One of them was an estate sale in Maitland. Two brothers (one of whom reminded me of Desmond from Lost) had taken on the responsibility of selling off all the possessions of their recently deceased parents. The neatest thing we saw there was the giant, round kitchen table. It must have seated ten people easily, and it had a large Lazy Susan to facilitate the passing of food across such a large surface area. Melissa fell in love with the house, though, and we actually ended up going back later to find out how much they would be asking once it goes on the market. We didn’t get a very straight answer. They also seemed to want to milk the situation for all the money it was worth.

Our last stop was a tiny little house just one street north of ours in College Park. An elderly blind man had lived there by himself for some time. The folks who were putting on the sale were raising money to send a kid to camp. They told us all about the man who had lived in that house: how he used to go for walks every day, how he always dressed up with a shirt and tie, how he had painted his house by feel alone, and how he went to church every Sunday up until the month before he got sick. He sounded like quite a man who never let his disability get in the way of the things he wanted to do. There was only one item there I really wanted. It was a set of skillets, but alas, I hesitated and someone else snatched them up.

It took along a camera and snapped a few photos at one our stops. It was a fun outing, but a little disappointing to come home empty handed. Hopefully we’ll have better luck next time.

The second day in the village, we set out to find a new family for our next life exchange. We went further down Matukalo’s street, knocking on nearly every door we passed without much success. People either weren’t home, or just didn’t want to open their doors and talk to us. Then, we stopped in the middle of the road and prayed that God would lead us to a house where we would be well received, and He quickly answered our prayers.

We ended up at a fairly large house with several people standing out in the yard. As we approached, a man named Wilfred stepped forward, hand extended, to welcome us. The women quickly disappeared into the kitchen to start preparing something for us, while Wilfred ushered us into his living room, giving us the prime seats in his house. We discussed everything from church to crime, comparing our lives in the States with his in QwaQwa. These were the topics he was most interested in, as he’s a choirmaster at his church and a police officer in his village. His love for people and his vision for God’s work in the world were truly an encouragement to our ministry group, and we all felt as if we walked away from his house having received more than we had given.

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Our time with Matukalo that first day was short. We spent a couple hours with her that morning, and then promised to return on Friday, as she had some errands to run on Thursday and would be out of town for the better part of the day. We said our goodbyes and headed back to the church for lunch.

Each day children from the nearby schools would start showing up at the church as we were finishing our lunches, and each day we put on a children’s ministry for them. The word spread quickly, and as the week progressed, more and more children would arrive at the church each afternoon. On the first day, our ministry team stayed back to help out with the kids. We played games with them, taught them Bible lessons and memory verses, and did sing-alongs with hand motions. The kids had fun, but, more importantly, it was meaningful just that we were spending time with them. Children are largely ignored in the Besotho culture. They tend to be brushed aside, even in most churches. The concept of Sunday school or vacation Bible school is largely lost on them, so while it may have all seemed like fun and games, we’re can be sure that we made some kind of impact in their lives.

It’s hard to believe it has been over a week since we got back from South Africa. We had such an amazing trip. I don’t think it really hit us until the first morning when Melissa woke up, poked her head outside, and said, “we’re in Africa.” Seeing that view for the very first time was just the first of many such experiences that week that would far exceed our expectations.

I remember that going into the trip, I had a lot of anxiety over how our time with the people would go. When I found out that we wouldn’t be building houses, digging ditches, or painting fences, but rather doing Life Exchanges instead, I instantly went into retreat. My reserved nature was nearly enough to keep me from going, just on the basis that I would have to spend time building relationships with the people in QwaQwa. I fought and overcame those feelings, and pushed myself to sign up, and I’m so glad that I did. The time spent with the Bosotho people led to some of the highlights of the trip for me.

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As many of you already know, Melissa and I are heading for South Africa on March 11. We’ll be there for 10 days, reaching out to those in need, and sharing with them the love of Christ. We’re going with Summit Church with a group of 25 people. Thrive Africa has been at work in the region for some time now, so we’ll be staying at their base in Harrismith called Eagle Mountain. The QwaQwa people that we’ll be ministering to live an hour’s bus ride from the camp, a trip we’ll be making into town each day. Once there, we’ll be getting to know the people, planting gardens for them, and putting on a VBS for the children. Each night we’ll head back to base where we’ll dine on some freshly killed game, culled from the grounds’ stock of ostrich, zebra, wildebeest.

With less than two weeks until we leave, the reality of the trip is starting to set in. It’s going to be an amazing experience, but there are still enough unknowns to make even the most adventurous traveler a little anxious. I’m a little nervous about the communication barrier and working with an interpreter, while Melissa is dreading the overnight safari we’ll be taking towards the end our trip. I have to say I’m really looking forward to seeing such a remote part of the world, and I’ll be sure to post all of our photos as soon as possible after our return.