Halloween Fun

About a week ago we had a sweet pumpkin carving party. Here are some pics of the good times 

Trish was psyched on carving.
I just wanted to do a silly face and eat caramel apples.

Here are the three pumpkins we carved. Vote for your favorite in the comments. You can probably figure out who carved what but I am going to leave them anonymous to keep the voting fair. 


I'm a traditionalist, but, I must say they are all pretty cool.

On more of a sad note. We gave away Booger yesterday. Booger and Gracie were constantly fighting and Booger was incredibly stubborn to train. We just did not have enough time to spend training him and with the baby coming we decided that we needed to be focused on our child rather than where Booger was all the time. However, even with his problems he was a lovable and friendly dog and was a lot of fun to have around. We will miss him. Gracie will not. 

It's A Boy

Here is the first real picture of Ezekiel Wray Emerson. We will call him Zeke. I will probably call him Easy E. We had the sonogram today and although it is cool to know that it is a boy (what we were hoping for), It is even cooler that everything seems healthy and he was moving around all over the place. We are right at 18 weeks and he weighs half a pound. We are very blessed.
This is a profile view. Does he look like me or Trish? Either way he'll definitely be good looking.
Apparently you can see a penis in here somewhere. If you can, tell me where, because I sure can't. The lady said she was 99% sure it was a boy and that's good enough for me even if I can't see the goods.

BABY

Well in case you haven't heard we are having a baby. Trish is about 12 to 14 weeks right now. Our due date is March 20th. This is what our baby is supposed to look like right now. Trish will go for our first ultrasound in a couple more weeks and then we will have a real picture. I call it our Peanut right now because that is basically what it looks like.

Having a Baby is scary. First, because that means there is going to be a little me running around and the world may not be ready for another Emerson. Second, it means that I will be a Dad. Being responsible for the life and upbringing of another human being is a scary proposition. Especially since I have the tendency to still act like a child myself. If anyone has any words of wisdom for me I would appreciate it. 

Also having a baby makes me officially old. It was bad enough to get my first real job and buy a house. Oh well I guess age is really just how you feel or act. (spoken like a true old guy)

Am I Old? You be the judge.  

Summer Trips

Sorry it's been a while since the last time I posted. Things have been hectic this summer with me being a youth minister and all. I thought I would take a little time to write and talk about my summer trips.

This first picture is from Our trip to Colorado. Our friends Lacy and Jeff finally got married in Crested Butte (pronounced byoot, although I wish it were pronounced booty) the weekend before The American Baptist Convention National Youth Gathering in Estes Park. Thus we flew in early went to the wedding and then met our youth at the Conference. This picture is us riding the ski lift up to the top of the mountain where we then climbed a few miles to the top of the butte. 

Did I mention that there was snow on the top of the mountain and it was in the 60's. Notice the T-shirt and shorts. Here is the view from the top.

The Conference was also good. It was held at YMCA of the Rockies which is like no YMCA you have ever been to before. If this is the Y that the village people were singing about I finally understand why they liked it so much. Imagine a gigantic resort with everything you could ever want to do in the middle of beautiful mountains were you stay in really nice dorm rooms. Even the cafeteria style food was descent.

This is the group we took on the trip. At first I was upset because the group was small and quite a few people backed out at the last minute. However, once we got there I was extremely pleased with who we took because it was a group of our most committed youth and the trip would have been a real hassle if some of the kids who were discipline problems had come. This is because the conference was more geared to growing and discipling strong believers. 

I personally enjoyed many things about the trip. First, they had a great adult track for youth ministers and leaders that taught me many useful things about being a better youth minister. I have lots of training in music ministry, but youth ministry is something I have been learning as I go.  Second, the ABC is very multicultural and it was great to go to a conference with people from all over the nation and to chill with people from every race and background. Worship songs were sung in Spanish and English and it was good for our very Anglo kids to interact and develop relationships with people of different backgrounds. Some of the people were a little overboard though. Sometimes I think that the ABC tries so hard to be inclusive that it almost engages in reverse racism. I actually thought that in a few cases musicians and speakers may have been chosen as much for their race or background as for their ability. Here is a very funny example of how hard ABC churches try to be multicultural   

This is a churches logo on a bus with people holding hands around the cross. check out the turban on the stick figure on the right.

another great thing about the worship times during the conference  was their use of visual arts in worship. They had a graffiti artist who painted pictures during the services. Here are a couple of pieces I really liked.   

