It's a girl!!

It's a girl!

And we can already tell she is stubborn. She refused to move and let us see her face! We are both very excited!!!! Now to get serious about picking a name.... hmmmm.

Baby Stuff

Starting our collection of bibs and burp rags:)

WOW...First Appointment

Austin and I had our first appointment today.

The ultrasound was completely AMAZING! We got to see and hear our baby's heart beat. Incredible, Awesome, Sobering... words are inadequate to describe that moment.

Our official due date is April 13, 2012.

And for Matt and Marissa, we will do our best to tell baby to not come on April 5th or 6th so you don't lose your birthday:) And Grandpa we will tell it to come early so you don't lose yours either.

A few pictures from Friday Night's Announcements.

Announcement #3 to Natasha

Announcement #2 to Mom and Dad

Announcement #1 to Kip and Deb

Thought this was funny.... :)

China Mission Trip

Hello everyone!

In January of 2006 I was privileged to be a part of a mission trip to the Philippines. It was definitely a life-changing experience! Wonderful, WONDERFUL memories! As of yesterday afternoon another missions opportunity was extended to my wife and I...to CHINA! Our dogs Shadow and Mocha dug a hole so deep we heard faint Mandarin...upon further investigation, we realized they had dug all the way to the capital city of Beijing. If anyone would like to accompany us on our China mission trip please let us know asap! We may need to make the hole a little bigger...

AR

Where's Waldo? (Bin Laden Edition)

And they didn't know he was there??

Had to post...

New addition to the family......

Nope....not a baby...give us 5 or 6 more years. ;)

She's a few weeks younger than shadow...boxer mix.....sweetest dog ever. It's wonderful......yea amazing how much Shadow has calmed down since we got the new one!! :) Hopefully she's done shredding our trees, plants, nerves, etc. Only bad thing......I now have double duty on the pooper-scooper..............blech.

What should we name our new dog?

The little beggars...

We planned on buying the new one her OWN dog house, but......this is how they've greeted us each morning...

Wonderful Springtime Weather!

.....not so much.....

A Letter from Camp...

I came across this letter while doing some planning/research for JR Camp 2011...hope you enjoy (especially you parents with 9-11 year olds). I'm thinking about adding it to the pre-camp registration packet. lol

Dear Mom & Dad:

We are having a great time here at Lake Typhoid. Scoutmaster Webb is making us all write to our parents in case you heard about the flood and worried. We are OK. Only 1 of our tents and 2 sleeping bags got washed away. Luckily, none of us got drowned because we were all up on the mountain looking for Chad when it happened. Oh yes, please call Chad's mother and tell her he is OK. He can't write because of the cast. I got to ride in one of the search & rescue jeeps. It was neat. We never would have found him in the dark if it hadn't been for the lightning. Scoutmaster Webb got mad at Chad for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Chad said he did tell him, but it was during the fire so he probably didn't hear him. Did you know that if you put gas on a fire, the gas can will blow up? The wet wood still didn't burn, but one of our tents did. Also some of our clothes. John is going to look weird until his hair grows back. We will be home on Saturday if Scoutmaster Webb gets the car fixed. It wasn't his fault about the wreck. The brakes worked OK when we left. Scoutmaster Webb said that a car that old you have to expect something to break down; that's probably why he can't get insurance on it. We think it's a neat car. He doesn't care if we get it dirty; and if it's hot, sometimes he lets us ride on the tailgate. It gets pretty hot with 10 people in a car. He let us take turns riding in the trailer until the highway patrolman stopped and talked to us. Scoutmaster Webb is a neat guy. Don't worry, he is a good driver. In fact, he is teaching Terry how to drive. But he only lets him drive on the mountain roads where there isn't any traffic. All we ever see up there are logging trucks. This morning all of the guys were diving off the rocks and swimming out in the lake. Scoutmaster Webb wouldn't let me because I can't swim and Chad was afraid he would sink because of his cast, so he let us take the canoe across the lake. It was great. You can still see some of the trees under the water from the flood. Scoutmaster Webb isn't crabby like some scoutmasters. He didn't even get mad about the life jackets. He has to spend a lot of time working on the car so we are trying not to cause him any trouble. Guess what? We have all passed our first aid merit badges. When Dave dove in the lake and cut his arm, we got to see how a tourniquet works. Also Wade and I threw up. Scoutmaster Webb said it probably was just food poisoning from the leftover chicken. I have to go now. We are going into town to mail our letters and buy bullets. Don't worry about anything. We are fine.

