Merry Christmas

Look at all my toys. As you can tell, I'm super excited about them.

The night before christmas

Of course I'm in a Santa suit again.

Chillin...

need I say more

Things I can do

I'm getting very active. I love to sit and look at the world. I love to move my arms and exercise. I've grown up so much since I was born.

Have they no shame...

Grandma Judy bought me a complete santa outfit and they keep dressing me up in it. I have been to more Christmas parties wearing this dumb thing than anybody should want to know.

For some reason though, it never gets old. The girls really dig it.

Checkin my email

Dad lets me use his computer to check email sometimes. He won't let me get a facebook account yet though. Why not? I got plenty of awesome status update to share with the world.

What do you mean I have to wait...

Life is totally unfair. Can't it just be Christmas yet.

Daddy's helper

I'm wrapping all the presents! Get ready - I think you're going to like your em.

Holiday cheer

I mean seriously. These santa hat pictures are too cute. Assume that you will see more of them.

Deep thoughts by Edward Schaff

Maybe if I flap my arms I can fly...

A sour day

Eddie is having a sour day. Thought you should know.

Better watch out

Eddie is comin to town. Just a few more weeks and the little munchkin will be sittin on your lap.

Couldn't pick one...

Here is Eddie in his natural environment. Hanging out in his diaper after a good shower. I couldn't pick one picture for today's post, so you get three.

Not a happy guy...

Hanging out with his buddy Julia from church is a poor substitute for Uncle Scott. Eddie wants to say "happy birthday" but he's quite frustrated that he can't talk yet.

suck it up, it's camp

Having a particularly fisty day, Eddie dressed up in his camis to show what a hard ass he could be. Here, as you can see he's getting ready to box flex before taking down at least 3 ounces of formula.

Don't mess with Texas.

Pooh bear outfit

As requested my mom I took a picture of Eddie in his Pooh bear outfit. She bought this for him hoping it would fit by thanksgiving. It was a little big, but it worked out ok.

Watchin football

Eddie and daddy relax and watch some holiday games. Depressed about the Michigan season, Eddie quickly decided that a nap was a better use of time.

Gettin' fat

Like the rest of us, Eddie is porking up a bit this holiday season. Go on a diet Eddie, and while you're at it -- Get a job.

A stuffed turkey

Here is stuffed Eddie after his Thankgiving dinner. He was very very full. And like the rest of us, he gained a pound that week.

Father and Son

Here is 5 week old Eddie playing with Daddy. As you can see, he has gotten much better at focusing on things.

My turtle

Here is Eddie the Monday before thanksgiving, sleeping in with his pet turtle. As you can tell, he spends a lot of time sleeping.

Eddie photo of the day

I will try to post a picture every day to the blog so that you can see Eddie grow.

Here's the first one. Taken just before mom left, Eddie is sleeping on the couch with his little elephant blankie that Lanette sent him.

Pull out your lucky dates, cause we are getting close...

I believe the first day in the baby pool is October 21, which is 2 weeks from tomorrow.

Gentlemen, we are in the red zone.

As I approach the end of pregnancy, I am beginning to understand why people say it sucks. Cause it really does. You can breath, sleep or eat cause there is baby in the way. You can't put on shoes or get out of bed easily cause there is baby in the way. You can't walk because the muscles that used to hold your legs together are drunk or high or otherwise not doing their job. You can't even think most of the time because the baby, like an alien, moves inside of you and you look down to see your belly shaped like an egg with knees, elbows or feet poking out of it... and everytime he moves, your stomach spazes to practice pushing him out. It's totally awesome and totally GAY!

So, since I am pretty much useless for anything else, I've been excited about watching college football this season. I was really pissed that I missed the game last weekend -- and also quite devastated that State had to ruin a perfectly good season. I'm still pulling for Big 10 champs and a possible Rose Bowl. (Which I think we should all go to this year if Michigan makes it). We'll see what happens with Iowa this week... keeping my fingers crossed.

Ulrich is waiting to hear back on a couple of jobs. He has an opportunity in San Diego with a place called Illumina which is a company that makes devices to study DNA. He also has a great opportunity in the Bay area with a National Laboratory doing research on sensors for bio-terrorism. Either job would be pretty sweet. They said they would get back to us in the next 2 weeks or so. He has additional interviews with other companies this week, so we might soon learn where our next chapter of life will be.

Climbing Haleakala

Dietrich and I got our start at 2:30 am wolfing down a couple of sausage biscuits and putting together our day-packs for climbing Haleakala. The trail to the summit was on the other side of the island, so we were winding down highway 31 toward Kapuo by 3:30 am. Thus began our crazy mountain climbing adventure.

