Our new home

The R-G Family at 508 Hugo St.



A couple rooms in our house (living room and study)....more to be added later.

























































The kids and mommy went exploring in Durham for yummy ice cream treats. We found them at Francesca's on 9th St.














We also made time before school started to go to a Durham Bulls' game. No, not basketball (you Chicago folks). That would be AAA Minor league baseball. We had fun, despite a 45 min. rain delay. The Bulls have a great stadium!












































Hannah and Ethan in their new school shirts after their open house night. That would be "Bethesda Christian Academy (BCA) Crusaders." (Yeah....haven't quite caught up to the enlightened level of Wheaton College :) ).


Hannah on her first day of school, last Monday.




















Ethan started school the next day, Tuesday.

















A little bit of Caleb cuteness for you all to enjoy......









Caleb LOVES sunglasses.











Caleb enjoys being a "big boy" at the little kid table in our kitchen.





Caleb giving the baby a drink from the bottle.



















Okay, so here's a funny story about the corn on the cob. I was shucking the corn, getting ready to cook it. Caleb was in the kitchen with me, and getting very hungry. He started crying and whining for the corn, the way one year olds cry and whine for things they want (grunts, etc.). Try explaining to a one year old that you have to COOK the corn before you can eat it. Yeah, it doesn't work. So smart mommy that I am, I think, "let him TRY the corn raw, THEN he won't want it." Yeah. Well, he took one bite, got a big smile, and looked up at me and Cullen saying, "mm-mm." He then proceeded to eat the entire ear of corn RAW.

February birthdays

This year Cullen's (THIRTIETH) birthday fell on the weekend of a work retreat--the HNGR retreat for the interns who will go out this summer. His boss Paul and co-workers Sydney and Sarah Jane managed to pull together a little celebration that evening complete with cake and a poem written for him. The kids and I drove out an hour west to rural Illinois to celebrate with him. We went out to lunch at a not-so-fancy place called "Gene's pizzeria and carry-out" in Sandwich, Illinois and had mediocre food. Oh well, it's who you're with, right? And our family ALWAYS knows how to have fun, no matter where we are.









Celebrating Cullen's birthday with our small group the day of the Superbowl. Lily and Juliette wanted to get in on the picture too!



Ethan also celebrated his 5th birthday! Yes, Ethan is five. Pictures below are from Ethan's bowling party for friends (and cousins!). We had 10 kids--mostly 4 to 5 year old boys. A little wild, to say the least! But the kids had fun. Let's just say the adults weren't too sad when the clock hit 5 o'clock and it was time to go home :O). Ethan's aunt "Tess" (Stephanie) and Ama came with Steph's two boys. It was great to have them hanging out with Ethan's school friends!

Some of the boys waiting patiently for their turn. . . .




Our two 1/2 year old nephew Isaac and his fairly pregnant mommy. . . .


Ethan after knocking down quite a few pins. . . . with gutter guards, of course. . . .


Below are pictures from our family dinner at Culver's for Ethan's birthday.






Finally, I'll end with a few quotes from our birthday present to Cullen. . . . but let me give a little background first. For my thirtieth (last year), Cullen and the kids gave me 30 little hearts with 30 things they loved about me--10 from each of them. So for Cullen's birthday I stole his idea and we did the same thing, only putting it in the form of an advent-type calendar with little doors that open. So, for you to enjoy, here are some samples from the kids (totally original!):

"I love Daddy because. . . .
Hannah: "he made me feel better when I got my stitches"
Ethan: "he wrestles with me"
Hannah: "he is fun to cuddle with"
Ethan: "his cheeks are chubby" (note: this means he's cute!)
Hannah: "he does funny dances"
Ethan: "he says sorry when he hurts us"

And finally, one of Ethan's: "I love Daddy because. . . . he loves me!"

Ethan the stuntman (& his brother loves it!)

In January, Ethan began pulling some of his "stunts" for Caleb--i.e., throwing himself on the floor, without hurting himself. Caleb would laugh and screech. His laugh is a little more like a squawk. Here's a little bit of video I got of the two of them. It's a little rough, because I was holding Caleb at the same time that I was videotaping. Enjoy!

