Decorating "Our" Christmas tree

We're so sorry it's been so long since we've posted here - things have been rather crazy in our world over the last few months. However, it's now Christmas time, which means it's time to decorate a Christmas tree!

A friend of ours was snapping pictures during the whole process and when we looked at them afterwards we thought it would be fun to let you in on how our tree gets decorated every year through a series of pictures - call it a "photo essay" if you will...

Erin deciding whether she's going to let Jeremy help decorate.

Erin decides to let Jeremy help but only under strict supervision ("This one goes here, this one over there...").

Jeremy deciding if he really wants to see this task through to the end...

Posing for a picture: "Jeremy 'helps' decorate the tree."

Jeremy decides his time would be much better spent (and FAR more productive) making eggnog ice cream.

The finished product... "We" did pretty good, didn't we!

Double the Fun!

So I've always wanted to try riding a tandem bike and this past weekend was my first opportunity! It was a lot more challenging than I was expecting. I had in mind a nice leisurely ride through a small mountain town. I realized that was not the case once we got started. First of all it was a serious road bike. Not a bike with big seats and handle bars and wheels like I was expecting. This bike was used in competitive road bike races! Plus the guy that was showing us how it worked and riding beside us around town decided to take us on a 13 MILE ride!!! Now, I did not have any padded shorts to wear like you should have on if you're riding this bike. So needless to say... I'm sore!
It took a little bit to figure out how to ride it. The way you start off is the person in back, me, puts their foot in the pedals that secure in your feet while the front person holds the bike steady. Then the front person, Jeremy, steers and puts their feet in while the back person pedals. Then once you start pedaling you need to try and match each others cadence. Then you really need to be in constant communication with each other throughout the ride so you know what the other person is doing. You can easily parallel this with marriage. You have to trust the front person as they are the leader and the back person must follow. One of the tricks I learned is that if Jeremy was going too fast or I felt a bit out of control I could just pinch his but because it was right by my handle bars=}!

Anyway, it was a great experience and I would recommend it to anyone, especially couples needing to sharpen communication skills!

Fun in Winthrop

Today we hiked up to Blue Lake in the Cascade Mountains in Washington state, otherwise known as the "American Alps". It was a gorgeous hike!!! It was about a 4.5 mile round trip and worth every step. Most of the artists on Centricity Records went so it was a fun time spent with friends. And of course when we reached Blue Lake Jeremy couldn't help but jump into the freezing water that flows off from the glacier in the background. He didn't last long but it made for a great picture.

Jeremy also started from the road below and climbed a few hundred feet without gear and I was able to get a shot of him finishing.

The downhere family at the top of the trail. Jonah is my little buddy!!

Washington pass overlook... amazing!

More pictures from the hike.

We attended the Winthrop Rodeo yesterday... such a fun experience!

Debbie and I at Sheri's, the popular dessert "hangout" in town... I have chocolate in my teeth from a yummy homemade peanut butter cup!!

Highlights from Northern Ireland

For those of you who have not yet seen these pictures here are a few highlights from our trip to Ireland. What a huge blessing it was to be a part of such a cool event. Downhere played in the Odyssey Arena - the largest venue in Northern Ireland - and opened for Chris Tomlin! It was such a great night and I am so thankful I got to soak in that experience. It was a bit stressful for me as we lost our largest merch suitcase on the way to the event so we didn't have all that we wanted to hopefully sell to 3,500+ people. But I had joyful merch volunteers and we sold out of all our Wide-Eyed CD's. AND I just loved having that responsibility that evening even though we didn't have all our merch. I am so thankful for my job and loved watching the guys give their all to a crowd who ended up loving them by their second song... and who, by the end of the night, enjoyed Chris Tomlin's set, but raved about downhere's set. God is good and he was glorified that night and I got to see him use these guys to make his name known in N.I.

We did get a day after the concert to sightsee around the coast. Here are a few pictures from the 4 days we had there. This was my first time so I couldn't take enough pictures!
Erin

downhere at the Odyssey

Giant's Causeway

Me and my new friend Cherith.

The Dunluce Castle on the coast.

White Man's Overbite

Well, our good friend Krista captured this wonderful moment Friday night in Muskegon, MI. I'm not sure what to say - I know I make faces when I play, but I had no idea they were this bad! Wow...

Jeremy's Week in Review

"Week in Review" - that sounds pretty lame, really. I'll have to come up with some clever title for this like Grandpa's "Weakly Note" - any suggestions, Grandpa? I'm obviously having a hard time hitting the Monday deadline, aren't I!! As usual, we've had a pretty full schedule since I last posted. Let me "break it down" for you:

• Last Friday we drove BACK to Nashville and flew to California where downhere performed at Spirit West Coast in Monterey on Saturday. On Sunday we did a concert in Roseville, CA and then flew back home (finally!) on Monday.
• Tuesday we went to see the Bourne Ultimatum (I'm a big Jason Bourne fan - you can read more about the movie here).
• Wednesday Erin did a Cinderella party in the AM, then we had lunch with some friends of downhere who had travelled in from various places (VA and MI, mostly), and then I was wrapped up in meetings the rest of the afternoon.
• Thursday was spent getting ready to leave town again for 10 days. Erin worked at her part time job and I ran around getting errands taken care of - it was a pretty busy day (and not enjoyable in 100+ degree heat!) and we finished it off with dinner with two other couples from church - so that was great.
• Friday we got up at 2:45am (I'm shaking my head as I type this) to drive to Michigan to play at a festival with Leeland, Jars of Clay, Casting Crowns, and others. Erin's going to post some pictures from the day, and you can read some of my post about the day here as well (we nicknamed them "Jars of Thigh" for the night - need I say more??).

That should be it - we're headed to Ireland next week so it will be probably much more interesting. Hopefully we'll get some down time next week - I'm really feeling like I'm needing it. So we'll see...

Pictures from Creation West

A tribute to our Creator! This festival is definitely one of the most scenic locations we've played. Downhere played on this stage to start off the evening. It was such a treat to have my parents out for this event. They drove from Montana to see us. I had fun getting excited with my mom when she saw Jeremy on the jumbotron. It was a blast sharing this part of our lives with them! They were also a big help at the merchandise table... thanks Mom and Dad!

During their set some lady threw this hat on stage and Jason brought it back to Jeremy for him to wear.

The river by the Gorge had a section that is known for it's dove shape... my Dad took this picture with his phone.

My proud Father waiting for downhere to come on!
My Mom and I with the crowd behind us... Doesn't she look fabulous in that shirt=}!