Claire and Tyler’s Baby Shower….Decemeber 28, 2012 at the Lundring family gathering at the beach resort in Oxnard.

Twas 6 months before childbirth, when all through the house
Lots of creatures were stirring, perhaps even a mouse
A few dogs, cats, and chickens too
Were getting kind of worried and wondering what they would do
A new creature was coming, it was almost too scary to mention
Could it be that the new one would get all the attention?
They had heard of the news, it had been in the air
A baby was coming to Tyler and Claire
Soon all their ruckus and fun-loving clatter
Would all be replaced by the soft pitter-patter
Of little baby steps as the child grew older
Would the animals get forced out where the weather was colder?
Yes they knew something was up with Claire constantly snacking
She had no time to play fetch, for she was constantly napping
And Tyler was not hiking, like he so often did
Now he was inside, constructing baby’s crib
Yes, to the pets, life seemed to be getting all muddled
Would these be the last months any of them would get cuddled?
O, how the animals all whined, O how they all moped
Claire and Tyler both wondered, just how they would cope
So later that day when all were done eating
That gathered the pets all together for a family meeting
When everyone became quiet, with their feathers and fur
Claire and Tyler spoke up and said, “one thing is for sure”
There’s no need to be worried, anxious or scared
When the baby comes we’ll still know you’re there
For you’ve taught us so much, you’ve help us prepare
We’ll be better parents because we’ve learned how to care
We’ve looked after you and tended your every need
We’ve given you water, dog food, and chicken feed
We’ve listened to your cries when you gave us a warning
And told us you had to go potty in the wee hours of the morning
Your mewing, barking, and clucking have kept us awake
After that a crying baby will be a piece of cake!
We’ve been picking up chew toys and old fetching balls
Picking up after baby will seem like nothing at all
Remember the pillows you scratched that were made of fine silk?
We’ll have no problem not crying over a little spilled milk
So put aside all those worries that you’ve entertained
There’s no need for concern for you have got us well-trained
We’ve been like parents to you, and we can add in another one
This new life in our house will just add to the fun
A sigh of relief from the pets could be heard
They knew they could trust Claire and Tyler’s word
And that’s the end of the tale, everything is all right
Happy Baby Shower to all, and to all a good night!

Parents Visit

My parents came to visit and we had a great time. Spent a day in Sedona, Tinker raced in the Dachshund races and we visited the Olive Mill!

the Circus came to town!

The Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus came to town! Claire had never been to the circus and her work had some extra box seats, so off we went! There was never a dull moment!

Mikiah was baptised!

We flew up to Seattle to become God parents to Mikiah! We had a wonderful visit and it was great to finally meet him!

Lake Tahoe Vacation

Tyler and Claire spent a little over a week at the families cabin new Lake Tahoe. We drove and brought all the dogs and had a great vacation! On the way we visited Tyler's Great Grandma Ella, Claire's Dad spent a few days with us after the Jazz Jubilee and on the way out of town we were able to have a quick visit with Ailis. It rained on us the first few days, so we spent many hours in front of the fire playing games and watching movies. It made us relax right from the start and was fantastic! After the rain stopped, we paddle boarded almost every day! We went to a few different lakes and took the dogs with us each time. The dogs loved being on the boards and slept very well at night. My dad joined us paddle boarding when we went to Lake Tahoe and it couldn't have worked out better. We realized where we wanted to go didn't allow dogs, but my Dad has a old friend who has a ton of lake front property and let us use his beach. My dad was able to visit with his friend after the day was done and it was a beautiful day. We love spending time at the cabin and hope to make it a vacation tradition!

SUP!

Tyler and Claire have found a new found love of Stand Up Paddle Boarding! This is one of the many trips we took down the lower Salt River in Arizona. We plan on taking the boards to Lake Tahoe with us in May and get some great view from the water.

4runner hits a new milestone! 200,000 miles!!

Ohio vacation

Tyler had a work trip to Ohio, so I tagged along to visit the Matney's. It was a short and sweet trip and always fun family times! We went to Buffalo Trace Distillery and got a tour of the facilities.

