Halfway Point

Wow...tomorrow I am officially 20 weeks pregnant...we are halfway there! I cannot believe it! So far everything has been great. These past 3 weeks in Minnesota have been great for me...I have gotten to sleep ALOT, sit in the sun and read, forget about work and other stressors and just focus on God and the babe. Seriously it consumes my mind.
Physically, I am feeling so much better than I did even just a month ago. I had pretty major back pain consistently up until that time. Since I have been here, I have felt twinges of pain here and there but nothing like it was...thank you, Jesus!

We go to the doctor the day after we return home from Castaway to find out the sex of the baby! (Monday, July 30) I cannot wait! I am so ready to be able to fully embrace the idea of boy or girl...soccer or dance...blue or pink. Below is a pic that Kyle took of me last weekend for our moms who have been earnestly waiting a pic to see their grandbaby. I feel much larger than the picture shows...

We have officially started our second week at Castaway Club! We are settled in and enjoying all that the camp has to offer! It has been a learning experience for us...camp up here is different than what we have experienced at other camps! I am so use to being surrounded by mountains while at camp...takes a while to get used to being surrounded by water! We have had a great time getting to know our fellow assigned team...we are definitely the lone southerners! Our team hails from the North and Northwest (Chicago, Wisconsin, Washington State, Montana). For those of you who were not already aware...our camp director for the month, Brett, was Kyle's Area Director when he was in high school. Brett also babysat Kyle when he was a kiddo. He is now the Regional Director in Chicago. It is a blessing to be able to be here with him and his family. I could go on and on...and I am sure I will in posts to follow. Here are some pics from out time here so far...

This is Kyle and his friend, Jason from Kansas City. Jason was one of Kyle's Young Life leaders when he was in high school. We didn't know that Jason was going to be an Adult Guest for week 1. Kyle had a blast reconnecting with him.

Hmmm...well not the best picture of me...but this is pretty typical of what I look like while on assignment. Hopefully we'll get a better picture while we are here and you can bet that I will post it!

This is the deck right outside of our house by about 100 feet.

This is our home for the month...sorry it's a little hard to see. This picture was taken while standing on the deck seen in the previous picture. Our house is called "Ketch". We are sharing it with 3 other families as well as 3 of our single staff members and a mouse. Yes, a mouse. I am hopeful that maybe it is a chipmunk (there are thousands of chipmunks here) that has found it's way in through a hole. We shall see...

There is another assigned team house next door, "The Dory", which houses another 3 or 4 families as well as some single staffers.

That is all for now...be watching for updates!

Summer is here!!

(please forgive sporadic use of capitalization...the left shift key on our keyboard has decided not to work and i am out of practice in using the one on the right...)

part 1: Frontier Ranch
kyle left on saturday with a group of kiddos from hebron high school to go to camp at frontier ranch. from the daily reports that i have been receiving from kyle, sounds like they are having a great time.

please be praying for...

+Their continued safety

+Negative thoughts and attitudes to quickly be replaced with attitudes of thankfulness and most importantly awe of God and His creation.

+Lots of energy for the leaders.

+That each and every one of the kids and leaders will encounter God this week and that their lives will be forever changed!

as i have mentioned on this blog before, kyle became a christian at frontier ranch (in the water slide, no less!!). many, many lives have been given to our Lord at that camp. it's unbelievably powerful to step onto that property - you can really sense God's presence there as well as be humbled in realizing how many kids have stepped from that soil in Buena Vista, CO into the Kingdom of God.

part 2: Castaway Club

kyle will be leaving frontier a day early and will be flying out to meet me in minneapolis for our assignment at castaway club in detroit lakes, mn. we are both looking forward to our time on assignment.

please be praying for us during that time as well...

+pray that we stay healthy!!

+pray for unity among the assigned team as well as the work crew and summer staff!

+pray that everything runs smoothly for the 4 weeks that we are there...that campers and leaders will have an amazing time at camp and that God's name is proclaimed in all that is done behind the scenes as well as at Club.

+pray for joyfulness and peace among the whole crew...and that we will all seek that out from the only One who is our refuge.

