Happy Birthday Lucas!!

Our little boy is one year old already. It's hard to believe that time has gone so fast since he was placed in our arms in Bogota on July 28th of 2008.

Before we take time to celebrate this day, it is important to remember Lucas' birthmother on this day. Even in her circumstance, we know that she loved the little boy she gave birth to very much, enough to let him go to give him a life that she could not. Although we all know that Lucas is loved by all who know him, she does not know where he is now and what a wonderful little boy that he is. I hope that she knows the love of Christ and that the little boy that she allows us to raise is loved beyond measure by all that know him.

With that said (insert my sniffing here), here are the photos from Lucas' big 1st Birthday bash at Chuck E Cheeses in Maple Grove. We had a fantastic time!



Before we sat down for pizza time with Chucke the big mouse, we enjoyed a little play time. Trust us, Lucas was having way more fun that it looks ;-) This was all a big overwhelming for such a small person!







Lucas Great Grandma & Grandpa Sibley, Great Grandma Haines, Aunt Roseann, and Aunt Patti, Grandma Holl, Grandma & Grandpa Sibley, and his aunts and uncles were all there!





Lucas also got a special greeting from Chucke where we all sang Happy Birthday so he could blow out his candle. Lucas wasn't so sure about the giant mouse guy....










We spent a little time opening presents too. This was the only year we could really get away with giving him diapers, so we went for it.





And for our grand finale.... CAKE. Lots of cake. He actually got cake rage when we only gave him half of a piece and he wanted MORE cake. There was double fisting.










So after all that cake... we were moving a little slow. We were pretty tired. It had been a BIG day... so this little guy relaxed on the way home in his new big boy car seat. Life is a lot more exciting when you can face forward and see things!

Easter Weekend

We enjoyed spending Easter morning back at my home church Perry Bible in Perry, IA. That afternoon we went over to my Dad's house to enjoy Easter there too.





On Monday, I traveled down to Missouri alone to see what if the apartments we had been researching were worth living in. We did very well! We were lucky enough to find a fabulous place that would have normally been out of our price range but they were happening to run a special. We'll be in Independence, MO.

Feel free to Google "Cornerstone Apartments" in Independence, MO for pictures much better than mine!



We're very excited about this place... it's 1000 square feet, two bedroom and two bath, and all sorts of other things. The pool is rather fabulous also.

Like I said, my dorky photo doesn't really do it justice so look online if you'd like :-)

I was also able to see a few sights in Kansas City. Not a bad place! I'm just a horrible photographer so don't judge the city on my photography skills please!

These are a few photos of Crown Plaza in downtown. I look forward to watching Lucas play in those fountains next year.







Here is a photo of one of the many views of the KC skyline



This is the inside of Union Station which is an old train depot that has been converted into a cultural center.





We will conclude with the climax of our post. Evan's bottom-dweller apartment door and our dishwasher. Who wants to buy our dishwasher??!!!

The Sibley's do some protesting, baseball watching, and circus-ing

So the title says it all. We've been busy! I'll have quite a few updates, but we decided to sub-divide so as not to overwhelm you with awesomeness.

First, a few weeks ago we participated in the 40 Days for Life Anti-Abortion Campaign. Our church, Bethlehem Baptist, in downtown Minneapolis signed up to cover a full 24 hour slot on April 3rd from 12am to 12am. This was to take place outside of Regions hospital in St Paul where over 800 abortions have occurred. We decided it was time to put a face (and a rather adorable face!!!) to the "unplanned" children of the world. I think that Lucas' little self is a great way to illustrate the amazing lives that can/could be had by the unplanned children of the world.

We were there for the late shift and it was a bit chilly, but Lucas held up well!

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Later that weekend, we were off to the circus with my friend Amber. He really didn't know what to do with those huge elephants!


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Within the same week, Lucas and his Daddy also went to the Twins opener with the rest of the Sibley family. Mommy, on the other hand, enjoyed a fabulous quiet night at home :-)




This is the face that Lucas makes when the Twins strike out.



Lucas got to spend some quality time with Aunt Nikki, Uncle Bobby, Grandpa, and his cousin Emmy












He also enjoyed sampling a "Big Boy" cup. It sort of worked out??



This would be the first of many Twin's openers to come!