Love,
Cole

P.S. How long has it been since I had a tetanus shot?

Forty Rolls of Toilet Paper, a Fifty Pound Bag of Dog Food, Eight Tubes of Toothpaste and....a Wedding Dress???

For all the dating and engaged couples..........Discount giant COSCO now sales wedding dresses. Like all things...true love is more meaningful when purchased in bulk. Sales associates can answer nearly any question..."Are the hams still on sale?"..."Where is the candy aisle?"..."Do you sell tire irons?"...and "What is the proper veil to wear with this dress?" The wedding dress section can be found between the engagement rings and the casket display. Read actual article here.

Difference Between "Hymns" and "Praise Songs"

An old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended a large church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was. "Well," said the farmer, "It was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns." "Praise choruses," said his wife, "What are those?" "Oh, they're okay. They're sort of like hymns, only different," said the farmer." "Well, what's the difference?" asked his wife. The farmer said, "Well it's like this - If I were to say to you:
"Martha, the cows are in the corn,' well that would be a hymn. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you:

Martha Martha, Martha, Oh, Martha, MARTHA, MARTHA,
the cows, the big cows, the brown cows,
the black cows, the white cows, the black and white cows,
the COWS, COWS, COWS are in the corn, are in the corn,
are in the corn, are in the corn, the CORN, CORN, CORN.

then, if I were to repeat the whole thing two or three times, well that would be a praise chorus."

----------

Coincidentally, the same week, a young businessman from the city who normally attended a church with contemporary-style worship, was in the old farmer's town on business and visited the farmer's small town church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was. "Well," said the young man,
"It was good. They did something different, however. They sang hymns instead of regular songs." "Hymns," said his wife, "What are those?" "Oh, they're okay. They're sort of like regular songs, only different," said the young man. "Well, what's the difference?" asked his wife. The young man said, "Well it's like this - If I were to say to you, 'Martha, the cows are in the corn,' well that would be a regular song. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you:

Oh Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry.
Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth.
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by
to the righteous, inimitable, glorious truth.

For the way of the animals who can explain,
There in their heads is no shadow of sense.
Hearkenest they in God's sun or his rain
Unless from the mild, tempting corn they are fenced.

Yea those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight,
Have broke free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed.
Then goaded by minions of darkness and night,
They all my mild sweet corn have chewed.

So look to that bright shining day by and by,
Where all foul corruptions of earth are reborn.
Where no vicious animal makes my soul cry.
And I no longer see those foul cows in the corn.

Then, if I were to do only verses one, three and four and do a key change on
the last verse, well that would be a hymn."

Words With Friends

Anyone up for a game??

USERNAME: austin_rodgers

Bring it on! :)

Happy Birthday Marissa!

Happy birthday to the best sister I've ever had.
This post seems very familiar...lol

Here are some of her finer moments...

Marissa and her soon-to-be husband...lol

They finally unplugged it...

By FAR my favorite hair-do!! lol

Happy Birfday sis. :)

Happy Birthday Matt!

Happy Birthday to the best brother I've ever had.

Here are a couple of our many dull moments...

Bigger and bigger...

