Welcome Emma Shelton!!

More congratulations are in order for our dear friends Robbie and Sarah. They had their baby girl, Emma Grace on Friday. She was 6lbs. 13 oz. and 18 in. long. Surprisingly she has a pretty full head of brown hair! I am so excited for your guys and cannot wait to meet her!

Rain, Hail, Snow...and twisters?

That right folks...all in one day. Even a little bit of sunshine in the morning. What a day yesterday turned out to be. It was rainy most of the morning but it was actually nice because our yard needed some good moisture. Jon and I are sitting in my office eating lunch like usual, when we heard a familiar sound through the cracked window. We looked at each other and said, really? Tornado sirens? Great! We moved aways from Oklahoma so we wouldn't have to deal with tornadoes! So the hallway quickly turned to panic as we all opted to go downstairs to the basement. First report, Veedauwoo (10+ miles east of town & mountains). No big deal in my mind...that's way far away. Then the drama began...and did I mention that we are crammed in the basement that we endearingly call "the dungeon," because that's about how it feels, with four stories worth of co-workers? Not fun. People are panicked. There's never been a tornado actually touch down in town. Reports of an F-3 or F-4 tornado ripping through town, destroying Wal-mart, the Junior High and a gas station, and houses overturned rippled throughout the basement. Others chose to make light of the going on three hours of sitting in the basement by doing stupid human tricks, juggling, and eating. Since I was in the middle of my lunch when the fiasco began, I finished my lunch while Jon was ticked off that he was in our basement instead of his work basement. He wanted to get paid too for sitting around. There was one lady who appeared to be having an anxiety attack while another girl walked around giving exaggerated reports on what was going on. This was the same girl who swore it was an F-4 tornado, said that we were basically all in lock-down (the police were apparently outside of our building making people go back in), and who convinced another that she was having a heart attack and needed some aspirin. Drama much? Yeah...so it was quite the intense afternoon. Jon and I, along with another lady from my office really wanted to go up to the roof because we were pretty sure that this was stupid. Well actually Jon just wanted to go to work. So as soon as the warning was lifted, we all went back upstairs. I thought, darn it...now I have to work for another hour and a half? This stinks. Well come to find out, in the middle of the five second "warning lift," they shut down the university. Shut down UW! I have been at work when snow was fall was being measured in feet, and we are closing up shop for a measly tornado? Of coarse, I didn't complain for long, and was excited for the opportunity to get off work early. So Jon went by his work to see if they still needed him, could get a hold of anyone, so we went home. Our exciting early afternoon off was halted simply because of one, a new tornado warning, and two no electricity in our house. Bummer. So we went to the garage and pulled out our generator. It is for our camper, but Jon was just so excited to get to use it that we had to bring it to the house. We couldn't really plug much into it, so we just turned on the TV. After a boring half hour and after the final warning was lifted, we decided to go out and check out the damage, along with the rest of the town, might I add. So we went to a friends house who lives near the tornado site, and really I was just bummed out. There was so damage, but nothing like you would see in Oklahoma. There were tons of large, beautiful douglas firs that were uprooted. That was sad. And then of coarse the usual fences down and debris all over. Not too bad, but kind of weird for Laramie. Jon and I decided that this was at worst an F-2, but more than likely an F-1. Also, it looked more like wind damage than anything else. So, with half of the city with no electricity (including us), we decided to see if we could find a place to eat some dinner. We went to one of our favorite restaurants in town, and they were open! Yes! So we decided after the long day of dealing with dramatic Wyomingites, we could use a beer...they have this super tasty beer that tastes like bananas. As we were waiting for our table, there was unlimited chatter about no electricity here and damage there. Being from Oklahoma, we weren't real concerned (if you haven't gotten that from the blog thus far), so we were quite amused by it all. We sat, watched a little basketball, ate our dinner (which took forever and wasn't correct at all), and then got ready to leave. We looked outside, and it appears to be raining pretty hard. As we approached the door, we found that it was the one thing weather-wise that had not happened today. Snow. It was snowing cats and dogs out there. So Jon being the brave soul that he was, ran to the truck in his shorts, so that I wouldn't have to walk in the snow. What a guy! So we drove home, thoroughly ticked off that snow was falling on May 22nd, and that it would probably kill all the flowers that are starting to bloom, but what can you do. We ran into our neighbor as we were messing with the generator (still no electricity), and he said that he and his wife were going to her office to take a shower. They offered and I accepted. A shower, yes! Just what I need. So the three of us, Ryan, Ashley, and I drove to the north part of town, where they have electricity, to take a nice warm shower. We hung out while waiting on each other, and it turned out to be a delightful end to an otherwise weird day. We got home around 9:00pm and decided, what else is there to do in the dark, but go to sleep. I did my nightly routine...washed my face, brushed my teeth, filled the humidifier and went to bed. Wait a minute...filled the humidifier?? Doesn't that have to be plugged into electricity, which you still don't have, you might ask? Yes, yes it does. So the full humidifier sat on our floor, plugged in, with nothing to run it. Another bummer for no electricity. We set the alarm on our cell phones, blew out the candles and went to sleep. The end of a long day had come, and I couldn't wait to get up the next morning to see if the electricity was back, and it was!