Speaking of trips, Trish also just got back from Russia. I'll get her to write a post about that trip on here soon.

Introducing Booger

Trish and I have been considering getting a second dog to keep Gracie company for a while now and on Monday we brought home our new buddy "Booger". He was our anniversary present to ourselves. Everyone thinks he is too cute to be named booger but, I have always wanted a male dog named booger, so too bad. He is a pound puppy, about 7 weeks old. Booger is also a miracle dog because he has already been brought back to life. When he was in to get his boys removed he went into cardiac arrest and the vet had to use Doggy CPR to bring him back to life. Thus he never got neutered. Being willing to die to save your testicles is pretty manly and awesome so I feel that Booger is off to a good start. I was worried he might be brain damaged but, he is alert, happy, and smart. Also, we have had Booger for over three days now and he has yet to have an accident in the house. Training is also going well so his brain seems alright to me. However, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed myself, so what do I know. Here are a few more pictures of the Boogie Man.

How Cute is that?

This is a stuffed Duck a couple at church gave Booger. I call it Mr. Quackers. It's the only toy he really likes to play with. He likes to man handle it, which is amusing to watch because it's bigger than him and it quacks when you squeeze it.

Trish showing just how tiny the dog is. She was as giddy as a school girl when it was time to pick him up from the shelter

This is our other dog Gracie. We're doing our best to keep giving her some good love too.
She's not real sure what to think of Booger yet. When they were first introduced she gave him a sniff and then walked off. However, every day they have played together a little more. They actually played a little tug of war with a toy for the first time yesterday. Once Booger is a little bigger I think Gracie will like Him better. 

  

Mustache Man

Why don't younger men rock a mustache anymore? Could it possibly be because when they do the look like this retard here. (Editors Note: You are only able to make fun of someone if it is yourself)

Or maybe it is because young man who has one looks like 1. An evil villan from an old cartoon.

2. A 70's porno star 3. A Child Molester

When did they stop being cool? Because Magnum PI and Burt Reynolds are still cool to me.

I have now changed my mind. Judging from these photos you can wear a mustache and be cool as long as you are also really hairy on the rest of your body. I've got that covered so me and my mustache are super cool

 

Kids on Mission

Trish has started a new ministry here called Kids On Mission. It is very similar to RA's and GA's if you grew up doing that in the Southern Baptist Church. Trish took ideas from her Old GA books, and made her own curriculum where the kids learn about different countries, people groups, and American Baptist missionaries. They also do mission projects, activities, try food from different countries, and do crafts and play games related to the country they are studying. They just finished learning about China and now are studying Mexico. Right now she takes all the kids grades 1-6 but starting after the summer she hopes to split them into four classes based on sex and age. There are lots of kids coming and they seem to be enjoying themselves. Trish must be telling them something crazy judging by the look on Jessica Kendrick's face (the little blond girl in the center of the picture).

Disciple Now

  Who designed those sweet shirts! Oh yeah, I did.

We had our disciple Now May 18th and 19th at Mount Vernon. I was pretty pleased with the turn out for our first one; especially considering that no matter how many times I explained it many youth and their parents just could not grasp the concept of the weekend. Also, I have had a lot of trouble getting a good turnout to events that aren't "fun". However, every kid that went had a blast. This retreat has been great in helping reinforce that you can have an event that is based around serious bible study that is still enjoyable. 