I hope to be updating a lot while on assignment...stay tuned!

Week at a Glance...

What a busy week this past week was!! Here are some of the highlights!

* Went to my doctor's appt. last Friday...it went perfect! As soon as the doctor put the doppler on my belly she picked up the baby's heartbeat! No searching for it was needed! Doctor said that baby has a strong heart! I go back again in 3 weeks - I am hopeful that they will do a sonogram to determine the sex a little early. I will almost be 17 weeks by then so it's possible!

* We moved! Kyle headed up a large crew of family, friends, and YL kids to move us in to our new home! Unfortunately it's up to us to unpack...ughh!

* The weekend of the big move - I completed 16 hours of continuing ed classes. Figured that I couldn't do much with the move, might as well work on get recertified.

* Tuesday was haircut day! I decided to go ahead and chop my hair off before the baby arrives...figured that I will want to after and I decided to get a little relief NOW!

* On Wednesday, I got bit by a crazy neighborhood chihuahua. It was bad enough to draw blood and it's still bruised! Crazy dog! So, I got to go back to the doctor and get put on antibiotics.

* One of our camp trips took off last Saturday evening to Crooked Creek Ranch. Kyle stayed behind this time and had our part-time staff, Mike, lead this trip. Looking forward to hearing their camp stories upon their arrival home tomorrow! Kyle will be leading a trip to Frontier Ranch at the end of this month.

* I began telling my coworkers and clients this week that I am pregnant! It's been fun to share the news with them! I have been blessed with some amazing people that I get to work with regularly!

I think that's it for now! More to come soon!

Good weekend, exciting week!

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. It all started on Friday when Kyle's mom, Beth, flew in from Kansas City for the weekend. We were so excited to get to show her our "stomping ground". Of course, the time went too quickly, but we enjoyed every bit of it! One of the highlights was going to Fort Worth on Saturday evening and eating at Joe T Garcia's. I must admit, I love this restaurant so much sometimes I am afraid that people will not think it lives up to my boasting...but Beth loved it. We sat outside in the gardens and were even rained on a bit, but that didn't stop us from enjoying our meal! Sunday we headed to church (awesome service by the way....but it always is...), then to LeMadeleine for a quick bite before taking her to the airport. Beth is an amazing mom to Kyle, mother-in-law to me and I know that she will be an amazing grandmother to our baby! We ended our weekend by going to my parents house on Sunday evening for a cookout in celebration of Kyle's and my sister-in-law, Kristy's 32nd birthdays. I am equally blessed by my family. I love every minute I get to spend with them. I am thankful that they are so close.
Then today...we had our final walk through of our soon to be new home!! Yippee!! For those of you who have been in our lives for the past 2 years, you know what a headache it has been for us to buy a house. God made it clear to us at least twice over the last couple of years, that it was not our time to buy a home. Sometimes it seemed as if we were hitting our heads on a very big brick wall. He is blessing us with the home He desires us to have...and we are so grateful! We are supposed to close tomorrow, Tuesday, at 12PM. If you happen to remember, please pray for us as we go about the final part of this process! We are obviously very optimistic that tomorrow will go just fine, but with the luck we have had in the past, we know that we must hold on to this with an open hand. (Heck that's true even beyond tomorrow!)
The rest of the week should be filled with lots of painting...yard work...refinishing furniture and then this weekend - move in!
We'll post pictures and updates as soon as we can! It's gonna be a busy week!

Our Teddy Graham

This last Tuesday we went to the doctor and were able to see our little baby for the first time! It closely resembled a teddy graham at this point with it's extra small body in comparison to the head and then it's 4 little nubs which will soon be full functioning arms and legs! Amazing! My absolute favorite part of the day was hearing the heartbeat! Looking forward to hearing it again in a few weeks!

Oklahoma City Marathon

Last weekend a group of our Young Leaders set out to Oklahoma City to participate in the OKC Memorial Marathon. We had such a great trip! Several of our leaders decided that this would be a great way to raise money for kids to go to camp this summer - and it was! We had 4 in our group run the full marathon, 6 or so run the half marathon, a group of 5 did the marathon relay and then another 5 did a 5K. It was such a great experience and many kids will get to go to camp because of the leaders desire for them to experience Jesus!

