So I was gone over Father's Day this year.  Our youth missions trip to Avondale, AZ happened to fall right over it.  I say "happened" like it was out of my control, which it was.  kind of.  I am the one who planned the trip.  I am the one who chose the dates.  So in that way, I did it to myself.  But...in my defense, I chose the only dates that fit within my already jacked summer calendar and met the availability of the church we were working with in AZ.  (Coldwater Church, you should check them out!)  And we had a great trip.  I keep a blog up of the trip if you're interested in reading about what we did...head over to the webpage for Momentum Student Ministries and look for a link on the right side that says "Action Corps Trip Blog" (or just click here). 

Anyway, so I was in Arizona over Father's Day, which made me sad to not be with my wife and son.  We exchanged a picture or two via txt, but it's just not the same.  It was exciting to come home this past week and get to make up for some lost time.  At that time, Liz gave me my father's day gift, and I am so so excited about it.  This year, she got us tickets to...

I AM SO PUMPED!  We're going to get to go see Rob Bell on his book tour later this summer.  I can't imagine a cooler father's day gift...so I'm taking this chance to totally brag on my wife big-time.  Honey...you rock.  Excited to go and hold hands with you during this. 

So lately, we've had the opportunity for a couple weekend getaways.  We purposely try to find time together in May-early June, because once we hit the middle of June, the summer youth ministry calendar comes into full swing.  

A couple weekends ago, we had the opportunity arise to go up to the North Shore for 2 nights.  Liz had taken a Friday off because of our daycare being closed, and I was able to flex a day off because of Memorial Day.  We were able to use a gift certificate the church had given us this year (thanks DGT!) to Caribou Highlands in Lutsen, MN.  We took the opportunity to go on several hikes, and had great weather.

Jameson loves to hike!  He talks and talks while he's in the hiking backpack...though he did get a little tired on one of the trails.

at the beginning of the hike...

nearing the end...

We spent one afternoon in Grand Marais, which is one of our favorite spots.  We ate dinner together and walked around by Lake Superior.  So beautiful! 

skipping rocks on Lake Superior

always on the lookout for bears these days...

pizza at Sven & Ole's.

still got the heat!

We were actually on our trip over Jameson's birthday (May 28), so we made sure to celebrate with him when we got home on Saturday.  

opening presents with mom...

brand new ball tent...tons of fun

This past weekend, we had another chance to getaway and headed down to Minneapolis to spend a day with Liz's family.  It had been a little while since we'd seen them, so it was great to catch up a little bit!  We spent most of the day at Liz's parents' house, but we did make a quick trip over to Emily's new apartment.  Emily just recently got engaged to her boyfriend Justin, so we were excited to see them and offer congratulations!  They will be getting married later this summer.  We also got to see Liz's brother Ben, and her sisters Ruth and Deborah.  We had a fun day with them in Roseville!  

I'm gearing up for a missions trip to Arizona with the youth group...we will be leaving a week from tomorrow, so it's coming quickly!  Now, if someone would just remind summer that it is currently neglecting Duluth.  We've been having some miserable weather.  I've been refusing to turn the heat back on in our house, but simply as a matter of principle, because it has been in the 40s recently.  Summer is coming...we just keep telling ourselves anyway.  

We just recently got to spend a week on vacation in Tennessee...it was great to get away for a bit and spend some time with my parents.  It was also special, as we got to spend Mother's Day with them.  Here are some pictures...

Jameson with great grandmother Underwood

this was the view from our back porch...sweet!

He likes to dance... from Ryan Underwood on Vimeo.


What's so funny Jameson? from Ryan Underwood on Vimeo.

It's every year around this time (March-April) that I begin to feel a sense of despair.  Not an utter sense of despair, but more of a subtle kind of nagging feeling...you know, the kind that is there no matter what you do, and is only one stressful moment away from leaking into your behavior.  It just seems like winter will never end.  We come through the bitterly cold segment of the year, and reach more of a transitional time.  It's still far too cold to enjoy much about being outside, and this is coupled by the fact that the snow is now a predominately brown color, and even where it has melted, there is a bunch of mud.  Throw in some freak snow storms or the occasional teasing ray of sunshine, and it's nearly enough to make someone jump out a window.  Okay, so maybe it's not THAT bad, but I know I am not alone in my longing for spring and summer to arrive.  A week or so ago, I was injected with some hope that those days will in fact come, and in fact, they may soon be upon us.  Our family heard some wonderful news...Gordy's was opening again for the season.  That's right.  Being that we felt the need for a little reminder of winter's soon-coming demise, we made our first trip over to Cloquet to eat at Gordy's.  So what that we still needed our heavy coats...or that sitting out on the patio would have been a really bad idea?  It was still a bright shining ray of hope into my heart that yes, very soon, I will be able to unpack those items of clothing known as shorts and proudly display my extra white and hairy legs to the world. without fear of frostbite or hypothermia.  So thank you Gordy's....I needed that.

in case you thought Jameson would get left out...

