The last few months have been filled with lots of transitions. As usual our kids weather the storm a little bit better than we do. I think that as long as mom and dad are around and the kids get a small dose of cartoons each week all is right with the world.

However, I thought I’d check in and see how they are doing and talk to them about what they missed about Vancouver and what they like about Wichita. It appears that Emily was a bit confused about which city is which, but that’s okay. She did let us know in the video that she “likes horses”

Tiffany and I are doing well. Tiff has gotten settled into a small group and has been trying to make it to the Y regularly. Now that we are in Kansas, walking is not part of our normal routine like it was in Vancouver, so trips to the gym are required.

It has been great being back close to family as you can see from the video, the kids have loved being around their cousins.

We’ve enjoyed being back at River Community Church in Wichita. Although it has seemed a little surreal being back. It is crazy being at such a “big” church after being a part of the Bridge for the last 7 years. It is also odd to go from being involved in the work of the church to trying to find a new place to fit in.

I am experiencing a bit of transition in my work currently. Over the past two years, I’ve been working with a new company called Reachd. We teach business owners to grow their business through web marketing. After we arrived in Wichita, I was approached by Youth Horizons about a job in their mentoring program. Youth Horizons provided one on one Christian mentoring to at risk children as well as provides a residential program for at risk boys.

Initially the job was going to be a part time job with the prospect of growing into a full time position. Recently plans have changed and I’ve been asked to take a full-time position at Youth Horizons. Youth Horizons is a non-profit and is funded solely through donations and grants. Taking me on as a full time employee will be a stretch financially for Youth Horizons. I have agreed to help by raising part of my own support to cover this position. If you would like to support us via prayers or financial contribution, please let me know.

We are grateful for what God is doing in our lives here in Wichita and are grateful to be back. Although Vancouver still feels like home in some ways, we are confident that we are in the place that we should be.

Questions.. Comments.. Drop one below or email me

Several weeks ago our middle guy, Jesse was in the hospital having his appendix out. It was a scary time. He did amazing and the hospital was awesome as well. This is a video of his time in the hospital the video below is him at the park. Life is back to normal for Jesse.

Friday September 26th is the Terry Fox Run. If you don’t know who Terry Fox is, listen up. He was a very inspirational figure in Canada. In 1980 after battling cancer, Terry set off to run across Canada to raise funds for Cancer treatment. He did not complete his run because of his cancer and died in 1981. Caleb is participating in the Terry Fox run at his school and we’d like you to donate to the Terry Fox run to raise money to fight cancer.

To donate..

1. Go to http://www.terryfoxrun.org
2. Click on the donate link
3. Select BC & False Creek Elementary
4. Fill out the form and put Caleb Bartlett as the student you are sponsoring.

That’s it.. now you are fighting cancer!

Fun times at the Granville Island water park on the last day that it was open for 2008. A bit cold but overall a fun way to end the summer.

Yum.. we enjoy the occasional sushi dinner at our house. Usually the kids just snack on the rice, but this time they decided to venture out and throw down some raw salmon.. yum

I’m twittering… What are you up to?

Twittering… sounds like I’m wasting time or twiddling my thumbs. It is a bit hard for a rural Kansas boy to get into Twitter. Seems like it is just something to fill my time. None the less I out there twittering. You can find me at http://www.twitter.com/rodneyb

Our church, the Bridge is hosting a sports camp in Vancouver for the 8th straight year. I’m pretty pumped about the camp. We just turned on the registration and have 4 kids signed up so far! This camp is a combination of a Soccer Camp and a Basketball Camp. In the morning we teach basketball to the younger crew of kids and teach soccer to the older crew. Then after lunch we rotate the sports. Our volunteers make the camp really special and it is always a great time! Below is the Video from last year. Click on the following link to Register for the sports camp

Caleb’s first of many school concerts. The play was called “It’s Saturday” Enjoy the video. In 15 years when he is a big start you can say.. “I knew him when…”

We got some pics up of this event but thought a little video would be nice as well. Just in case you were wondering… the green team (caleb’s team) won the competition…but who’s really keeping score, right?

Summer has arrived in Vancouver! The temperature got very close to 30 degrees this weekend. 30 celsius for those or you down south – is pretty warm. For me, Rodney, summer kicks off when I get to the beach to play some volleyball. For the kids summer means a trip to the water park. The park is right behind our house and this weekend was the opening weekend for the park. Here is a link to all our water park photos