Kyle ran the half marathon with the crew finishing with his PR of 2:04. I was supposed to run the half but the doc quickly let me know that I would not be doing that this time around. I ended up doing the 5K. Everyone did a great job!

Guess what?

We are having a baby! Baby J is due in December!

So far so good....I feel TIRED and hungry but that's about all!

We are excited!

April 2, 2007

Today is our 2nd anniversary! We celebrated this weekend by staying at the Westin Stonebriar, relaxing by the pool and then going out for dinner. We had a great time but unfortunately did not take a single picture!
Here's to another fun year!

Be Near

About three years ago as I was going through a really tough time in my life, God spoke to me through song. The song was "Be Near" by Shane & Shane. Many days I would drive to and from work with this song (and the rest of the CD) playing...it was my prayer. It was one of a few times in my life where I felt utterly desperate to be close to Him and to feel His presence...this song provided the opportunity for me to encounter Him each time I listened to it. Since that time, I have listened to the CD occassionally - but this last week God laid the song on my heart and it has again lifted my spirits and ushered me into His presence. Below are the words...I hope that they will encourage you as well...

Be Near
You are all
big and small
beautiful
and wonderful
to trust in grace through faith
but i'm asking to taste...

for dark is light to You
depths are height to You
far is near but Lord, i need to hear from You

be near, oh God
be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good
be near, oh God
be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good, our good

Your fullness is mine
revelation divine
but, o, to taste
to know much more than a page
to feel Your embrace...

for dark is light to You
the depths are height to You
far is near, but Lord
i need to hear from You

be near, oh God
be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good

be near, oh God
be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good, our good

(psalms 73:28; 139)

Update from 2007

Well, we are obviously struggling at keeping this thing updated! I say "we" loosely considering that this is pretty much my (Shalen) reflection of our lives. My computer died a few months ago so we are "sharing" Kyle's work computer which I don't see very often, therefore my time is often spent emailing or checking out YOUR blogs. If you have a blog, post a comment - I'd love to check it out! I promise to update soon with more info!

Our Little DInosaur!

Dudley went as a dinosaur for Halloween this year! He actually seemed to like the costume! It was cold that night...probably just made him a little warmer. Kyle and I took him to see my nephews (aka Jacob the Dragon, Evan "Batman" and Hunter the Ninja). Just imagine what we'll be like when we have kiddos to dress up!

Busy, busy, busy....

October has been a very busy month for us! In addition to us trying to stay caught up with the busyness of a new school year...

*Kyle's sister, Kimberly, got married October 21 in Kansas City.
*We had our annual fundraising banquet on October 23.
*I (Shalen) started my new job on October 1 and have been trying to build a client base.

It's been busy but it's also been really good! We were able to spend some time with Kyle's family the weekend of the wedding. A lot of his extended family that we had not seen since our wedding was there and we were able to just relax a little before the banquet on that next Monday evening. The banquet went really well also! God continues to bring people along side us who are encouraging and supportive in so many ways!

Kimberly (Kyle's sister), Beth (Kyle's mom) and Kyle

Our last month in pictures...

Finally....we have pictures to post! Starting from our recent weekend in Memphis to today's triathlon. Enjoy!

MEMPHIS, TN - September 2006

We went to the Family Life "A Weekend to Remember" marriage conference in Memphis in September. We had such a great and relaxing weekend.

A much needed getaway for both of us!


STONEBRIDGE RANCH TRIATHLON, McKinney TX October 1, 2006

Kyle participated in the Stonebridge Ranch Triathlon. Above are pictures of the lake swim (Kyle is out there somewhere!) and the transition area.

Kyle had a great race and had a great time. He loved it! There will probably be a lot more pics like these in the future!!

