Caelyn

Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. On each side of the river grew a Tree of life... -Revelation 22:1 (under the heading: Eden Restored)

He who believes in Me as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow springs and rivers of living water. John 7:38

The name Amy means Beloved, Caelyn is similar...Loved Forever. Caelyn also incorporates Amy's middle name, Lyn which means beautiful and cascading waters.

Throughout scripture water is a symbol of the Spirit of God. Jesus compared the presence of God's spirit in those who believe in Him as living waters. All life needs water. For me, time spent near cascading waters has been associated with time in the presence of God and hearing his voice in special ways. For Amy, a reminder of His abundant grace.

Cedar

The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. -Psalm 92:12

He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. -Psalm 1:3

Cedars are mentioned prominently in scripture and described as symbols of high stature, strength, beauty, endurance, long-life, grandeur, majesty, dignity, and nobility. The cedar is described as the Tree of God and as a symbol of the coming Messiah and His kingdom. Today, cedars are renowned for their versatility in many applications for many of these same qualities and also for its sweet aroma, extreme durability, acoustics and consistent grain with few imperfections. The genus Thuja, to which many species of cedar belong, are collectively known by the common name Arborvitae from the Latin for “Tree of life.”

Introducing: Cedar Caelyn-Eden

Born this morning at 5:47am. 7 lbs 3 oz, 19 3/4" tall. A full head of hair and blue eyes. She's a spitting image of her sister. It's like we had identical twins two years apart. Amy did awesome. What a privilege to see a mother bring new life forward. Mom and baby are healthy and doing well. Big Sister Autumn is thrilled and we're all in love with our new little girl. I've got a few more pics I'll post up to the flickr account. More to come...

The 4th Trimester

Here's Amy, January 31. Officially overdue...but not for long.

P90X

You've no doubt seen it on a late night infomercial, on Dr. Phil or Oprah Winfrey. Heck, it's even being hawked on QVC. P90X or Power 90 Extreme. Touted as an extreme home fitness program that will transform you physically in 90 days. Well, I admit the infomercial looked intriguing. I'm into fitness, I try to go to the gym on a regular basis, but I've never done any kind of program. I just run or randomly lift weights. I'm usually in decent shape. Good enough to hike around in the mountains and pack sheep home. I wondered, how good of shape could I really get into if I had some guidance? I also sometimes get an itch to really test my self-discipline. So I determined to give Tony Horton a shot to see what he could do with me. I started in October and committed myself to the program, including the diet plan they outline for you. I missed one work-out the entire 3 months (Thanksgiving) and allowed myself 2 cheat days on the diet (Thanksgiving and Christmas). Here are the results:

Before:
172.5 lbs, 19.5% body fat, 34 inch waist, resting HR 58 BPM
After:
158.5 lbs, 10% body fat, 29.5 inch waist, resting HR 50BPM

So I lost 14 lbs total , but if you calculate the body fat I actually lost 17.5 lbs of fat and gained 3.5 lbs of muscle.

Fit Test Results:
Before: 9 Pull-ups, 17” vertical leap, 43 push-ups, +0" toe touch, 2:39 wall squat, 25 curls (20lbs), 39 in and outs.
After: 23 pull-ups, 20” vertical, 101 push-ups, +6" toe touch, 4:05 wall squat, 53 curls (20lbs), 82 in and outs.

I’d say the program works. But maybe more importantly than the "outside" improvements was what a mid-program health fair revealed. My "insides" are doing good too. My blood pressure is as low as I can recall it ever being. A blood test revealed low cholesterol and a number of other parameters right where they should be. I know it sounds cliche, but my energy levels are high and overall I just feel good.

I think Mr. Horton and I will be spending more time together in the future. There are after all, more sheep to be packed out of the mountains.

39 Weeks

Oh, by the way if you haven't heard, Amy is expecting...any moment now. We're in Fairbanks waiting it out at Grandpa & Grandma's house. Anxiously waiting to meet our new little girl.

Recent Autumn

Here are the last few pictures of Autumn as an only child.

She got her first real haircut yesterday. Now her hair is out of her face and she looks even more like a big girl.

Here she is "stuck in snow" at -20 degrees in Fairbanks.

Successfully sleeping every night in her "big girl bed" now.

Stylin' in the bead handband.

More pictures have been loaded to flickr. I don't know why they are rotated wrong. They are fine everywhere else. I guess you'll have to tilt your head.