Amber and Mike Part IV

I boarded a plane later that summer bound for Amsterdam. I had signed up with YWAM’s Summer of Service and would be joining about 50 or 60 other people from all over the world in a six week evangelistic blitz. Amber and I had only a few brief phone calls while she was in training in Germany before she left for Russia. Stepping out of Amsterdam’s Central Station was a surreal experience. It was my first time out of the U.S. and I knew no one where I was going. Of course, I got on the wrong bus and ended up lugging my bag around for a few hours before finding YWAM’s home base. After a few awkward moments of meeting people in a semi-conscious state, I hit the bed.

The first few days of the trip were a whirlwind. We immediately started doing outreaches and I barely had any time to consider where I was or what Amber might be up to. Eventually, things began to settle down and I thought about how I could get in contact with her. I had one fax number for the church she would be staying at in Murmansk, which is in the arctic circle. Mail to that region was a worthless enterprise. So I wrote a little note and tried to send it a few times with no luck. Finally, after much frustration trying to figure out country codes and getting multiple busy signals, I gave up. I would have to wait until she contacted me, or assume we’d just see each other back in the states.

A few weeks into the trip, the stress of everything going on began to wear at me. I was way out of the arena of my personality with the style of ministry being performed. I was meeting people from all over the world and trying to understand how we could work out life together for those few weeks. And, of course, I missed Amber. The questions we had left each other with earlier in the summer weighed heavily on my mind. In YWAM, I was in an environment where much of ministry, in fact much of life, was constantly being aware of God’s presence and interaction. We expected God to speak to us on a daily basis in the course of what we were doing. So in this context, much of my alone time was spent talking to God about my life, my future, and Amber. Did he, in fact, want us to get married? And if not, would he please tell me now and spare me any more anguish? Was I being presumptions to think that we should get married? What if Amber really was supposed to become a missionary without me?

You might think these questions seem a little silly now, but this was dead serious business to me at the time. I did expect God to answer me – maybe not audibly – but with certainty I could not refute.

One morning we were in our normal pre-outreach worship time at the base. While everyone else sang and worshipped, I was in anguish. I had pleaded for God to give me some kind of sign, some kind of word of direction about Amber. In desperation I raised my hands to God and asked him one more time, “Please God. Tell me...am I supposed to marry Amber or not?”

I’m not sure what everyone who is reading this thinks of hearing God’s voice. I will make no theological justification for or against, only to say that I simply believe that God is interested in us and desires to communicate with us. In my experience, I’ve had plenty of times where a brief word or phrase will flash into my mind like someone quickly flipping on and off a lamp. Usually it’s a dim lamp though and easy to miss.

On this occasion though, a loud and distinct “NO” entered my mind.

Obviously I was reeling after what I heard. My mind immediately began trying to calculate the consequences and then rationalize that maybe it wasn’t God or that I was just going nuts. After a few seconds, I couldn’t take any more and bolted out of the room to go get some fresh air. As I was approaching the front entrance I habitually glanced towards my mailbox and saw a piece of paper inside. The receptionist handed it to me and all of a sudden I was reeling again. It was a fax from Amber! Literally just a few minutes before she had sent what was the first communication we had had in weeks. I quickly scanned the fax which was just a simple note telling about her adventures getting to Russia and that she missed me. But now I was horribly confused. Was that God back there in the worship service? What were the odds that I would hear from Amber right after that happened? Ahhh!

I’ll spare you the details of my struggle over the final few weeks of the trip. I was able to come to a marginal peace about the whole thing before I left for home, but honestly I was still a little unsure. I put the whole thing in God’s hands and said, if it’s not meant to be, we’ll know when we get back to Gainesville.

After a grueling and mostly sleepless flight (I don’t sleep well on planes) I spent a few hours with my mom and dad and started the drive up to Gainesville. When I reached Amber’s apartment and knocked, she flung open the door and literally jumped on me. We spent the first few days getting used to being around each other and preparing for another semester. I don’t recall anything negative about our reunion, other than my own nagging doubt. Eventually, a few weeks into school I had to tell her the whole story about what happened that morning in Amsterdam. She wasn’t fazed by the story and didn’t really seem concerned which gave me some bit of hope. By the middle of September we were seriously talking about marriage and beginning to make some plans. Everything seemed to be pointing one direction except for that one damn word.

