We had been looking forward to this month for a long time as we returned to Snowmass for the first time in three years. We had a little more luggage this time, including a 2-year old little boy. To paraphrase some anonymous genius, "If you're lucky enough to be in the mountains, you're lucky enough." That's how we flatlanders were feeling that week. Because Andy is too young yet for skis, we didn't ski as much. But we were just so pleased being in one of our most favorite places.
Marshall's father was our resident chef again - may you be so blessed to experience his cooking sometime. Besides skiing, we did some snowshoeing and sledding and took Andy to see the Krabloonik sled dogs. Whenever possible, we played a game of gin rummy here or backgammon there. Or we just read by the fire. It was a fantastic time. Then, to cap off the week, we had 10 inches of fresh powder on the last day.
When we returned to Kansas City, we found much of our Midwest snow gone finally. But Marshall had to immediately turn around and go to the mountains in California again where he found another foot of snow waiting for him during his week at the Leadership Institute.
Most of you who follow us already know that we are now expecting our second child (due September 1), or maybe you discoverd this little secret for yourselves, hidden in the videos we posted last month! But yes, we found out on Christmas Eve. Praise God!
We hope you enjoy the many pictures and videos we've posted this month.
God Bless,
Aimee and Marshall
Happy New Year
The month of December really flew by. But here in the Midwest we were blessed with the first truly white Christmas in years. In fact, it snowed nonstop for at least 48 hours beginning Christmas Eve. It was the most snow Kansas City had seen on Christmas day in 50 years! And since then it has been bitter cold, and the forecast calls for another week of temps in the single digits and lower. As we write, another 2-4 inches is falling outside.
This was Andy’s first Christmas which he could begin to understand. Using our nativity scene advent calendar, he understood that something special was going to happen when we reached December 24. And boy did it ever! Andy was showered with gifts, including a tool belt, a couple of tool boxes and a tool bench. (Perhaps soon he’ll understand that Jesus too was a carpenter.) He also had a blast playing with the Kinney, Carter, and Andersen cousins. And of course, we also just celebrated Andy's 2nd birthday!
Aimee had a very busy month at work, which goes with the territory in the world of charitable giving. But this too was a blessing, seeing people give so generously still, in a year that was tough economically by any measure.
And Marshall celebrated the return of his friend and partner in ministry, Craig Babb. Craig took a much-needed sabbatical during 2009 and we are glad to have him back.
As Aimee and I celebrate our ninth New Year together, we thank God for you and pray that 2010 will be a year marked by growth in your journey with Him.
Blessings to all of you,
-Marshall and Aimee
This was Andy’s first Christmas which he could begin to understand. Using our nativity scene advent calendar, he understood that something special was going to happen when we reached December 24. And boy did it ever! Andy was showered with gifts, including a tool belt, a couple of tool boxes and a tool bench. (Perhaps soon he’ll understand that Jesus too was a carpenter.) He also had a blast playing with the Kinney, Carter, and Andersen cousins. And of course, we also just celebrated Andy's 2nd birthday!
Aimee had a very busy month at work, which goes with the territory in the world of charitable giving. But this too was a blessing, seeing people give so generously still, in a year that was tough economically by any measure.
And Marshall celebrated the return of his friend and partner in ministry, Craig Babb. Craig took a much-needed sabbatical during 2009 and we are glad to have him back.
As Aimee and I celebrate our ninth New Year together, we thank God for you and pray that 2010 will be a year marked by growth in your journey with Him.
Blessings to all of you,
-Marshall and Aimee
Merry Christmas 2009!
November was a momentous month. Don (Pops) had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor and he came through it with a great report from the doctors. It was a scary procedure by any measure, but Don is home now and recuperating. We are so thankful and we praise God that he is doing so well. This brought particular reflection during Thanksgiving, especially since Don was still in the hospital that day.
Andy continues to develop into 110% little boy. One morning he decided he would start caring about clothes he gets to wear. He showed Mama the outfit he wanted to wear, which included a pair of brown pajama bottoms. Momma tried to get him interested in some jeans but he would have nothing of it. Then Dad showed him the “hammer hole” loop on his jeans and how his plastic hammer could go with him wherever he goes, and the deal was sealed. He now has two plastic hammers that go everywhere with him, including bedtime. After setting him down for sleep, it is not uncommon to hear him remodeling his crib before nodding off. Tap tap tap tap BANG tap tap.