Claires 30th Birthday!

Tyler surprised Claire, by flying Alli down for the weekend! Even Claire's work was in on it! It was a great weekend! Couldn't have asked for more!

Wicked!

A bunch of co-workers of Claire's at LifeLock went to see Wicked. 
Back by “Popular” demand. Entertainment Weekly calls WICKED “the best musical of the decade,” and when it last played ASU Gammage in 2009, it broke box office records and sold out in record time. Winner of 35 major awards, including a Grammy and three Tony^® Awards, WICKED is Broadway’s biggest blockbuster, a cultural phenomenon and was just named “the defining musical of the decade” by The New York Times. Long before that girl from Kansas arrives in Munchkinland, two girls meet in the land of Oz. One – born with emerald green skin – is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. How these two grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good makes for “the most complete and completely satisfying new musical in a long time.” –USA Today

Jars of Clay concert

We bought VIP seats for Jars of Clay @ Central Christian Church. Along with Jars of Clay, we saw Mikes Chair (http://www.mikeschair.com/) and Johnny Diaz (http://www.jonnydiaz.com/) perform! It was a great show.

VIP Includes:
- Early Entry at 6PM
- Preferred Seating - We were in the center row 3
- Preshow Q&A session w/ bands at 6:30PM - People asked some awesome questions and was great to hear from all the band members. Picture below of Q&A.
- Color SHELTER tour poster
- Limited edition SHELTER VIP badge and lanyard (which was really a string)

Dog Bed!

Claire and I tackled our first big sewing machine project since we built curtains for the camper years ago! This one was fun. We build a giant dog bed! The dogs already love it.

Mikiah Thomas Rigg Hillard

Announcement from Dustin and Julianna:

We are happy to announce the birth of our son, Mikiah Thomas Rigg Hillard! 

Mikiah joined our family on Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 8:04pm, weighing 8lbs 10oz and measuring 22.5 inches.  After one week of Julianna’s body trying to start labor on its own at night and then stopping during the day, we began induction on Tuesday, January 10.  And, 57 hours later, he was *finally* in our arms!  We are completely in love with our little guy, and we can’t wait to introduce him to the world.  Given the long, long labor process, we ended up staying two nights at the hospital but all is well, and we are back home, slowly adjusting to a life that is far fuller and more meaningful than we could have imagined. 

For those inquiring minds who are curious about his name…  Mikiah (pronounced Mick-i-ah) was the name of a doctor Julianna saw one time years ago.  He was incredibly kind and patient, and Julianna emailed herself the name and filed it under potential baby names.  We had a lengthy list of possible names, but we both knew the moment he was on Julianna’s chest that he was to be named Mikiah.  The name is a derivative of Micah, and it means “who is like God?”  The traditional spelling is Michaiah, but that seemed to be a bit of a spelling disaster J.  Michaiah was a prophet, and from what we could find online, he spoke truth to power.  In the one story we could find, King Ahab had 400 prophets foretell what was to come in a battle that he was preparing to fight.  All of the 400 prophets, Michaiah included, prophesied that King Ahab would be victorious.  However, Michaiah had a different vision; he told the King that he had not been truthful about his earlier prophecy, and the indeed, King Ahab would lose the battle and die in the process.  For this negative prophesy, Michaiah was imprisoned by the King…  but not for long, as King Ahab ended up losing the battle and dying.  He has two middle names – Thomas, after Julianna’s dad – and Rigg – keeping with our “tradition” of everyone in our little family with Rigg as a middle name.   

We are totally enamored with our little guy and amazed at how quickly our time is consumed by him.  Attached are some pictures of probably the best looking baby boy in the history of the universe (right?).

Best – Dustin, Julianna, Mikiah, and Jersey

Coyotes Game

Part of Tyler's Christmas gift was tickets to the Coyotes tickets. It ended up being a great game! Shane Doan got his first career hat trick! The third goal happened the last second of the game! It was so fun to go to the game. The picture below is in front of the stadium waiting for dinner at Margaritaville.