I wish I had a single event to tell about that transformed my doubt into trust and eventually joy and release. For most who haven’t heard me tell this story, I’m sure it’s even a bit surprising to hear that I struggled with getting married based on everything I’ve said up to this point. Literally, there was nothing in my mind that would have kept me from marrying Amber except for the possibility it was not God’s best, his wish for our lives. She was everything I wanted in a wife and companion, but that was secondary to the overwhelming sense of God’s provision. She was a gift, one to be knit and yoked with me for the rest of my life. So why the “No”? Was there something we were missing or overlooking?

Possibly there is one event that turned the tide in my mind. When I called my parents and asked for their blessing, they were nothing but joyful and supportive. They loved Amber and absolutely loved the idea of us getting married, even with a year left of college. We both submitted the decision to our parents, our friends, and those who had mentored us in the faith. All were extremely supportive and excited for what God was doing with us. In early October, a ring was purchased and a proposal secretly planned. On the 18th of that month, I drove Amber over to Cedar Key to the end of a small airstrip overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. I proposed and totally took her by surprise. On the trip back to Gainesville, we listened to the 77’s, laughed, and enjoyed a beautiful full moon.

Eight months later, on June 23rd, 1995, ten years ago today, we were married in Palm Beach Gardens at Amber’s old church. It was an evening wedding, black and formal, about 200 in attendance. The reception was at the Jupiter Beach Resort, about 5 miles from our current home. The obligatory chicken dance was danced, the cake was smashed, and we drifted off to our honeymoon and first week of married life.

This has primarily been a story about Amber and myself, but it would be incomplete without telling how I began to discover what it really meant to hear from and follow God as one of his children. I don’t know for sure, but possibly that “No” I heard was a strategically placed atom bomb on my immaturity as a follower of Jesus and as a human being. We have drawn from that experience during countless times of decision over the past ten years. The decisions never get easier or less complex, but God has always been faithful to guide us, giving us just what we need when we need it.

A few years after we were married, a man began attending our church in Gainesville who was a former missionary. He was in his forties, single, and trying to rediscover what his life was supposed to be about. Amber and I opened our home to him for a few days here and there as he was looking for work and a permanent place to live. One thing was immediately apparent after seeing this man in real life – he was one of the most immature forty-year-olds I had ever met. Literally, the guy almost didn’t take a poop unless God told him to. Watching his life unfold over the following months, it was as if God was showing me what I might have become. God bless the poor guy, but it was almost unbearable to be around him.

Amber, it is my joy to be with you after these ten years. I am so thankful that God chose to bring us together and allow us to discover the kingdom as husband and wife. There is so much else to be thankful for – our children, our faith community, our families and friends. We have become missionaries, maybe not in the way you first envisioned, but in way that is much more faithful to who God has created us to be. I’m thankful that you still love me, even if I still don’t clean things the same way you do:) More than anything else, I’m thankful that we both have continued to mature and change as people and in our relationship. My prayer is that we latch onto God’s provision for the next ten years and see what he will do.

Happy Anniversary!

I love you.

Amber and Mike Part III

The day after Christmas, 1993, I hopped in my parents’ minivan with my brother and a few other friends to make the trek to Atlanta. Amber was riding with a few other friends, so I had a nice nine or so hour drive wondering how it would be when we saw each other. When we finally got the hotel, it wasn’t long before we met up with a bunch of other UF crusaders in the lobby. Amber had a big smile on her face when she saw me, so I figured it couldn’t be all bad news.

The conference was, well, about like the other four Christmas Conferences I attended. Someone preached about evangelism, someone else preached about having a quiet time, yet another preached about sex and dating, and then Josh McDowell ran in and did something crazy. That year I think he came in wearing a Russian naval uniform someone had given him. Anyway, I do remember having a good time with Amber and our other friends. The final night, of course, was the big blowout where Bill Bright was beamed in via satellite and everyone brought in the new year singing worship songs. Sometime before midnight, Amber and I escaped the din and wandered upstairs to the hallway between our rooms. There, we engaged in......

(Oh come on. I’ve spent the last two weeks telling you how our lives in college basically revolved around Crusade, school, and Gator football. Do you really think anything juicy was going to happen next? I told you this might be boring and you might want to go read someone else’s blog. But hey, I can’t apologize for the fact that Amber and I were serious about Jesus in college. Did we do everything perfect, of course not. Do I like the fact that 95% of my extracurricular activity in college was doing stuff like handing out tracts on campus and organizing barn dances? Not particularly, but I can’t complain about the outcomes. I still love Jesus 12 years later. Amber is still my bride and my love 12 years later. If I was making this stuff up, I would’ve thrown in some juice a long time ago.)