For the past month I had been anticipating and dreading this day. My brother had his mind set to climb Haleakala on our Maui vacation, and after doing some research I realized this was going to be a serious undertaking. At 10,023 ft, Haleakala is not the tallest mountain. However, most mountain trails start at significant elevation; here we would start from about sea level. Haleakala is one of only two mountains where it is conceivable to climb 10,000 ft bottom to top in a single day (the other being the “cactus to clouds” trail on Mt. San Jacinto, which is a serious climb).

A mountaineering novice like me tackling such a serious mountain gave me pause. Nonetheless, I convinced myself it was possible and began buying boots and equipment and conditioning for the hike. The preparation was as much mental as physical: I broke in my boots on hot mid-day hikes; conditions I expected going up through Haleakala. Based on the national park suggestions (for going down) and accounts of the cactus to clouds trail, we estimated we would need at least 6 liters of water to avoid sunstroke on the path to the summit. There was no potable water on the entire trail, but I discovered that there was usually some gutter water at a campsite half-way up that could be treated with iodine tablets.

So I thought we were well prepared on the morning of the hike, but we hadn’t anticipated that it would be difficult to find the trailhead in the dark. After a half hour of driving through Kapou (a tiny seaside village) on dirt roads, we identified a jeep road that signified the direction of the trail. Dietrich and I grabbed our gear, snapped a few pictures, and started up the mountain at the crack of dawn, about 6am. We promptly lost the trail again in the early morning light, and spent a half hour hiking up and down searching for trail signs… an inauspicious start.

The first section of the mountain trail was through an exceptionally steep cattle ranch. Dietrich, a 5 time marathoner, kept up a brisk pace and I huffed and puffed to keep up. There were a lot of sights to take in on the first section: views of the ocean against green hills and clouds (think Ireland), cows and baby boars, and lots of cow piles. The private owners of the ranch didn’t keep of the trail very well, so we got lost a couple more times. About once an hour, we took a 5-10 minute break to rehydrate and destroy some snickers bars or other hiking treat. A few hours in, we passed the gate that marked the beginning of the national park.

Immediately past the gate, it became apparent that the cows served to keep the grass in check. It looked like the trail was very seldom used… it was barely visible through the knee high grass. At this point I was feeling confident that we would make it: I was keeping up with Dietrich and shade from trees as well as our increasing altitude kept the effects of the heat and humidity down. Also, our 20-30 lb packs got lighter as we drank water to replace our sweat, which was dripping off of our clothes. However, as we climbed ridge after ridge, the midpoint camp failed to materialize. The trail became too narrow and rocky to use hiking poles, and it was unforgivably steep… I became thankful that my boots were well broken in. Finally, after 7 miles and 6000 ft of climbing we spied the midpoint camp at Paliku.

Paliku was an absolutely gorgeous sight. Tall green peaks surrounded the campground shrouded in mist. Lush trees and grass and flowers covered the landscape, framing a view of the ocean and clouds at the base from afar. A gentle rain and refreshing rain began falling which was a welcome break to the sweaty hikers. There were a few cabins at the campsite that had reservoirs filled with collected rainwater labeled in large red letters: “Non potable water. Do not drink”. We had almost completely exhausted our water supply on the way up, so we refilled our bottles and plopped in a few iodine tablets to make it safe to drink. After we got out of the rain for a bit, we ate a decent amount of our food stores and rested for the last 10 miles of the trail.

As we left Paliku, we entered a much flatter hikes (called the “sliding sands” trail) which goes through the 10 mile diameter crater at the top of Haleakala. The rim of the crater towered over us on all sides except for the gap through which we had climbed through. The terrain quickly became more barren as we entered the crater, transitioning into scrub brush growing through cracks into the crumbly lava rock. Unfortunately, the climb had taken its toll on my left hip, and I was starting to struggle on the steeper, rockier sections of the trail. The sparse vegetation also left us exposed to the mid-day sun and wind… we were careful to re-apply sunblock along the trail.

Five miles from the summit, the last of the plant life began to disappear, leaving a stark desert filled with fine sand. Volcanic cinder cones rose from the red lava sands, some sporting past outflows of black lava rock. It was quite a spectacular alien landscape, and we stopped often to take pictures or rest from exertion at high altitude. Finally, the summit came into view past false peaks that lined the rim of the crater. The peak towered 3000 ft over us… it looked like a mountain in its own right.

The final climb was steep and difficult, but slogging through the sand was a great deal more comfortable than scrambling over rocks. Our backpacks were also significantly lighter than the ones we started with, the trip having consumed most of our water and food. The setting sun put an interesting contrast on the crater below us, and the temperature plummeted. As any mountaineer will tell you, the summit plays tricks on you… hour after hour it always seemed as if we hadn’t made any progress. Finally we saw the sign that marked the end of the trail and with a burst of energy we reached the visitor center on a ridge near the top.

