7th Anniversary Bash!

This past Sunday (6/24) was our 7th anniversary. So much time has passed since our nuptuals. We looked at our pictures from the wedding and couldn't believe how young we looked. How could we at age 23 know what we were getting into? God has been good and knew what he was doing when he brought us together.
This weekend we went to Tammy and Paul's cabin with Brad, Jessica, Marika and Nathan and had a little bit of time to reflect on our marriage. Marika asked what years were the best and which were the worst. We both agreed that this past year has been the best, despite Simon's early arrival into our lives and the stress that that caused. The worst year was 3 years ago with the culmination of the heartbreak of losing our dog Jackie to a hit and run, Becca going back to school, multiple minor car accidents and expenses, having to take on extra jobs (paper routes) to be able to pay our bills, and me trying to find a steady contract job with a school district in a new town with no connections. Whew! That stresses me out just thinking about it.
Even through these years of ups and downs, I can truly say that the best part of our relationship is that it grows stronger every year. Sure there are times when Becca wants to strangle me because I didn't pick up my socks, but the bond and closeness that we have has intensified every year since we said "I Do". Now with the addition of Simon to our family, we have someone to include in that bond. Our love is wonderful. Truly. Madly. Deeply.

My Band

Ok, so they're not really MY band. I just serve as their artistic director and conductor. They are the Mile High Community Band. I have been directing this crew for about three years now. Man time flies! We aren't into the huge concerts or really showy events. We are more about the educational part of learning to play an instrument. Most of the people have been playing their instrument for a couple of years. Some more, some less. One thing we all have in common is that we enjoy getting togehter to play. We have a Beginning band, Intermediate band, Jazz band and Concert band.
At the end of May, we played for the Colfax Marathon which was organized for it's second year to raise grant monies for Colorado childrens organizations. By Jazz band from school joined us for this hot sunny Sunday. We played some great music to run (or walk) by; I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Eye of The Tiger, Mission Impossible (I know. How cruel.) and an upbeat Lady Madonna.
I really enjoy directing this group. Right now we've been playing at Red Rocks Community College for the summer since our normal spot, Lincoln HS, is having some renovations completed.

Rock-A-Bye Simon

It's time for Becca and I to study best practices for getting a baby to sleep through the night. It's true, we like to spend time with our little guy and usually enjoy every second of it. Although, at 3:00am when my eyes feel glued shut, we both try to pretend that we don't hear his pathetic whimpering cry. That lasts about 5 minutes.
The baby manual that came with Simon says that when he is 6 months old it's time to try getting him on a schedule. The big question is, do we go with his birthdate or his corrected gestational age? He seems to still be a little too young but then again, we don't want to miss the brief window of opportunity between too young and strong willed.
We were lent the book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by our friends Rachel and Shawn who recently went through this stage with their son Owen. We would like to have Simon sleeping through the night a little more often with only a couple of long naps instead of sporadic 30 min. naps whenever. And it would really be nice to just put him into the crib and have him nod off. Right now, I cradle Simon wrapped in a blanket and bounce around until he is lulled to sleep. It looks like a combination of jogging in place and Riverdance.
We'll seee how this next stage goes. With Becca on the trail of several good job opportunities, I'm sure it won't be long before she is snatched up by an design firm and I'll be on my own for 8+ hours a day. Yikes, and to think I voluntarily signed up for this!

They look like ME!

I thought I'd have a little fun playing this game. I checked with Tom Cruises site and he has a picture of me floating around his head too. I think we might be related.

Four Generations

While we were in Virginia, the Shank family got together for a scrumptious meal at Red Lobster. A Sunday lunch outing was a tradition for my family at least once every month or so, and it would usually be Red Lobster because it was a favorite of my Grandfather Sam's. Since Grandaddy's passing last year, I had not been to Red Lobster with the family.It was nice to have the familiar setting for good food and company.
One of the pictures from my childhood that stands out the most doesn't even have me in it. It was a picture taken of Karin, my sister, when she was a baby with our great grandparents. I don't know if there was a picture of me too, but I imagine that there wasn't the opportunity before they passed away.
We were very fortunate that my grandmother, Katherine, joined us for lunch. She has been living in an assisted living home since last year and seems to be doing OK with the adjustment. It must be really hard to move from a house on a hilltop with trees, cows and geese to look at, to a small one bedroom apartment where your neighbors share a wall with you.
In her arms, Simon looked huge! We were able to snap a few pictures of four gennerations before our food came on Sunday. It's a picture of me, my dad, Great Grandmother Katherine, and Simon.

1000 page views!

I just wanted to remark that there have been 1000 page views! Of course we understand that about half of those are due to both sets of Simon's grandparents being technologically astute. Well, maybe not Grandpa Dave.
Becca and I have so much fun writing the entries and uploading pictures of our gorgeous boy and other things. We are glad you choose to read them and stay informed on what is going on in our lives. Right now we are about a week behind, since there is a lot to tell of our adventures in Virginia. Please continue to read and enjoy.

Recovered Lost Pics

When we arrived home from our trip to the east coast, we were eager to upload the pictures from the beach of Simon. When we linked our camera to our laptop, we found that half of our pictures were missing! Including pictures of Simon sitting in front of a ceramic sand crab. After a brief moment of panic, we remembered that we viewed the pictures at Shank's Bakery before we left and downloaded copies for G-ma and G-pa Shank. So we uploaded the best ones onto the Picasa photo album in the 6-7 month pictures. Take a look!

Wedding Bells

The trip to Virginia was not only a time to meet up with family and friends, it was also a time to celebrate the love between Becca's brother Brad and his Doctor/Lover/Wife Jessica.
We started off the celebration by participating in the first ever Yodler 5K. It was actually less of a race and more of a time to walk through the beautiful back country of Rockingham County and catch up with family. We introduced Simon for the first time to his cousins, aunts and uncles.
The morning of the wedding, the ladies had tea and wore funny Amish hats while the boys went golfing at the B-water chip and putt. The highlight for me was watching Brad try to use his 9-iron with his pants at his ankles. Not the kind of thing you would want to try at a posh club, which Bridgewater is not.
After a quick rehearsal that went smoothly, Brad and Jessica and their entourage drove out route 33 to a Universalist church for the rehearsal dinner. (sidenote: directions were given universalist style, feel free to find your own path and directions, everyone will eat at the same table in the end)
The actual wedding was a perfect blend of Brad and Jessica's personalities. Jessica walked down the isle to the sound of a Coldplay song by The String Quartet. It was a very eloquent and well put together ceremony. The reception that followed was at Melrose Caverns, a lodge in the rolling countryside about 10 minutes from the Presbyterian Church. It is usually used for college parties and other events where a keg is involved. Needless to say, it needed a thorough scrubbing the week before to get it up to wedding standards. It was beautiful! They transformed the dusty lodge into an enchanting escape.
The next morning, Brad and Jessica opened gifts in front of family, and drove off to their honeymoon in South Carolina.

Trip to VA

On Thursday of last week, our family packed up and jumped on a plane to Virginia for Becca's brother's wedding, a family vacation and viisiting with local family and friends. Becca and I were very anxious with Simon being a first time flyer. We researched what we could do to keep Simon from screaming for 3 1/2 hours and found that really besides drugging him there was no option but feeding him and keeping him content. Which is exactly what we (Becca) did. In between feedings and deep slumbers, Simon made friends of the people around us by exchanging big grins and a few giggles.