This is a picture of the senior high girls group. There is one more that was missing during this photo. We hosted them in our home because one of my host families had a health issue and had to back out at the last minute. However, it turned out to be a great blessing. Although the senior high groups were relatively small we had 11 junior high boys and 8 junior high girls. This makes me very encouraged about the future of our youth group. I am working very hard to develop good relationships with the kids that are 10th grade and younger because they are the future. Also, the older youth already have a good relationship with Todd.

Camp out in my living room. Gracie had great fun laying on top of them and waking them up by licking their faces. Julie is not a morning person and angrily talks about herself in the third person when you try to wake her up.

I Wanna Do Hoodrat Stuff with My Friends

This is a little different than the stuff I have posted in the past. Originally this blog was designed as a way to keep family and friends informed with what is going on our life. Now it will also include some of my ramblings about life in general and funny things I come across in my Internet surfing that I feel are applicable. This is the first of these posts.

Occasionally I come across something that I feel perfectly illustrates the world we live in. As a youth minister I constantly deal with kids who have been taught that they can do whatever they want simply because they feel like it and that there really aren't any consequences to their actions. I have my theories about how the world became this way. I'm sure you have theories too. However rather than ranting I instead hope that this video will make you laugh and more importantly think about how we can change things. I still believe that Christ wants us to make the world a better place. We can make the world a better place.

My Bike

I know that no one actually cares about this but me but I wanted to post about my bike. I have been wanting a new, up to date, bike for a long time and now that I finally have a real job I have been able to get my bike totally finished. I can honestly say that right now I do not want to change anything about my bike. It weighs less than 24 pounds and it is really strong. The frame is a Tierra (earth in Spanish) from fly bikes. It weighs less than 5 pounds has a very short rear end and is really strong.

My new forks and front wheel are the best. My forks look bent but they are designed to go straight down and they are lighter and stronger than any other freestyle forks out there. I have plegs on my bike now. They are plastic pegs that are inexpensive, really light, and let you grind things that are impossible with the steel pegs. That big black plastic thing on my wheel protects my spokes when grinding and It weighs almost nothing. The new front wheel is crazy light and really strong.Back end: Check out all the orange trim. These pedals are made of really durable plastic. They are light and are very inexpensive. My back wheel has a free coaster hub. It lets you roll backwards without having to back pedal. It is the greatest invention for bikes ever. I am also very happy to have a brake on my bike again. There are lots of hills here. Now I just wish it would stop snowing so that I can ride it.

Snow

Here is yet another reason why West Virginia is better than Texas. It snows here. Here are a couple of pictures Trish took when It snowed like 3 inches this week. Do you see my fence posts? Wonder why I can't get my fence finished?

Gracie likes the snow. She tries to eat the flakes out of the air and she likes to chase snowballs.

Our New Home

Happy homeowners

At the very end of January we officially became adults when we bought our new home at 106 Ches-Wal Road. It is almost 2500 square feet with four bedrooms and a basement. It is a great, quirky, old farmhouse. It is on almost an acre of land with a large detached two car garage. Here is a tour of our new home. Fenced in area for Gracie, dining room furniture, mini ramp, garden, and dirt jumps coming soon. I know that there are not any bedroom and or bathroom pictures but we have plenty of room. You have to come and visit to see the rest.

A better view

Side view with our sweet screened in porch

Our Garage. I wish I had a Prius. The Barn is half on our land and is unfortunately going to be moved.

Dining room. It has huge windows on three sides.

Our Kitchen with sweet refrigerator and the first dishwasher ever made.

Our family room, check the fireplace. It gets cold here.

Formal living room. That pink and red paint has got to go. Notice the lack of furniture. Anyone who would like to donate some furniture would be greatly appreciated.

My basement man cave. Trish decorated it with bike pictures, and all my old memorabilia from my high school bedroom. Think pinewood derby cars, sports trophies, dukes of hazard trash can, fire extinguisher lamp. Lego town and poker table coming soon. Yes I'm a nerd. So What, its my man cave! Gracie digs our basement and we dig that her box no longer stinks up our living room.