March Madness

For a hoops junkie like me, the next three weeks are the best in sports (NCAA Tournament). For the first time ever, I will be able to see all of the first round games live. As a person who bleeds Duke blue but living in Oregon, I'll have two teams to root for. So what are my picks for these two teams?


Win vs Belmont (1st round)
Win vs West Virginia (2nd round)
Lose vs Xavier (3rd round)


Lose vs Mississippi State (1st round)

I'd love to see Maarty Leunen (senior F/C from Redmond High School, my alma mater) advance farther into the tourney, but I just don't see it happening. They have just been wildly inconsistent and one dimensional this year. You beat Kansas State but lose to Oakland, Nebraska, and Saint Mary's?

Speaking of Kansas State, I have to apologize to my brother Josh (USC grad school). I'm predicting them to upset USC! So sorry bro! =)

Waterboy

Rochelle took Xander swimming today at a local pool. While his breast-stroke still needs some work, he seemed to be a natural in the water. Here are a couple pics from the trip:





I've also uploaded some new photos to the image gallery.

Dedicated

Yesterday we dedicated Xander at our church Antioch. My parents also got to attend, so that was neat. Here's the prayer we read to him:

Xander, this is our prayer for you…

1 John, Chapter 5: 1-4

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith.

As your parents we pray that we will reflect Christ’s love. Even before you were born we have been praying for you. Our hope is for you to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Through God’s grace we aspire to teach you about the Lord we love and serve.

Surviving

Well I'm finally over a nasty bout of flu/cold and on the last day (of 3) of sole parental responsibilities. Things have gone better than imagined! Yesterday I took Xander to the local annual Sportman's Show to check out all the latest n' greatest in hunting / fishing products. You have never seen so many people rocking Realtree™ camo in one place that are not actually hunting. I should have dressed up Xander for the occasion with this outfit:



Unfortunately, it was in the laundry so I settled with the smurf blue-camo fleece (which of course was a hit with all the ladies ). My parents and family friend Matt joined also joined us for a stroll through the show.

This morning we went to church and he slept through the entire morning service in nursery. For some reason I kept thinking the pager was going to go off but it didn't. Speaking of church, next weekend we will be dedicating him during a special children's dedication service. So if you're around and can make it, that'd be greeaaaaat. =)