Halloween fun

For Halloween this year, Hannah decided to dress up as a pirate and Ethan dressed as a knight. Caleb didn't really have a costume, but looked quite cute in his borrowed puppy dog jacket and outfit with puppy dog feet. Of course, being the smiliest baby alive (NO KIDDING!!), he generally looks cute no matter what he's wearing. Okay, I have to digress into a little Caleb sharing....he really does smile and laugh ALL the time. (Except in the car!) Even if he's dead tired, you can generally get a smile out of him. He just loves people, and loves being talked to. He's really started to love interacting with Cullen over the last few weeks, which has been fun to see. He sees him from a little way away and watches him, to see if Cullen will talk to him or do something to make him laugh. He especially loves being naked and having us kiss his belly and neck. He cracks up laughing. He sort of does this wierd screech.....I call it his "constipated" laugh, because that's how it sounds. :)

Anyway, back to Halloween. We got together with small group friends again. A few of us met up at the Maynards' house to walk their street for trick-or-treating. the kids had a lot of fun. Hannah and Ethan are the oldest of the bunch. Ethan was always the first at each door....he was also usually the last to linger. I think he hoped they would come around to him again and forget they had already given him candy ;).






The pirate and knight in action poses.









Daddy and his kiddos.







Aren't they a cute pair?
Trick or treating with our friends (that's Lucas Brown to the left and Juliette to the right).


The moms and babies!! (Heather was borrowing Hannah's pirate hat. Doesn't she look cute?)















Lily and Juliette looking adorable in their Little House on the Prairie outfits.

At the Farm

Well, we've managed to go to TWO farms this October for pumpking-buying, apple-picking, apple cider-drinking, etc. At the beginning of the month we went with some of our small group friends---our "cousins" in Wheaton. We bought two big pumpkins and carved them, which was fun. Only the pumpkins rotted after a week or so. Oh well. Then last weekend we got to celebrate with our literal cousin LUCAS and his daddy Brad (who share the same birthday!) by going to another farm. Hannah and Ethan got to experience their first ever pony ride!! They loved it! Enjoy some pictures below.


Small groupies:














Cullen and our adorable friend Lily.



Todd and Hannah


The kids had fun on the "apple train". . . . .
























our other adorable "cousin," Juliette. . . .



LUCAS' BIRTHDAY:

Ethan and Lucas playing on the wood train

















Hannah and Isaac




















Pony rides! Hannah had Freckles, and Ethan had Black Jack.






























My beautiful sister and her husband Brad (it was his birthday too!)

Caleb at three months

Well, as Cullen says, we have "finally entered the 21st century" and have high-speed internet. YAY!!!! so I will actually be blogging more now, since I can upload pictures a little faster than 5 minutes per photo :).












Caleb is such a fun, sweet baby! He is SUPER talkative. He loves complaining to you when he's getting tired. Think of "ah-oh"s in varying tones. He loves to be held and snuggled and talked to. He HATES the car and screams like nuts most of the time. Thank goodness Nana and Grandaddy are helping us fly down to Georgia for Christmas this year!

So here are a few pictures of Caleb, just in his little baby seat and his swing. The last one is the best smile we have so far on film. Enjoy!

Caleb looking a little serious

What a cutie!!

Caleb James has arrived!

Caleb James Rodgers-Gates arrived on Saturday June 30th at 12:02 pm.

Caleb means "faithful" and is taken from Caleb in the Old Testament--he was one of the 12 spies sent out by the Jewish people to scope out the land God had promised to him. While 10 of the spies said "The people are huge and there's no way we can take them down", Caleb (along with Joshua) believed God and trusted that He would give them the land He had promised, that He would enable them to overcome the people of the land. I've always pictured him as a fiery old man, who wasn't afraid to say it like it is and go against the flow.

James is a family name. Mandy's uncle Jim has been a caring, supportive presence in her life, as well as somebody who can always make you laugh! Also, Cullen's dad Ron goes by his middle name--his first name is actually James! We pray that Caleb can grow to be full of love and laughter like his great uncle Jim, and that he can grow to love and trust God with the kind of strong faith he sees in his Grandaddy Gates.

After spending a couple days in the "special care nursery" for some rapid breathing, Caleb came home with us on Tuesday July 3rd. Hannah and Ethan are fully enjoying him, as we knew they would. Hannah loves to snuggle with him, and Ethan literally can't stay away from him! Caleb gets lots of kisses and lots of love :). Hannah and Ethan have also been helping Daddy take care of Mommy, as her body's taking a little more time to recover this time around. We're so thankful for our three wonderful kids!

At the hospital....












At home.....