The Phillips Family

A little update from Colorado… Annie is finished with school and feeling much better physically. She is getting a bit more round, little by little. No noticeable movement from the baby yet, but the heartbeat is good and the checkups are normal. By the end of the month we will know if the baby is a boy or a girl, just in time for our 5 year anniversary. She has started going back to the farm once a week and spends the rest of the time enjoying her break from school. Work for me continues on the new Supreme Courthouse downtown, and I’ve been enjoying the warmer weather with lots of biking and some running. I try to bike to work at least a few days a week and have been spending more time mountain biking with friends.

Summer is finally here after a rather stubborn winter/spring. Today was 90+ and tomorrow is supposed to be near 100. Hopefully that kind of heat won’t last long or we will be heading for the mountains. Instead of camping several days in the rain like we did last Memorial Day weekend, this year we decided to work around the house for a few days. On Monday we did go out of town for a surprise for Annie. She is always bugging me to tour a mine (there are quite a few here) but most of them look so decrepit and tourist-trappy that I can’t bring myself to do it. So I did a little research and picked one of the better ones, the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine in Cripple Creek. This one was especially attractive because they send you down the hoistway 1,000 ft into the mine.

The hoistway was not for the claustrophobic. They crammed six of us into a space so small that I couldn’t bring my hand to my face to scratch my nose. But once we were in the mine it was well lit and more spacious. Our tour guide was a 3rd generation miner and demonstrated all of the machinery. Interestingly, 1) he had super smooth skin to the point that he looked like one of the mannequins (see below) 2) he talked 90 mph 3) and he coughed every 15 seconds or so.

After the mine we drove into Manitou Springs and I went on a run while Annie looked around town. I have disappointingly been unable to run for about a year because of some feet pain, but lately they have felt much better. I’m trying to take advantage of the window of opportunity by doing the trail running I’ve always wanted to do. One of the most well known trails in Colorado is the Barr Trail up the east face of Pikes Peak. The entire trail gains over 7,000 ft in the 12 miles to the top and is home to the Pikes Peak Ascent and Pikes Peak Marathon. I would love to run the Ascent one of these days, but for now I had a great run making it about 1/3 of the way up and turning around. Any way about it, it was a great run simply because I was able to run.

To all who have not yet heard, we are having a baby! We have anticipated and wanted this day for some time now, and are thankful it is here. We are eager to be parents, though not without some apprehension of things to come. Baby Phillips is due on November 1, which means Annie is already 15 weeks along. We have gone in for two ultrasounds, and have been amazed to see into the miraculous workings of life that are taking place. Physically she is doing well, despite having many of the typical symptoms. Only recently has she begun to physically show, looking beautiful and glowing. I think this is her calling, a mom. She is only a week away from finishing teaching for the year, at which point she will have all summer and the fall to “nest.” This summer we will busy with all the things one does to prepare, I suppose, such as painting the baby’s room and thinking of names. I am personally pulling for a girl, but I’m sure either will be just fine (this is probably just because we have more girl name ideas than boy).

Apart from the physical changes and preparation, personal reflection and spiritual preparation are also in order, as we consider who we are, what kind of parents we will be, and how we will “train a child in the way he should go.” The pregnancy has also increased my amazement of God’s creative power, which has lead to great worship. Everything from conception through development is so fragile, beautiful, and complex. We are very thankful to the Lord for His mercy.

I know that much of our family is disappointed that we will be living so far away with a new baby, so we will try to keep you posted on the blog! My parents have posted a few additional photos here.

It’s been a few months since our last post, and I’m sorry that you all got were Yip Yips and crayons. Well, maybe not too sorry. So what have we been up to? Mainly teaching and architecting, and looking forward to warm weather and longer days.

At the end of January we finally got together with our friends the McPheeters. We baked cookies together at our house with Aaron and Maris, then walked to the park together. It was a great afternoon of catching up and we look forward to more time together this summer.

A few weeks later Annie’s mom visited us, just in time for a fresh snow. She was so happy about it that she volunteered to shovel the sidewalk! I wasn’t going to argue. We drove to Rollinsville and took her snowshoeing, then up to Boulder to the Celestial Seasonings factory. For Valentine’s Day the three of us ate at the Chop House for dinner.

