Our friends welcome their little one

On Saturday, June 7th, at about 10:15am, our good friends Troy & Sherry became the proud parents of Jacob Eugene Cole. He weighed in at 7 lbs, 5 oz, and was 20 inches long. Jacob had a lot of visitors on Sunday afternoon, which is when I (Sara) took these pictures. I didn't get any pictures of me holding Jacob because I was taking everyone else's picture! Troy did take my picture with Jacob today when I went back for another visit (the perks of not having a full-time job!!!) I'll try to get that picture from him sometime when they are a little less busy....I guess that will be never now, huh?

Troy, Sherry, and Jacob are going home today, and we are so excited for them. We can't wait to be involved in this little guy's life, and we look forward to what God has planned for him.

Sherry & Jacob--isn't he just the cutest thing?

Jacob with Daddy--I think Troy is making a funny face mostly because I caught him chewing gum, not because he's trying to entertain the baby! But, when does Troy not have gum?

Here's Kristal with Jacob

And here's a picture of Wesley I took that day. I know Jacob isn't in this picture, but, Wesley's cute anyway!!!

Indianapolis Indians Baseball

On Saturday, May 31st, we went with our ABF to a Minor League (Triple-A) baseball game in Indianapolis. The Indianapolis Indians played the Toledo Mud Hens, and we cheered on the Indians to a 4-3 win! This was a pretty big feat, considering that the Indians were at the bottom of their division, and the Mud Hens were the leaders in that same division.

We were sitting on the 3rd base line, and most of the game was spent dodging foul balls.

Wesley says, "Hey, batter, batter, batter.....swing batter!" Or maybe not, if you're going to send a foul ball in our direction!

Here are a couple of pictures from the game. You can see Wesley at the bottom of the one in the stands, and that is our friends James & Kristal behind him. The picture of the field is just after one of the Indians had hit a home run!

Just Something Cool

We both thought it was really cool that the kid who won the National Spelling Bee this year is from West Lafayette! Here is an article about his win:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- As it turned out, Sameer Mishra provided more than just comic relief at the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee. He won the title.

The 13-year-old from West Lafayette, Indiana, who often had the audience laughing with his one-line commentaries, was all business when he aced "guerdon" -- a word that appropriately means "something that one has earned or gained" -- to win the 81st version of the bee Friday night.

"I don't know about comedy lines, but my parents have been telling me since the beginning that I should always stay calm, cool and collected," said Sameer, who likes playing the violin and video games, and hopes one day to be a neurosurgeon.

Sameer, appearing in the bee for the fourth time and a top 20 finisher the last two years, clenched both fists and put his hands to his face after spelling the winning word. He won a tense duel over first-time participant Sidharth Chand, 12, of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, who finally stumbled on "prosopopoeia," a word describing a type of figure of speech.

Sameer was a crowd favorite throughout the tournament. When told one of his words in the semifinals was a dessert, he deadpanned: "That sounds good right now." He rolled his eyes and muttered "wonderful" when told that one of his words had five different language roots. He once asked "Are you sure there are no alternate pronunciations?" and later uttered "That's a relief" after initially mishearing the word "numnah" (a type of sheepskin pad).

And what did he have to say while hoisting the heavy trophy? "I'm really, really weak."

Sameer is coached by his sister, Shruti, a high school senior and three-time spelling bee competitor. The first-place finish won him $35,000 in cash and more than $5,000 in other prizes.