Congratulations to the Shorts!!!

A quick note to say congrats to our good friends Summer and Casey! I just got a text message saying that their baby boy, Colton, was born today. Six pounds eleven ounces! We are so excited for them and look forward to meeting him soon! We love you guys and you are in our prayers!

A few new pictures

Finally a good picture of us. It's been a while.

Waterdeep show in Kansas City.

Playing some pool with Dana, Jon's cousin in KC.

Dave and I (non-blood) kicked Jon and Dana's (blood) butts at darts. It was a highlight of the trip.
We stopped in Wichita to visit with the pops. Good times.

Good, Good End--my inspiration

I know that you know by now that Waterdeep is my favorite band. It's so much more than just liking the way they sound. I actually do admire them and the way they reach people for the gospel. I want to explain why I admire them so much.

I like to judge a band, singer, or song by the level of inspiration that it gives me. Lyrics are most important to me. I have always loved the lyrics to Waterdeep songs. They say so much sometimes. They also speak about real things, real lives, and real experiences. I think some people could say that their songs are a bit depressing at times, because they don't all have happy endings, at least not here on earth. They talk a lot about the eternal because ultimately isn't that what is going to last?

Well anyway, so I have been inspired once again by one of the songs on their new album.

"Good, Good End"

You can leave right now
You can ring a bell
You can tell ‘em you think I ain’t doin’ too well
But when I stood like you I eventually fell
So you can leave right now
Go on and ring your bell

I’m amazed by life
And it’s amazed by me
We’re a strange old pair- me and eternity
It don’t make good sense
It ain’t easy to see
But I’m amazed by life
And it’s amazed by me

It’s a long hard road
With a good, good end
And if I keep on walking on past the crooked bend
I will meet my Maker
I will meet my Friend
It’s a long hard road
With a good, good end

I just love the line, "it's a long hard road, with a good, good end." It just talks about how sometimes life is hard, people judge you for your decisions or mistakes, but if we just keep walking through it with Him, we will meet our Savior. I think that in their lives they have probably been judged a lot. I mean, keep in mind that several of their CDs were recorded in bars and their concerts are there too. I know that a lot of people wouldn't "approve" of this, but I believe that is how they reach people...and they are able to reach people who would not be reached otherwise. Yet, they do it all to get to the good, good end.

Living here, in a very lost place, I have definitely found this to be true, so I guess it causes me to respect them as brothers and sisters that much more. Plus it is just an encouragement because it reminds me that we are making a difference, even though it is hard and the opportunities seem scarce. We are able to reflect Christ in front of people who have been burned by tradition and legalism. It is long and hard a lot of the time, but it is all for the glory of our Lord. The rewards may never be seen on earth, but the reward is great in the end, and that's why we aspire to walk the long, hard road. That's why we have friends serving all over the world. That's why we support them. That's why every Christian should aspire to do the same.

