It's been a while

It has been a while since we have posted. Just thought we would give you all a brief update. Mason is turning 2 on Thursday, if you can believe it! We will have a little party for him on Friday night with a few of his friends that are still in town. We will be celebrating Christmas at home as a family. I (Amanda) actually have my first doula gig for a neighbor who is due on Christmas day. So I'll also be "on call" until that baby comes! I am very excited to get to help in the labor as a doula, for the first time. This is what I hope to be doing a lot more of in the future. We will probably walk down the street to watch the Rose Parade on New Year's Day. Then, hopefully we'll take off for SF for a short vacation after that. Dave and I both return to school/work the second week of January. To be honest, I think we are both just really looking forward to some down time together. Things have been so busy and Mason and I have been so sick, that we haven't had any good, quality family time.

As for the newest baby, we will go in a few weeks for our big ultrasound to make sure the baby is developing normally. I am about 1 weeks along already! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going by. We will NOT be finding out the sex of the baby. Sorry to those of you that are dying to know! We just really don't see the need to find out nor do we really want to spoil the surprise. We really liked the suspense of waiting to the big day with Mason and are looking forward to that once again. I have felt the baby fluttering and am definitely starting to show. So far I am carrying high like I did with Mason, not that that means anything specific. We are looking forward to seeing him or her on the screen in a few weeks. We'll give an update once that happens. Meanwhile, we'll be around if you want to give us a call!

It's Christmas Time

So the holiday season is upon us. We have already seen a million commercials telling us what we need, how and where to spend our money and what to buy to make ourselves and others happy. I don't know about you but in our house, we are already annoyed. The constant barrage of consumeristic propaganda can be hard to ignore, hard not to succumb to. The rush of shoppers out to save money and buy, buy, buy is all that has been on the news. But where does our money go? Who is really making the products that we are buying? Who are we giving to? Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad or get on a soap box. We are simply trying to get others to think about what they buy before they buy it instead of just blindly consuming. As in many decisions in life, there are always choices. We don't have to be slaves to the industries trying to sell us our their stuff. We can inform ourselves about what we buy, where it is made, how it's made, who gets the proceeds, etc.

So, in our home this year we are making an even more concerted effort than in years past to buy responsibly and ethically. We are trying to buy items that are organic, fair trade, PVC free, and safe for everyone. We want to make sure that the products we are consuming are actually giving back to the people that are making them. This means that we don't want our money going to sweatshops, child labor, items that contain potentially harmful chemicals, or anything that depletes or harms the ecosystem. Maybe this sounds crazy to some of you, right in tune to others. But over the last few years we have come to see how what we buy reflects our values, ethics and beliefs as followers of Jesus.

Yes, fair trade and organic usually cost significantly more than other items. But what is the real cost? If we in America, one of the richest nations in the world, aren't paying, who is? At whose expense are we saving? It is really ethical for us to pay less for something to save a few bucks if it means that the man, woman or child who made it only gets a penny? Is it not better to forfeit one (insert coffee shop here) coffee a day to shell out a few extra dollars on a product where you know the people making it receive a living wage and work in a safe enviornment?

Again, this is an issue we as a couple still wrestle with and are certainly not perfect. It is hard to resist the consumeristic tendencies of our culture. (Although Dave struggles much less than me with wanting to buy things!) It is hard to find places to shop when everyone outsources to someone else. But what we can do is make informed decisions. We can look into retailers before we shop. We can ask quesitons, look for places that sell fairly traded and organic products and give them our business. As we have become more informed about the issues surrounding consumerism, labor and responsible shopping, we have found a few helpful resources. As I said before, this is still something that we are learning more about, seeking to implement in more holistic ways and wrestle with ourselves. So if any of you have resources to add to the list, PLEASE do! But for now, here are a few places to check out.

www.coopamerica.org - a ton of information on products, businesses, responsible shopping, etc
www.cosmeticsdatabase.com - Skin Deep cosmetic safety database
www.fairtradeusa.org- Information on Fair Trade products and where to find them
www.heifer.org- alternatives gifts that really give back
www.tenthousandvillages.com- fairly traded products produced around the world
www.purehomeproducts.com- a great online store with organic, non-toxic items for home and family

Harvest Time

Thought we'd share a few photos of Mason, the Lion, from Fuller's Harvest Festival and from Halloween. This year Mason and Krystle (our former neighbor) actually went trick or treating in a neighborhood by our new place. They had fun going door to door. Mason only got scared once when he saw a kid coming toward him with a "Scary Movie" mask on. He said, "no, no, no" and wimpered a bit. He got over it pretty quickly though!