...the inevitable DTR. That’s right, the “Defining the Relationship” talk. Remember, Amber and I had become close friends, but as far as I knew she was still planning on taking the first boat to missionary-ville after college. So when we approached the subject of dating that night, it was done very cautiously. There was a mutual decision to go forward, but in order to keep things chill we decided to just “hang out” for a while. At the time, very few if any other of our Crusade friends were dating. There would be questions from “accountability partners” (don’t get me started) and maybe even from a staff person or two. So, for the time being, we would be “hanging out”. We left the hallway, hand in hand bringing in the remarkable year 1994.

Back in Gainesville, the expected questions did start to come our way. Honestly though, I don’t remember anyone giving us trouble expect one guy named Rodney who would always look at us with a half-sneer. He may have had a crush on Amber, but that’s another story. Anyway, that spring we took to spending as much time as we could together. You know, long talks, long walks, making out at night outside the University Auditorium. Stuff like that. Over spring break, Amber had her wisdom teeth out so I came down to Jupiter to visit her and her family. Odd to think that seven years later we’d be moving to Jupiter for good.

It was a wonderful spring semester for me. I think I actually did pretty good in school. The pressure and stress of dealing with girls was replaced with just being with someone I cared for, simply. Amber introduced me to the guitar. I introduced her to Gator Basketball. She convinced me to apply for a missions trip the next summer. I convinced her...well, I did get her to like basketball. Summer approached and I was scheduled to work for a friend back in Merritt Island. Amber would go home as well and get ready for her next missionary venture to Russia. We saw each other a few times that summer and I came down to Jupiter to see her off on her trip.

The night before she left, I told her I loved her. We had talked about marriage before, but that night we discussed how the big decision was approaching rapidly. What would happen over the summer? We would not be speaking for at least 6 weeks until she reached Russia and even then it was questionable if she would have a way to communicate. Pre-internet and pre-satellite phone, it was write a letter or hope for a fax. Would we feel the same when we returned to Gainesville? I felt confident, but neither of us had what we felt at the time was a “word from God.” What if God said, “no”? Those were the questions I was left with as she walked on the plane the next day.

Stay tuned...

Palmer Family

Our prayers our with you!

Amber & Mike Part II

My sophomore year came to a close and so did my contact with Amber. We had maintained an acquaintance within Crusade but were not really close friends. She went home for the summer and I stayed in Gainesville for school.

I was fairly busy with classes, but found time to continue working with Crusade in a much smaller group. We all became pretty close during those few months and, of course, did our normal collection of outreaches and weekly meetings. One of the girls in the group was a girl named Kristen who happened to be a friend of Amber. Kristen was a classic Crusade sorority girl. She was incredibly "peppy", almost annoyingly so in some ways. But she was an attractive girl and had one of those personalities that made you feel that you were one of the most important people in her life. I developed a little crush on Kristen that summer, but as was my usual course of action, I pretty much kept it to myself.

Fall landed with a bang as I began my first year of engineering school. I recall that Fall being the single busiest semester of my college career. I was taking 15 hours, juggling studying and Crusade activities, and of course, Gator football. My pursuit of Kristen continued, but I was running into familiar walls. She was busier than myself, so any opportunities to see her were few and far between. Also, it was obvious that there was the usual disconnect in our conversations that I had experienced with other girls. But yet I continued looking to be around her almost in spite of what I knew to be a hopeless case. Towards the end of the semester I was exhausted – tired of school, tired of Crusade activities, and tired of girls.

Most of Crusade at the time was attending a local Evangelical Free church on Sundays. It’s hysterical how low and reductionistic my view of church was at the time. This was a nice church in my view, but their worship team lacked considerably. My brother, who is three years my senior, and a few of his friends started to go to this little church called the Vineyard which met in a dollar theater. They had worship we were more accustomed to, good preaching, and were more Charismatic-leaning which had been our family church background. Our church shopping was over! Blech! Anyway, pretty soon about ten of us “rebels” from the Crusade status quo were going to the Vineyard on Sundays - worshipping with our hands up, tuning into prophetic words, and learning how to pray for the sick. Radical stuff!

