Well Tiffany is doing good after the infertility surgery!!!

Thi sis Tiffany right after they gave her the drugs!! ha ha ha..... she is going to kill me for putting it up here, but if you woke up @ 4:00 am, haven't had anything to drink or eat...not even gum, and you just got a lots of drugs, I don't think you or me could look as beautiful!
(man I love my wife!)

Here is what the Dr. found out while fishing around in Tiffany:


1) little bit of Endometriosis on the Ovaries
2) Decent mount of gelatinous scar tissue behind the uterus (caused by reverse menstrual bleeding....it is the place that the eggs drop after the bleeding times)
3) possibly a little blockage in the fallopian tubes

The Dr. said that everything looked good now, and that he is hopeful and looking forward to the results that the next round of shots will provide. he was glad to know everything with what he is dealing with, and the results after this surgery are even better for most people than before it.. he seemed hopeful.

Thank you for your prayers and please keep them up!

(I will try to see if I can post the photos of the surgery just like last time, but until then please just pray for us and Tifany is heal up and take it easy for a few days!

round 2..... & no baby

well, no luck or joy in the second round of attempted baby making with shots!!! @$:/-@$$"&$"&?!!@"&;;!!!!

it is very difficult! For me & tiffany, but I will live a life of thanks in the midst of live or death! It just makes it a little mire difficult to celebate God as a baby this time of year, heh. My heart breaks, & it kills me to see my wife's heart ache just as deep as mine.

Next step is to have Tiffany go through a second round of surgery to clear anything that might be causing the lack of fertility, I am sure that will come after Christmas, so thank you for your prayers and thoughts! Please keep them coming! Please.

Merry Christmas 2007....The second round....and Munchkin!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Here is a picture of our Christmas tree this year. The Halo helmet I stole form a story in Digg.com, but the gender of the tree was all me...thanks to the help of Tiffany's favorite store Michael's! When I saw those balls I knew exactly what I had in mind for them! oh yeah!

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Here is the final picture of the aftermath after a game of Munchkin (I think on Tiffany's Birthday) I love this game, but I never win at it..and I did this time, so here is all my cards and the final 10 level on the dice! Oh man it was a great day!

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And last but never least is the note that Tiffany was artificially inseminated Friday...so here we go on the second round of trying to make a Baby! I try to make it a fun time when we go, so this time instead of walking into the Dr.'s office with the plain brown paper bag containing my "deposit for the bank of Tiffany" I decided that I would spruce it up a little bit and give it a little Starbucks packaging. I can't tell you how many people asked me if I brought them Starbucks.. i tried to tell them that they probably did not want what was in the bag, ha ha ha ha.... but come to find out the Dr. loves Starbucks and gave me a high five when he found out what we had done! I made everyone smile, and that is exactly what the Dr. ordered for that day since it is our second round...so here is the pea for you all to please pray for us, and that if this is what god desires for us to do/have...then please pray for us and the possible future baby! Thanks and God bless yall!!!! KUTPs!!!

well no baby this time around....

Hey every one. Tiffany started her cycle yesterday so we will not be having a baby this time around. Please keep us in your prayers! Thanks & God bless you

Just a few photos from my iPhone for your enjoyment....