It was just a short hike on the road up the last 300 ft climb to the summit. We were so spent from the climb that this was not a small errand, and it took a bit of a rest to hobble up the rest of the way. We plopped down at the top at 7pm, 13 hours after we started and just in time to watch the sunset (which was superb). Mom, dad, and Sara hadn’t expected us to make the top so early, and were a couple hours away. Dietrich is used to endurance events, but I was in pretty rough shape. Hiking through sand had put blisters on my feet, and I was shivering from exhaustion and the cold weather at the top. I wrapped myself in the silvery space blanket I had packed for such an event, which is how my family found us at the top of Haleakala.

The climb was probably the most grueling thing I’ve ever done physically. Because there was no easy way to back out of it, climbing Heleakela forced me to push far past the point where I would normally check out. In that way, the hike and the preparation was very rewarding. I also have never seen anything like the views we saw in the crater of Haleakala. I am glad we did it.

Pregnant Belly

Oh, btw.... here's how pregnant I am now.


With one month till the wedding, I'm a bit nervous about how big I'm going to get.

Aloha from Hawaii!

Wanted to drop a quick note to say what up to everyone! Hawaii is great.

I've had fun snorkeling with sea turtles,

jetting around on speed boats and

lounging by the pool with Bree.

Bree lives down here, so after 12 years of not seeing each other or talking we got together and spent the day. It was pretty cool. Ulrich climbed mount Heleakala which was absolutely crazy and left him a little crippled for a few days. He will post a blog on that soon.

Mount Shasta Adventures

We just got back from a relaxing weekend up on Mount Shasta with some friends from church.

It started with a three and a half hour drive in 100 degree weather without air conditioning. My only prayer was that it would be worth it.

The house we stayed at was a last minute find on Criag's list and I was a little nervous about how flaky the guy had been. As we got off the highway and followed twisted country roads to the middle of nowhere, I was just praying that house existed at all.

We made it and it was perfect. Off the side of a mountain with nothing in view but a million pine trees, it was the perfect place to hide out for the long weekend.

The next few days consisted of lazy mornings, good breakfasts and several short hikes to waterfalls in the area. They were gorgeous.

Mount Shasta is one of the tallest mountains in California and is snow covered for most of the year. So the streams are full of ice cold snow melt and the waterfalls were spectacular. Because of the lazy mornings, most of the hikes were during the height of the heat of the day which was, even in the mountains, near 100 degrees.

My pregnant body didn't enjoy this very much, so all of my hiking involved unplanned trips into the ice cold river to cool off. I was amazed at my tolerance for cold water. It was probably 52 degrees, think Lake Superior in June... I loved it. Ulrich and I swam upstream and actually went under one of the falls which was awesome. While he scurried back to get out of the cold, I leisurely swam in the pool for another 30 minutes or so. Eddie must have liked it cause he squirmed when I jumped in and I giggled to feel a little fish in my tummy and another little fish swim between my toes.

After great hikes, we returned home to BBQ and made homemade ice cream (in an electric ice cream maker -- which is a way better option) and went to watch the fireworks over the lake. All in all, it was a great trip. (Pictures are on the blog and facebook)

updates from california

It's F-ing hot today! (104 degrees currently... and we haven't reached the hottest part of the day). I was packing boxes and slowly preparing for the craziness in the months ahead, until I could do nothing more than play on the internet and post blogs in front of the air conditioner.

Summer for us is very busy. This weekend we are driving down to LA with a friend of ours to help her move. (I keep praying for a change of weather, since we will be driving through the desert in a U-haul).

The weekend of the 4th of July we are going up into the mountains with a few couples from church and their young children, which should be fun.

Then Kelly Eversole will show up and we will tour around SF with her.

Following that, we are off to Maui with the Schaff family for a week long vacation. Dietrich has plans to climb Mount Mouna Kea, which is actually the tallest mountain in the world base to peak, it just happens to start at sea level.

We'll get back from Hawaii with a week or two to find a place to live and make arrangements to move before we head to Michigan for the wedding. We'll be flying in to michigan on Monday August 3 and will stay until the 17th. This will give us time to help with the wedding and do stuff for the business.

After that, back to Cali to finish packing our house to move cause we have to be out of here around the 30th of August.

Adventures, adventures.

Count down....

10 days till we have our ultrasound and find out whether little moo will come with a set of frank and beans or not. They won't let us film the ultrasound (bastards) but we might try to sneak something to post on Facebook anyways.

The last week or so has been filled with little signs of life. I felt the very first faint movements after eating a bowl of ice-cream. The baby got reved up like it was on speed or something and I could feel something like a tiny motor spinning around inside of me. Today, I wore maternity clothes for the first time. They are starting to fit and man I have a feeling that I am going to get huge.

Life otherwise is pretty calm. Ulrich is finishing work at the lab and will have the summer off to look for a job. I have been working to transition out of my role at the church so that the community remains strong without my leadership. It seems to be going well as new leaders are starting to emerge and things are clicking into place.

