Well, friends...we have made another trip in the wonderful state of Texas. That's right, we actually got out of Houston and headed to the State Captial. Does everyone know where that is?? All you Texans aren't allowed to answer.

Brian was asked to preach at Concordia University, Austin at their 9.08 chapel. It's a student led chapel held on thursday evenings at, you guessed it, 9.08. We were invited by Ted Doering (the son of our Senior Pastor), who has become a close friend. It was a joy to visit with him, eat at Pei Wei, and enjoy the tea at Mozarts. As a part of preaching, Brian was asked if he would lead the worship team. He, of course, was overjoyed to play...go figure, Brian overjoyed that he gets to play music. Who would have thought? The worship team was awesome and they all did well. It was fun for Brian to be able to mentor others in service to the church. Kudos to everyone involved.

For those of you who are reading and attended another Concordia (you know, the one in the corn field), it's still the best. For those of you who didn't attend Concordia Cornfield, we're sorry. Someday everyone will realize that Seward is the place to be...unless it's Friday! Anyway, we really did enjoy our time. It was unfortunate, but we weren't able to stay more than one night and missed our opportunity to be tourists in Ausitn. We did drive by the state capital building. We're hoping to get back soon and spend some more time there.

Just as a ps, we want to thank Nate and Mindy for opening their home. It was awesome to see you three. Much love and peace.

Getting ready for baby...

This post has been a long time in coming. With life in fast forward, I'm not posting as punctually as I should be. Sorry! Fasten your seatbelts, because you're in for a ride. Check back over the next few days as we'll put some new info on our adventures out there for you. We don't want to overwhelm you all at once!

In early November, we made a trip up to St. Louis for the wedding of Meghan and Tim Yang (see post below). Unbeknownst to me (Erin) my sister, Nora, and mom planned a surprise baby shower for baby and I while we were there! It was certainly a surprise and an enjoyable time as well. Thanks Mom and Nora!

As I was actively participating in the shower itself, I don't have any action shots. What I do have is the picture you see below...



This is a picture not only of the switchplate that matches the super cute bedding set we registered for, but also of an expertly painted wall. Brian and a good friend tackled the nursery a few weeks back and came out unscathed (minus being slightly effected by the fumes). The result a gold buff nursery that we are very pleased with. We'll get full nursery pics out once the crib, bedding and all that other good stuff is in place. It currently still serves as a guest bedroom.

As a side note, for those of you who are lacking a true Fall as we are here in Texas, I'll share a few photos we snapped while in STL. Ah, the colors on the trees are so refreshing...

A St. Louis Wedding

We made a trip to St. Louis this past weekend for the wedding of Meghan and Tim, friends of ours from our church community here in Houston. We were blessed to be able to attend the wedding (all while seeing family who live in St. Louis...we love you guys) and Brian did the wedding. That's right, it was the first official wedding performend by the new pastor, and as far as we know, they are married. Everything was signed, nobody passed out, they said "I do"...so, we think it took.

A perk to the wedding was the reception. I know what you are thinkng, "isn't that the perk of most weddings?" Well, yes...but this reception was held in Busch Stadium!!! In fact, you almost forgot that you were in the stadium until you went into the restroom (there's only so many places with that many toliets lined along the wall). It was awesome...their pictures were on the jumbotron for all the city to see. We ate toasted raviolli (it's a St. Louis thing...if you've never had it...you need to), spring rolls made by Tim's mom and Grandma's risotto. Need we say more??

The pictures are for your enjoyment! There will be more to come about our time in St. Louis...

24 Weeks and Counting...

Just for the record, I'm totally caving in to the "online peer pressure"! :) After many a request, here is the much hearalded "bump" picture. Yes, there really is a cute little baby growing inside of me...

Baby and I had a doctor's appointment today and all checks out well. Baby's growing... and so am I... thus the "bump"!

Enjoy!

