CPE Residency

I am officially a Chaplain Resident at the Penrose - St. Francis Health System. That means I'm a chaplain at Penrose Hospital (pictured below) and at St. Francis Medical Center. So far my first week of work has been filled with orientation and lots of technical things that come with training in a new facility. Next week I will be on rotations and able to visit with patients again, which I am very excited about!

Beginning this new job has been both exciting and somewhat sad. Exciting because it's a ministry that I love, but sad because I no longer spend my days playing with Malia. Thankfully we are all adjusting to this new time. Malia has done amazing at our friend Bridget's house (she spends four days a week there) and she had a great first day at the Hope Academy Montessori School (one day a week). When I picked her up from Hope Academy the teacher told me she did great and was so happy throughout the day. Before we left she was already making new friends and sharing the book she had in front of her with another little kid. The picture below is Malia sitting at the table in her little chair.

I definitely had a much harder time leaving her at the school than she had with us leaving. When we left she was already climbing on the stair structure and exploring the new things around her. Although she's doing great, I think it will still take her a little time to fully adjust. In September my rotation time is from 1:00pm - 9:30pm at St. Francis Medical Center, so I'm thankful that I will be able to spend the mornings with Malia, but sad that I won't be home for her bedtime. Chris has already said they will come eat at the hospital cafeteria with me for dinner some evenings! So I'm already looking forward to those evenings.

I really feel blessed to be starting this year of residency. I know there will be tough moments both in the ministry and in adjustments to my home life, but I feel confident that this is where God desires me to be. I am thankful for all He has done to get me this far, and pray He will continue to strengthen me, lead me, and even carry me in my weaknesses. I know God will show me amazing things during this year of residency.

Malia's Ouwie

On Tuesday Malia took her first bad fall. She was at our friends house playing with her girls when she tripped on the sidewalk and fell on her face. She bloodied up her nose a bit, but thankfully she was fine. When Chris and I arrived to pick her up, her nose was all red and scraped up. I told her maybe she could help Rudolph this year since her nose was so red, but that it would probably be healed up by then. Below is a picture of her first ouwie on her nose.

Luisa's Visit

This past week my old college roommate and good friend Luisa came to visit us. It's been 5 years since we saw her last, two of those years she worked with the Peace Corps and lived in Turkmenistan. It was so fun to see her, get caught up, and talk for hours. I loved that she finally got to meet Malia, and Malia was super excited to meet her as well.

One of the days we went to Garden of the Gods, and another day we hiked Ute Valley Park. All in all it was a relaxing time getting outdoors, talking about old times and future plans! Hopefully next time Chris, Malia, and I will get a chance to visit Luisa and her husband Steve in Washington D.C.

Goodbye Breckenridge

Our last morning of vacation was spent packing up, eating breakfast, and taking one last walk out by our little creek. Malia played hard every day on vacation from the time she got up in the morning until she fell asleep at night. Here is a short video of the sleepy Malia just before her morning nap time as she climbs off the stool she had just climbed up onto.

Breckenridge Day 3

Day three in Breckenridge was our day of playing by the water. The condo we stayed in backed up to Sawmill Creek. So we decided to hike the path alongside the creek. It was a beautiful shaded path along the creek with lots of beaver dams to look at... although again we didn't see any beavers. Along the way we stopped to play. Malia loved playing in the water!

This is Malia standing beside the creek, although I realize that you can't see the creek in this picture.

Of course Malia had to work on her jump shots too!

Here is Malia and Chris playing in the creek. Malia giggled so loud. She loved hanging above the water and splashed her hands in it every time she got close to the water.

Finally Chris decided to dunk her head in! She loved it! Her head was nice and wet on the top. She didn't want to stop playing. As we continued to hike up the trail we eventually came to a reservoir. The views of the mountain were breathtaking. We decided to take a little break again to play in the water.

This time we decided to take Malia's clothes off her just in case she wanted to get really wet. But she enjoyed playing in the gravel alongside the water and getting her hands and feet wet. At first we didn't know if she would want to play, but it wasn't until we decided it was time to leave that she decided to protest that decision. Thankfully once we started hiking again she decided to quit crying.

One fun thing about Malia's backpack is the little "rear view mirror." It's fun to be able to look in the mirror to see her, and she loves to look into the mirror as well.

After we finished our hike we rested a little and then went back into town for dinner and playtime by the river. Chris took Malia down to get her feet wet, but by this time of day I think it was too cold for her to play. Right as her feet hit the water, she climbed up the rocks to get out. So that was the end of our evening in town.

Breckenridge Day 2

Our second day in Breckenridge was nothing like the first... good bye rain clouds, hello blue skies! We started the day with a beautiful gondola ride up the mountain. Malia was a little nervous on the gondola and seemed to hang on to Chris and I pretty tight. She did enjoy looking out at the trees below, but was quite content to simply sit on our laps!

After we got to the top of the mountain we started our descent into town. We hiked a trail that went through the Cucumber Gulch Preserve. We stopped for lunch over looking a small lake with a beaver dam, although we didn't see any beavers, it was a beautiful place to eat. It took us about two hours to hike down because we made frequent stops along the way to take pictures and look around.

Malia loves to go on hikes in her backpack, but she really loves taking breaks too! She enjoys playing in the dirt every chance she gets and loves picking flowers and running around! She was a great little hiker and took a nice nap when we got back to our condo!

Breckenridge Day 1

This year we decided to vacation in Breckenridge, Colorado. It was so nice to get away to spend time with Chris and Malia. Thankfully the weather decided to cooperate with us too! The first day it rained so we decided to relax and walk around the town along the river and window shop. The pictures below are a few from our first day.

Malia and mom on one of the bridges over the river, Malia was quite fascinated!

Malia loved sitting on rocks and playing with the flowers.

We met a man and his wife who loved Malia, and of course she was all smily with them. We asked if they would take our picture, and it just so happened that the man was a professional photographer who shoots Canons so he was very familiar with our camera! We were happy to get a family picture that turned out great!

Malia with her daddy!