We Are Back In Georgia

As you can see, we have had a long blog hiatus and are currently refocusing the purpose of our blog. Since December, 2008, we have moved back to the South. Jon took a position which brought us closer to our roots. From January until August of 2008, the children and I lived with my parents in Cleveland, Tennessee while we waited for our home in Colorado to sell.

Long story short: Our home in Colorado closed at the end of June and we purchased a home in Georgia on July 31st, 2009. What a road the Lord has taken us down in 2009. I have been journaling the process I have experienced as well as my thoughts of the journey our entire family has experienced in the last 9 months. Another post perhaps may be the place for those thoughts.

Suffice it to say, we are all together as the Jon Rogers family again. I have included the picture of our new home and Wes and Susanna's first day of school. I am so grateful for the home the Lord has provided for us and am amazed at how He provided it! To God be the Glory for the reuniting of our family!

Thanksgiving Celebration

I am late in posting these pictures, but we celebrated Thanksgiving for a couple days in Denver. The most exciting thing for the kids is that we stayed in a hotel. The following are some of the things we did over the two days like: The Thanksgiving brunch and Tree; Visit the Wildlife Experience in Denver, and see the Downtown Denver Lights.

THANKSGIVING DAY - THANKSGIVING TREE

WILDLIFE EXPERIENCE

LIGHT UP DENVER

Rockclimbing Reward

Wes is a "truth tracker" in AWANA. This means he has completed at least 7 sections every 3 weeks. Each month, he has been rewarded. For 3 consecutive months, he was rewarded with FREE inside "rock climbing" @ Dicks Sporting Goods. Susanna tagged along with Wes and dad...so she reaped some of the benefits of her brother's hard work.

Our Happy Walker

Rebekah is getting more comfortable walking...just a few days before her 11 month birthday.

Catch-All Update

Hello Family & Friends,

I am not sure if any of you still check out our blog since we have been so slack in updating it. But, just in case, I will attempt to do a catch-up summary since our summer entry.

After great summer times with Grammy and Grandpa Harry & Pops and Mia, we started the school year the 2nd week of August. Susanna started a part-time Kindergarten designed for Homeschoolers. Our intent is to start her full time next year in Kindergarten since she has a late birthday. She LOVES school and would go every day if she could. She is making friends and growing in confidence as she relates to other girls. Her teacher, Mrs. Conn, is very kind and warm with her and understands her personality very well.

On September 7th, we celebrated Susanna's 5th birthday with a family trip to the Denver Aquarium and an Ariel themed birthday cake. It was an "Under-The-Sea" weekend. All of us had a wonderful time being together and celebrating Susanna's special day. She made sure Wesley and Brigham knew it was her "Special Day" each of the three days over the weekend (Fri., Sat., and Sun.)

Rebekah, who is now 10 months, started crawling in August and was quick and agile by the time we went to the Aquarium. She is now standing on her own and walking along the furniture, (and crawling up the stairs) with ease. I think she will take off any day and I will have to grow eyes in the back of my head to keep up with her. Brigham is in his first Kindermusik group and Cubbie/Awana group this year and seems to enjoy them. He is such a joy and such a frustration all at one time. While he is staining something, disobeying, or getting too rough with Rebekah, he will look at you with a gleam in his eyes and a genuine smile that melts your heart. Even though he still gets his punishments and cries big tears, he recovers quickly and is smiling and laughing through the next curious endeavor. We are blessed to have a lot of time together to play and make memories. Fortunately, Brigham and Susanna love to play together most of the time and are now bringing Rebekah in on their pretending, even if she has to be the baby in the stroller.
Wes is doing well in school and is coming along in his reading. Third grade is proving to have a greater work load than 2nd but he is adjusting well. He loves his teacher and his best friend, Noah, is in his class. Jon and Wes are active in Awana and spend good quality time during the week working on their Bible verses. Wes just finished Flag Football through our YMCA. On his last game, he scored a touchdown and made 2 interceptions. For Wes, that is huge because he is mostly the "block and containment" guy that helps others make the touchdowns. But, you gotta love Wes, he was just matter of fact about it. He was still focused on getting home and playing with his Star Wars Clones. We had our first snow today, October 22nd, so needless to say, IT'S COLD today. But, with the cold, comes extra time to do things like, UPDATE A BLOG.

Rebekah's Half-Year Portrait

I know I am behind posting her latest portrait, but such is life these days. This shot was taken in July when she was technically still 6 months but only a few days shy of 7 months. She will be 9 months on Sept. 12th and I will have to get an updated shot taken at that point. But, better late than never is my new motto, even though I hate being late about anything. In this portrait, Rebekah is wearing the dress Susanna wore for her 6 month portrait. It is also the same dress in which Susanna was dedicated. It is so amazing to see their portraits side by side at home and see how different they are from each other. Both beautiful but with strikingly different features.

Right now, Rebekah is crawling and pulling up with ease. Actually, we are going to have to shop for a baby gate this weekend for our staircase. She has stood alone two times but has quickly sat down once she realized she didn't have a hold of anything. Part of me is anxious to see if she walks early and the other part dreads for that day to come!

Family - Summer Visit 1

During this Summer, we were very fortunate to have various family members visit us in Colorado. The month of July included visits from Grammy Elaine and Grandpa Harry (Jon's Mom and Step Dad), as well as, Pops and Mia (Monica's Mom and Dad).

The following slide show is from Grammy Elaine and Grandpa Harry's visit. We did a lot of exciting things from a July 4th Celebration and Fireworks to a Sky Sox Baseball Game to Wesley's Baseball Game, the Zoo, and we capped it off with camping in Estes Park.

We hope you enjoy the show!!!