Kristen and Amber were part of this group. The timeline at this point is a bit fuzzy, but somewhere around Thanksgiving, I was reaching the end of my patience with the Kristen ordeal. I resolved to confront her and come to some decision about the next step. One evening, I called her and asked if I could come over to her apartment. She lived on the east side of campus with a few other girls, and Amber lived about 10 doors down from her with roommates of her own. That night, I asked Kristen if she had any interest in taking our friendship further to which she said, in a sorority girl kind of way, forget about it. I was sad and relieved all at the same time. Afterwards, I walked by Amber’s apartment and knocked to see who was home. Amber answered the door and we talked for a while. I don’t remember much about the content of our conversation, but I do remember feeling comforted when I drove home. More than anything else, I appreciated her availability and understanding. She was able to see through the facade I had built up around Kristen and solidly confirm that we were not compatible people.

Over the next few weeks, Amber and I became friends. I was drawn to that no-nonsense attitude about things and people, particularly as Crusade had developed its fair share of cliques. In early December, I invited her out to dinner as a way of saying thanks for helping me sort through the stuff with Kristen and as an excuse to hang out. We went to the Olive Garden, everyone’s favorite Italian restaurant if you’re low on cash. We sat down and chit-chatted for a while...then I asked her about her summer missions trip.

Amber had taken a trip to the Czech Republic with Operation Mobilization. It had obviously been a life-changing event, but no one in Crusade knew much of the details. OM, like many missionary groups that organize short term projects, is a melting pot for young, zealous Christians. During their orientation in Germany, Amber was thrown in with people from all over Europe representing every ecclesiological stripe. She had grown up in a very conservative evangelical church and was fresh off a year with an equally conservative campus ministry. When her team members began talking about speaking in tongues, casting out demons, being baptized in the Holy Spirit and the like, Amber almost blew a gasket. Fairly soon, she had about 50 European neo-charismatics praying for her to be introduced to the power of the Spirit. Very shortly, some “things” began to happen. These were unmentionable things in the world of Campus Crusade, so we spoke in hushed tones over salad and breadsticks. Stories of angels, demonic activity, prophetic words and prayer, etc. etc. I was spellbound. After her story, I remarked that there was much I could relate to from my past and much I was yearning to return. She was visibly relieved that I was not going to tell her that she was crazy and end up reporting her to Crusade staff. We were both enjoying what we were learning in the Vineyard and agreed to continue that pursuit.

But something greater happened at that table that night. There was a spark that was lit in me towards Amber that I remember to this day. She trusted me with something very dear and intimate and I was grateful for that window into her heart. I liked what I saw there. Through exams, our conversations increased and we spent many nights talking on the phone. Our friendship grew, but Christmas break was about to send us apart. So I did something daring (and totally unlike myself). I asked her if she wanted to ride home with me so her parents would not have to drive all the way to Gainesville to pick her up. That trip eventually didn’t work out, but the ubiquitous Crusade Atlanta Christmas Conference was rapidly approaching.

Amber would be there. I would be there.

Stay tuned.

Grandparents

I am completely thankful for Grandparents. I don't know how I would manage all of my brood without the gracious help from our parents. We have the best of both worlds..A set of grandparents within walking distance that help with day to day operations so to say and then we have a set of grandparents that live relatively close and live on a lake and have way too many fun things for little kids to do. Mike and I started noticing something interesting about Jackson. He would all of a sudden wistful sigh and would say "Mommy, I miss my Grandmamma and Granddaddy." So Mike is driving the two older kids half way to Gainesville. They are spending the next three days with their grandparents and I am sure will not even have time to miss us a bit. Thanks Sue and Jerry! I fondly remember summers spent up north with my grandparents. I am happy that they will have the same experience as part of their formation.

Big Mess

We did an engineering survey at a golf club in Stuart yesterday. This is what we found in the attic. I feel like I need to put a Where's Waldo figure in there somewhere. It's unbelievable how wealthy people in the these golf clubs are, yet how absolutely screwed up their buildings are. As the saying goes..."You can't see it from my house."

Amber & Mike

June 23rd will be our tenth anniversary. Since we are in the process of buying yet another house and have three little ones, extravagant trips to Venice or Bora Bora are out of the question. So we are exploring other opportunities, namely something overnight in lovely Palm Beach County. It's nice this time of the year, you know?

Anyway, I also wanted to write a little about how Amber and I met and why I married her...from my point of view of course. Amber can chime in if she wants to, but I'm mostly writing this as an exercise of remembrance. A lot happens in ten years and we don't often get a chance to recall all that God has done and why he brought us together in the first place. So, if this is too cheesy or boring for anyone...sorry...go read someone else's blog.