Andy also has learned to whistle, if you can believe it. He sees Daddy doing it all the time and so, what the heck, let’s learn to whistle before we learn to talk, shall we?
Not that he doesn’t have any words. Our favorite is probably “wet”, which is his word for anything that he drinks.
And further evidence that God trumps Darwin, Andy does not take after his dad’s own childhood diet. Beets, pumpkin, green beans, sweet potato, you name it…he loves it all.
November was also the height of leaf removal for Prairie Village this year. Andy was not to be left out—he really enjoyed helping Dad rake (and un-rake) the mammoth piles of leaves.
Lastly, Marshall spent a long weekend in Pennsylvania helping Andy’s Pawpaw split enough firewood for the winter. Thank God for gas-powered log splitters. Still, it was a workout.
Thank you for tuning in to this blog to catch up with us. We do this for loved ones who live far away, and it is a great blessing to be reminded of you each month as we put it together.
This Advent season, may you be blessed as you celebrate the coming of our Lord and Savior.
Merry Christmas,
The Minnichs
*It came to our attention that we failed to notify folks of last month’s update. Sorry about that—you can scroll down below to see October’s entry.
Andy continues to develop into 110% little boy. One morning he decided he would start caring about clothes he gets to wear. He showed Mama the outfit he wanted to wear, which included a pair of brown pajama bottoms. Momma tried to get him interested in some jeans but he would have nothing of it. Then Dad showed him the “hammer hole” loop on his jeans and how his plastic hammer could go with him wherever he goes, and the deal was sealed. He now has two plastic hammers that go everywhere with him, including bedtime. After setting him down for sleep, it is not uncommon to hear him remodeling his crib before nodding off. Tap tap tap tap BANG tap tap.
Andy also has learned to whistle, if you can believe it. He sees Daddy doing it all the time and so, what the heck, let’s learn to whistle before we learn to talk, shall we?
Not that he doesn’t have any words. Our favorite is probably “wet”, which is his word for anything that he drinks.
And further evidence that God trumps Darwin, Andy does not take after his dad’s own childhood diet. Beets, pumpkin, green beans, sweet potato, you name it…he loves it all.
November was also the height of leaf removal for Prairie Village this year. Andy was not to be left out—he really enjoyed helping Dad rake (and un-rake) the mammoth piles of leaves.
Lastly, Marshall spent a long weekend in Pennsylvania helping Andy’s Pawpaw split enough firewood for the winter. Thank God for gas-powered log splitters. Still, it was a workout.
Thank you for tuning in to this blog to catch up with us. We do this for loved ones who live far away, and it is a great blessing to be reminded of you each month as we put it together.
This Advent season, may you be blessed as you celebrate the coming of our Lord and Savior.
Merry Christmas,
The Minnichs
*It came to our attention that we failed to notify folks of last month’s update. Sorry about that—you can scroll down below to see October’s entry.
October 2009
Before the update, let us thank you all for reading and keeping up with us. We love putting the blog together each month and thinking of our friends and family as we do so.
The last few weeks have been marked by lots of leaves and acorns. Andy and Virginia love romping in the leaves and throwing, chewing (V), and collecting the acorns. Andy is quite the helper when it comes to yard work. He loves to carry the rake around and help daddy use the leaf blower.
A big highlight of the month (for Andy) was the construction of speed humps on our street. Marshall took some videos of the asphalt paver, roller, dump truck and skid-steer so that Andy can re-live the experience over and over. And over.
It's so fun to watch Andy learn new things every day. He's a smart cookie, and even knows that the best way to get daddy out of bed on Saturday is to bring daddy's slippers and "ears" (hearing aids), then tug on his hand.
Marshall and I celebrated our 6th anniversary together. We've seen lots of wonder in the past few years. Thanks to each of you for walking this journey with us.
The last few weeks have been marked by lots of leaves and acorns. Andy and Virginia love romping in the leaves and throwing, chewing (V), and collecting the acorns. Andy is quite the helper when it comes to yard work. He loves to carry the rake around and help daddy use the leaf blower.
A big highlight of the month (for Andy) was the construction of speed humps on our street. Marshall took some videos of the asphalt paver, roller, dump truck and skid-steer so that Andy can re-live the experience over and over. And over.
It's so fun to watch Andy learn new things every day. He's a smart cookie, and even knows that the best way to get daddy out of bed on Saturday is to bring daddy's slippers and "ears" (hearing aids), then tug on his hand.
