Update Time

So it's been a little while since our last post.....ok 6 months. So after a few complaints.....here is it. The update of all updates.

Kids are growing fast. Elayna started off slow and didn't want to crawl or do much for that matter...but lately she has taken off and now you can't stop her if you tried. She is crawling at lightning speed....climbing up on things. The other day i heard her crying....so i went to get her. I heard her but couldn't see her.....she was on the second shelf of the changing table inside....facing the wall. She managed to climb up there...but couldn't turn around to get out. Very funny. She also loves to say no....most of the time it's "doh". Followed by an irresistible grin. She's definitely got my number already. Ty is super awesome with his sweet hair. we've decided to keep it long....adam thinks he looks like one of the beetles. Ty is obsessed with gum. There is nothing that make shim happier than "big gum." Most of the time we give him a little piece...but he continues to ask for big gum....meaning a full piece. Many mornings I wake up and find him on the couch watching cartoons (that he turns on himself) drinking juice and chewing "big gum," which he managed to find while i was sleeping. Usually what happens is i give him the look as if to say, " what are you doing with that gum," at this point he usually takes it out of his mouth, put's it on the counter, and says "maybe later." The other thing Ty loves right now is "big waters." This implies either taking a bath with it filled up pretty high....or going swimming in our pool or at the lake. if he has to take a bath with Elayna (who is a water worm) then that's little waters. Now that you are all caught up on the current happenings of the children. i will leave it to my beautiful wife to continue to update you all on the day to day things that many times i have to hear about over the phone. :(

Other than all that things are good with us as a family. It's tough being away as much as i have been in the past 2 months, but we know that God has a plan. Our current radio single is doing well...It's been on the christian Chr charts for 9 weeks and has risen up to #14 as of this past wed. if you want to track the single here is the link. http://www.radioandrecords.com/Formats/Charts/Christ_CHR_Chart.asp

Please continue to pray for Andrea as she is home a lot with the kids...and I am on the road promoting our new cd which comes out Oct 30th.

We miss all of our friends and wish we could see you all more. So until then....

....two for the show!

Well...at lot of my time in the winter is spent at a camp called Spring Hill. It's in Evart MI and it's pretty cool....ok....it's definitely our favorite place to play. For one the people who work there are awesome, two there are usually 700-900 people there (winter season), and two....the stage set up (especially this winter) is extremely cool. On either side of the stage are earbuds (you know for an ipod or equivelant). And behind the band ...in front of the our drums is an eq set up to react to the music. it's pretty cool. I have included Gabes drum solo so you can see how cool it looks when it's going. Anyway....i'm sure i've talked about this camp with a lot of you over the years and I thought I would share a bit with you.

SpringHill Drum Solo

Some dude...

I went to the library today to rent some movies. Going about my business as usual...picked out my 3 dvd's (library limit), checked them out at the counter and proceeded to exit the building. Upon doing so....in mid stride.....about 15 feet away i saw this dude and we made eye contact. It was one of those awkward moments....cause i was still too far away to say hi....but it still seemed like I should. Normally in this instance I look down ( like all of us do )....but I thought....hey...i'll just keep smiling and walking toward my destination. And normally he would look down...but he didn't either. Maybe the same conversation was happening in his head. Either way...at this point i thought....man he looks familiar. I really should say hi....but wait....maybe he doesn't. While looking at him about to say hi i realize that it looks like he might think he knows me also. Then after as much consideration that you can have in 10 seconds I realized that I didn't know this dude...and he prob didn't know me either. So I passed by...said hey....and like elivs...left the building.

I've had this conversation with my bass player Caleb before about awkward approaches....it's very interesting. We've also talked a lot about how each of us have different lives and if I wanted to I could have introduced myself to that dude...and who knows....we could end up best friends. But almost every time we pass by and dont take the effort or energy to build that relationship. I'm definitely not saying it's a bad thing....just an observation.

But what would happen? For most of us...at least my excuse would be time. Or we really dont have the time for more friends....or the time to develope a relationship. But after I was driving away...I realized that maybe I need to make time. Who knows what could happen. Maybe i just say hi....we introduce ourself and nothing comes out of it. But maybe something else happens....we become friends....maybe he doesn't believe in God.....maybe he knows way more about God then me.....maybe he needs to be prayed for....and maybe in that prayer someone is healed because I decided to slow down my life for 3 min to get to know some dude.

Life as un-usual

Well this Holiday season was full of adventure. My parents and sisters came to visit us fas we hosted christmas. I must say that it was nice to not have to drive all over the place with two small children. During the visit my dad and I remodeled our main bathroom. wow....what a difference paint, some white paneling, and trim makes. The day after Christmas I had to head out to do a youth conference in Toledo OH. After being gone for 3 days I came home for a half day and then headed out that evening for a new years eve show close to home. I spent the morning at home new years day and then headed out to Kansas City with the band to begin recording for our new cd (coming out this summer) We spent 11 days out there with producer Don Chaffer (of the group Waterdeep) Don was awesome and we had an amazing time and finished nearly 8 songs for the record. We finally returned after 11 more days gone....we slept at home and then by noon the next morning we were off again to Michigan for a weekend retreat at springhill camps. (evartt MI) Finally on Sunday night we were home and boy was I ready. Now i'm sitting here watching the kids while Andrea is off at work. The job of Mr. Mom is one of the best jobs.....definitely something i've been looking forward to for weeks. We love you all and wish you the best as this year is going to be great!!!