Bishopric Christmas Card Out Takes

In December MK decided he wanted to do photos for the Bishopric's Christmas card and asked me to snap a few. The majority of them were all the same and the guys all looked nice. They got progressively worse as the photo shoot went on. These are some of my favorites.

Sleepy Sleep

No wonder James says the bed feels a little bit crowded.....

I usually cave in about 5am if Louis is crying and bring him back to bed with us. I always wondered why it felt like he was kicking me in the ribs- and now I know. He likes to sleep in our bed sideways and crowd Dad out!

Lazy Saturday?

After I put Louis down for a nap, I came downstairs to our living room to find James like this:

He'd been helping me with a little photo shoot using the comforter as a backdrop and I guess he got tired.

Halloween

We were so excited this year for Halloween. James and I love dressing up anyway, so having a little accessory to add to our collection was awesome! We thought long and hard and this is what we cam up with.....

Yes, you are seeing right- we are two chefs and a lobster (or lobstah if you are here in Boston). Kind of sick, but very cute. Here are some more pictures of our catch.

Anne Gedes Style

Chef James and Lobster

Finally, Louis Arrives

Louis made his long overdue arrival on September 11th (easy birthday to remember). To be honest, I was perfectly content to stay pregnant another couple of weeks. I had no problem sleeping and the thought of impending labor and then parenthood scared me a little bit. When he was 10 days overdue they sent us in for a nonstress test and ultrasound and after both of those exams they determined they would need to induce me. I was so sad- I had really wanted to have my baby in the birth center.

So that evening they gave me some cervadil to help prepare me for induction the next day, gave me some ambien so I could have one last good night of sleep and about 10pm, James and I went to sleep for the night. Around 2:30 I think I went into labor, but for the next hour I really couldn't tell because I was so sleepy from the Ambien! I will spare the gory details, but everything went really quickly, really smoothly and really very easily and Louis was born at 7:30 am. It was an intense experience, but (I know other mother's will shoot me for saying this) not really all that painful for me. I opted not to have an epidural and felt great through the whole thing. Louis was 7lbs, 6oz and 21 1/2 inches long. He was a skinny little beanpole with a great head of hair.

After his birth however, there were some minor complications that resulted in me being transfered to the operating room and having some minor surgery. Now that hurt! The recovery for that was far worse than actually having Louis. So three hours after I had Louis I finally got to get back to my room, relax and spend some time with my baby.

Louis is a tiny little thing, but already has a lot of personality. He is so sweet and snuggly sometimes and then yelling at us the next. Of course we love every minute of it. We named him Louis after James' grandpa Faustino, Wilson after my Grandpa Kenley and Keaunui after James' friend Jason. The poor kid has a lot to live up to.

Overdue!

Well in more ways than one we are overdue. I have been meaning to post a new update but needless to say haven’t done so until now.

I finished the nursery and it was a larger project than anticipated. It started with slapping up a new coat of paint but ended up in me re-doing the entire hard wood floor and re-plastering the ceiling. The baby furniture has also been assembled and the room is all set up so all we’re missing now is a little tyke to put in there! As of today we are officially overdue…what ever that means. The midwife originally gave us today (August 30th) as the baby’s due date, but I guess he’ll come when he’s good and ready. Predicting a due date is like hitting a moving target so we didn’t hold our breath or anything. It was just good to have a date to be able to shoot for while fixing up the house. The basement study area is just about done now.

Melissa has been saying that I am going through a little single couple crisis because I’ve been pushing the limits with hobbies, vacations, and play time. I have to admit that it has been a bit excessive but it’s also in part due to some great weather. I’ve picked up some new rock climbing, scuba diving, and fishing equipment and have gone to break them in with some friends and this was fine with her, but adding it to surfing, swimming and golfing along with the biking and basketball that I do from week to week she has been a bit concerned!

My Lobstah Catch!

Melissa has been a trooper with the pregnancy. She has suffered for quite some time with edema which she’s been combating with frequent visits to ta friend’s pool with friends. She also has been busy cleaning and getting to a point of feeling ready, as she has had quite a bit of a nesting stage - probably worsened by being at home. She has started teaching piano lessons and doing all the other things and hobbies which work didn’t allow her to do prior to being pregnant.

Atop Mount Washington on the Appalachian Trail

Canoeing in New Hampshire

We had a special fireside recently for the 18-19 year olds in the stake. The events surrounding it were quite miraculous, from finding a speaker to receiving a re-confirmation about the blessings of serving a mission. This re-confirmation came to me by having a family from Brazil move into our ward on the Sunday of the fireside who I discovered through my conversations with them, came into the church through the first persons I was privledged to work with and baptize in Brazil. Amazing how small the world can be at times!

July Fun

July was a fun month. We went to Alaska and enjoyed the long days and a full family reunion as Melissa's brother returned home from his mission in San Diego, California. We were able to catch up with family and the niece and nephews, hoping that we'd be joined with another new niece but to no avail. It was great as we enjoyed some great home cooking while playing hard and adventuring with the family.

I was able to go flying in Chuck's float plane and although the weather was uncooperative for much of the summer activies and jet skiing up at the Lake Louise cabin, it was perfect for the fishing expedition out in Prince William Sound. We caught red salmon, halibut, various rock fish and even some shrimp while enjoying the great outdoors. The scenery and wildlife we saw was like being on a national geographic episode, catching fish, seeing whales, orca, sea lions while being surrounded by glaciers and beautiful sunsets at midnight! Thanks mom and dad Kenley for everything!

Alaska - July '07 Album

Upon our return to Boston we got hooked up with some great Red Sox tickets. We beat the Tigers and we continue to lead the American League. GO SOX!!

Fenway Park

Youth Conference ’07 – "iBelieve" - went amazingly smooth. The workshops and activities went really well and the kids all participated without any hang ups. It was a real pleasure to be able to put the conference together because everyone involved worked really hard and the kids really appreciated it. It especially made all of the hours worth it when genuine thank yous were given and testimonies of growth were borne. I felt especially privileged to be working with the youth in this stake when I see them at these events and activities show the composition of their character by serving, encouraging and showing love to one another.