San Francisco

We took a little vacation this past weekend to celebrate our 5 year anniversary . . . and Mason came, too. We have been trying to visit San Francisco for the past 2 years and it always seemed to never work out. Well, we finally made it and it was worth the wait. The city was incredible, much like an European city, as it was close and compact and had awesome public transportation. The next time we visit, we are not even going to bother renting a car. So, we flew up to Oakland on Thursday night and stayed in Berkeley (home of the Cal Bears). Our friend Mark got us tickets to the Cal game on Saturday and Mason had a great time (but we forgot the camera at the game). Around our time visiting Mark and going to a football game, we hit up San Fran. Friday was nothing but rain and we enjoyed it.:) Saturday was crystal clear and in the 70s. Enjoy the pictures. The first one is the view from our hotel in Berkeley (you can see the Golden Gate Bridge and downtown San Fran if you click on it). The second one is the view of the famous Lombard St. (the crookedest street in the world) and the last picture is the view from the top of Lombard St. Oh - and walking the city was quite the workout . . . but we are going back as soon as we can.

Good News

Dave got his unofficial test results from his CSET exam and he passed all three sub-tests. For those of you who don't know, he needed to pass this test so that he can get his intern credential. This is turn will allow him to be officially hired as a special ed. teacher by the district. This is great for all of us as he will be making much more money and we could use that with another baby on the way! We are still waiting for the official results to come in but this is pretty good confirmation of his results. YEAH!

Baby 2 is on the way

Well, to add one more transition to our lives, we are expecting our second child. We found out this week that Amanda is pregnant. This baby will be coming in May/June 2008. We can't wait to welcome another baby to the family. Mason will be so excited to have a baby all his own. Currently, he calls all babies Elli because of his cousin. So we may have to work on some other names:) We'll keep you all posted as we learn more!

Painting Frenzy

We picked up the key to our new place on Friday. Ah, the space of a 2 bedroom apartment! We had a painting party on Sunday and got Mason's room, our room and almost all of the living room painted. We couldn't finish the living room and kitchen until Thur and Fri. I am happy to say now that it is all painted!! We started moving our stuff in over the weekend and got all the big stuff and most of the essentials over. We will finish up moving the rest of the stuff over this weekend. It is mostly just stuff that sits high in the closet that we only use a handful of times. We are starting to get settled in and feel like this new place is home. Mason is sleeping better now. The first few nights he had a hard time falling asleep and just kept looking around like "Where am I?' I hope to post some pictures soon!

Future Baby Model

So after hundreds of comments over the last year about how we should get Mason in modeling, we did...sort of. As you know, we use cloth diapers with him and we have a service that picks up the dirty and delivers the clean. It's very nice. Well, they are looking for cute babies for their advertising campaign. We thought, why not enter Mason. It would be a good way of easing him and us into this whole baby model thing. If he gets picked, it will give us all a little taste of what it would be like. Maybe we could move forward from there or decide that was enough. So, for now, we wait and see whether or not he will be chosen as the next cloth diaper baby!! We'll keep you posted!

We're Moving

So things have been really up in the air the last month or so regarding what was next for our family. This past week some of those questions have been answered for us. We will serving as Community Coordinators for a new community for Fuller. We had been waiting to move into this new community because there were no apartments available. Well, a few people moved out and so we are finally moving in! So, in two weeks we will start moving in to our nice new 2 bedroom. We are excited for Mason to have his own space now to keep his toys, books and play. Plus there are some really cool people in our new community...a lot of PhD students. We'll send out an email to everyone soon with our new address and any other new info.

The next big change is with Dave. After a couple months of searching for a new job, change came where we least expected it (our plan C or D). He is going to be the Special Education teacher at South Pasadena High School, the same school he's been an assistant at for the last 3 years. He got hired on Thursday and started training on Friday. The hire is conditional on Dave getting his credential. So he will also be heading back to school...again! On Tuesday he will begin his credential program at Point Loma Nazarene Unv. He will begin teaching on Thursday. So, this is a 2 year committment for him, which means we'll be in Cali for at least another 2 years. While it was not our first choice, we are all really excited and this is the best option in the long run for us.

Amanda is working on setting up an internship/practicum for the fall. There are a couple options at this point but nothing is set in stone. If this all works out, will do that in the fall, take 2 classes in the winter and be done!! For sure, graduation in June will happen!