Marshall and I celebrated our 6th anniversary together. We've seen lots of wonder in the past few years. Thanks to each of you for walking this journey with us.
September 2009
Wow, we (Marshall here) really don’t have much to share about the month of September. Fall definitely arrived, and we celebrated Aimee’s 29th birthday. Aimee also went on a 3-day business trip leaving Marshall to survive his first multi-day stint taking care of Andy alone. The last time we tried this it was for less than 24 hours but Andy awoke in the middle of the night puking all over everything. That was good times that I will never forget. But alas, Andy and I escaped unscathed this time. But, we only have 2 photos and a couple of videos to share this month. Sorry!
August 2009
We had a pretty slow month, other than a visit from Marshall's aunt and uncle--Brook and Pete. It was great to see them on our turf and show them our house. Aimee's Great Aunt, Sister Rita (she's a nun) also came for a visit. Four of the 10 great-aunts are still living and a few of them came to lunch at Nana's. Andy enjoyed showing off for all the guests and we enjoyed catching up.
Andy continues to amaze in cuteness (ok, I might be a little biased, but he's pretty cute). Still not much for talking in English, but he definitely understands what we're saying. Sometimes too much. He stepped on a flower and said, "Darn!" Guess Mama better watch her language. And the other day Marshall said his shoulder hurt. Andy looked very concerned and started rubbing Marshall's shoulder. Marshall said, "Oh, thanks Buddy, but it's the other shoulder." So Andy switched to rubbing the other shoulder.
Andy wants to write something this month. hn nn/ m0/ sss s[';sjkdzszmm n hh bnb nhb V 2555nn n n99+65- That translates to: "I love you guys. Talk to you later."
Andy continues to amaze in cuteness (ok, I might be a little biased, but he's pretty cute). Still not much for talking in English, but he definitely understands what we're saying. Sometimes too much. He stepped on a flower and said, "Darn!" Guess Mama better watch her language. And the other day Marshall said his shoulder hurt. Andy looked very concerned and started rubbing Marshall's shoulder. Marshall said, "Oh, thanks Buddy, but it's the other shoulder." So Andy switched to rubbing the other shoulder.
Andy wants to write something this month. hn nn/ m0/ sss s[';sjkdzszmm n hh bnb nhb V 2555nn n n99+65- That translates to: "I love you guys. Talk to you later."
July 2009
We began the month with Fourth of July fireworks and family fun. Andy got to stay up late and we had the best view in town of a great fireworks display. Uncle Darrin took us up to his offices on the top floor of the closest building to the display. They were awesome. Watch the videos and you can hear Andy saying, "Whoa!".
We also had tons of fun playing with our friends the Harrows at their block party. A real, live fire truck came and sprayed water all over the street. Andy was courageous enough to run in and out of the huge stream spray. He laughed and laughed.
Speaking of laughing...Marshall ran into a tree while playing catch with his friend Paul. Paul said, "Back up, Marshall. Let's see how far 60 feet is." Then Paul threw the ball over Marshall's head and while running backward and spinning to catch the ball, Marshall ran into a tree. It was really funny for about 1/2 a second, until I realized that Marshall was seriously hurt. He was dazed and bleeding profusely and I knew immediately that he needed lots of stitches. Being a good wife I said, "Don't look at it. Just go to the hospital and they'll probably put in one or two stitches." An hour and ten stitches later, Marshall emerged from the ER bruised and in pain.
And speaking of stitches, our dog had her share too. We grew concerned about a couple of bumps on her skin, so the vet removed them (lab result: no cancer). But Virginia wasn't too happy to have these big holes on her back, so she promptly chewed out the stitches. The vet then added super-glue, but that only lasted about 4 hours. We lost count of how many stitches and re-stitches and re-gluings we had, but we finally got her on the mend. For two weeks we had to endure Virginia bumping into everything with the upside down lamp-shade on her head.
Other than that, it's been a pretty normal month.
For you devoted fans, I'll turn to the cute Andy stories. The rest of you can stop reading now, while I brag about my adorable, smart son. He loves to pray before meals--sometimes three or four times until we declare it's time to eat. He grabs our hands, bows his head, and says "blah, blah, adabah, God."
Andy also loves to talk on the phone, but doesn't always talk out loud. He waves at the phone when we tell him to say "Hi". So if you get a blank message on your machine, you'll know who it's from.
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