Remembering Sara's Uncle Bob

My Uncle Bob passed away last week after a 6-month battle with pancreatic cancer. We went down to Tennessee over this last weekend to be with the extended family and to attend the funeral. My uncle's best friend, a minister-Rev. Gary Baker, performed the private family service, which was a wonderful memorial to my uncle's life.
During that service, Gary shared three words that he said were "other words for" Bob Hicks. The first was Friend. He shared how Bob had been his best friend and how he had been the kind of friend that the Bible describes as "sticking closer than a brother."
The second word was Treasure. My Uncle Bob was a creator--he loved to build things, especially any kind of woodcraft. Everyone in his family has something that Bob made with his own hands that they treasure.
The third word was Soldier. My Uncle Bob served in the Army when he and my Aunt Jane were first married. During that time he served in Vietnam in the Army Security Agency. He didn't talk very much about his time in military service, but he was completely dedicated to his service to his country during that time and after. He also was a soldier in his battle with cancer. As Gary said at the service, he battled cancer as a soldier and showed everyone how Christians deal with pain and suffering.
Most of my memories about my Uncle Bob center around the times I would stay with Bob and Jane whenever my self-employed parents were out making money all over the country. I would sit and do my homework on the couch while watching Jeopardy or the Discovery channel with Bob (or whatever that channel was then...) We would watch wood-working shows or even cool surgeries (since we were the only two who could stand to watch those surgeries!) I know I would not have been able to get an "A" on my rock collection in the 8th grade if I hadn't had Bob's help!!! Okay, I'll admit it....I actually didn't do anything! Bob did it all! I always felt so safe when I stayed with Bob and Jane while my parents were on business trips. And I have to admit that I did like his "special" cough medicine!
The military burial that my uncle received was so appropriate, and it was the most moving service of that sort I have ever been to. We are very comforted that my Uncle Bob is now free from pain and rejoicing in Heaven with our Lord.
I will conclude this post with the passage that Rev. Baker read at Uncle Bob's burial.
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."
1 Peter 1:3-9

Sherry's Baby Shower

On April 17, 2008, Kristal, Beth, and I threw a baby shower for our good friend Sherry. She and Troy are expecting their first child (a boy, to be named Jacob) the first week in June. (The exact due date has been much debated, but that is another story...) Many of our ABF (that's Sunday School to you non-Faith Baptist folks!) friends were there to celebrate with Sherry, and baby Jacob got all of the things his parents wanted to get! Here are a few pictures from the event:

Fresh flowers courtesy of Kristal! Those strawberries were as good as they look, too!
Sherry looking so cute!

Sara, Beth, and Sherry (Kristal took all of the pictures!)

Earthquake!

At 5:37am on Friday, April, 18, 2008, Wesley & Sara were sleeping peacefully in their bed when they were awakened by someone shaking their bed. Being good Midwesterners, Wesley & Sara knew that was the only thing it could be because there couldn't really be an earthquake happening in Indiana, right?

Wrong.

From the local paper:

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake that shook much of the Midwest rattled Greater Lafayette at 5:37 a.m. Friday.
Several aftershocks followed, including one at 11:14 a.m. with a magnitude of 4.6, which was felt in Lafayette.
The quake was centered six miles from West Salem, Illinois, about 144 miles southwest of Lafayette. It was felt 450 miles northwest of the epicenter and in such distant cities as Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Des Moines, Iowa.
Experts say the quake and aftershocks happened in the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone, a series of underground faults in southwestern Indiana and southeastern Illinois, said Larry Braile, a seismologist at Purdue University. He said a quake of such size is unusual for this area of the country.
The quake is believed to have involved an extension of the New Madrid fault, a network of deep cracks in the earth's surface, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The fault is at the center of the nation's most active seismic zone east of the Rockies, something that's known to Midwest residents, even if they forget it now and then. The last severe earthquake in the region was a 5.0 quake in 2002.
No significant damage was reported in Greater Lafayette or in Indiana.

After realizing that there was, in fact, no one shaking the bed, Sara knew that it was an earthquake, since she had experienced several while growing up in Tennessee. Wesley, however, was pretty "rattled" (I know, I know, that was bad...), since he had never experienced an earthquake before. Since he lived all over the place as a child, we guess he was just never in the right place at the right time!

An aftershock occured later that day while Wesley was on the 4th floor of Beering Hall. He described the experience as "crazy," since it felt as if the whole building was swaying. Sara thought the earthquake event was "just so cool!"

Easter 2008

He is risen!

We were very busy this Easter season, as we are every year. We once again participated in the orchestra for the Lafayette Passion Play, presented by our church. We had two Saturday morning orchestra rehearsals followed by whole-production rehearsals on the Tuesday and Wednesday before Easter. The performances were Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, March 20, 21, & 22. The Passion Play truly is a professional-style performance while also being a great opportunity to reach out to our community.

The orchestra also played for services at church on Easter Sunday morning. We had a great time of worshipping our risen Savior with our church family.

