Catching Up!

It's been a while since our last post, mainly because we were having some camera to computer upload problems. We're not really sure what happened, but things seem to be fixed. So I'm doing some catch up on our pics, so be sure to check them out!

Also, both Stephen & Jennifer have joined Facebook (as most of you probably already know), and it's very easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of names and faces we had almost forgotten or had wondered about or really wanted to catch up with. We'll see how our blogging goes with all that craziness! Oh, and at some point I should probably see to the house and the children too (haha)!

The Question Song

Do you remember Thomas Wilson? I bet you do. He's the infamous character that you love to hate in "Back to the Future" - Biff. Well, now he does some stand up that is actually quite good. Stephen found one song he sings in particular that we really laugh out loud to, so we thought we'd share it with you...ENJOY!

Bachelorette Party

My friend, Jessica Jenkins, is getting married next Saturday, March 21st! To celebrate the upcoming nuptials, she wanted to spend a night on the town with the girls in Nashville, TN - a very appropriate setting for Jess as she is a country girl to the core complete with an adorable down home accent and an innate LOVE of Elvis! We began the evening (our friend Christy, Jessica and myself) on a road trip to the Rainforest Cafe. If you've never eaten there and you have children, you really should make the trip to your nearest restaurant - it is a blast! The whole place is covered in jungle attire complete with noisy, moving monkeys and a restaurant wide thunderstorm every 30 minutes.

Then we proceeded to WannaB's Karaoke Bar. Not my comfort zone by a long shot, but worth the trip mostly because of an unexpected momentous occasion which took place during our brief visit there. After singing a soul searching rendition of "Come Sail Away", a guy who reminded us a bit of Napoleon Dynamite refused to leave the stage at the conclusion of his song. He called his girlfriend of 7 years to join him up front, gave a very composed and heartfelt declaration of his love for her, got down on his knee and proposed!!!



A short while later Jessica sang her heart out, and then we were on our way home singing oldies like "Chapel of Love" most of the way. It was a crazy night, but what fun!

Snow Day!

It doesn't usually snow in our particular corner of Alabama. So when we awoke a couple Sundays ago to a 2 inch thick white blanket covering our yard, I couldn't say no to the kids requesting to play in it before church.



Check out our photo album to see more cute pics! By the way, I'm glad I said yes, because by the time we arrived home from church it had all melted!!!

Greatest Christian Song EVER!!!!!!

First of all, I wanted to ask if any of you had noticed that our blog has gotten a little bit of a feminine touch? Just as a disclaimer, Jennifer has been adding to our blog as of late. I feel compelled to share this fact because in 1994 when I worked as a park ranger with Kevin Gilbarte, he gave me the title of "King of Femininity". When I asked to explain such an offensive comment he replied, "You know like Uncle Jesse". Still not sure what that meant, but I digress...

Secondly, for those that know me well, you will know that I am not crazy about most Christian music(there are notable exceptions). I find it campy and lousy. I steer clear of the "christian radio" stations. I remember in college someone said to me that they were going to Nashville to try to make it in Christian Music, since it was so much easier than the real music industry. It seems that in order to make a Christian song a big hit you just take a love song and change the words to Jesus words. The theory that has risen is called the "Jesus is my boyfriend" songs.

But once in a while, I come across a Jesus song that has all the right components. Music quality, stong theological content, artistic style, pure entertainment value. Well I thank Douglas Guadalupe Granger (ask him some time about his middle name, great story) for this gem. If you enjoy it, you might want to thank him as well. You must watch the whole thing to get the feel and mood of the piece, to truly appreciate its value and ability to encapsulate the greatest Christian Song EVER!!!!




As you can see, it is all there. I only wish I had a group that could carry it off for Sunday morning. But I have to say, I will be carrying one thing into my work as a pastor...

ZAP!!!!!!!!

Calling All Movers!

For those of you who don't know, the Imagination Movers are Disney's newest big thing. They're a band geared toward preschoolers and young elementary age who sing songs and "solve problems" on their morning TV show. The band is made up of four men (hmmm...sounds familiar) who write and play their own music.

What we like about them is that they're actually talented (one of them even plays a mandolin), and they come up with music that's catchy for the kids and enjoyable for the adults. What our kids like about them is that they're silly, they dance and I think Scott reminds us all of their Uncle Daniel (without the long hair, of course).

Elizabeth and I started watching their show soon after the boys started school last fall. With no big brothers to hang out with all day, the Imagination Movers became her "imaginary friends". She began to talk about them and pretend to talk to them all day! On Saturday mornings we started watching it with the boys during our Saturday morning cartoons, and all of us got hooked!

Well, a couple of weeks ago we decided to Google the Movers and see if they perform any live shows...and we found out they were coming to Birmingham!!! After a brief discussion we decided to purchase tickets for the whole family as a joint birthday gift for Elijah and Elizabeth. When we told them they were ecstatic!

So today we had a great family trip to meet the Movers. And to see the huge smiles on the kids' faces and hear them sing along at the concert...it was worth every penny!

Surprise Elijah!

Elijah turned 6 this week, and for the past month he had been telling us he wanted a surprise birthday party. So that's what we gave him! We invited his classmates and church friends for an "Ultimate Bike Party" in the church parking lot. It was a hit!

The funny thing is that he's still at the age where he thinks his party and his birthday logically should fall on the same date. His party was Saturday, January 31st, while his actual birthday was on Thursday, February 5th. On the night before his birthday he informed me he still wanted a surprise birthday party. I replied, "That's what you had on Saturday!" He said, "No, that was a surprise party, and my birthday is tomorrow, so I want a surprise birthday party tomorrow!" Needless to say I had to explain to him that one party a year is quite enough!

Fun With Phoebe

You know how infants only "smile" when they're gassy, and usually only in their sleep? That's what they say, anyway. Well, I thought that I'd hold up my camera and just start snapping for a bit to see if I could catch a smile while she was resting on me. The first picture I took was:


Is that great or what!?!

Later on I thought I'd try another experiment. My mother-in-law, being an amazing bargain shopper, bought Elizabeth several really nice Disney princess costumes for just over $4 each! Ellie has gotten so much use and fun from those, and she still fits into a couple of them - one of which is her TinkerBell costume complete with wings and wand. Elizabeth also happens to have a Build-A-Bear TinkerBell costume for her stuffed animal, Jo Jo, also complete with wings and wand. So...I thought I'd have a little fun, and this is what I got:


It was a fun day!!!