Well, life has been going along wonderfully as of late! Tons of stuff going on, but nothing is new there. heh.... Well, I thought that I would send yall some photos of what has been going on , and even though it kills me to not use my Nikon D40 camera to take them...the iPhone does OK in a pinch...but I tell ya once you go digital SLR you don't go back.....anyway... here is a picture of Sushi! Wow...talk about flexible...and VERY funny!OK this next photo is of a friend of mine, but is what what is around him that makes my wife AMAZING!!!! let me explain, a friend of mine Scott, whom I shoot pictures with once a month in Cinci, was asked (or maybe he requested...not sure, but) has lots of his photos up on display @ his local Starbucks! I went yesterday and saw them...and Dang it was awesome!...anyway, I told the friend's of mine @ Starbucks, that I would love that someday, and Tiffany heard me say it...so Tiffany contacts the lady that allows them to be up and all, and while I went to go watch Beowolf!! (yeah it was awesome!) Tiffany and Kelly went and printed several of their favorite photos and framed them and put them up @ Starbucks in Crestview Hills!!!! And then we went to go eat and then Court and Kelly went with us there to go play Munchkin (and I did not think anything of it until I looked over to the wall, past a great singing guy with a guitar, and noticed one of my photos hanging on the wall where they put local artists' work up. And my first thought was, "I can't believe that someone stole my photo off of Flickr and had the guts to print it up and frame it and call it their own!", and then I noticed the picture next to that one was mine as well, and then the one next to that one, and I looked @ Tiffany, and she smiled and gave me a hug, and that is when I noticed that Tiffany for my Birthday (tomorrow) she printed off and framed several of her and others' favorite photos and put them up in the store. She contacted the store artist relations, etc...and got the permission! Unbelievable! I just could not believe it... I never thought anyone would ever think that my photos would be good enough to put up somewhere, and it was all my AMAZING WONDERFUL wife's idea! Man I love her!!! Dang... so here is the surprise friend Thor modeling in front of my photos!! (Man, I can't believe you were there Thor!! Crazy!)

And for those of you who don't know Tiffany and I are trying the fertility shots to try to have a baby, and after three rounds of this we will just adopt, but we (well she took them...I administered them) and Tiffany was inseminated last Wednesday! So, now we wait, if she does not have a "menstrual cycle" in two weeks then we go back into the Dr. and they take a blood sample pregnancy test. So far everything has gone wonderfully, and Tiffany has been have tons of pregnancy systems, but we both think that it is just the shots/meds....but it sure is hard not to get your hopes up!!!!! All I could ever do is ask for all of yall to be praying for us!

if you want to read Tiffany's thoughts...then go to her blog here!

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So, for all of this to work, I have to go make a deposit, and then they take "my boys" (my deposit) and put it into the bank of Tiffany....well, I have to say that the room that I make my deposit in is sure a little weird. Here is the photo of the room, with a couch, TV, and you can even see my (empty) deposit cup on the table in the back there...but the next photo is what is funny.....
This next framed picture was the only picture in the room, and look at what it was.... an arial photo of an Ohio State football game... I guess some guys just get excited about looking at a football game... ha ha ha ha ha ha.....

Well, here is my open book life! I hope to have a WONDERFUL birthday tomorrow, and I hope that yall are so blessed this week with family, food, and maybe even shopping! Love yall, and God bless ya!

so next week life should look a litle more normal....maybe...

(photo by B Tal)
Well for those of you who don't know, My parents have been visiting us for a month!!! It has been awesome getting to see them and be with them, and I would not have traded there visit for the world, but it has messed up our schedules a little bit here and there, but it is so worth it. And last week we went with them to Washington D.C., and Tiffany and my Mom had never been there before, so that was an awesome experience too!


(I promise pictures are coming, I just need to find some time)

And, so this weekend I will be traveling to Nashville to attend the EmergingUMC: a Gathering. Gary and I will be speaking, and the entire gathering will provide a bunch of presenters that are doing "Emerging/missional" Kingdom work. Taylor intentionally desired to bring in people who are doing and being the work and not so much those that stay in the ideology realm. So, I am looking forward to getting to know and meet fellow co-servants in the Kingdom and hopefully sharing a little bit about what God is doing in Th3 Waters and I believe in the UMC, and the Kingdom as a whole. I hope to blog a little bit more often while I am down there.



Oh and Did I mention that Halo3 came out and I beat it last night! I did not get to play it at all the week it came out due to the trip, and so Brad (a GREAT FRIEND) decided that he would play it through with me online and let me experience the main game, before I started to get too deep into multiplayer. So anyway... if you are a halo3 fan...be sure to beat it on Legendary, there is a different

Playing around on the Simpson's movie Website...