That afternoon we went to Wesley's parents' house for a wonderful Easter dinner. Sara's parents were invited as well, and we enjoyed Jillaine's awesome ham, green beans, mashed potatoes and corn casserole (Sara's favorite). We also "hunted" for Kinder-eggs (a German chocolate hollow egg with a toy inside!), which is an Easter tradition for the Shoops. We all enjoyed eating our chocolate and putting together our small toys.

Even though it was early this year and seemed to be over rather quickly, we had a nice Easter.

He is risen indeed!

Ashley, this is for you...

As I mentioned in a previous post, several people have asked us to update our blog more often. One of these "people who actually have a life and interesting things to say on their blog" is my friend Ashley. We met her and her husband Graham in our Young Couples class and got to know them well through Connection Group.
They are expecting a baby in April, and I went to her baby shower last week (thus, receiving one of the "you haven't posted anything since Christmas!" comments).
Here is a picture of Kristal, Sherry, Ashley, and me enjoying the festivities. (I promise I was being included in the picture, even though it looks as if I just decided to join at the last minute without the rest knowing.)

I have been making blankets the last few years to take as gifts to the baby showers I attend. When you go to as many as I do (being in a Young Couples Sunday School class helps with that), you have to find something that won't break the bank. I started out making some that were just one piece of fleece with a binding around it. Lately, I have been making the "tie" fleece blankets that are just two pieces of fleece cut out to the same size and tied together around the edges. I think they make good floor blankets for the babies to play on when they get a little older.

For Ashley, since they are waiting for the surprise of a boy or girl, I made one that was solid green and solid cream. It looked really nice, but I forgot to take a picture of it. I went to another baby shower two days later for two other girls (I told you I went to a lot of baby showers!), and here are some pictures of those two blankets. One friend is having a boy, and one is having a girl.

Ashley, I hope you have enjoyed the posts from the last few days. (And Happy Birthday on the 10th!) I promise not to go another 3 months without posting again. Let us know when that little one gets here!!!

February Conference 2008

The second week in February, we attended the Biblical Counseling Training Conference at our church. Sara has helped out with meals and snacks at this event for the past few years, and we have hosted conference guests, also. Every time we host people attending the conference, they tell us how much they enjoy it and how much they learn. So, this year we decided to attend ourselves.

The sessions were every day from 8:00AM-7:00PM. That makes for a long day, but it was worth it. We learned LOTS of information. Some of it we had already learned on Sunday mornings in church and ABF (Adult Bible Fellowships or Sunday School). However, it was good to get a refresher on it. We also learned lots of other information that was very useful. There were lessons on secular psychology, marriage, psychological drugs, communication, relationships, and how to apply scripture to any situation that arises.

The goal of the conference was to prepare the attendees to counsel others. However, Sara and I learned a lot about ourselves, how we are to behave, and how we can help people we come into contact with everyday. The common theme throughout the week was that "the best counselors are also good counselees". So, we enjoyed the week and are already putting it into practice.

What's New?

We have gotten several comments lately from folks saying that we have not been updating our blog enough. From our end of things, I guess we just don't think we have too much going on that other people would find exciting. But, we also came to the realization that we don't have to only post on our blog about the big things. Even the everyday things can be exciting and fun to share.

So, I promise to post to our blog more often.

First, here are some pictures from New Year's Eve...James & Kristal came over for the night and stayed through New Year's Day. We played games and watched movies and football. (Of course...the two things that Wesley and Sara like to do the best! Luckily, J&K like to do these things, too!) It also snowed that night on the way home from the movie theater, and the flakes were the biggest I have ever seen! The "saying" for the night was, "Big Flake...Little Snow." That was true for that night, but not for the rest of the winter!

Wesley was soooo excited to be wearing his party hat!

Christmas, 2007

“That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father!” Philippians 2:10-11

Hello, Everyone!
We did not get a chance to get a Christmas letter out with our cards this year, so this blog entry will just have to suffice. We have been so busy this year with various things, most of which have been really fun, and we are looking forward to what the next year will bring.