Our First Cruise

Wow!! Now that was fun! An exciting week of eating, relaxing, laughing, eating, sightseeing, eating, eating, eating........and more eating. I think everyone hung out at the buffet more than anywhere else. Every time we turned around we were headed for another meal/snack. Chan nearly devoured the ship's supply of watermelon, pineapple, and soft serve ice cream....while I took on the weightier items....chicken, steak, pasta, et cetera. I also took on the task of cleaning out their stock of skim milk and orange juice....and I think between the two of us the ketchup supply was quickly depleted. With all the buffet-ing we engaged in, we were a little nervous about stepping on the ol' scale Saturday evening. According to this article, the average weight gain on a cruise is 2lbs per day. Our cruise departed on Saturday and returned the following Saturday...7 days. So if my calluge edjumakated brain is working correctly...7 days multiplied by 2lbs per day = 14 cotton-pickin' pounds!! Like I said, we were a bit hesitant about "weighing in." But by George....the scale was kind and said I only gained a little under 2lbs...and Chan stayed the same. WHEW! So enough about the food...the rest of the trip was great too. :) Our cruise-ship, the Norwegian Star, was very nice, and our cruise-director (Jamie) and crew were top-notch! We enjoyed several performances during the week...including amazing acrobats, an incredible illusionist, a hilarious hypnotist ("PLEASE, give me my butt back!" LOL), side-splitting improv comedians...great entertainment! We were also "blessed" (lol) by a talent show put on by the crew. Most of the acts were pretty good.....minus Mr. Sweet Angel and his Magic Ladder. Some chunky guy dressed up like an angel (looked like he used a tablecloth from one of the restaurants) and did some interesting ballet up-and-down his utility ladder and back-and-forth across the stage. I don't think he meant for it to be comedy.......but brother......it was forevermore a riot!! We were doubled over in our seats laughing our heads off. When we finally regained our composure, we started cheering loudly for the fella'....I think it was the hardest we laughed during the entire trip. So whoever you are...wherever you are...thank you Mr. Sweet Filipino Angel for making our night! lol During the same performance, the crew did a skit that we will definitely use for a future youth event....VERY funny!! We made three port-calls while on the cruise...1) Cabo San Lucas - 2) again...Cabo San Lucas - and 3) Puerta Vallarta. We were originally scheduled to make a port-call in Mazalan, but it was canceled due to high crime and recent violent incidents...thus having two stops at Cabo. The only negatives of the trip were the crazy spring break-ers and the bigggg-ish folks who for some reason thought they should sport speedos and bathing suits...wowzers...there should be a law against that in public. But overall, the trip was wonderful...we had a great time. And as always, it's good to be back home!!

- SHIP DAYS -

Our cruise-ship

View from the front of the boat

View from the back of the boat

We couldn't stop squinting the first couple days...

The girls with Trayton and Joel

Most of our crew

Think it's a squid...

And this one...a penguin

Waiting for the "nice restaurant" to open

No, they're not both hers....but I think she went back and got seconds :)

Second City Improv...FUNNY!!!!

Again...great skits!!

At one of the performances

Again...

Mason and us

On the back of the ship

Caught Chan reading this book... ;)

Dawson and I sharing a romantic dance... lol

- CABO SAN LUCAS -

The famous arch

Mexican Navy boat

"Window to the Pacific"

Sea Lions were everywhere

Australian Pro Golfer, Greg Norman, was vacationing nearby.
His yacht was parked in the bay for several days (helicopter and all)

Getting ready to parasail!!

Up...up....higher....higher.....

Brought my camera along :)

The view was AWESOME!! (it was really quiet up there)

Me and Michael...lol

"Tips?!?" - - - - "Gratuity?!?"

Mexican Navy

Selling souvenirs through the fence...sad, poor people

Kaylee, Devry, and Dawson

Random shot...

Dairy Queen....I'll never view you the same again....LOL (inside joke)

- PUERTA VALLARTA -

One of the main roads

Self-portrait...

Shopping...

Major sandcastle!!

That's all folks...