FIrst Trip to the beach

***For clarification this was the first trip to the beach for Aidan and Addison. Diana and I have been more times than we could count. Just to clarify.***

Our friends, the Gould's, were nice enough to invite us to the beach with them for Memorial Day. By nice enough I mean - even though we have 2 infants who could be difficult to manage on a long day trip, they still invited us. We had a great time and got some great pics / video.

Thanks to the Gould's for inviting us and to the Schlieman's for allowing us to use your crib (while Jon worked ;)

Here are some pics / video from the day:


In our new bathing suits...


Addison and mommy...


Addison's first time in the Atlantic...


Aidan loving it...


Sir in the back, please stay out of my family photos... and stop staring at my wife.


Addison after a long morning...


Aidan resting up...




A video of Aidan's first time in the Ocean. Note 2 things... One - Addison is crying and ready to go take a nap. Two - Aidan is totally loving it until the second wave (not a wave), which has a bit more force than the first, makes contact.


And now you can see - Aidan fully recovered from this traumatic experience that we put him through.

We have great kids. We are extremely thankful.

-Jason

Happy Birthday Tanner!!!

Most of you probably know our family pup, Tanner. Today the mighty Tan Man turns 2 years old. Tanner, simply put is an awesome dog. He brings a lot of hapiness and a lot of joy to our family. He's got tons of energy and drive and all he wants to do is have fun, love his family, work/play, and keep the "bad people" away. I felt it necessary to throw up some picks form the last 2 years in honor of the boy. So here we go:




The boy at about 8-9 weeks.




1st time on the couch...




An early on tiring day at the lake.




before the ears were standing up....




first driving lesson...




will me ears ever stand up?




Yes!!!! Ears up!




Loving his mom...



Playing with Harley (my mom's little chi wha wha)




Please come out....




this is not as it seems, I promise...




Tanner loves the dog park... he also loves it when his friends comes with...




Seasons changing...




Merry Christmas!!!!




Tanner loves the new additions to our family...




gentle giant with the babies...




always close by protecting...




still lounging when he can...




looking good...




2nd Christmas with Tanner... 1st with the babies!!!




always focused...




always nearby.


Tanner, we love you bud. Thanks for a great 2 years and we look foward to many more.

Cheers Mate!

Mothers Day - A note from the fam

The woman in this picture is my babies momma. You all know her as Diana. She is also the woman who agreed to marry me. She is incredible. Below you will find notes to her from each of our family members in honor of her on this Mother's Day.



Diana, I love you. You're my everything. When you said you would marry me my whole life changed. You are a picture of grace in my life that I get to see everyday. You are smart, funny, forgiving, loving, hardworking, strong, and you bring a stability to our family that I have never known. Really, there aren't enough words.









Mommy, the doctors said without you being on bed rest for 10 days before I was born I might not even be alive. That is hard for me to believe because I always feel so alive when I am near you. You take such good care of me. You feed me, give me hugs and kisses, take me a walks, and even snuggle me when I am sad. Dad says you're the best mom in the world and I believe him!










Hi Mommy!!! I am your little boy. I love it when we play!!! We have a had long journey since we first met and I am so thankful for how much you have taken care of me. I couldn't imagine being a happier little boy and I think it's because you love me sooo much. I get the feeling we are gonna have soooo much fun together.



Hi mom. I know sometimes I am a lot to handle but you seem to love me anyways. I love to play with you, protect you, and love, love, love it when you let me sleep in the bed. I also love it when you let me play with the little babies. We have such a great family and we all know it's because of you. Do you want to play?!?!?!?!



We love you babe! Thanks for taking such good care of us and loving us so hard. We have such a wonderful family and are so blessed. I (we) couldn't imagine life without you. Happy Mother's Day!

Love,

Jason, Addison, Aidan, and Tanner

ps - props to Rebecca for taking most of these photos. You can track here down here. She is available for all of your memory capturing moments ;)

Daddy Daycare on Mondays!!!

Man,

Mondays are hard work ;)




I think it's supposed to be naptime... maybe we can stay up a little longer...