On the job front, Wesley is continuing with his job at the College of Education IT department at Purdue. He really enjoys his job, and he hopes to stay at Purdue for a long time. As for Sara, she officially quit her job at BASi at the end of May. However, we guess they just couldn’t get along without her (just kidding!), so they called her in July to work on a special temporary project. The good thing about it is that she can work on it part-time at home. And get paid more than she was when she permanently worked there! So, she took the job, and has being doing that ever since. Since the job is only temporary, she was scheduled to be doing it until the end of this year. But, true to BASi fashion, it will continue until at least next April. It is nice that Sara can work at home, though, and she is enjoying the freedom that brings. In addition to that job, Sara has also been baby-sitting for a couple of afternoons a week for a child of a friend from BASi. Brooke’s daughter, Maya, is currently 4 months old, and what a cutie she is! Sara has been enjoying that immensely.

As for our church this year, it has been a year of exciting changes and transitions at Faith Baptist. Our Community Center opened in July to much enthusiasm. In the fall, our friends Doug and Karen Helmer left our church and ABF (Sunday School class) to embark on a new adventure with church planting though Harvest Chapel in Chicago. We are so excited for what they will be doing for Christ through that ministry! Since that change, we have a wonderful new leader in our class. Pastor Rob Green has been such a blessing to our ABF, and we look forward to learning from him and growing with him in the future. We were very involved in the “Christmas for Everyone” program again at church, and, of course, the Christmas musical. Another new adventure with which Sara will be involved next year is our church’s “Vision of Hope” ministry. Vision of Hope is a residential treatment facility for young women struggling with unplanned pregnancies, eating disorders, and addictions. Our church is very excited to be able to start this important ministry, and Sara is as well. She has been attending training for the past few months, and the doors are set to open January 1st, 2008.

This year has also been another year of exciting travels for us. In January, we went with Sara’s Mom and Dad to St. Augustine, Florida, for another of Sara’s Dad’s conference trips. It was so nice to get to go to Florida in January even though it was still a little chilly. St. Augustine is a fascinating place to visit historically. We had a great time taking the trolley around town and also finding some great places to eat! We found a great little restaurant called “Scarlett O’Hara’s” that served some of the best barbeque we have ever had. (Sorry South Street Smokehouse!)

In June we decided with Sara’s Mom and Dad to take off to South Dakota for a road trip. We rented a mini-van and drove from Indiana, through Chicago, across Wisconsin, across Minnesota, into South Dakota and ALLTHE WAY ACROSS South Dakota, down into Nebraska, all the way across Iowa, across Illinois, and back home again to Indiana. The trip took 8 days, and it was a great trip. We saw so many neat things, including Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, buffalo at Custer State Park, Wind Cave, mammoth remains at Hot Springs, Deadwood, the Homestead of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s family, the Corn Palace, Wall Drug Store, the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Rozenblat Stadium where they play the College World Series, and even where Wesley graduated from high school—Bellevue East! We had so much fun touring that part of the country. Sara had never been to any of those places, so she was really excited to see it all!

In September, we were invited by our good friends Troy and Sherry Cole to go with them and another couple (the ever-cool James and Kristal Arnold!) to Orlando, and we jumped at the chance. We had wanted to take an Orlando trip for a long time, and this turned out to be the perfect way to go. Wesley and I flew down on a Friday and spent a couple of days at Universal Studios before meeting up with the Arnolds and the Coles to do the Disney thing. We all stayed (along with Sherry’s sister, Jolene) in a condo that Troy and Sherry had set up, and we had a great time! We spent 5 days visiting the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and MGM. We laughed and “played” and relaxed and had an awesome time! Thanks, Troy & Sherry for inviting us!

The next few blog entries have a few pictures from our many adventures this year.
We hope everyone is doing well, and drop us a line or send an e-mail anytime!
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!!

Pictures from Disney, September 2007

Wesley & Sara at the Magic Kingdom

Troy, Sherry, Jolene, Sara, and Wesley at EPCOT

The Girls with Mickey--Sara was so excited to see Mickey--she had never seen him at DisneyWorld, even though she had been there about 5 times!

