Some video for you

Recently our video camera died. And rather than going out and purchasing a new one, we decided to buy a video camera/digital camera together. After a lot of research to make sure technology has come far enough to achieve this great "2 in 1" feat, we purchased a Canon S2 IS. It is an AMAZING camera that captures DVD quality video as well as delivering 5 mega pixel camera shots with a 12x optical zoom. The cool thing is, we only have to bring one camera to any event or outing. I can either video or still shoot anything...it's great for us lazy folk!

Anyway, since we've got this camera it's been so much easier to upload video onto my computer and eventually onto the internet. So here are some of our most recent video shoots. Each one is between 2-4 minutes. Click on the words below each picture to see the video. (If you right- click on those words and select "open in new window" you won't leave this page.) Enjoy!

The first one is from the pool party at our house on June 17th.

POOL PARTY VIDEO

Next up is some fun at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN ZOO VIDEO

One late night at the Ross House. VERY late.

FUN EVENING VIDEO

This one is late Friday June 23rd. It was Trinity's birthday and we had to celebrate late.

TRINITY'S B-DAY VIDEO

Last but not least is Jaden's dedication last Sunday, June 25th. Unfortunately, the pictures I have of this are on my work PC. I guess you just get video!
JADEN'S DEDICATION VIDEO

I hope you all enjoyed that as much as we did. Bless you all!

The Good 'Ol Days

Today Ethan and I got a chance to go white water rafting on the Arkansas River (pronounced "ar-kan-sas" if you are from Wichita and "ar-kan-saw" if you are from anywhere else in the world.) We braved rapids all the way up to class 5 - the most dangerous. Granted, the water was only 1200 c.f.s. (cubic feet/second) but it was quite exciting none the less. With rapids named "Sunshine Falls," "Sledge Hammer" and "Boat Eater" you know you're in for a fun trip. I wasn't able to take any pics, but Ed Mally and Scott McElroy had waterproof cameras so eventually I'll post some here when I get copies.

It was good to see some of our friends from Wichita. It reminded me of the "good old days" when we were first starting Arise in Wichita. It was an exciting time. Nobody knew exactly what God was up to, but we sure had fun watching him do it.

Anyway, me being all sentimental (and not having any white water pics) I thought I'd post some of the pictures I found on my PC last night. These are from the Arise Grand Opening in September of 2002. Enjoy...

A fun picture

I was just setting up my new online photo album with Picasa (Google's photo editing program) and saw this picture that I hadn't posted. So I thought I'd post it for you! Here you go! Blessings to all of our friends!

PS - We no longer have a 3 year old daughter - Trinity turned 4 today. She was pretty upset about not being 3 anymore last night, but she's adjusting pretty well today. I did my part as a dad and made sure that all her toes, fingers, feet etc... were, in fact, four years old. Of course I tickeled her to make sure her laugh had aged a year, too. She liked that a lot...haha. 

Last Week

It's been a lot of fun having Ethan here. We've had a lot of opportunities to talk and discuss things like his future, being an honorable man, and our relationship with God. The other morning after our quiet time, I looked out the window and saw this.

Later in the afternoon our little friend joined the kids in the dining room. Well, just outside the window anyway.

Then on Saturday, we had a pool party with a few families from Springs Calvary. The chocolate fountain was a big hit with the kids.

Mondays are my day off, so we took a short trip to the Garden of the Gods. We had to explain to Taite that the indians didn't know that there was only ONE God, and yes, it should be "Garden of the God." Both Ethan and Taite were pure boy - they climbed everything they could. We did run into some mishaps, but luckily we escaped unharmed. Here are some highlights.

First, as I was taking a picture of Taite and Ethan, this rock started to fall. Thankfully Trinity was there to save the boys from certain disaster.

Later, we almost lost Taite over the edge! Good thing he yelled loud enough for us to hear him!

Eventually things settled down and we were able to take some nice pictures. Blessings to you all!

Rocky Mountain National Park

This weekend was alot of fun. Not only did Ethan finally make the trip to Colorado, but we also got a chance to head north to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. For those of you that have known me for awhile, you know that every year I go to the YMCA of the Rockies for the annual Vineyard Worship Leader's Retreat. This year Vineyard Music hosted a worship leader "boot camp" for young worship leaders and I wanted to see if I could see a few friends while they were close to home...so up we went. We saw Randy McCoy, Steve Jones, Katie Faulk, Casey Corum, Sheri Carr, Diane Thiel and last but oh so definately not least, the one and only Micah Oelze - who also happens to be a Ross family kid favorite.

On the way to RMNP, we were suprised by a bunch of cars aligning the road. When we figured out what everyone was looking at, we decided to stop ourselves and (even though we're now "officially" from Colorado) become tourists.

So after we got up to the park, we headed to bear lake. The kids really enjoyed climbing the rocks and chasing after the wild life. I uploaded some video for you to see and also took some pictures. If you'd like to see the 2 minute video, click here and it will take you there. Here are some more pics, too. Blessings to all!

Nothin' But Blue Skies

I've never been too partial to cold weather, so I was a little reluctant to move somewhere I knew it snowed. Native Coloradians (don't know if that is a word) continue to tell me winters are nice. I keep saying, "we'll see," but I do know one thing. I think I can handle whatever kind of winter the lovely state of Colorado can dish out if it means we can have summers like they have here. Most days have been sunny and blue skies, with a temp of 85. What a dream, after enduring heat that felt like a blow torch was blasting you everytime you braved opening the door and stepping outside in Wichita.

So needless to say, we've been enjoying the pool. It is a challenge to keep the kids properly sunscreened. Somehow I am not getting any sun and the kids who are lathered in lotion at multiple intervals, continue to crispen. Yes, Mom, I am actually getting in the water, so it's not that the kids have the advantage of the sun reflecting off the water. For all of you who didn't know me as a teenager, I use to float around on rafts to get a tan and feel cool, but not have to actually get wet and mess up my hair or makeup. That was also back in the days when I always had my nails painted and would try five or six outfits on before choosing what I was going to wear. I' ve now joined the ranks of fellow stay at home moms and find blow drying my hair a luxury. It's hard to rationalize makeup and a hair fixing ritual when I know I'm going to get water logged later that day.

Jaden is rolling over now and beginning to pick things up. He discovered the greatest most accessible toy known to a five month old...his feet. It's still second place to his personal favorite, the thumb. He's so talented, he can now suck his thumb regardless of the position he is lying in.

In other news, Trinity will be four in a week or so. I keep asking her if she would please stay three, but she insists that she must grow up. After the pool, however, she still needs her "3 year old" nap.

One last fun update. I got a job teaching dance at a studio here in town. It's a very good school and I am honored that God opened up the opportunity. I will be teaching a class or two in the fall. You can check out the school at www.balletsocietyofcoloradosprings.com

My kids look GOOD!!!

Yes, this is probably the most amazing picture you will ever see, so calm yourself. I know, I know...he's beautiful. Haha...

This was actually taken Sunday morning before church as we ate breakfast together. Life has been crazy so we haven't posted much at all. Sorry about that. My mother was here last week and then I went to Wichita for a few days. It's been pretty crazy for sure!

We'll try and post some more pics for you in the upcoming days. In the meantime, here's a fun pic of Jaden posing for the camera. Have a great week!