Here is Tiffany and I "Simpsonized"

No one can ever get my hair, but it will have to do. And even though I know I am fatter than that, Tiffany would not let me put the fat one up, because, "your sholders are still wider than the rest of your body." heh heh

Oh and guess what? I will be on vacation with my parents the week Halo 3 comes out and the first episode of Heroes (and that new show called Chuck that looks good) comes on!!!! I can not believe it! I will have to play the game for the first time while my friends are playing it the second and third...on line together with them. Oh well, Life goes on! Vacation should be fun still none-the-less, heh.

Love yall and as always..... KUTPs!!!

So I was reading another blog....

My friend Alan had a Myers-Briggs kind of assessment on his blog, and so knowing that they change all the time in one's life, I decided to go ahead and see what I was now-a-days. here it is:



And here is the description...yall tell me if it is right or wrong....(sometimes I wonder if my wife should fill this out fro me instead of me, heh.)

Here is the website's description:

ENTP - The "Originator"

ENTPs are logical, innovative, curious and downright inventive. They see possibilities for improvement everywhere and possess the ability to understand complex concepts. ENTPs are introspective and carefree nonconformists. They often neglect the more common areas of life while pursuing new solutions. ENTPs can be good conversationalists and exciting company.

If you want to know uch more about this personality type just go here.

funny video from my friend Eric...

I was reading Eric's blog today and if any of yall know me you know that I really love Revelation (the last book in the bible) and of course you know that I am not a freak when it comes to reading it, but it is just cool, well here is a video that I thought was cute enough for yall to see about one man's challenges with all the interpretations, thanks Eric!



Oh, and Happy Anniversary (yesterday) Tiffany! 9 years and counting! Woo hoo! Love you girl!

Harry Potter...is it good, I would not know...

yeah available now...but not available to view yet!

So four of us jump into our car and travel up to the northern side of Cinci. to go watch a preview showing of Harry Potter! The ticket says: 12:10am 07/10/07....now to me that looks like the show is going to be LAST NIGHT!!!! Well, nope the theater is filled with either VERY worng computers or wrong employees! I went yesterday morning to go buy the tickets to the show (that I thought was last night) and the girl told me after I clarified several times that the movie was tonight (last night) and she said with another employee beside her that, "Yes it is tonight..it even says here on the ticket," she says! So I drove twice in one day all the way up to northern Cinci for very little excitement...so guess what...yep, we get to go back tonight to get to see the movie that Tiffany is dieing to watch! Ouch! Oh well, So, pray for us to be able to make it back up there without killing a theater employee!

Newest member of Th3 Waters....

Hey everyone John and Sylvia Choi had their new baby last night Sophia!!!!

Here is a sample of Sophia:

Tiffany: "That is one of the cutest babies I have ever seen!"

To check out more pictures and send your love and prayers to them....then go check out John's Flickr page and leave a few comments for them.

So I was surfing around the net and.....

Well I was enjoying the blog of my good friend Markus: StreachyChurch and saw this video called Mr. Diety...and here it is just incase you want to watch it:

(Disclaimer: This theology is WAY OFF, but man this really is funny. The old guy is God (the Father) the young guy is Jesus, and Larry is Holy Spirit)



So, then I found this video that some one shot @ Lake Louise where Tiffany and I went on our honeymoon...and man this made me miss being able to be with my wife for longer than just a date night here and there:



Anyway and it got me thinking.... I just got off the phone with another friend Aaron (disclaimer: he has not updated in a long time), and I was talking about the importance of Sabbath (and we talked about this in staff today too @ Florence UMC) and I realized that Tiffany and I have not been on vacation since we graduated from Seminary. All the vacation time that we build up during the year we take during Christmas and New year to spend with our families. and while i love that time...it really is not necessarily a true vacation. And to be honest, planting a church and being a part of a traditional church at the same time is a very tiring and time consuming thing. I really think that I need a vacation. But even if we did carve out a time for a vacation, we would not have any money to take one. It is just frustrating and honestly we do not see any sabbath or vacation time in the future. Plus moving and Tiffany starting up a new job is not helping anything either. but i am really sensing that I and we need some good marriage vacation time. We have talked about in the past going to Walt Disney World before we adopt/have kids and then get to save up and go back with kids....and we have also kicked around the idea of going with other couples on vacation together...kind of like a Sr. trip with adult married friends...and how much fun that would be....but then all of our dreams are dashed against jagged rocks when we look at our lives, and lack of funds.... anyway...just talking out loud here... and if you feel the same way a little bit..... I would say just go for it... really be intentional and start saving up now and set a desired date to go and work for it.... you deserve it....and Lord knows I will try to join you and take some of my own advice. love yall and God bless!!! KUTPs!!!!

The new Abigail Elizabeth Dorn!!!!

Well, this afternoon Tiffany and I spent in the waiting room for Kim and Steve to have their little baby girl!!! And what a blessing it was for Tiffany and I to be there! Here are a few pictures of the awesome event!!!


Very happy Daddy telling the good news....to the waiting family and friends....


Grandmother and Great Grandmother loving the news!!!


The sweet breath of life! Abigail Elizabeth Dorn Two hours old and beautiful!!!


Now that is me and as soon as she laid in my arms she fell asleep...man I love that, heh!


Here is a happy Aunt(Surrogate) Tiffany


The brand new parents!!!

OK, the cat is out of the bag!!!!

GREAT news.....

For the past 2-3 weeks Tiffany has been praying about a new ministry opportunity. There is only one ministry opportunity that she would have ever openly considered, and that ministry is one that would be an opportunity for us (a ministry couple) to be in full time ministry together. Tiffany has been a part of Th3 Waters all along, but I have not been able to be a part of her youth ministry and church as much as I would have loved to be. And we knew graduating seminary that we would only be our full potential to God and the Kingdom if we were in ministry together.

A few weeks ago Florence UMC (the church I help out with on Sundays and Wednesdays, and is sponsoring/supporting Th3 Waters) open two new positions for their staff. One of them was for a Youth and Children's Director/Pastor, and we realized that we might have an opportunity to be able to live out our full potential for our combined calling of being a ministry couple.

Tiffany, applied for the position and interviewed for the position, and the Sr. Pastor Gary called Tiffany Sunday night offering her the job!!!!

Tiffany accepted and she starts the new position March the 15th!! While this is wonderful news...and she will get a $1,000 raise (woo hoo we are going to go hog wild on that extra $40 per check. heh heh) another piece of news is that since we currently live in the parsonage of Asbury, that means we need to move out by the 15th...also Florence UMC would give me a housing allowance and a utility allowence.

So, we had to make a decision...do we rent, lease, or buy a home. And after tons of prayer and crazy thoughts...we decided to buy..and we started looking!

Well, yep, we made an offer, the countered, and then made another one and they accepted!!! So you want to see it? Here you go:



That was the Upstairs and the downstairs tour is below:



and you can go to the Flickr page to check out a few photos of the home:

The new Hollums' House photos

Well, I hope that that explains a little bit of the crazy life we have just had over the past couple of weeks....

oh and Tiffany's hip Dr. looked at the MRI's and told us that he thinks that it is just hurting worse because that is what happens when you have a hip that was not right to beginning with when you were born. The Dr. has prescribed water therapy and a hormone shot directly into her hip socket to see if that helps with pain. It is not fixed...but we are trying to get it taken care of one day at a time!

So, we hope to meet the inspector @ the house Thursday morning and pray that there is nothing that is horrible about the house, waiting for the loan stuff to get finalized and finished, and then close hopefully by March 7th!