Thursday was special for us as Jameson got to meet his uncle Joe for the first time.  Joe, his wife Amy, and their daughter Elena, have been living in the country of Azerbaijan, where they have been ministering for the past two years.  They just recently arrived back in the States, and it was AWESOME to see Joe and catch up for a bit with him.  Amy and Elena weren't able to make the trip, but we look forward to seeing them soon, along with their new baby boy, soon to be born in May!   Jameson seemed to enjoy meeting his uncle...

Jameson's been quite a busy guy as of late, so I thought I'd post another video to keep you current on his adventures.  

Waving, Dancing, Eating, Jamming... from Ryan Underwood on Vimeo.

Last weekend, we had the chance to visit Liz's sister Kate and her husband Tim in Fosston.  We always enjoy the trip to Fosston, and this particular time, we had a special reason to go.  Tim & Kate are currently in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia.  We were helping them to put on a fundraiser dinner to help with the cost of the adoption.  It was a great evening.  They served some authentic African food and shared about their desire to adopt.  I really admire the way they have been willing to work hard and sacrifice to make this dream become a reality.  I know that the cost of a foreign adoption is daunting (close to $20,000 normally...), but they have continued to work diligently and trust in God, and the end is in sight for them!  They are currently on the waiting list and we're just praying that everything would continue to progress as needed for this child to come and join their family sometime this year.  We're so excited for them...

The weekend was not without an opportunity for recreation.  On Saturday morning, Tim, Eric (my other brother-in-law, married to Anna), myself and a youth pastor friend Sam all went snowmobiling with some of the guys from Tim's church.  I've only been a couple times, but every time I get the opportunity, I love it more and more.  It's just an amazing feeling and freedom to glide over the snowy ground...and the faster the better!  I caught myself thinking several times..."my dad would love this."  Well, that is, if he could get over the idea of how much snow he was riding on...and the air temperature.  (although the day we went was beautiful, near 40 degrees I think).  He loves to get his motorcycle out as soon as it gets warm enough, and I have so many fond memories of growing up riding on the bike with him.  I'm sure if we had grown up in Minnesota, he would have had to resort to snowmobiling during the winter to satisfy his "need for speed".  Good times!

Well...it has happened.  It started with some innocent rolling and scooting.  Next followed some inching and cautious backing up.  But in the last week, it has erupted into full-blown crawling.  Jameson is now happier than ever, because he can propel himself around and explore his world, thus making everything in our house that sits on the ground fair game.  Needless to say, we've been repositioning anything he can reach, but I know it only begins here.  

It's so much fun to watch him jetting around on the floor now, and he is so pleased with himself.  Kirby doesn't quite know what to make of it yet, but I'm pretty sure she will soon realize that her world will never be the same.  Below is a video of some of their adventures from our day off together yesterday.  Enjoy...

He's Crawling! from Ryan Underwood on Vimeo.

Well, well...I'm sitting here at home on another marvelous Friday in Duluth.  We got around 5 inches of snow yesterday, and then it became frigidly cold last night, so it makes for a good reminder that Spring is still somewhere in the distant future.  I'm home today because Jameson was sick this morning.  I feel so bad for the guy when he doesn't feel good.  You want to be able to do something...anything to help, but sometimes there's not a lot you can do.  It's crazy to look at him now, he's nearly 9 months old and he's grown so much.  A lot of changes.  This past week, I lowered his crib down, because he's mastered the art of pulling himself up on the rails, so with the hope of deterring an interest in skydiving, we lowered the mattress.  It's hard to believe that little 8 pound tiny little guy is now 23 pounds of growing boy!   Change is funny like that.  When you're around something every day, its harder to spot the changes that are happening gradually.  But there are those days where it just hits you...days where you have to lower the crib mattress.  Thought I'd share this picture - this is how IKEA so artfully depicts the infant aging process. (If you've never put together IKEA furniture, you surely are lacking the thrill of using instructions with absolutely no words, just a little faceless man effortlessly guiding you through the process of the furniture assembly. )

So our little guy is growing, and it is a blast to watch.  He's laughing, waving, high-fiving, and as of last night, doing a little bit of genuine crawling.  And as such, after I lowered the mattress, I went around the house putting those nice little plastic covers over all the outlets, and will be adding cabinet door locks this week.  Oh the beauty of child-proofing.  I'll post a couple videos of Jameson's adventures for those of you that are curious.  

Washing Dishes from Ryan Underwood on Vimeo.


Jameson shows you his crib... from Ryan Underwood on Vimeo.

I think I must first emphatically state that this post is in no way associated with certain posts making their way around Facebook right now.  That being said, I thought I would post my list of "resolutions" (for lack of a better term) that I've been working on so far this year.  Over New Year's, we spent some time as couples with Liz's sisters Kate and Anna, and their spouses Tim and Eric.  One night (I believe it was Anna's idea), we all wrote down our nine goals for 2009 and shared them.  It was a fun thing to do, and I had already been thinking through some of my goals for the coming year.  Well, now here we are and it's nearly March, and this is usually the time when I'm struggling to even remember what I resolved to do.  So, in an effort to keep the goals alive, I'm posting them here, along with some small updates as to my progress in these areas.  And I am not trying to start any new trends here, so only post your goals if you feel compelled to do so. 