Sara with Minnie

Sara, Wesley, James, & Kristal at MGM

Wesley & Sara at the Magic Kingdom Parade and Fireworks

Pictures from South Dakota, June 2007

Wesley & Sara at Mount Rushmore

Sara at school at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in De Smet, South Dakota

Wesley at the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead--making rope

Bill & Nola at the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead--making rope

Crazy Horse

Wesley at the Mammoth Site, South Dakota, giving us a height comparison of a Columbian Mammoth--Wesley is 6'3"--the mammoth is 14 feet!

Buffalo at Custer State Park, South Dakota

Wesley in Deadwood, South Dakota

Wesley's high school in Bellevue, Nebraska--Bellevue East!

Wesley & Sara at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska

Pictures from Florida, January 2007

Wesley & Sara at the Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine, Florida

Wesley & Sara are the King & Queen!

Sara & Nola at the trolley stop, St. Augustine, Florida

Wesley sacked out at the Beach Cabana, Ponte Vedra, Florida

And, We're Back...

Posted by Sara:

Well, it's been awhile since we posted anything to this blog, huh? I had good intentions, I read other people's blogs, but I just can't seem to get the time or the inclination to post anything to my own blog! I guess now that I am not working anymore (Woo-hoo!!!), that needs to change. I know, it's sad that the last post was on my birthday 5 months ago!

Since our last post, we have watched the Colts win the Super Bowl, visited the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, celebrated several family birthdays, found out our good friends Brent and Mary are engaged, had a huge Memorial Day cookout, I had my last day at work, and we spent a wonderful vacation in South Dakota and Nebraska. And the fun just keeps on coming!

The best part out of all of that was quitting my job. I enjoy running the house without the stress of my job! We have actually eaten dinner at home every weeknight for the past three weeks! That's definitely a record for us. I am still sort of employed, too, as I am helping Mom and Dad out with some of their business stuff, including helping with the business management part of Dad's consulting.

We had such a good time on our vacation. We went with my parents, and we took a van and drove to the Mount Rushmore area through Illinois, Wiconsin, Minnesota, and all the way across South Dakota (which Wesley loved, since the speed limit was 75!). We stopped in De Smet, SD, to see the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead. In SD, we also went to the Corn Palace (kind of weird, but neat), Wall Drug (tourist trap) Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, a Mammoth dig site, Wind Cave National Park, Custer State Park(all fascinating), and Deadwood (interesting history, but not really our kind of place). Then we left SD and headed to Omaha, Nebraska, to visit where Wesley lived for two years and graduated from high school. We had a great time touring his "old stomping grounds" and going to the Henry Doorly Zoo. Then it was back to good 'ol Indiana by going all the way across Iowa and Illinois. (Just as a note....Iowa has really nice rest areas!)

So, what's next on the horizon? My good friend Kristal and I have started meeting weekly to have a Bible study and prayer time. We've only met once so far, but I really enjoyed it. We are reading through Philippians, and we are on chapter 2. I have challenged myself to memorize chapter 2, verses 5-11, and it's going pretty well so far. I'll have to "post it from memory" once I get it!

Another big thing coming up is that Brent will be moving in with us after his lease runs out in July and before the wedding in November. So, my task now is to get his room and everything else in the house ready for that. We are looking forward to having him stay with us, and we are really looking forward to their wedding!!! :)

I guess that's about all for now. I'll try to post more as things happens in our lives so that each post won't be so long! If you read this, leave us a comment, so that we know you're out there. Right now I think the only one reading it is my mom! (Sorry, Mom...we're glading you're there!!!)



Sara

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday to YOU!
Happy BIRTHDAY dear Sara...
Haaaaaappy Biiiirrrthdaaaayyy to you!

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY SARA!

