Today is a big day for downhere. Our very first full-length Christmas album releases in stores, and we're excited for you to hear it! "How Many Kings: Songs for Christmas" was a really fun album to do. We opted to self-produce this one which allowed us a lot of freedom to get creative and have fun in the process. For those of you who are familiar with downhere's music, you won't be disappointed: there are the trademark harmonies and piano combined with the theologically solid and well-crafted lyrics (there are 4 original songs on the album plus a new arrangement of "How Many Kings"). There are also a number of firsts on this album: Marc (who is French Canadian) sings French for the first time on a downhere record, I make my singing debut (don't get too excited!), Jason's dog makes an appearance, we record someone banging on a JUNO Award... just to name a few. Click the video below to watch a 6 minute "making-of" piece - Glenn did a great job putting it together.

I'm obviously biased, but I don't think you'll be disappointed if you pick up this album. It releases in stores today - you're going to want one for yourself and all of your family and friends - trust me! :) Click here to download the album directly from iTunes. Please take a second after you've purchased it and had a chance to listen to it and post a review online somewhere - that always helps. Enjoy - and have a merry early Christmas!

I'm not going to be writing an essay today, but I wanted to at least put up some fun pictures of Liam and I from the last few days at home. If you're a Facebook-er you can click here to see the album (which includes a few more pictures) and comment away.

Liam is a real joy - quick to smile, quick to cuddle, slow to get upset. We love him dearly. If you haven't already found my wife's blog, Erin is doing a great job over at Life with Jerin at tracking his development. Just yesterday she posted an update with some new pictures as well - make sure you stop in over there and check it out.

This upcoming Sunday is going to be a busy one for us. First, we will be celebrating Liam's baby dedication with our home church - Rolling Hills Community Church. This is a neat ceremony in the life of a child and the church. Basically, Erin and I will stand before the church and commit to raising Liam in a godly home. Then our church will commit to helping us raise him in a godly fashion as he grows up in the church. Because our families live so far away (Canada and Montana) we won't have any family present for the dedication. But we would love for you to come and be our "Nashville family" if you are in the area. It will take place in the 10:30am service - please come and say hi if you choose to come!

Sunday EVENING we are honored to be the beneficiaries of a wine and chocolate tasting hosted by the good men of my mentoring group. It's open to anyone - it starts at 7pm and will take place at Sol on Main in downtown Franklin. We would love for you to join us there - Liam will be around to meet his public for the first 45 minutes, so you will get a chance to meet him. You can click here for more details.

So... by Sunday night Erin and I will be bone tired but I'm sure overwhelmed by the love and support from our church family and friends. We hope to see you at some point on Sunday!

Swim - 3:27
T1 - 2;51
Bike - 30:39
T2 - 1:47
Run - 17:04

I actually ended up placing 4th in my age group (Beginners ages 30-34) and had I registered for the Clydesdale division (men over 200lbs) I would have placed 2nd.  So all in all, I was very happy with how the race turned out and spent a good amount of time yesterday online looking for the next one. My ultimate goal is to complete a full Ironman race (2.5mi swim, 112mi bike, 26.2mi run), but that's not going to happen this season. Although I'm eyeing a 1/2 Ironman the end of September... I'll keep you posted.

A big shout out to Randy, Ken, and Spence - they were my tri buddies for the day and all did fantastic as well. We're already planning on doing the race next year - want to join us?

If you are new to my blog, Liam was born with Down syndrome this past December, so as first-time parents we have been learning about a different world of child rearing than most. We really have no idea what is in store for us as we raise a special needs child - but thanks to these fantastic guys, everyone who will come out to the wine and chocolate tasting, and the gifts and prayers of many of you, we are confident the Lord will provide whatever we need whenever we need it.

Here are the event details:

Date: Sunday, May 31st
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Sol on Main (downtown Franklin)
Price: no set price, but a suggested donation of $10/person

Facebook: Facebook event page

We would love to see you out. Brock will be bringing chocolate from all over the world (he does chocolate tastings for people all across the US - I was able to sit in on one and it was fantastic!), and Randy and Spence will provide the wine (there will be soft drinks there if you're not a wine person).

Please feel free to pass on this information to friends or people in the Nashville area who you think would be interested in coming. Being the proud father that I am, it would be my honor to introduce you to Liam.

Thanks - hope to see you May 31st!

My wife started blogging a year or two ago, but without a reliable computer to call her own and a travel schedule that didn't allow much time for "extras", blogging was not a priority. Now things have changed - she has her own computer and is at home more often than not... The "time for extras" thing is still up for debate, but she has been able to carve out a little bit to get back into blogging. Take time today to stop by her blog - you'll be glad you did!

If you missed all the Twitters from the JUNO Awards a couple of weeks ago, here's the official announcement: we won our third JUNO Award, this time for "Ending is Beginning". (For the uninitiated, the JUNO Awards are the Canadian equivalent to the Grammy Awards here in America.) The awards were held in Vancouver, BC this year, and we were able to go up and be a part of the weekend thanks to the Radio Starmaker Fund. Here is a press picture right after we won the award (unfortunately we were all looking at different cameras!).

I have learned that a very important picture opportunity for young children especially is Easter. Little girls get Easter dresses, little boys get Easter outfits, and pictures must be taken (of course). Well, over the years we have become good friends with the couple that took our wedding pictures, and they send us a note saying that they were offering portrait sessions with LIVE bunnies at for Easter... Need I say more?!?

So I give you a few pictures of Liam with a real bunny (thanks to Kevin and Suzette for giving us permission to use these pictures online!). Is he cute or what!!

President Obama made history last night by being the first ever sitting President to appear on a late-night television show as a guest of Jay Leno. I understand his attempt at self-depreciating humor (in case you didn't watch the video clip, go here for the transcript [HT: Huffington Post]) - generally that's always a safe bet for a good laugh. I'm sure it wasn't mean-spirited or meant in an offensive way. I know he called the president of the Special Olympics and apologized even before the show aired; I know he has now extended an invitation to Special Olympics athletes to the White House to bowl and play basketball (I'll keep my opinion on that to myself... you do the math). The fact of the matter is that "off-hand" or not, I expect more of the American President.

Being is a position of such visibility and responsibility is a tough task - people hold such people to a higher standard and rightly so. By accepting such a position one agrees to live by that higher standard. I am personally learning the power of words all over again - whereas just a few short months ago it would not have been uncommon to hear me call myself "retarded" when I make a silly mistake, now as the father of a son who's mental and physical development is technically "retarded" (i.e. slower than normal) I start to see red whenever I overhear someone make such an "offhand" comment even though I know the intent is most probably not harmful or derogatory.

I really don't have much more to say. There's plenty more that could be said and IS being said around the blogosphere - many are turning this into a political "look what we've gotten ourselves into!" thing - my intention is not that. If anything, may this simply serve as a reminder that it really doesn't matter who you are - the President of the United States, Joe the Plumber, a rockstar, a housewife, a blogger - think twice about the words you speak. They have the power to wound or to heal. And once they're spoken, there's no taking them back.

At a shower the downhere family threw for us before Liam was born, they took a bunch of diapers and wrote messages on them for our future entertainment when we changed Liam. This one showed up the other day - it was too good to pass up! And is very true... one of the first things I did when I got home yesterday (after kissing my wife and child) was change his diaper. Funny the things we look forward to, isn't it!