The following weekend Annie and I spent at Camp Elim, northwest of Colorado Springs. Our church has a strong affiliation with the camp, and a group from the “honeymooners” went to volunteer in the kitchen and with general camp maintenance for the weekend. Unfortunately I don’t have any photos, but it snowed all weekend, and was incredibly beautiful. We had our own cabin in the pines and when we weren’t cooking, cleaning, or sanding bunkbeds, we were conversing around the fireplace.

Amidst all this we’ve been doing work around the house. Our main project recently was putting new insulation in the attic, a milestone I had been working towards after months of preparation. I don’t want to have to go in that attic again. With no ladder, the journey begins on the stool, to the table, to the paint cans, then to a hoisting maneuver that I’ve become quite adept out. Our roof is very shallow, so the most difficult thing is moving from place to place. Imagine army crawling over joists, trying not to put any weight on the gyp board ceiling, dragging along a toolbag and pieces of plywood to use as a platform, snaking through foot tall joist openings, wedging yourself down into the eves, breathing 60 year old dust and insulation, all the while protecting your bald head from inch long roof nails coming through the sheathing above, traveling clear across the attic… then realizing that you forgot your screwdriver. Many times I felt like this:

(by the way, do you realize that this movie is 26 years old?!)

Phew, finished.

For those that watched Sesame Street growing up, this video will definitely look familiar. The music especially takes me way back. I loved this video, and evidently, still do!

And a bonus…

A few photos from our 2009 Texas Christmas trip… we had a great trip spending time with every one of our family members, as well as our friends the Russell’s and the Supercinski’s. Thank you all for the hospitality, friendship, and love.

We took lots of family photos at the Carpenter’s, and I intended to make some cool slideshow that transitioned through them quickly. Well, there are a lot of things to do around the house at the moment, so a few snapshots will have to get by.

Rather than give each other gifts for our 30th birthdays this month, we decided to take a trip to Glenwood Springs. We stayed at the Four Mile Creek Bed and Breakfast, in their recently completed “Barn Suite.” It was exactly what we were looking for… complete with fireplace and clawfoot tub. Upstairs was a performance area that the owners use for live music and movies during the summer. We spent the day finishing up our Christmas shopping in town, had dinner at the Glenwood Springs Brewery, then soaked our aged bones in the hot springs. It was in the lower 20s outside, but a toasty 104 in the water. Not bad.

Turning 30 wasn’t painful at all. In fact, it was quite nice. To start off my birthday week, the amazing ladies who meet at my house every Tuesday surprised me with brownies, raspberries, whip cream, and cider! I didn’t think any of them knew my birthday was that week; but they did, and it was so nice to be remembered by my people.

And then on my actual birthday (a Thursday), Jeremy threw me a surprise party. He was so sneaky! He pretended like he was shoveling the driveway when he was really outside icing drinks in the snow and putting up an embarrassing birthday picture (an 8 X 10 school photo of me in my 5th grade school uniform and huge pink speckled glasses- yikes!) When the first people walked in the front door, I thought someone was breaking in and told Jeremy to get a bat. He just said, “Go see who it is.” I thought he was being pretty reckless with my wellfare. But then in walked Molly, Cam, and Andy! I was definitely surprised (as evinced by my workout clothes).

He made me an amazing chocolate cake from scratch with his grandmother’s classic chocolate icing, invited our friends from church and neighborhood and had tons of snacks and drinks- which meant he had to go to the grocery store on his own at least 3 times! And when Jeremy goes to King Soopers 3 times in 24 hours, it means he loves me; the man is not a grocery shopping aficionado.

I wanted a nice group photo for my birthday. Too bad I don’t exactly have nice group photo friends. Here they’re emoting “worried.”

Pretend like you’re happy, kids. Try the 3-fingered smile.

Grossed out

Girls smiled. Guys didn’t get the memo.

Gangsta?

aw, friends

This summer, I had the fabulous opportunity to help out Monroe Farms at the Cherry Creek Farmer’s Market on Saturdays. Farmer’s Market Saturdays meant leaving the house at 5:40 am and working until 2 pm, in sometimes freezing weather. It also meant nibbling all day long on the prettiest vegetables around and getting to know the Monroe family and many of their market friends. Thanks for sharing this part of farm life with me, Monroes! See you next summer!