Then we get to paint 2-3 rooms and then get to move in...so needless to say we are excited, blessed, and our check book is not as happy as we wish it was...but we are just getting to live a little more life of faith. oh and did I mention that we can't wait to get to meet our new neighbors?!!! Excited, excited, excited!

Go to this!!!

OK, here is a FREE conference in the cincy area! Come on you know you want to go to this and listen to all kinds of very cool people! so just go check it out..it is coming up soon and I can promise you tha tyou will be blessed by this event!

oh and yeah...so life is REALLY busy for us right now! lots of life changes are going on for us right now...more on that later...and sadly no it is not a baby...and please pray for Tiffany we think that her hip sockets have seen thier better days and she will be meeting with the Dr. next week! right now even with a heavy pain med...she is having a hard time walking, sitting, or sleeping... yeah it is not fun for her at all. Thank you for your prayers! KUTPs!!!

halo popping a balloon from my birthday....

i took this video of halo popping a balloon from my birthday (sorry Alicia)...and man it cracked me up....he had so much for for the VERY short time that he had it....and before i took it away from him, heh.... but anyway here it is...and you can tell he loved it....



oh and the shift key is not working right now on my computer and that is the reason the only time you see capital letter is when i turn on the caps lock and then off again...and it is killing me so i will just go one for now...

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speaking of halo...we had his teeth cleaned and while he was under they took off his dewclaws i guess that is what they are called....well everything went fine until we got home and he ripped out the bandages...and then this morning i looked down and his right foot was swollen to 4 times its normal size and noticed that they put the bandage on his foot too tight...and then when we called the vet they said to just take off the bandage and continue to keep giving him his antibiotics and pain medicine...and guess what they never gave us pain medicine....so poor halo went without pin meds and a swollen foot all night last night...and that was after we went back to the vet three times to get a collar that would still fit him and be long enough for him to not reach back and rip out his own stitches...anyway he is doing much better now...even though he has that plastic collar around his neck that he hates...but the bandages are off, the swelling is gone, and he seems to be a much better puppy dog now...but he has to wear that collar for 7-14 days and then we take him back t get the stitches out...and still not sure how that is going to go with us leaving next Monday to go home for Christmas...anyway... he is much better and i must now go to bed for church tomorrow..... kutps....God bless yall...

here is a picture of halo looking at me through the book case before the bandages came off almost asking me to please let him rip them off....please daddy please.....

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oh and on our way out the door to go to the Friday night OG Tiffany's new purse broke and so she had to give what was supposed to be a surprise Christmas gift early...i got her with my parents a seatbelt bag purse...and very cool...and yes momma and daddy he loved it...sorry that she broke her other one and i had to give it to her early....and then i turned on my tv and it looks like the blue cannon that makes the picture look so amazing ly clear and hd...is really messed up and i have no idea how it got to be that way.....aaarrrggggg....and there is no way that we have enough money to replace the t.v. so between my dog and t.v. and wife's purse all breaking in one evening life is still going well, and we had a great time tonight going to the nursing home with the Friday night og and then everyone came over and had Texas chili and played the wii...well the guys played the wii while the women went out to shop, heh.... and then we now have 3 wonderful people staying at our house from their ski trip...and i am very tired.....so it is off to bed and work tomorrow.....so yall have a great week and i hope to post something before Christmas...oh and did i mention that my laptop latch is broke so it will not open properly...it works ok but is not where it should be...so i will have to take that in to get fixed and they have to ship it out and then ship my laptop to my parents house for me to be able to use while i am there....oh well merry Christmas everyone and God bless ya....kutps

Christmas 06 and Tiffany's Birthday was Smokin!

Here are a few picture from the past few days:

Court and I went out together and bought Christmas Trees...here they are:




Oh yes that is one sexy tree hugger!


What tall tress you have!

Now on to Tiffany's birthday party:


Tiffany blowing out her fire cake, heh...


Everyone that was not playing the Wii or the board game down stairs.