Mason may start day care in the fall, depending on Amanda's internship. If so, we have a place picked out with no waiting list right now. It is close to home and a good environment. He recently went for a check up and got a good report. He is in the 10th percentile for weight, 25th for height and 90% for his head size. He is growing nicely...his bell curve looks great! He is also recently been going through a growth spurt and eating us out of house and home! He is definately a toddler now...getting more strong willed and independent. We'll post some new pictures for you all soon! (Our friend Gina will be doing his photos soon!)

Mason's first baseball game

Mason went to his first Detroit Tigers game while we were back in Michigan. He was more interested in the LCD screens and lights than the game. But he made it through the whole game with no problems! And the Tigers won!

A Day at the Beapch

Before you email us, no we did not make a spelling error. We did go to the beach, which Mason affectionately calls the "BEEPSH". He seems to really like going to the beach and playing in the sand. He is not crazy about the ocean, especially if there are big waves. He likes to hold onto us as we walk SLOWLY into the water. He mostly likes to watch the waves crash on shore, dabble his feet in the water and play in the sand. It was really windy when we went to Seal Beach a week ago. Mason has this little parachute guy that he loves to throw in the air. Needless to say, he got good air at the beach Saturday. We went with Noah and his parents (Jennifer and Kerry) and his aunt and uncle (Chris and Jamie). Mason and Noah played in their tent, destroyed sand castles, poured sand all over themselves and each other. It was good day for the beach and we all had a good time. The pictures show Mason and Noah helping build and destroy some sand castles and just having fun!

Taco Night Mixed With Carrots

So, we had taco night. And as we were making the tacos, we gave Mason carrots to eat and ranch sauce to dip them in. As a disclaimer, I (Dave) do not like Mason getting messy when he eats. It's just more work for me to clean up. So I end up feeding him. Amanda likes to let Mason feed himself and thus, create a huge mess. With both of us making the dinner, Mason had a free-for-all with the ranch sauce and carrots. After that, we just let him continue making a mess with the tacos. Needless to say, his bath was immediately after dinner. Enjoy the photos. Oh - and Amanda cleaned up the mess while I gave Mason a bath. Yes, it took both of our efforts for this clean-up job.

I'm a Big Boy Now

Well, we finally did it. We finally had Mason's hair cut...by a professional. Yes, Mason got his first real haircut today. We took him this afternoon to Little Kuts in Pasadena as they specialize in children's hair styling. He did a great job as Karen cut his hair. He plaed with toys and occasionally wathced the DVD playing on the flat screen tv in the middle of the place! Dave tried to keep his mind off the fact that he had a gown strapped around his neck...he hates having anything around his neck! So, all in all it was a good first hair cut. I can't believe how much a simple hair cut can change how he looks. But he looks like such a little boy now!

Midwest Extraveganza

So Mason and I recently took off for a 10 day adventure through the midwest. We flew into Chicago on July 4th and drove down to Odgen Dunes, In from there. We spent about 5 days there for my family reunion. It was fun hanging out at the beach and catching up with the family. Mason had fun seeing all his cousins! From there we drove to Grand Rapids to visit friends for a day. Then we drove down to Detroit area to visit a day with the Baughman's and a day with the Thomas'. We had a little family get together at both places. Mason got to meet his brand new cousin, Elliana, and visit some more with his other cousins at the Thomas gathering. Finally, we drove back to Wisconsin to see my parents new place and relax for a couple days. We flew out early Saturday morning. It really went by fast and we certainly did not get to see everyone we wanted to but we tried to squeeze in as much as we could in a short time. I know Dave is looking forward to his turn to travel solo with Mason. Have fun on the plane Dave!

We have a new niece

We are so excited to say that we have a brand new baby niece and cousin for Mason! She was born Friday, June 29th and weighed 6 pounds, 1 ounce and 19 inches long. She is doing really well. Jenni and Brian are doing well too and happy to meet their brand new baby girl. We are all excited to meet her this summer! Congratulations on the birth of little Elliana Grace!

Mason's Best Buddy

I have mentioned Mason's new friend Noah before. But I thought I would tell you a little about him as he and Mason spend so much time together. Every time we get in the car, Mason calls his name, "Nonah, Nonah, Nonah". He always thinks we are going to visit him if we get in the car. It is really cute. Jennifer, Noah's mom, is in my child care co-op and keeps Mason while I am in class. In return, I watch Noah while she is studying or teaching. So, the boys see each other quite a bit. They have really learned to play well together. They chase each other, play and ocassionally get cranky with each other. Overall, they play pretty well. They're only one month apart although you wouldn't know by looking at them. Noah is much bigger than skinny Mason. He only runs and is an amazing climber. Mason, on the other hand, prefers to be cautious and would rather talk, sing and dance. Noah is a real boys' boy. Mason, while he likes to play and get dirty, is not quite as adventurous. I guess that is good for us moms though! So, that's the scoop on Mason's new best bud. Enjoy the pictures.