Benefit Show Tomorrow Night

A lot of you know I went to Kenya in August of 2007. We went there to begin what we hoped would be a long-term partnership with my friend Joseph Wamutitu and his work all over Africa (namely Kenya) and most specifically The Africa Hope Center. The Africa Hope Center is a childrens home just outside of Kenya for children who have lost both of their parents due to HIV/AIDS.

Since going over for the first time we have worked to raise money and awareness for what's going on, sent folks over to aide in leadership development, sponsored children, helped them with their building, and we are about to send some friends (Kyle and Anna) over for 1 month to hang out with the children at the Africa Hope Center. (on a side note Kyle and Anna just got married a month ago and they are spending their next month in Africa - HAH - awesome.)

That leads me to whats going on now (better said - Thursday night.) We are hosting a benefit show at our church building to raise the rest of the money for their trip. Here are the details.

What: Benefit Show for Africa Hope Center - http://www.africahopecenter.org/
When: Thursday April 9th from 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Where: Visio Dei Building - 524 E. Whitaker Mill Rd. Raleigh NC - www.visiodei.org
Why: Good Music, Good Cause, Keith Urban might be there (he also might not be)
Who is playing: Dakota Darling - http://www.myspace.com/dakotadarlingmusic - AND - A Clerestory - http://www.myspace.com/aclerestory

These are both great bands and we really do have a great venue with a rad sound system. The show is $5 and the bands have agreed to have all proceeds from the door and from merch sales will go directly towards The Africa Hope Center. Please help us get the word out. Email / Blog / Facebook / Twitter / YouTube. All forms of social media are acceptable and appreciated ;)

Feel free to just send folks here for details or you can use this Facebook Link - http://www.facebook.com/editevent.php?guests&eid=68574192977#/event.php?eid=68574192977

...or both... but most certainly... one or the other.

Hope to see you Thursday.

CHEERS!

-Jason

Need some prayer and support...

Not for me this time. We have some good friends Jeramie and Joye who just had a little baby boy. His name is Ethan and he is a stud (I got to see him today.) He was born with a few complications one of which will require open heart surgery on just his 3rd day of life out of the womb. That is tomorrow (or today, Wednesday, depending on when you read this.) He goes into surgery about 8:30 and it could go for 4 hours or so.

I know a lot of you who follow our blog care about little babies because of all the support you showed us when Aidan and Addison were fighting through some scary times. As you can imagine this hits close to home for Diana and I and we would love you to offer them some prayer and support as well.

You can pick-up on what's going on on their blog here. It doesn't matter if you know her/them or not - I assure you it helps just to know others are praying, hoping, caring, and entering into your fears and hopes. Please just take a minute and offer them a thought, a prayer, or some love.

Praying for baby Ethan tonight,

-Jason and Diana

Long Overdue

Hello family and friends,

I appreciate all of the emails, phone calls, and text messages reminding me I haven't given the masses their updates on our children. There are two primary reasons for this:

1)We haven't put any pics up lately due to our camera malfunctioning again. We are waiting for our friends at BestBuy to send it back to us. We have a memory card with over 100 pics from Christmas time through now.

2) The second reason is that we now have 2 children and finding time to sit in front of this machine and type has become more difficult to come by.

As amends to my slackness, I would like to offer you this video I created of our children smiling. It is not long however you will see that our babies are infact growing bigger and stronger and more beautiful as each day passes.

Enjoy!!!!

-Jason (and Diana)

ps - thanks for caring about our family... we love you.

Interview with Silver

Some friends of mine have a new record about to be dropped (like it's hot) and I am working with them to get the word out for their CD release shows coming up. I say "shows" because they have one in Raleigh as well as one in Charlotte. Below is an interview with the band talking about their new record, cd release dates, and Pat's favorite color (guess which one I made up?)

I would love to ask you 3 favors as you watch this video:

1) Plan on coming to the show. They have worked really hard to put some great songs together. Their record is awesome. Support local music. Don't do drugs. Prevent forest fires.

2) Think of someone you can specifically introduce to Silver Music. Invite them to come with you to the show.

3) If you have a blog, friends in you email contact list who like music, a website, or a grandmother who is really into "edgy" pop... please do what you can to get this video to them. I ask you to embed it in your site, send them here to this site, or just email them the youtube link. By the middle of the week we'll have another video/acoustic recording for you to push out for us as well ;) ---> Online community is very helpful in this sort of thing ;)

Thanks for your help!

