One of our greatest JOYS.

We are fortunate to have the most wonderful nieces and one nephew in the WORLD!! We do not get to see any of them very often but we think of them daily and love them a ton! Since they were all on my mind and heart today, I thought it was only fitting that I write about them! Here they are in birth order:

Carter (on Cari's side) is the only nephew that we have! He has such a fun personality who loves to talk! He is such a joy to be around. He has a gift of remembering people and their names (at the age of 2 and a half)! I think he will make a great politician or perhaps carry on the career as a pastor like his father (Cari's brother!).

Carter and Aunt Cari.

Carter and Uncle Cory.
Next, there is Summer (on Cari's side). The best word I can use to describe her is fearless. She will crawl on anything, go anywhere and try out anything. Her skills are setting her nicely for a career as a stunt double! I love her fearlessness! She is the spitting image of my brother, but a lot cuter!

Aunt Cari and Summer.
Then, there is Mady (niece on Cory's side)! Mady has a smile that will light up a room. Our favorite part about Mady so far is her laugh. When she laughs, her WHOLE body laughs. It is so funny to see! She also gives great kisses - the kind where she opens her whole mouth to give you one. They are wet but very good! We can't wait to watch her grow up!

Mady and Aunt Cari.

Mady, Uncle Cory and Aunt Cari.

Last, but definitely not least and probably the sweetest of the bunch is Tilly (on Cari's side). Tilly is not quite old enough yet to display too much of her personality. However, she has entered a fun and busy household and has adapted well. She appears to have a pretty easy going personality, which will serve her well growing up in a busy family. I can't wait to learn more about her as she grows up.

Tilly and Aunt Cari. We enjoy being an aunt and an uncle to the most wonderful and fun children in the world. We love them dearly -- as if they were our own! We pray that each of their lives will be used to further the Kingdom. We love each of you!

Happy Birthday DAD!!

This past weekend, my parents and some of their best friends came up to stay the weekend with us for the big craft fair that was in town. It also happen to be my dad's birthday so, of course, we had to have a celebration! My mom and I collaborated on a cake design for him. She is really the brains behind the operation and I was just the legs of the project. My dad turned 55 so she had an idea to make an "I-55" (Interstate 55) theme. She wanted the cake to have a road on it with certain "mile markers" that have occurred over the past 55 years. Then at the end of the road she wanted a topper style piece that said "I-55" on it. Well, the cake place kind of missed the big picture. They did the road, but forgot to put the I-55 sign on there. Here is the final product...

The road started with his birth and then went on to HS graduation, marriage, kids, kids-in-law (although Cory was somehow left off the cake), then the grandkids and so on.....It also had a picture of a squirrel and gun since he enjoys hunting. It also included a dog to look like his dog "Fritz" and then a picture of a truck! Overall, it was very cute. Despite the fact they forgot the "I-55" sign at the end of the road! O well.

A close up of the cake...

Dad blowing out the candles

















Us with Mom and Dad!

















This is a picture from our backyard into the field behind it. My mom's good friend who was staying with us pointed out the view, so we took a picture of it! It turned out so neat. We are fortunate to live in such a great location with nature, cows (that moo), malls and good stores all within a couple of miles of us!

Happy Birthday, Dad! We are so lucky to have you as a wonderful father and father-in-law. We enjoy your sense of humor, your easy-going personality and the godly example that you lead. Thanks for coming to spend your birthday weekend with us. Can't wait to see you again!


CEC.

Keeping Up With The Mennonites

Yeah, I know. It's official. Cari and I will join the Mennonite brethren as the last Americans to start blogging. I'll mostly just rant about things that are on my mind. This time of year, it's mostly baseball. Ok...from March-November it's mostly baseball. If you don't like baseball, or don't want to hear me whine about the Red Sox being eliminated from the playoffs, you might want to skip this entry and read my wife's entry.

I read an article on my iGoogle last night by Jason Stark. Jason writes for ESPN and usually knows his baseball. Last night wasn't one of those nights. His article is called 5 Good Reasons to embrace Phillies-Rays match up....A better title may be "I hope this series isn't as horrid as it sounds", or better yet, "Shoot me in the face if this thing goes seven."

Jason lists 5 reasons why this world series may be good for baseball. Below is my counter to his article: 5 reasons why this world series will be forgotten by November:

5) We don't need more cowbell. I'm typically not a traditionalist. I like it when people improve things to make them more entertaining. However, I think baseball is something you leave alone. This is not the MTV Rock n Jock special. You don't throw in a moneyball or allow one player on your team to hit from second base just to make things interesting. When fans come to a baseball game they shouldn't be handed a cowbell on their way in. Especially when their mascot is a steamrolled fish. (If they changed their name to the Tampa Bay Hooten-nannies, they may have a valid argument, but how do cowbells and fish have anything remotely in common?) I find it hard to believe that in 1951, fans were handed a whoopee cushion* on their way into Yankee Stadium.