Moving On...sort of

Well, the good news is that Dave and I did get rehired to be Community Coordinators for Fuller residential community. The bad news is that they do not have an apartment for us to move into in our new community that we are supposed to be coordinating. So we are not officially coordinators in our current apartment building, but we'll be sticking around until a 2 bedroom place opens in the new place. So, for now we live in limbo! We'll be remote CC's, commuting to our new residents. But we are excited to meet some new people and build new community!

Moving on from South Pasadena...maybe? Dave has applied at a, get this, private Christian high school. Mr. Cynical himself could be working at a place he thought he'd finally gotten rid of. Seriously, it would be a great opportunity and we are praying that he gets an interview. He applied to be a math teacher. They have several positions available because they have a large incoming freshman class. Keep him your prayers!

Amanda has summer classes...good times! After the summer, I only have 2 classes left to take. Then my practicum...then graduation!! So for me, the big question now is what to do for my practicum. I have several options. I could stay in LA, try to do an internship in CHicago or Boston, come back to Michigan. So we are talking as a family what the best option would be. Time will tell.

Lastly, Mason is moving on too. He is moving on through toddlerhood rather smoothly. He now has 11 teeth and working on the 12th. He is adding words to his vocabulary daily. He is a little charmer, especially with the ladies! He has been spending a lot of time with another little boy named Noah, which he affectionately refers to as Nonah. He is growing leaps and bounds but is still the littlest kid in my co-op. We have so much fun watching him try to do things and say new things! He keeps us on our toes but keeps us laughing too! We just got our camera fixed so I can finally post some new pics!!

Graduation Day

The day has come. Dave is officially a Seminary graduate! This year's class was the largest graduating class in Fuller's history. The service was about 3 hours long... thank goodness for free childcare! The service was held at Lake Avenue Church, just aorund the corner from school. Dave was one of about 100 student from the School of Intercultural Studies to graduate Saturday. Total there were about 500 students graduating. It was a great service and Dr. Mouw gave a great charge to the graduating class! Afterward, we were able to celebrate with our good friend Gina, who also graduated Saturday!

Sunday we had a party to celebrate the end of the quarter and Dave's graduation. We all had a good time barbequing and catching up with everyone! Thanks to everyone who came to support Dave! We all had fun!

We're Done!

We are officially done! Dave turned in the last paper of his life this afternoon. While not confident that it was the best paper he's written, knowing it was his last eased the pressure of making it an A. Tonight we will relax and get ready for graduation tomorrow. We will post some pictures as soon as we can. For now, WE ARE DONE!! YEAH!!

Nearing the End

2 weeks and counting. That is what is left of the Spring quarter at Fuller. For Amanda it will signify the end of the most hectic quarter ever and for Dave it will be the end of his seminary experience. Needless to say, we are both excited for the end of the 2 weeks to arrive. Meanwhile, we have a ton of school work to complete on top of work, co-op stuff and caring for Mason. So, in the words of Jim Halpert, "Lord, beer me the strength!" We are planning an end of the quarter/graduation blow out on Sunday, June 10. It will be a great way to celebrate the end of the quarter as well as the end of our time in our community. Many of the Fuller people in our building will be moving out and moving on, including us. We will be serving as Community Coordinators in a new Fuller community about 3 miles away. We are still awaiting the details and official offer though. It'll be weird living somewhere new after being in this apartment for 3 1/2 years. But I think we are all ready for a change.

Meanwhile, Mason is plugging along oblivious to the stress of his parents. He has popped yet another tooth and we think working on some more. He is adding words to his vocab pretty consistently now. He says "more", "please", "drink", "up" on top of the words he's been using for a while. It's fun to hear his cute, high pitched voice try to say all these words. He is still singing and dancing away. We are starting to recognize that his draw toward music goes beyond that of other 18 month olds. Perhaps, we'll have a musician? Meanwhile, we are just trying to encourage him in his music without being pushy.

We'll post some new pictures and video as soon as our camera is repaired!