Raleigh folk, put it on your calendar now.... Next Saturday Night ---> The Pour House.

Here is The Official Silver Music Site. Check that out right after you enjoy the interview:



Cheers!

-Jason

30 Years Young

So, this past Tuesday... on February 3rd I turned 30 years old. No, I don' feel old. My body doesn't hurt or ache, my knees feel better than they did last year (running long distances was from the devil), and I am no more forgetful than I was 10 years ago (no jokes here.) In fact, I feel great. Nonetheless, this is something close to a milestone. I dont think I ever thought about "30" when I was younger. Not sure if that means I simply "live for the moment" (if you know me well, you're probably agreeing right now) or if I didn't think I would make it this long as crazy as I have been from time to time.

In looking back on 30 years I have had an amazing go at things so far. I have loved every second with my family (that is ever increasing in many ways.) My parents and grand parents have shown more support than I could ever ask for. I have had, lost, and still have some of the best friends anyone could ever want. I have had incredible teachers, coaches, bosses, and role models. I have even had and still have great pets. I have tried many, many things. I have failed in things. I have succeeded in things. I have loved and lost (and wouldn't change it.) I have loved and won. I am certain I have hurt some people and I have felt remorse. I have gotten to see places all around the world and had the priveledge of serving people there. I recieved double the blessing in return from those same people I was looking to serve. I have tried some things I probably shouldn't have tried (no need to list things here ;)I have grown to learn wrestling, sushi, music, reading, coffee, beer, poetry, movies of all kinds, the guitar, musicals, jui-jitsu, marketing, red wine, avocados, guacamole, french toast, animals, people, the world around me, and God our Creator and Father. I have also been given who I am convinced is the worlds greatest wife (for me specifically - I dont want to down play other folks wives) who loves me more than I deserve. Together we have been given two miracles in our children Aidan and Addison (maybe more someday ;)

Though the previous paragraph wouldn't communicate it (after all those post is about me turning 30...) I have also realized to a small degree, this world isnt a small story with me as the main character but instead a much larger story with me as a small character. I am coming to know this more and more and it is continually changing my life for the better. Everything up above has served in some way to reveal that to me. I pray I continue to learn this and helps me become who I was created to be.

Looking back - other than pain I could have caused others; I wouldn't change a thing. I sincerly mean that. Laughs, tears, celebrations, and pain. All have brought me to where I am and I love it. Thanks for walking alongside me in this big world. It's been a blast and I can't wait to see the next 30.

Love and Peace,

-Jason

ps - I feel the next 30 should be more productive as I already have some of the basics down already (walking, running, talking, etc)

pss - it's gonna be a lot of fun with Diana watching our children grow-up...

pss - thanks for all who made it to the crazy surprise party Diana threw for me. that should be a blog post all to itself. thanks for all the calls, voicemails, cards, and facebook messages. you are all incredible friends. we are truly blessed.

Mery Christmas

Merry Christmas! I pray that the beauty and mystery of the God sending His son Jesus to be born in a manger as the savior of the world would be a bit more real to you this year. I pray that out of that the realization of new possibilities and limitless hope comes to you and your family.

Here are a few recent blessings and encounters with hope from my life right now:

Mommy, Daddy, Aidan, Addison, and Tanner

We might have been under the mistletoe... lucky for me.

First Christmas...

I saw the stockings hanging on the mantle while we were taking pictures and... well, I couldn't resist.

They acted like they liked it... ;)

As far as presents go... we're good on stuffed animals for a while... ;) The two tan bears on the bottom (one with a tank top and one without) were mine and Diana's growing up.

Daddy dressing his girl for some Christmas pics!!!

Aidan just being a stud...

I think we might have our hands full for a while.

I do a lot of things wrong in life. I find hope when I look at things like this. I find hope when I remind myself of stories like Christmas. I realize there really is a Hope for all of us. Friends, Family, folks I dont really know... Merry Christmas.

Love and Peace to you.

-The Gore Fam

*Thanks to Rebecca for taking the pics. Love you!