In the Fall of 1992 I was a sophomore at the University of Florida. My first year at UF was spent getting used to going to college with 40,000 other people, living in the dorm and hating it, and becoming part of Campus Crusade for Christ. Crusade became my family that first year and (as became my habit in ministry related things) I dove in with both feet and did everything. I went to all the meetings, led Bible studies, and walked around campus handing out Four Laws tracts talking somewhat reluctantly to people about Jesus. I also became one of the de facto skit leaders for the weekly meeting. My claim to fame was dressing up like the Blues Brothers with my friend Matt and performing a remake of "Soul Man". I won't repeat the lyrics of our remake here lest I lose all credibility. So when I arrived for my sophomore year, our campus director invited me to begin emceeing some of our weekly meetings. One of those meetings early that Fall, a certain freshman named Amber Davenport asked one of her friends, "Who is that cute guy leading the meeting?" (Her words...not mine:) Her friend replied, "Oh, that's Mike Bishop. Don't even bother with him. All the girls have their eye on him."

Years later, Amber told me what her friend had said. That would have been major news to me at the time. From my point of view, I was a dorky 20 year old who had trouble communicating with most girls my age. I had had one girlfriend in high school - a brief romance that ended quite abruptly after prom - and a few other very short (two weeks tops) dating relationships. My trouble was, I just didn't feel comfortable talking with girls. There was always an agenda in play - either mine or hers - that just seemed to get in the way of truly being able to sit down and have a conversation. I did not like "playing the game"; my engineering brain could not solve those equations. So I was left with a blind and hopeless pursuit of a few girls that I sort of liked but never "clicked" enough with to even ask them out.

The following Spring, I signed up to go on Crusade's Spring Break evangelistic project in Daytona Beach. It was an evangelistravaganza of epic proportions. Hundreds of eager Crusaders descending on helpless drunk college students with our little yellow and blue booklets. If you don't know the difference between yellow and blue...then you must have been an Intervarsity nerd. They were always doing barbeques and stuff trying to be "relevant". Ha. Anyway, on the team from UF that year was myself, about 10 other students and staff, and Amber. The week was pretty unremarkable spiritually, although we did have quite an eye-opening talk with an African-American Muslim on the campus of Bethune Cookman University. The significant thing was this was the first time I "noticed" Amber. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that I also "noticed" another girl on the team that week, but more about that later. Amber was a cute, fiery little girl with long, brown hair and a look in her eye that said, "Hey, don't mess with me you punk unless you love Jesus." Literally, that's more or less what one of her friends told me that week. "Don't bother with her. She's going to become a missionary and could care less about guys right now."

One night after a hard day of proselytizing, the group decided to take a walk on the beach. It was a little chilly that night, so I offered my jacket to Amber who was shivering. As we all walked on the beach, Amber and I struck up a conversation. Mostly we talked about our background - what our parents did and our church experience. But we also talked some about the future, or should I say, Amber talked about the future. My life at the time was pretty much on auto-pilot. I was going to do five years of engineering school and become an industrial engineer and go work for a large company. My years of experience with Crusade would make me a good Christian leader and I would become a valuable member of some church somewhere. I would get married, have kids, and live quite comfortably. Amber would have none of that. She was signed up to go to the Czech Republic that summer with Operation Mobilization and would eventually go full-time on the mission field. Crusade was nice, but she had her sights set on radical overseas missions. Eastern Europe most likely. That remained to be seen, but it was going to be someplace far away that really needs Jesus. During all this, I nodded my head and felt a mix of attraction and dismay. I really loved her zeal and determination, but I was bummed about the mission to Eastern Europe thing. Not great marriage material there. (Recall, these are the thoughts of an shy 20 year old with not much relationship experience).

The night ended and my pea-brain turned to thoughts of the other "noticed" girl that week, Janine. We had a few awkward conversations but after returning to Gainesville I asked Janine out anyway. That, as usual, lasted for about two weeks before the utter lack of conversablity caused us to amicably drift apart. The rest of the Spring was fairly uneventful, but there were three events about to unfold that would eventually bring Amber and I together in a very unexpected way. Those events were, in no particular order: a missions trip, a crush on a girl named Kristen, and The Toronto Blessing.

Stay tuned...

Odds and Ends

This is a post to tie up some loose ends over the past week or so. In other words, I haven't had the energy to write any of this stuff down.