*insert your own noise maker here.

4) Tropicana [Field] is made from 100% pure poor engineering.

What goes up in this park might not ever be found again. -Cliff Floyd, Tampa Bay Rays

I don't mean to keep harping on the tradition thing, but why build a stadium that's going to have clear obstructions in the field of play. Seriously. What next? Are the Chicago Bulls going to build a new arena where the point guard has to contend with a vertical beam coming through the hardwood floor at the top of the key? It wouldn't happen in basketball. It shouldn't happen in baseball.

3) Feel The Heat....Rays.

After a Tampa Bay home run or win, they play this song/rap/Tibetan monk chant. Every time I heard it, I thought it was reminder to reach for the Banana Boat sunblock. Who are the Ad Wizards who came up with this one? For those of you who are recent college grads and currently finishing up your marketing internship, I have a feeling there will be 100K job opening up in Tampa next spring. Keep checking http://www.indeed.com/ for more details.

2) Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

It was comedic to watch the ALCS and see all the hardcore, die hard Ray fans. Everyone arrived fresh from the barbershop with their pimped out mo and fauxhawks. What the casual viewer didn't know is that one month ago, Tropicana field was half empty. Tropicana holds over 43,000 fans, but on average, only 22,000 fans showed up each night this season. Think about it...more people attend a Arkansas State Red Wolves football game than a Tampa Bay baseball game. But now all of a sudden it's "fandemonium" in Tampa. Better hurry...the mennonites are stealing your bandwagon. Chop Chop.

1) Here Comes A Home Cooked Meal From Tim McCarver

Good ole' Timmy McCarver. The man you love to hate during the world series. Tim is known for rehashing things that don't matter like "Had that guy not gone to the bathroom between the 2nd and 3rd inning, he probably would have peed himself, come out of the game, and his replacement might have struck out in the 9th inning to end the game, but instead we'll go to extra innings." Thanks Tim. He's also known for some real humdingers like "It's better to have a fast runner on base than a slow one." That's a direct quote. The more you talk, the less we get to hear Joe Buck.
This is not the reason why Tim made #1 on our list. For those of you who don't know, Tim McCarver played for the phillies, started his broadcasting career with the phillies, and now resides in Philly. To say that he's going to be vocal who he's pulling for is an understatement. Many years ago, Tim spent some of his career in Boston. At one time he thought he was being groomed for the managers job in Boston. Instead, he was cut. Since that time, Tim hates the Red Sox. It was very apparent in the 2003 and 2004 ALCS when he openly rooted for the New York Yankees. I know I'm a red sox fan, but Tim was to Joe Torre what Mark May is to Tim Tebow. It was way past the man crush line.

There you have it. Five reasons to miss this year's World Series. I know I'm bitter and full of sour grapes, but you gotta admit it....when someone asks you who won the World Series this year at Thanksgiving, you'll remember last night's WNBA scores quicker than you remember who won.

Few travelers.

The peer pressure has gotten the best of us. We both frequent other peoples blogs and decided to not only be takers but givers as well. We also agreed that the only way we would consent to a blog was that we would both contribute. So...we will see how this works out. I'm sure we will both write often but mine will probably be longer than my husbands due to the fact that I am the talker.

We have been brainstorming ideas for a blog name and as you know my creative husband...no generic name would do! After watching the movie Fireproof we discussed the fact that it is slowly becoming abnormal to stay married. Divorce is the norm. In that discussion I mentioned to Cory about how that idea reminds me of a poem by Robert Frost The Road Not Taken that I studied in high school. There are many interpretations of the poem, but I like my own interpretation. That there are 2 paths and the man could not decide which one to take so he took the one less traveled and when he looked back he felt that the path he chose made all the difference. Now, I am sure scholars of poetry would disagree but I prefer to look at it this way. Read it for yourself:

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

This poem led to us discussing the verse in Matthew 7:14 [But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.] The verse refers to salvation and how few people choose to life a life committed and dedicated to God; however, several godly people have looked back over their life and felt that choosing that path, "made all the difference." A difference that resulted in eternal life with our Father.

We both desire to follow that narrow path because great are the rewards in heaven. Living a godly life can often be described as a narrow, sometimes desolate path with few travelers, many bumps, flat tires and moments of cruise control that in the end leads to an everlasting and eternal life with our God. We hope as you read our crazy, serious and ridiculous moments of life that you find interest in joining us on "This Deserted Highway."

CEC