Fun With The Family.

It's time for you guys to meet the Ratzlaff's and see some of the things we have been doing over the past week...

Played in the sprinklers. This is Ethan (4yrs).

Ate ice cream at "The Walrus." This is Jadea (2yrs).

Pulled some funny faces. This is Corie the coolest cousin ever!

Had fun on each other's shoulders,

The whole family. Corie & Jadea, Ben & Ethan.

and gave each other piggy back rides!

I am having a blast with these guys and can't wait to see what the next 2 weeks are going to be like!

More to come.

p.s. Good job "Orange You Glad We Didn't Say Banana! Way to make me proud!

a twister, a twister!

What a rush! The first two days here in CO have been great (and i'll fill you in later), but let me tell you about the big news that has happend so far. Today, it was raining cats and dogs, which was strange because yesterday it was stinkin hot! Anyway, a tornado, that's right TORNADO, probably 20 miles from us in Windsor touched down and did what tornados do best. There was also golf ball sized hail that was coming down hard enough to go through walls! About 6 tornados touched down, but the biggest one was an F3, (an F5 is the largest), and about ONE MILE across! Wow! For being that big, the damages was not as bad as I thought it would be. It was still bad though, because there was one fatality. There was a guy in a semi truck and when the tornado came around it picked him up and dropped him back down.

I was a little scared because tornados are not very predictable and we could have been in trouble! Ft. Collins did not get close to any tornados though (thank goodness!), but the sky was still dark. Here are some pics of the sky.

Hopefully that is my only encounter with a tornado (it would be cool to see one though), and I am extremely glad that we are safe!

More to come!

Colorado or Bust!

Well folks, it's finally that time. I am packing my bags right now to head to Colorado! Yahoo! I am staying with my cousin Corie and Ben and their two kids Ethan and Jadea. It is going to be "awesome times of us being awesome," as I like to call it. Don't worry, I will blog while I'm out there considering I will be gone for 3 weeks.
I am flying out there and driving back with them around June 5th or so. I love flying, but I am a little scared because this is the first time I will be flying by myself! ah! I'm tough though. I can do it.
There are a few things you all must do while I'm gone...
1- Mom and Dad- take care of Mario. He needs love.
2- Amy- don't steal my clothes! (or return them before I come home).
3- Whitney- enjoy Indiana Jones!
4- So-you-think-you-can-dance girls- have fun! I will join you soon!
5-"Orange you glad you didn't say banana" softball team- make me proud! Win!
6- Everyone-be on the look out for jobs that I can apply at when I come home.

I will keep you posted! I love you all!
that is all.

May 15, 2004

Happy anniversary you two!!!!

Happy Birthday Bro!

Here are some of my favorite Pictures of you!





You can't see the ball but he is playing football.




I love you Craig! Happy 22nd Birthday!

Awe and Wonder

I am reading a book called "Praise Habit: finding God in sunsets and sushi," by David Crowder. It is really good and I am learning to find God everywhere, and that every second is an opportunity for praise. Here's a little piece of what I read in my last chapter...
"I understand what it is to look at nature, and I say, "My God!" because I've seen the Creator. I look into black skies strewn with shimmering dots of light--nights that buzz with word of their Maker. Moonlight you can feel on your skin if you pay really close attention some October evening, a touch of remembrance that the sun is shining just as bright as ever and dawn is coming. Brilliant drops of rain that sing His name all the way down their journey from cloud to dirt. Grass you can feel growing underfoot if you're really still."

I started reading Genesis this week and the chapter I had read in my book made me picture creation in a different way, in awe and wonder of the God of the universe. Hopefully it will do the same for you.

¹ First God made heaven & earth. ²The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. ³ And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. ⁴ And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.





⁹ And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land Earth,


and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.


¹¹ And God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth." And it was so. ¹² The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.


¹⁶ And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day,
and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also. ¹⁷ And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth, ¹⁸ to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.


²⁰ And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens." ²¹ So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds,

and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." ²³ And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.


²⁴ And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so. ²⁵ And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.


So this week make every moment a praise opportunity to let God's wonder and awe "fall from our mouths and drip from our lives."
That is all.