Christening

We were in Milwaukee this past weekend for the Christening of my niece, Jadyn Kathleen Siwicki. Jadyn is an Irish name, and Kathleen is my late mother's name. I was the godfather even though it was a Catholic ceremony and I am decidedly not Catholic anymore, being a Protestant minister and all. It was okay, though, since the godmother is a practicing Catholic and I am, of course, a Christian. The vows for us godparents included helping to raise Jadyn as a Christian which, of course, I can wholeheartedly ascribe to.  Afterwards we had a feast at my Aunt Margie's house where we also celebrated a big Green Bay Packer victory over the Kansas City Chiefs! Here are some pics from the baptism:

A candle is lit for baby Jadyn.

The parents and godparents.

Mommy and baby Jadyn.

Jadyn with her dad and Uncle Tom. 

Two Zachary's hanging out at church.

Pictures

 Here are a few pictures we took while in Asheville, North Carolina on our way up to Chicago:

Enjoying brunch.

Hanging out at the Grove Arcade Public Market

Zach and mommy strolling Grove Arcade.

Hanging at the local bookstore.

How can I leave the parking garage if I can't open the door?

Dark Ages

So far our time in Chicago has been relaxing. Grace's mom has been cooking up a storm. Hopefully, I won't gain too much weight! It feels like I'm back in the Dark Ages when it comes to media. Grace's folks only have a dial-up internet connection which I basically refuse to use because it's so slow. I'm currently hanging out at the Bridgeport Coffee Company in their neighborhood which has great coffee (I'm enjoying an El Salvador blend at the moment) and a fast internet connection.

They also only have regular television complete with rabbit ears. I've had cable for so long that I forgot what it's like to only have six stations (have of them blurry) at your disposal. We're trying to convince them to get cable or a dish, but I would be surprised if they would sign-up since they don't believe in paying for something that they can get for free. I have a lot of reading to do anyway for my dissertation, so not having access to ESPN, Discovery, and CNN is probably a good thing.

Chicago

Fixing the flat was not a big deal. I went to Walmart early in the morning and they fixed what was a leaky valve stem. Our second car problem came in Indiana. At a rest stop I tried to open the trunk and it was stuck. Upon our arrival I thankfully was able to jiggle it open. The next day I went to Honda and they replaced the latch for free since it was under warranty.

Chicago has been fun so far. Had real authentic dim sum after church yesterday which was much better than anything the Raleigh area has to offer. Zach liked the dim sum and ate a lot. It's a good thing he likes Chinese food! Last night Grace's parents had folks over from their church. Zach's favorite part was when everyone sang happy birthday to his grandparents. He especially liked the singing and eating their birthday cake.

Flat Tire

Had fun in Asheville today having brunch at the Tupelo Honey Cafe and walking around the downtown area. I would say that Asheville is pretty much an artistic, organic, new age kind of town. An emerging church would probably do well here.

Upon arriving at our hotel in Shelbyville, Kentucky I noticed that our tire was about 2/3 flat. After checking in, the tire was totally flat. Praise God that we didn't get stuck on the highway. Hopefully I can get the tire fixed early tomorrow and we can be off to Chicago to see Grace's parents.