Trinity

Blueprints (or "footprints" as some aunts called it) was a blast. Friday night I met a lot of new people. I went to praise and worship, played ultimate frisbee, and went to the bonfire. Anna and I also dominated Catch Phrase. I met my roommate, Kinny Midori. He went to Timothy and lives in Oakbrook, IL. My suitemates are from California and Michigan. As far as academics go, I am majoring in accounting.

Also, August 1 I am participating in a new program at Trinity called Chicago Trinity Adventure (CTA). I will live downtown in a studio apartment for three weeks before school starts. Currently, I will have the apartment to myself as there are no other guys signed up for this program. We will be responsible for our own meals. I think we're going to go to a comedy club, Second City, one night. The apartments are only a few blocks from North Avenue Beach. I cannot wait for this program to start.

Calling all knitters...

This may seem like a random post, but if you can knit, we need you. My cousin, Jordan, is a teacher in a low-income school in Denver, Colorado. She teaches third grade and has more than a few students who can't even pay for lunches. Last year, she noticed that many of the kids couldn't afford hats, so this year, she's on a mission. She's running a "Knit for Paris" campaign, asking all knitters she knows to contribute a kid's hat, if they can knit one in their spare time. Her goal is to be able to provide every kid in her class with a hand-knit hat. I know some of you knit, so I thought I'd post this to see if we can't get even more hats out to Colorado. If you're interested and willing to knit a hat or two, let me know. If you'd like to see her post, you can visit her blog at http://www.lucysknits.blogspot.com. These hats don't need to be made out of fancy yarn or patterns. They simply need to keep a third grader warm. Oh, and if anyone would like lessons in knitting, let me know. It could be fun to spend a day all knitting together for a great cause! And spread the word. Wouldn't it be great to outfit all of the third grade classes?

Blueprints Weekend

Blueprints was last weekend (basically orientation and registration for freshman at Trinity) and I had an awesome time. I met some great people, especially a few on my soccer team. We had a schrimmage from 2-4 on Friday afternoon that kicked my butt! But luckily, everyone there was pretty tired out after 2 hours. Karley, as usual, succeeded in dominating a pickup game of volleyball in the gym, and Scott and I had some great Catch Phrase telepathic cousin connections that wowed everyone at the table. I don't think our room got to sleep before 3:30 in the morning, so the night was jam packed. I'm pretty sure Scott and Karley had a great time too, so all in all, a really good weekend. Sorry for the lack of pictures...

And for all you Trinity Alumni, I get to have Professor Rice for Western Civ first semester, which is pretty awesome.

College Prep Update?

...so I know that three of you were at Trinity this weekend, and I know that several of you are starting college next year: how about some pictures/updates?

Team Hoyt - Get out the kleenex box

I just got back from a week as a counselor at Camp Calvin, and while I was there, the speaker showed us this video to correlate with the week's theme of "The Amazing Race." I thought it was so incredible that I needed to share it - there wasn't a dry eye in the house after we watched it.

To give you some context, the video shows Dick Hoyt(65) and his son Rick (43), who has been in a wheelchair his whole life. Rick was almost strangled at birth by his umbilical cord and his parents were told to put him in an institution. Dick and his wife couldn't do that. When Rick could communicate through his computer as a teenager, he told his dad he wanted to enter a 5-mile charity race. Nobody expected them to, but they finished the race. Since then, the duo has completed over 85 marathons and more than 8 ironman triathalons. Dick pushes his son while running, pulls him in an inflatable raft while swimming, and pedals with Rick on the handlebars while biking. It's an incredible picture of a father's love.

My Band

Here's me and my friends playing in my living room.

We hosted a farewell party for the Tamelings (friends of ours) who are moving to California.

Enjoy!

Baby Count-down

I thought I'd creep the family out with a countdown to delivery for our baby. The widget in the right hand side of the blog will countdown until D-day, and along the way, the digital baby will grow appropriately proportional to the actual baby.

Sort of cool and creepy at the same time.

Golf Outing Participants

We would like to have a list of those planning to participate in our golf outing on Saturday, August 2. Jim is willing to assume the responsibility of forming our 4-person teams. Mike and Kim are again willing to host the cookout and awards presentations for the whole family. Please respond as soon as possible.

Happy Father's Day

This post is to wish all of you fathers (and fathers-to-be, Rudi) a very happy Father's Day. Here is a photo of Kyle enjoying his day with Keelan, watching the U.S. Open. Hope all of you fathers are enjoying your day!

My Dad's New Book...

Above is a sneak peak at the cover of my dad's new book, "Your Best Life Insurance Policy Now," set to hit stores for the Christmas shopping season. Way to go, Dad! We all look forward to dissecting the 7 steps that you lay out for us to underwrite term life at our full production quota potential!