Kansas City Part 1-Waterdeep/Krusty Brothers

Jon and I had a wonderful trip to Kansas City over the weekend. It was definitely a much needed mini-vacation. I feel like I have so much to say about it, so there will probably be a few other posts in the near future.

We started the trip out on Friday morning after Jon finished his last final. This would turn out to be the ultimate "long" weekend trip, since we canvased 6 states in four days. I do have to say that we were only in Iowa for about 20 minutes, but it still counts in our book. So we ended up in Kansas City around eight o'clock Friday night. We stopped by Dana's house (Jon's cousin) for a little bit before heading to downtown KC for the Waterdeep concert.

It was late and we hadn't eaten, so we planned to stop on our way to the concert. In a moment of brilliance, I thought about Taco Bueno. Now for those of you who get Bueno whenever you like, you may not understand. I LOVE Bueno. It's good. It's cheap. It's TexMex. And what more could you ask for? Within minutes of leaving Dana's house, we were in the drive through ordering party burritos and mexi-dip and chips. Delicious!!! That just started the night off with a bang. We got to the bar where the concert was around 10pm. I was a bit worried because Waterdeep was opening for Krusty Brothers (mostly Waterdeep people, minus Lori the female lead singer). (Did I mention that Waterdeep is my favorite band?) I thought we would have missed them due to our Bueno excursion, but we didn't. We were right on time. They hadn't even started playing yet.

We got in and it was packed. Sold out I believe. The venue was pretty small...room for maybe 200 people at the most. I spotted some chairs stacked in a corner. I decided that I would just go get some and sit down, and then if anyone had anything to say about it, I would move. Soon after I got chairs for Jon and myself, others quickly followed. Turns out that we got to sit at the very front. Sure we weren't in the cool tall bar chairs, but we got to be up in the action, so I didn't mind.

Waterdeep tonight was the acoustic version, which I happen to love. They sang several of their new songs and a few old ones too. I loved it, not to mention I have always wanted to see Waterdeep play in a bar. It kind of seems like that is where they are most comfortable. We didn't stay for all of the Krusty Brothers because we were so tired. We aren't used to being out until 1am anymore...plus we had driven about 10 hours that day. Despite the fact that the drive was quite a bit longer than we suspected, it was well worth it. Plus then we got to hang out with Dana and Dave (Dana's boyfriend) for the rest of the weekend.

Traps are Crap!!

Wilbur is our friendly neighborhood bunny rabbit. He has been spotted with a wife and child, according to my husband and neighbors. They have endearingly become known as the Wilbur family, since the mrs's name is Wilba and then there's of course little Willy. Wilbur has lived in our yard, and a few other yards in the neighbor hood for at least three years now. We have all learned to love the little guy, particularly since we cannot have pets, and were so excited when his wife and child were able to join him. Although some may debate the reality that this is the same rabbit year after year, we have gotten to know our furry little friend and are certain that it is Wilbur in the flesh.

When I got home last night, I began cooking dinner while dear ole' Jon went out to water the yard. That's another story for another time, but lets just say that we believe that this year, will be the year that we have more grass than weeds. So Jon is outside watering the yard, and observes one of our new neighbors with his son (about three years old)...and what were they doing in their yard, you might ask? They were setting a trap!!! For dear old Wilbur!!! Jon wasn't totally sure at first, but it did cause panic. We were ready to protest if and when they were successful in catching him with their enticing carrots. Traps are crap, traps are crap!!! We were certain that our other neighbors (the ones who reported that Wilbur's family had arrived) would join in on the picketing if necessary. Jon was also prepared to set any of the Wilbur family free who may have fallen to the tempting carrots.

Fortunately, when we left the house a little later, we were able to get a good look at this trap. Our minds were at ease when we saw that it was merely a cardboard box being held up by the above mentioned carrot. At that point I was confident that Wilbur, Wilba, and even little Willy would be able to escape unharmed from this trap if necessary. We were fortunate this time that our neighbors are amateur trap setters. I am now confident that the Wilbur family will remain for all of us to enjoy.