Welcome Jane & Parker!

Congratulations to Chris & Carrie Tucker on the birth of Jane Tucker on September 18, 2005 and Parker Kelley, born on September 28, 2005!

Jane Tucker & Carrie

Parker Kelley, Patrick & Lindsey

Coldplay Under The Moon

So, a week ago, me, James, Andrew, Jason and Cass drove 3.5 hours to Kansas City to see Coldplay. We took off around Noon from Jason's house and later that afternoon, ended up at the Plaza. We walked around for a bit, drooled over some cool stuff at the Apple store and then went to Cheesecake Factory for a tasty dinner.

Thank you, helpful Cheesecake waitress lady for suggesting that we share a HUGE appetizer sampler and 2 entrees. It was just right.

We then drove to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Bonner Springs, KS. I *thought* that this was just a suburb of KC. Apparently it is a town about 20 miles out of KC. We hit this huge traffic jam about 30 minutes before the opening band, Rilo Kiley was to take the stage. After about 45 minutes of slowly driving through this traffic jam, we realized that it was all concert traffic! Well, we finally made it to the venue, parked and walked to the amphitheater.

Our tickets were in 3 different places, so after deciding on a rendevous point, we split up and went to our seats.

Oh, and I waited with James while he bought a shirt.

Our seats weren't bad. They weren't great either. I'm a bit of a concert snob, so really the only seats I would get really excited about are front and center. And we weren't front and center. We were middle and right.

Oh well, I could still see pretty well.

Sound was ok. At the first, the wind was blowing a bit and sort of messing with the sound. Finally the wind died down and it sounded pretty good.

Coldplay was awesome. They are one of my favorite bands right now. X&Y is the album of the year, in my opinion (Death Cab's, "Plans" is second best). Some highlights of the show:

1. The big yellow balls filled with gold confetti (released during "Yellow")
2. The red light that Chris Martin swung around his head in the middle of "Fix You"
3. They played "Swallowed in the Sea"
4. They covered Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire"
5. I know it is probably cliche, but I loved "Fix You"
6. The big LCD screen behind the band
7. The countdown/countup on "Square One"
8. The rest of the songs they played...

After the show, we traffic jammed it up for a while, then jumped back on the interstate for our late-night ride home. 3.5 hours and a couple of Red Bulls later, and we were home (at 3:30 a.m.!).

I'll never forget the freewheelin' 80's!

Insomnia

For several nights lately, I have had a hard time going to sleep.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a night owl. I have always been wired this way. When I was a kid I would hide under the sheets and read books with a flashlight. But when I finally do go to bed, I usually have no trouble going to sleep within moments. Until lately.

It started a few weeks ago when Jason, Spencer and I were going to the Buffalo National river really early in the morning to shoot photos. That night I went to bed at Midnight and couldn't fall asleep until 2:30. I had to wake up at 4:15. Then again, a few nights ago, I went to bed and just laid there for about 1.5 hours before I could fall asleep. Again, last night I couldn't sleep. I just laid there in bed listening to the thunder and watching the lightning from the storm.

The real problem is that the next day I end up feeling like a zombie. Exhausted.

I don't know what's up with my internal clock.

Binge and purge

So, you see, I wrote a billion pages of blog material when I returned home from Turkey, and I guess I got just a bit burned out. It's not that life hasn't happened since June 12, it's just that I've been too busy to write about it. So here are a few highlights of the rest of my summer:

1. Our family went to Colorado for a wonderful vacation.

We spent almost 2 weeks in Estes Park, CO. This is one of our favorite places. We love the mountain air, the beautiful scenery, the zillions of outdoor activities and the slow pace of life. Our kids really love putting their feet in the water and the chipmunks. We hiked a lot and camped on 4th of July (Elspeth's first time to camp). We discovered a great new restaurant in Boulder called BD's Mongolian Barbeque. I took tons of pictures (I'll put some on the blog soon). Much fun was had by all.

2. We enjoyed many evenings playing in the backyard.

Back in April/May, many of us spent many hours transforming our back yard from swamp into super cool fun zone. It involved Bobcats, sledgehammers, shovels, mud, railroad ties, mulch and sod. Needless to say, our family and friends have had a blast chillin' on the new grass and the kiddos have had a blast playing on the new playset. The finished product:



3. I went on a sweet backpacking trip with a couple of good friends.

Justin, Stuart and I went to Colorado for the Mantrip. As Justin puts it, "we hiked over 2 mountains and around another." It was a sweet time backpacking in the Indian Peaks Wilderness area in Colorado. We sang at the top of our lungs in the car all the way there and all the way home. We hiked until our bodies gave up. We ate amazing backpacking food. We ate even more amazing food when we got off the trail (BD's again). We saw amazing sights. We sat out on a rock in the middle of Mirror Lake until late in the night smoking Cuban cigars, watching shooting stars and talking about life. We made huge campfires (some of which may have been prohibited). I took bunches of pictures (again, I promise I'll post some here).

4. I've spent lots of time on photography.

In addition to the 3 aforementioned trips where I took tons of pictures, I have spent lots of time taking pictures around Northwest Arkansas. Spencer, Jason and I got up super early a couple of weeks ago and drove out to Roark Bluff on the Buffalo National River to take some first light pictures. I sold one of my guitars (and some more stuff) on eBay so that I could buy a sweet new wide-angle lens (Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM). I've spent lots of time post-processing my pictures in Photoshop. It has been tremendously enjoyable. Here's a shot from the Buffalo:



5. And we've basically been trying to catch our breath in between all of these things.

It seems like our summer was quite hectic because we traveled and did so much. So we rarely had much time at home to just "be". For instance, because of my schedule, every time I was in town, I led worship at The Grove. Practically all summer I never had a chance to just sit and be a participant in a service. It was an amazing summer, but I am looking forward to slowing down a bit this fall.

So with that, I vow to get back in the rhythm of blogging...