Christmas Card Newsletter 2006

“We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.” 1 Thessalonians 2:8

Hello, and Merry Christmas once again! Where did the year go? It has been a busy year in the Shoop household. We are sure you can all relate. We enjoy taking the time to look back over the past year and share some of the highlights with our family and friends.
We again went on some pretty cool vacations this year with Sara’s parents (thanks to all of the conferences that Sara’s Dad attends!). In January, we went to Washington, D.C., which was great. While we were there, we were able to visit with Sara’s cousins, Leslie and Kelly, who live in the area, and who we had not seen in a very long time! (Let’s not let another 10 years go by before we see each other again, okay?!) We visited Arlington National Cemetery, the National Gallery of Art, and Ford’s theater; we saw the White House; and we even got our own private tour of the Capitol Building!!! Leslie’s husband, Steve, is a member of the Capitol police force and he took us on an amazing visit through the Capitol building. Wesley stills thinks that was the best tour he has ever been on!!!
In July, we visited Boston, which was also a lot of fun. We walked the Freedom Trail, toured the USS Constitution, took a Harbor Cruise, and ate a lot of great food! We found a great little Italian restaurant in Little Italy (5 North Square), which made Wesley feel as if he was sitting in a scene from The Godfather. We were also able to spend a day with our friends Jamey and Angie, who had moved to Boston from Lafayette the year before. They took us to the Boston Common Frog Pond (where we watched J.P. have fun splashing around), Beacon Hill, and to a great seafood restaurant, the No Name Restaurant. Good choice Jamey and Angie!
We also took a road trip in June to Pennsylvania with Sara’s parents to attend Sara’s good friend Valerie’s wedding. The wedding was beautiful, and we enjoyed so much catching up with Valerie and her family. And, the cookies were great!!!
Besides our great vacations and spending time with family and friends, our lives have revolved around work and church. Wesley got a promotion with his job in October, which has proved to be a great blessing in many ways. Along with a raise, he is now able to provide more input to the group, have greater responsibilities, and will possibly have the opportunity for some supervisory experience, all of which will be very good for him now as well as in the future. Sara continues to work part-time at her job at BASi, and she enjoys having those two days off every week!
We are still involved in many of the same things at church as we were last year. Sara joined the orchestra this year, playing percussion, as a change of pace from the choir, and we are currently working hard on music for the Christmas Cantata on December 17th. Sara has also played a few times with a small handbell choir, and she has really enjoyed taking that up again. We are very involved in our Adult Bible Fellowship class, which recently “expanded” into two classes, since our numbers had gotten so huge! We remained in the Young Couples class, and we continue to have new couples every week, which is very exciting. We are also in the middle of helping out with almost every aspect of the American Red Cross’s “Christmas for Everyone” program, which is handled largely by our church. We have spent several nights sorting and pricing toys and clothes, and we are looking forward to the Saturday Distribution Day where the parents can come and “shop” for gifts for their children.
So, as you can see, we have had a busy but amazing year. We praise God for all the blessings he has given to us this year and for all the things we know He will do for us and through us next year. We hope that you are all doing well, and that you have a wonderful Christmas, celebrating the birth of our Savior, and a very Happy New Year!!!

Love,

Wesley & Sara

10 years

Ten years seems like a long time. That's a whole decade. For many people, that is 1/8 of their entire lives. Most cars don't last that long. Ten years is a long time.

But then again, sometimes ten years can just fly by. Take us for instance. Can you believe that it was ten years ago today that Sara and I went on our first date? Can it really be ten years already? That just doesn't seem possible. It feels like it was just a short time ago that I finally got up the nerve to ask her out. It couldn't have been ten years ago. Surely not.

But then again, it seems like Sara and I have been together for a lot longer than that. It is hard for me to remember my life before we were together. I know I had one, but it just wasn't the same. Loving Sara has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me, and as each day passes, I love her more and more.

I thank God regularly for bringing her into my life. His plan is so much better than anything I could do myself. He brought us together for a reason, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

So, ten years is a long time. But when you have someone special to share it with, it makes all the difference in the world. These have been the best ten years of my life and I look forward to another 50.

I love you Sara.

Our first post!

This is the Shoops' first post of our first blog! We finally caved in to the blog craze. Most people will probably find this blog very boring. However, this blog isn't for most people. It is for our close friends and family. They like us, and that is good enough for us. We even like most of them! Just kidding, we love our family and friends very much, and this is a great way for us to keep them in the loop.

The first few posts that we do are going to be pretty crazy and down right boring. But, that is because we are playing with our new toy and trying to figure it out. Eventually, we will get the hang of it and things will settle into more of a routine.

Meanwhile, enjoy yourselves! This is our life, or at least the parts that we think are worth sharing. Feel free to leave comments and let us know what you think.

See you on the web!