Ryan's "9 in '09" 

- Make time for regular dates with my wife.

- Become more of a morning person

- Read through the Bible chronologically

- Begin pursuing a graduate degree

- Read some books that having nothing to do with church ministry

- Learn at least three John Mayer songs on guitar

- Become a better manager of my time (specifically in my job)

- Become a more generous person

- Participate in regular physical activity

So...I find myself here a week shy of March 1st, and I guess I can say that I've been met with mixed results.  Liz and I have had two "official" dates in the past two months, which is two more than we were averaging before, so that's a start.  Jameson is assisting me with my morning routine, as he normally gets up between 5:30-6:30am for his first bottle of the day.  The problem (not for him, but for me) is that he does go back to bed for another hour or so after eating, so my challenge is fighting the beckoning call of my pillow and blanket and one more hour of sleep.  I'd say I'm about 50/50 right now, some mornings I stay up and some I go back to bed.  But the mornings I do stay up, I've been better about reading my bible...this morning I found my way into Leviticus.  It took me a little longer to get there, because the chronological readings throw the book of Job in during Genesis.  As far as a master's degree goes, I don't have any immediate plans, but I am taking a Hebrew class to help me become better prepared for when I do try and find a program.  I'm on a small break right now, but my level two class starts in another week or so.  I don't think I've yet picked up a book that wasn't ministry related...so that one's a fail so far.  I'm around two songs in with my John Mayer skills, but the first one was kind of a cop-out.  I learned his cover of Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'", which is lovely, but simple.  But the next one I tackled is called "Good Love" and it's got some hard riffs.  I've got the song, but its "sans-solo" so I need to learn that before I can really count it.  Still haven't picked the third one yet...any suggestions?  My time management skills are still rather dull I'm afraid.  I even made myself a weekly schedule to help isolate specific tasks to specific days to become more productive, and while it has helped me, I really haven't stuck with it like I could.  Need to keep working on that one.  Generosity is something I really want to become a part of my life, and Liz and I both feel this way (which makes it a more realistic goal surely...)  We've made it a point to allocate some of our money every month to be "generous" with, and that's been a cool thing to be able to do so far.  Lastly, my physical activities have been limited to once a week church basketball, but man has that been great.  During winter around here it's like your body begins a slow death, and the first time I played, I thought somebody would have to bury me.  But it's actually starting to feel good now, so until the snow goes and I can get the bike out, it will have to do.  

So that's where I am with my goals for the year.  Just thought I would share, as much as a reminder for me as info for you.  

This past weekend, I took a group of our junior high students down to Minneapolis for the Acquire the Fire Youth Conference.  It was a great time, and I know that several of our students were impacted over the course of the weekend.  One of the messages that was shared really struck a chord in me as well.  A question was asked of us- do you really understand your need for God, or do you view Him more like something you want?  This challenged me.  We all have needs in our lives; some are more felt than others.  We all have a need for air.  If we stop breathing, we stop living.  From the beginning of our lives, we have been aware of this need, and so we have built it into our lives.  We don't stop and think about whether or not we need to breathe, we just do it.  We don't often complain about the inconvenience of it the whole breathing thing, because the alternative is not pretty.  We understand it as a need, and therefore we allow that need to shape our life and behavior.  

This is true about many things...air, food & drink, sleep, etc.  But is it true of our need for God?   I find in my own life, I tend to place my relationship and connection with God into the "want" column.  Sure, I know it's a good thing.  And I want to make it a priority.  But there are so many times when I let it slip toward the bottom of the list.  And days go by where I barely acknowledge it.  In that way, it seems to function more like a want for me...I inconsistently spend time connecting with God, all the while wishing that I gave it more of a priority.  I think if I really understood it as a need, it wouldn't be that way.  If I really understood that my spirit was suffocating for lack of connection with God...would I keep putting it off?  If I was more in touch with the deep hunger for God's presence within me...would I keep skipping out on "meals" with Him?  This weekend challenged me to reorient myself in terms of how I see my relationship with God.  And it's not easy, because I think we are good at ignoring the cry of our spirit.  It's much easier to tell when your stomach needs food or your lungs need air then it is to tell when your spirit needs God, but its equally destructive when we deprive our spirit of what truly brings life.  We need all have a deep need for God.  But do we really see it that way?

We've had a nice weekend here.  A good mix of fun and work.  Ryan is at church, the clothes are drying, and Jameson is down for a much needed evening nap.  He's turned into quite the sleeper lately.  For the first time, I'd call him a consistent napper. Incredible!  The first couple times he slept longer (over an hour) during his naps I wondered if something was wrong.  How could he sleep an hour and a half?!  All that to say, we are enjoying that change.  I enjoy him so much.  One of our favorite times during the evening is reading books together.  Jameson gets so excited when I pull them out.  He sits very attentive and knows which books have cool textures to feel.  Mom makes any and all sound effects.. and we both are happy rocking and reading.