I will be traveling a bit over the summer. Looks like I have a pretty good chance of being in Michigan the week of the 22nd. Then, we may be renting a house in the mountains for a church retreat the weekend of the 4th of July. After that, Ulrich's family is planning to take a trip to Hawaii and we might tag along and enjoy one more nice vacation before reality really sets in.

Then comes wedding season - Adam and Kelsey kick off a series of 4 weddings that we will (hopefully, if baby is agreeable) attend from August till October. Which will take us to November when little moo will grace us with his presence.

Somewhere in there we are going to have to move (maybe twice), Ulrich will find a job, Chris will head to San Diego, and we will prep for the NAR show. Buckle up, keep arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, this should be a fun ride.

Barefoot and Pregnant

Stupid baby. Laying here with a headache and sore legs from a few days of pilates. Stupid baby.

Life in california is otherwise going well. The weather is cool, mid-60s which is great for me. The longer we can go before it gets really hot, the better.

Ulrich is scrambling at lab trying to finish a project that he's been working on for a year. Recent experiments give him hope that he might be able to finish by the end of the month and potentially go down to part time so that he has more time to focus on the job search.

I am adjusting to a life that is a lot less "scheduled" but still rather busy. I don't go to work anymore but still have several obligations to help transition out of my job. I also have a ton of things that I haven't had time for that really need to get done. Slowly but surely I am slashing through a 2 page to-do list. Getting there. 1 step at a time.

Well Naabs... I'd love to hear how the Tiger game went and how Kelly is settling into bootcamp... and if there's any news with BT. Come on, I'm unemployed and pregnant, I need a little gossip to amuse myself.

The end of April

Wow!! Where did the month go?

 

Scott-really appreciate all the  help around here since you got home from school.  You rock!

Jay-I need an idea if you need to store stuff when you get out of your house.  Kinda an end of an era with the great buddies you had to live with.  All your roommates have been a blessing.

Kels-talked with Tim at Signs and he suggested we go with your idea of a stamp with the initials on it for the invites.  Sara said she would generate a template to give whomever we order the stamp from

Adam-nice to meet Mike good guy. 

Chris – I think Scott will order the transmitter tonight

Sara-I would love to set up a meeting for those in marketing with you soundingboarding involvement.  Can we do this soon?

Ulrich-Dad and I both notice in our discussion the number of baptismal candles you were invisioning at your Easter table sometime down the road

“just how many candle were you thnkin’?”

Dad-FYI everyone Dad is fly to florida-portland, or then back to florida and home around the 15^th of May.

Please list any upcoming events the fam needs to know about.

 

Lymtml

gmom

Helloooo Naab Family Blog!

Yay! I finally got blogger to work again! I had to jump through some hoops at the technology department...somehow blogger got blocked or something - although I have to go back and get them to allow access to blogspot too since the domain name changes when you want to actually SEE the blog. Agh!

Anyway, I'm glad that 1) I am now a part of the Naab family blog and 2) that it has been resurrected :)

I guess I don't really have much to add at the moment...just wanted to say hi and announce my ability to contribute haha.

It sounds like there is about to be a LOT of moving in the Naab family...Chris, Adam, Scott - everything is shaking up! There probably isn't much I can do to help from so far away...but if any research or coordination needs to be done I could potentially help in that area - just let me know!

Love and prayers from Costa Rica,

Boot

Upgrading the Naab Blog

I am testing out our new fancy blog. I have upgraded the We Are.. blog to do a couple of things.

 

1.       It will send emails to all of us when there are new posts

2.       You can email saranaab.naab-blog@blogger.com a post

3.       Kelsey, the Crossings blog and my personal blog all show up on the side so you can go to one place and catch all the latest happenings of the Naab family.

 

Chris, let me know if Kelly will keep a blog about boot camp, we’d all love to read it.

 

 

Hey.....what up?

Adam thought it would be good to bring the naab blog out of mothballs and begin using it to keep in touch and know when things are going on........

so........ the naab news.......Chris and Kelly, eta about now. Coming here from N.H. Kelly leaves for bootcamp next Sat from NH. Chris and Kelly are coming here to bring her stuff so Chris can take all her things down to El Centro when he goes down there in Sept. Chris and Kelly leave Chelsea to go back to NH on monday afternoon. (sorry Sara and Ulrich they thought they would catch up with you)

Adam and Scott are finished with this semester on wednesday.......Scott wants to figure out how he is getting his stuff home. (can you tow let me know what the plan is)

Sara and Ulrich are coming to Mich. arriving Tues, April 22 at 7:30 and leaving sunday, April 26th @ 7:00 am.

Adam would like to get a baseball game in for everyone or at least for the guys.......(Sara this would be a fun time for us to go shopping, just a thought)

Please add your thoughts........