Christmas Melodies

I thought I should post something about myself lest this become solely Reagan's blog. These are some of my students at the Contemporary School of Fine Arts. We had a beautiful Christmas recital to end our semester. God has given me such a wonderful teaching situation. The music school is at a Baptist church only 4 miles from our house. So I teach there one evening a week. And my neighbor baby-sits Reagan until Mark gets home from work. Doesn't God care for us with generosity?

Hey, check out my new fort!

finally, boy stuff

Future pianist?

Time for Bed

Merry Christmas

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

"Oh, this is what the world looks like when you're vertical."

I was folding laundry the other day. After a little while I looked up and there was Reagan . . . standing up. He looked at me as if to say, "What are you so excited about? I do this all the time while you're not watching."

Daddy likes to hug

Finally, Mommy's getting some help with the housework.

Grrrrr! I'm a cheetah.

On Halloween night we dressed Reagan in his cheetah outfit and took him over to our neighbor's house. We set him down on their floor so that our friends could see the little cheetah crawl around. Our neighbor's cat was nearby in the room. The cat took one look at our little feline and hissed at Reagan and ran out of the room. I guess fake cheetah trumps real house cat.

Gimme the keys!

Belgium: Mark's duathlon

Our 10th wedding anniversary is next weekend. In August we celebrated early and took a trip to Belgium. This beautiful country is more than just belgium waffles (which by the way are a dessert, not a breakfast food. And they taste like funnelcakes with powdered sugar and ice cream.) Mark raced in the world championships for duathlon while we were there. It was the longest race he had ever done, 48 miles of cycling and 18 miles of running. This photo is a picture of Mark dismounting on the fly while transitioning from the bike to the run. Reagan stayed in Nebraska with his grandparents, so we enjoyed long dinners without pacifiers or squirmy baby noises. Our trip home was made more exciting when the Brussels airport was closed due to a strike by the baggage attenders. We were bused up to Amsterdam, Netherlands to fly home on a different flight. We arrived home at 2:00 in the morning and woke Reagan up to play with him before we crashed into bed to fight off our jet lag.

Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike hit Houston a few weeks ago. Thankfully, we live about 50 miles inland, so the only damage we had was to our fence. We didn't have power at our house for 9 days. What fun we had grilling with neighbors, playing games by candlelight, and living with the fresh air blowing through the windows. But we missed our fridge, dishwasher and washing machine. Oh, and Monica missed her hair-dryer. It's not fun looking like a drown rat for more than a week.

Now that I can crawl I can get into tons of trouble.

Nothing is safe now, including Reagan. In a matter of two days he has fallen out of a laundry basket, knocked his head on the side of the tub, fallen off the bed and scraped his head up on Mark's greasy bicycle chain ring. There's no greater feeling than having your hair washed out with dishwashing soap. We either have to learn to be a bit more attentive or make this house a little safer. Let the baby-proofing begin.

I can sit up now and it makes me happy!

a beautiful trail in Vail

a quick family photo in Vail, Colorado at Mark's childhood condo

all tuckered out from hiking at Huntsville St. Park

back in Arizona hiking with Cristina and her kids

Reagan's first meal: not exactly a success

Mmmm, feet for breakfast

Tickle, tickle

Wanna play?

a kiss from my cousin, Alaira

Do you think the hat fits? I'm in disneyland with Grammy and Papo Voss.

Having fun with cousin Chloe at Grandma's house

Cousin Charlize and Aunt Tee are here!

I'm smiling now!

3 weeks old!

It's a BOY!!!!

Reagan Chandler Voss

Firstborn son of Mark and Monica Voss
Saturday, February 16th at 6:54 AM
7 pounds, 9 ounces, 21 inches
Healthy, full head of brown hair, blue eyes, and a little cleft chin

We give thanks to God for this miracle of life and for our new responsibilities.

Monica did not experience any seizures during or after delivery. And Mark remained present and conscious throughout the entire process.

"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good new of good things."

---Mark and Monica

Christmas Time