Mother's Day

So our camera broke and we haven't been able to take pictures or videos or upload the ones that were on the camera already. I was pretty bummed to think that another Mother's Day may go by without any pictures. So our friend Gina graciously agreed to take some photos of me and Mason. He and Dave made me breakfast in bed, went to church with me and got me my YMCA membership with a iPod shuffle to listen to while I'm there. It was a really nice day and I am so grateful to have two such wonderful guys in my life. Here are a few pictures courtesy of Gina!

New Chompers

So, Mason cut 2 new teeth. He is now up to the grand total of 8 teeth. He has four on top and now with the 2 new ones, four on the bottom. Once they come in more, we'll get a nice picture with a teethy smile!

Mason is also trying to climb up and down stairs by himself now. As you know, he never did learn to crawl. So as most kids his age crawl up and down the stairs carefully, Mason tried to walk up and down like an adult! It is quite funny to watch actually. I don't think I have ever seen another kid climb quite the way he does! He is determined to do it by himself...even if he falls and bumps his head like he did Friday. He was with a friend while we were in class/at work, and he bit it off the stairs going head first into a flower pot. He has a nice black and blue knot on the upper left side of his forehead to show for it. He was fine, just a little sore. That's our son, doing it his own way!

Will post some videos soon (once I figure out how to) of a dancing Mason!

Disneyland or bust!

So once again, we tried to go to DisneyLand and once again we were denied! Some of you may recall that we tried to go to Disney on New Year's Eve to celebrate. They do a big fireworks show and parades and all of the over the top things you'd expect from Disney. By the time we decided to go, the park was sold out. So we hung around the "Downtown Disney" area for a while before heading home to watch the ball drop on tv. So this past week I was given 3 tickets to DisneyLand for free. Mason and I decided to take our neighbors who have an 11 month little boy. They had never been so we thought it'd be fun to experience Disney with the kids for the first time. So after we spent the evening preparing the diaper bags, snack, lunches and waking early to hit the road, we finally made it to Disney about 20 minutes after they opened. We got parked in the massive (and expensive) parking garage, took the tram to the park, went trough security and finally made it to the gate. This was it! We were going to finally see the pure joy in our children's face walking through those gates into the happiest place on earth. The moment to hand over our tickets only to hear the ticket collector say, "Oh, this ticket is expired. You'll have to go back to the ticketing counter." What?! Expired? It said valid until 4/26 and it was 4/26. We proceeded to the ticket counter where we were informed that the ticket had indeed expired because the first trip of the "2fer" ticket had been used more than 30 days prior, voiding the ticket. Once again, our plans had been thwarted and we were so disappointed! Buying a new ticket was our only option but that was $63 per person and my neighbors didn't have the money, nor did we. So once again, we visited Downtown Disney. The kids still had fun looking at the fountains, stores and people walking around. We went inside the Rainforest Cafe to see the fish tanks and hear the storms. Needless to say, it was exciting for the boys and that is all that really matters. But, we are not giving up on DisneyLand. One day, we will make it in!

Can you believe it?

All I have to say is YEAH, SANJAYA IS GONE!!!

A Late Addition

Just in case any of you are curious about what we are learning at Fuller, we wanted to give you some information. We have gotten questions from family members about our program and Fuller's theology. So we will give a few brief summaries and then refer you to the website.

Regarding our program, it is a Master's in Cross-cultural Studies and is designed for people who have less than 3 years of service in the mission filed. It requires 96 units including a practicum project. The practicum is a trip, domestic or international, in the field of interest/study that ties together and puts into practice all of the theories and applications learned from classes. It is usually about a 4-week intensive trip, 2000 pages of reading and a paper anywhere from 2500 words upward. The point of the practicum is to give the student a practical experience in mission, whatever the nature of the trip may be. Dave completed his project when we lead a team to Spain in the summer of 2005. He concentrated on team dynamics and leadership. Amanda still has to complete her practicum. Lastly, you can elect to have a concentration area if you so desire. Doing so allows you to learn more about one particular dimension of cross-cultural study and missiology. If you choose not to have a concentration, you are on a general track meaning that you have several elective courses. Dave choose to do the general track because there were several areas he was interested in and did not want to be confined to one particular area of study. He took several classes in church growth/emerging church as well as anthropology. Amanda chose the Islamic Studies program because she desired to know more about Muslim theology and culture.