A few posts back, a "Lori" made a comment. Is that Lori Cooper? If so, how are you doing? Shoot me an email sometime when you get a chance.

Today I purchased tickets to the third and final show in the "Mike & Amber's Favorite Musicians Fall Concert Tour 2005". First up will be Jack Johnson in early September down in Boca - his only show in Florida. Then, Coldplay about a week later here in West Palm. Finally, in November, the big show in Miami...U2. None of our seats are particurly great for any of the shows, but hey, how many times to you get to see three amazing concerts in the space of two months?

Next...the Workshop was great...exceeded my expectations in fact. The first night we had some great conversations around a few biblical images of the kingdom and sought to enlarge our minds a little concerning the kingdom's implications, particularly as what we think of as the "good news". I enjoyed hearing the various responses from the time of meditation and, as usual when you talk about the kingdom, there was no lack hard questions and aha moments. The second night we focused on our reactions to the picture of the kingdom that had been painted for us the night before, specifically answering two questions: Does the agenda of God, or God's dream for the world, feel good and right to us and do we want in on it ourselves? Does it (or does it not) make sense to think of entering the kingdom of God as the "good news" or Gospel? Again, lots of varied reactions but in my view the primary goal was reached - an open atmosphere for dialog about the kingdom of God's implications for our life was established. We'll be setting up the next Workshop fairly soon. There's a pool of potential topics we're considering, then we have to plan it and set the date. So, look for something probably later in July.

Out.

Choices

It is a rainy day and we have no food in the house. I need to go grocery shopping my second lest favorite chore next to laundry. I had finished work and I was calculating what would be easier, going to the grocery store with three hungry kids or go to a local kid friendly restaurant that has an indoor activity center. I picked the later. I thought, oh the kids can play, and eat and I will wear them out before nap time. That was my first colossal blunder. Two miscalculations. It is the first day of summer vacation and every child in north palm beach county is at this restaurant and secondly it is about to pour buckets. I walk in with my double stroller and three kids. I should of seen it as a sign when an actual disabled person was crossing the street before me with an assistant. He let me go in front of him saying..."You have a worse time of it than me".

When I entered the restaurant there was a wait...The scenario is just getting worse and worse. I try to back out of the restaurant but the freaking huge double stroller is a little too large and there is now a crowned of people behind me who also want to get in. When the kids start to sense that I am departing they start the water works ..So I am literally trapped. Thankfully they know me and my family there so I motion to my favorite waitress and tell her our order on the way to the table hoping to make this quick. While we are waiting for our food, a huge glass of water is spilled on the floor, Chloe falls off of a chair and is screaming bloody murder and Jackson is repeating incessantly, "Mommy can we please play one game." over and over again like his own personal mantra. Hudson is calmly and patiently sitting in his chair eating his food until Chloe starts screaming and then he got scared and started wailing. I then motion again to the waitress and say. "Bring the check and make it to go." She smiled and said "You tried." I thought.... "I am insane."

Why is she writing this..You think. Well, I want to remind myself of this time and remind me of my choices. I was driving home and I told Jackson that I wanted some quite time in the car and he asked why. I told him I was thinking about my choices. As I run into the house with the baby as it starts to pour, I ask Jackson to sit with Hudson, so I can go and get Chloe who has fallen asleep in the car. When I come back in the door I see Jackson and Hudsons sitting together and Hudson gumming something in his mouth. While I was getting Chloe, Jackson helps himself to some fresh baked cookies that where out on the counter. Jackson says, "Mommy I am sharing my oatmeal cookie with Hudson." I scream out loud, "No Buddy that is a choking hazard!" Chloe barely wakes up, I quick throw her in the bed with her shoes still on, and run to get the cookie out of Hudson's mouth. By this time he has managed to gum it down and is smiling from ear to ear. After explaining to Jackson that Hudson can't eat grown up food yet I think to myself "I should of just stayed home and ordered pizza":-)

Highlight

My personal favorite moment of the weekend was listening to Brant's 11 year old son Justice recite Napoleon's Loch Ness speech...

Last week, Japanese scientists explaced.... placed explosive detonators at the bottom of Lake Loch Ness to blow Nessie out of the water. Sir Curt Godfrey of the Nessie Alliance summoned the help of Scotland's local wizards to cast a protective spell over the lake and its local residents and all those who seek for the peaceful existence of our underwater ally.