Congratulations Matt & Jill!

We were involved in a wedding this weekend of dear friends. Kirsten was a bridesmaid and Chris led the guests in worship through song.

It was a great celebration of what God has done, both in their individual lives, but also in bringing them together in marriage. We hope they are having a fabulous time in Jamaica and look forward to getting together with them when they have returned and settled in to their new home a bit.

Johann's First Baseball Game

He took his first ride on the BART to San Francisco. Even though it was a Giants game and everyone else from church was wearing Giants gear or orange, Johann wore his Angels outfit. The Gothold family rooted for the opposing team, much to the dismay of all our Bay Area born-and-raised friends.



He was one tired little dude by the 7th inning stretch (during which we left), but he liked clapping along with the crowd. He also really liked the Gilroy Garlic Fries.

Maybe when he turns two he'll have one, too

A dance party, that is.

Johann's friend turned two this week and had a dance party.  Johann loved it.

In fact, he had been practicing for over a week, perfecting his moves. (Unfortunately, all videos are from our digital photo camera and are pretty low quality).

But, here's the actual party dancing:

Future Band Geek?

Devotion

Our son had roseola last week.  He had to be held all day, all week (when he wasn't sleeping).  He was very fussy.  He cried and screamed a lot.  He slept a lot.  When he started to feel better and would try to play, he would often just lie down in the middle of the floor after a short period of time.  One time, I covered him with a blanket and snatched the camera.

It started Sunday night and as our Church Retreat drew near, I feared the outcome.  I desperately needed to get out of the house after a week of being cooped up with a sick baby, but... would we need to stay quarantined all weekend?  Would he scream and cry and disrupt other retreaters' peace and quiet?

On Friday morning, his fever broke.  We went ahead as planned and took Johann to the Retreat after his Dr. confirmed that his virus was just about finished running it's course.  

It wasn't always fun with a fussy baby, but it was well worth being in community, he finished up his illness with a rash on Friday night (not contagious anymore!) and by Saturday night, he was almost back to his normal self.

The Retreat was at Frontier Ranch at Mission Springs.

Chris' good friend Jeff was the speaker.  He was also the pastor that married us - on the field at Frontier Ranch!

He did an excellent job speaking and challenging the church about devotion.  Chris led worship for the weekend.  It was a rich time of extended worship and fellowship for the Creek.  

I even got to attend the sessions because of our awesome childcare workers (four of whom I snagged from PCC)!

Four of my favorite High Schoolers!

Sunday morning completed our retreat experience with a worship gathering on the beach at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz.

Besides the sick child, it was an enjoyable weekend being on retreat with our church.  We hope it can become an annual event!

Memorial Day Weekend

Last weekend, Chris performed his first wedding as a licensed pastor.

The couple began attending our church just a few months after Chris joined the staff and the groom was from Chris' home town.  

The wedding was at South Lake Tahoe and was absolutely beautiful.

Here is a picture of Chris (and the groomsmen) waiting for the "guests of honor" to arrive so he could commence the ceremony.

And then just as I was about the take a picture of the flower girls with fairy wings walking down the aisle, my camera batteries died.

Johann kept amused with the sand, his diaper bag, and a quarter, but only for five minutes.  He let me (and everyone around us) know that he was done with sitting.  I had to remove him from the seating area for fear of ruining the couple's wedding video.  Luckily, he happily played with the plants around the perimeter of the park - a close enough distance for me to watch the rest of the ceremony.  Chris did a great job, highlighting endearing traits about the couple, encouraging and exhorting using illustrations from scripture, and confidently carrying out a natural flow to the ceremony.  

The groom's mother worked with Chris' father for many years, so he (Chris' Dad) attended the wedding.  It was fun to spend some time with him.

Three generations of Gotholds

At the reception, they served some kid's meals and Johann had his first taste of "Mac and Cheese"  (the kind with powdered cheese sauce)... and to my dismay, he LOVED it.

Of course, a Monkey made the trip to Tahoe, too.

Celebrating 2 Years!

Two years ago on May 19th, Chris and I were wed in the presence of God, family, and friends.
Since I was a month post-partum on our one year anniversary, Chris took care of all the celebration plans. So, this year was my turn to plan.   

Let me preface my choice of plans by explaining something.  When I married Chris, I loved him for the man he was, on his own and in relationship with me.   However, prior to that day we wed, I only knew him as a friend, boyfriend, and a fiance.  Marriage (and parent-hood) has only created new ways to discover things I love about him.  I have come to know and love him as a partner.  I don't say it nearly enough, but I decided I would reflect on it more and try to put it into words on our anniversary.  In what Chris and I feel are some of the most important issues in life (like spirituality, service, living simply, love for family and kids, and music), we are totally on the same page.  It's where we initially connected and fell in love with each other.  In so many other areas, Chris and I are very different.  In fact, we are almost complete opposites in some cases.  I have learned, come to appreciate, and grown to love that we are different. Chris is the Yin to my Yang.   When I freak out, he can be calm.  When I am pessimistic, he can be optimistic.  Where I am realistic, he is idealistic.  Those are just a few examples, but I really do LOVE that I am married to a man who is able to challenge me and balance me.   I am usually quite practical, concerned about work, responsibilities, duties, obligations, finances... sometimes I forget to live.  To laugh.  To have fun.  Chris urges me to live a little more.  He has told me that there is truth to the saying, "Families that play together, stay together." So, by Chris' prodding to just play more and my concern about being frugal, I planned a date that I hoped we would both enjoy.  It was nice and low-key. I cooked dinner at home, my wonderful sister Brita came over to babysit Johann, and Chris and I went out to...

(Family Center) where we played a competitive and playful game of minigolf.

After that, we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert and ordered their 30th Anniversary Cheesecake.  I was starting to wonder why it was taking our server so long to bring out one piece of cheesecake when he walked up to our table with two candles on the side of the plate and chocolate sauce drizzled along the edge of the plate reading, "Happy Two Year Anniversary!"  

It was a great date and a great anniversary with a great husband!