Under the Boardwalk

So we decided to take the afternoon to ourselves. And what better to do then go see the bay. Now, for a number of you, the days are slowly getting colder (we're jealous, by the way), but here in Southern Texas the days are still warm (when we say warm we mean in the 90's). So, with the afternoon off, we decided to drive down to Kemah, Texas.

Kemah lies right on the edge of Galveston Bay. For those of you who don't know, Galveston Bay is rather unique since it is both fresh water (the San Jacinto and Trinity River, plus the ship channel via the Buffalo Bayou) and salt water (the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean). The Bay has some of the best shrimp in the US, and at the right time of year, one can see dolphins swimming out front of boat.

Well, a number of years back, someone decided to renovate Kemah and create a boardwalk; complete with Amusement rides, restaurants, shops and plenty of seagulls. We spent a quite afternoon enjoying the ships as they came in from the bay, pelicans flying to and fro, and little kids playing in the water fountain (yes, Brian jumped in as well). We had dinner at a small Mexican restaurant on the bay (which we barely ate any of...the portions were huge) and then headed home, but not before stopping by NASA. We didn't have time to visit Johnson Space Center but we saw it from our car. There's always next time.

Enjoy the photos!

Look Out World!

If a picture is worth 1000 words, then there aren't enough words in any language for the picture of God's creative power in new life. Enjoy.

A Whacky Place

For those of you who don't live in Texas...there is something you must learn. You are either an Aggie or a Longhorn.

In the state of Texas, two schools rule college football (my apologies to those of you reading who went to Tech, TCU, Baylor, etc): the Texas Longhorns or the Texas A&M Aggies. There is no love expressed between these two teams. Allow us to illustrate. Brian grew up in the lovely state of Colorado, where he quickly became a Buff's fan (much to the chagrin of his parents who are die hard Cornhusker fans...or to his sister who is now a student at Colorado State University...sorry Megs). Now, one was either a Buff's fan or a Rams fan (CSU) and you didn't like it when the other team won. Now, there were exceptions to that rule...say when the Buff's played in the National Championship...then Rams fans cheered along for the other school from their state.

Not so here in Texas. When the Texas Longhorns played in the National Championship two years ago, Aggie fans routed for none other than the Trojans (USC). There is no love.

Well, this past weekend we were "blessed" to be in College Station (home of A&M) for a retreat. Many of those involved in the ministry downtown are graduates of this fine institution. For them...it was like returning to Mecca...most got misty eyed as we walked by the graves of Reveille I-VI, and became giddy at the obligatory howdy. A&M is a unique place...unlike most campus' we have been to; filled with all sorts of tradition carried into the world by its huge alumni. To A&M...we must give a whoop!

The Beacon and Eggs

Friends, we have to share with you one of the most thrilling experiences since arriving in Houston. This morning we were able to be a part of Beacon and Eggs. No, we haven't forgotten how to spell!

The Beacon is an outreach program run by the Episcopal Church for the homeless around the city of Houston. Chris Kennedy, who was the vicar at Christ the King last year, began to work with this incredible ministry. The beacon is open only on the weekends (one of the few who are) and serves lunch for about 500 people. Those who come to the beacon have the opportunity to launder their clothes and can take a shower. It is amazing to see what a church can do when they put their hearts and souls into it. The community in the city with which we are part, volunteers their time to help serve lunch, launder clothing, wash dishes, bus tables, pick up trash, etc. Pretty much whatever they need. For three hours we get to serve those society has cast aside. God is good and this morning we were reminded that we are extremely blessed.

Before heading over to the Beacon, we went to our dear friends Andy and Lanetta's loft for eggs and biscuits (ah, Brian loves the South). It was a great time for our city community to spend time together and then to serve those less fortunate. We are looking forward to our next trip to the beacon this Labor Day...they are hurting for volunteers since most people want to spend their Labor Day with friends and family grilling the burgers and brats. We'll be spending ours with the homeless of Houston.

Go salt the earth!!