MONSTER TRIATHLON, Keller TX, October 15

Rebecca, Hayley and I did a relay triathlon. Rebecca was our swimmer, Hayley our biker and me our runner! This is the way that I prefer to do a triathlon! We got 1st place in the relay division! So what if we were the only relay group! Above is a before and after picture.

Kyle had another great race! Unfortunately I wasn't able to get many pictures of him this time around but he sure is smiling in this one!

Last but certainly not least....Dudley!

Look at those pearly whites!

So much to write about...so little time...

Well, apparently we are not very "on top" of the blogging part of our lives! So much has happened since our last post!

*Spending a month in Colorado on our very first Young Life assignment!
*Getting the 2006-2007 school year off to a great start!
*Shalen getting a job at a nearby gym!
*Kyle and a team of leaders kicking off a new club for one of the local high schools!
*Leadership retreat!
*A Weekend to Remember Conference in Memphis, TN!
*Kyle competing in a triathlon!!

All of that to say...we will post details and pictures soon! I am hoping to get Kyle on here to post also!!

Kansas City and Colorado Springs

Kansas City, June 20-26

We went to Kansas City for a week in June to see Kyle's mom, Beth and his sister, Kimberly. We had a great time relaxing and helping Beth pack up her home. She had recently sold her home (the house that Kyle grew up in!). One of Kyle's best friends from high school, Matt, also got married while we were there. We had a great time seeing a bunch of Kyle's old high school buddies.

Dudley made the trek with us to see his grandma! He did really well in the car...he was passed out most of the time.

Kyle and I at the wedding...glow sticks and feather boas...they had a great DJ!

The Best Week of Your Life....

Frontier Ranch 2006 - Carrollton Young Life

Shalen's cabin of at the volleyball tournament...we were awesome!!
"The Night that Never Ends" Dinner and singing on western night.
Shalen's cabin on Western night.

Kyle's cabin before riding horses.

Crooked Creek

So...apparently I am not very good at updating this thing regularly. Since the last post, we took 50 kids to camp at Frontier Ranch in the beginning of June. We had such a great time. God really used that time to not only talk to the heart of kids but to also encourage my heart in ministry. It was such a great time serving along side Kyle and the rest of our leaders.

Next up was a week in Kansas. One of Kyle's good friends from highschool got married and gave us a great excuse to spend a week with Kyle's mom! Dudley made the trip with us!

Now...we are at Crooked Creek Ranch in Fraser, Colorado. We will be here until August 11ish. We have had a great time so far! Kyle is working VERY hard and I am enjoying getting to know some of the other wives. It's absolutely beautiful and the weather is amazing...so no complaints!

May Update

Just a quick update on what we have been up to...

* We celebrated Kyle's 31st birthday on April 22 with a sushi dinner and a Texas Ranger's game!
* Kyle was also surprised at Young Life club one night with an impromptu birthday party complete with cake and clown!
* Camp, camp and camp! We have been busy signing kids up for camp!! It's coming VERY soon!

and what we have coming up...

* Kyle is leaving today to go on a 2-3 day camping/hiking/retreat in Arkansas. Please be praying for safety as well as a rich time with the Lord.
* June 2-10 Kyle along with about 9 other leaders are taking over 50 kids (!) to Frontier Ranch in Buena Vista, Colorado. Frontier Ranch is where Kyle became a Christian when he was in high school. It's a special place! Please be praying for the hearts of the kids who will be attending camp this year! Every summer hundreds of kids are told about Christ at Frontier Ranch and many of them will recognize Him as their Savior for the first time!!
* June 20ish-27ish - We will be going home to Kansas City for a few days to see Kyle's mom and sister and to celebrate the wedding of Kyle's good friend, Matt and his bride, Jenn.
* July 7ish through August 15 - Kyle and I will be taking off to Crooked Creek (another Young Life property) in Winter Park, Colorado.

That's us! We hope everyone is doing well!!

Our 1st Anniversary

IMG_1862
Originally uploaded by kyleandshalen.

We went to San Antonio to celebrate our first anniversary! We had a wonderful time!! The weather was amazing - nice and sunny! Sunny enough for me (Shalen) to get a pretty bad sunburn...bummer!