Regarding Fuller and their theology, there is no single theology that all the staff adhere to outside of the basic doctrines stated in Fuller's Statement of Faith. These include ten central affirmations which we "hold to be essential" to our ministry: 1) the existence, perfection and triune nature of God; 2) the revelation of God in creation, history and in Jesus Christ; 3) the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures; 4) God's creation of the world and humankind, with humanity's rebellion and subsequent depravity; 5) the person and work of Jesus Christ, including his deity, virgin birth, true humanity, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, and ascension to heaven; 6) the Holy Spirit's work in regeneration and justification; 7) growth in the knowledge of God and Christian obedience; 8) the church as the creation of the Holy Spirit; 9) the worship, mission and service of the church; 10) the return of Christ to raise the dead and to judge the world.

Fuller faculty, just like the student body, comes from various denominations and cultures. This allows for a variety of perspectives and Biblical interpretations to be presented. Fuller is unique in that it does not present one uniform theology that all students must subscribe to but rather teaches the various Biblical interpretations, debates and theories currently taking place. By doing so, the staff encourage students to think for themselves, encouraging them to wrestle with the issues through prayer, Biblical study and scholarly research. This approach appealed to us and is a major reason why we chose to study at Fuller. Over the last three years we have come to appreciate this position and have truly been challenged and encouraged in our faith.

If you have more questions, or concerns, about Fuller, our degree, theology, we will refer you to the Fuller website. It is www.fuller.edu. Here you can find their Statement of Faith, mission statement, etc. If you have any questions for us, feel free to post a comment, shoot us an email or give us a call.

So what does one do with a degree like this?

Dave and I have been fielding many questions recently about our program and the degree that we will be receiving, most likely prompted by Dave's pending graduation. Most questions go something like this..."So, what exactly is your degree in? Intercultural studies, uh. What do you do with a degree like that?" Well, the short answer is mission work. But to limit it to just "mission work" would not be fair. In fact, Fuller's School of Intercultural Studies is quite well known throughout the world and is one of the best of its' kind in the States and around the globe. There are people from all over world representing over 100 denominations. Such diversity creates a rich environment for learning. Over the last 3 years, Dave and I have learned so much not only from our classes and professors, who are amazing, but from our classmates. The experiences and wisdom that comes from the Fuller student body has been pleasantly surprising. We have made some good friends and seen many of them come and go by now. So where are these graduates going? Many go into the "mission field" with traditional mission agencies. Some have gone home and began working with or for their church's mission department. One friend is going to work at a Christian college training students going to serve or learn overseas. Others go to work for agencies like World Vision in stateside offices. And some teach. Needless to say, there are many options for someone graduating with a degree like ours. So now the questions becomes, "Well, what are you two planning to do?" This is the question of the hour, one that we have been thinking and praying over for a long time. The answer is not short but I'll try to summarize our tentative plan.

First, we will be here in California until at least next summer until Amanda finishes her degree and we complete our job with Fuller. Then, more than likely we will return to Michigan to work for a while and pay off some loans. At the same time we hope to be reconnecting with Mars Hill and raising support to return to Spain. At this point, that is the plan but we are not ruling out the possibility of staying in California for a while or moving to another part of the world. As mentioned earlier, this plan is tentative. So, that was a long answer to a short question and that was the condensed version! I hope it helps clarify things a bit.

Welcome Spring

So for many people that will read this, Spring is a welcome season. It means the snow is melted, the temperatures are rising and maybe you can wear shorts! But for us Californians, it just means we lose an hour at daylight's savings. Now you may say, poor you, nice weather all year round. But to be honest, we miss seasons! The changing colors of the trees, the crackle of fallen leaves under your feet, the smells of blossoming new plants and flowers. Although, can't say we miss the snow! Yet, this spring brings some changes for the family. This is the last quarter of school for Dave. He will be graduating in June with a Master's degree in Cross-Cultural Studies. He will walk in the graduation ceremony June 9, 2007 if anyone is interested in attending. Second, we may be moving into a bigger place this summer. This would be good for all of us as Mason is accumulating more stuff and getting bigger by the day. So more room for him to run around would be helpful. As he moves into toddlerhood, he is really exhibiting his unique personality. This is our last noteworthy change. Mason is almost 16 months old now and changing rapidly. He talks constantly, mostly jibber jabber but he says a few words like ball, bye, and thank you. He tries to repeat everything that we say, so we really have to watch what we say! He runs around all over the place now and has gotten his fair share of bumps and bruises to show for it. He likes to play with the kids in the building and watch the big kids at the park. He waves hi to everyone and is not shy at all with anyone! He is growing up so fast and becoming his own person- stubborn, fun, loving and outgoing! We can't wait to see how he continues to develop and see all the new things he will do. Well, this is what spring has brought us thus far and we look forward a season of growth!