Court and others bowling with my Wii

And here is the video I took of Tiffany's Birthday party...the footage is horrible...but man you would really be surprised what 32 candles can do to a fire alarm!! ha ha Ha... oh man there are so many jokes here..but oh well, love you girl and I hope your party was great!




Lastly, here is a shot of the decor outside of our house when you are coming into the front door...well the angle is that of what a dog might see...but it still shows you what the front door looks like at least...


Well, life is going good, I will try to post on something that is going on in my life right now..but for now I must get back to work...take care and God bless yall! KUTPs!!!

Happy Birthday Tiffany!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Tiffany!!!!!!!

Hey everyone today is my wonderful bride's 32nd birthday! So, I will probably be spending the day doing whatever she desires to do!!! It looks like we may be watching The Santa Clause 3 and eating P.F. Changs and Abuelos! (and she actually told me that she would be OK with NOT going to Chick-fil-A heh....) but other than that she has not said anything yet of what else she would like to do..so there might be a surprise in there too! Yall stop on by her blog and leave a comment...I might just go over there to her blog, hack it and leave a message for her telling everyone that it is her Birthday today!

Thank yall God bless...oh and if you live in the area and love Tiffany, then you are more that welcome to come over to our house 6:00 pm on Saturday and eat some cake and play lots of games to celebrate the life of Tiffany! (and bring over something to drink...I am worried that we might not have enough coke, etc... Thanks! (oh and after everyone gets here we will order pizza too!)

Yall take care and God bless yall!

The purse of death!

Danger Will Robinson, Danger!!! This is my wife's purse...and man if her cell phone goes off...you might as well just expect for it to go into voice mail! It really is scary to stick your hand in there...you will never know what will happen! There is the leopard case...with it's deadly zipper like teeth, the seemingly sweet green with flower wallet of death, the old (and cranky) yellow coin purse, and I can not tell you how bad the pen and pencil infestation has become in there! There is no cure! Well, except for....no...not that...anything but THAT............ Another purse? AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Tiffany still not up to snuff, a rumor, and some websites....

I forgot to mention that Tiffany is still not back to normal. She does not feel sick any more but the same symptoms are around. The stool sample came back negative for parasites or bacteria, so the Dr. told her that if she is still having the "looseness" then she would have to come back in on Monday and they would do some more tests... it is all just weird...and we both really just want her to be taken care of and all better!

Also, my grandmother is in the hospital right now...she went in a few days ago with high blood pressure, and then they released her, only fr her to go back in because she was not eating anything...she is feeling better Tom (her husband) said, but pray that her desire to eat comes back...

And speaking of Tom...he just had surgery a day or two ago, on his face. Every now-and-then he has to have some skin growths removed just in case...and he just sent me a picture of what he looks like and man they did work on him... he said one side was looking good, but the other sure was cut on. So pray for him too.


Even though his picture looks scary, it is kind of funny also, you can tell he took the picture himself, and he even joked about acting like a mummy in all the bandages...just in time for All Hallow's Eve! heh. heh...

With all of that said please KUTPs!!!!
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OK, here are a few websites I have been wanting to put on the blog for a while and it is about time to do another one of these posts.....



Here is a link to a site that is talking about the rumored iPod touch screen....I know that the picture above is not real, but man oh man I really am looking forward to this one...WHEN it comes out, heh... but anyway...here is the latest news of the touchscreen iPod and the iPhone
(oh and they are saying December might be when we officially hear more about them!

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Want the recipe for the best cake you will ever eat? (if you like the flavors of course, heh)
i wanted to give yall the recipe of the cake I backed for the UM pastor cake auction that sold for the most money in the auction (more than $140). this cake is Paula Deen's wedding cake and it is a Almond Sour Cream Pound Cake. <--there is the link for it) ------------------------------------------

Monkey On Your Back is fun and cool! Basically it is a way to create tasks for others to do and it will email them to other people or yourself. Check it out if you want to and following the link I have provide.

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For those of you who do not know there are going to be two new video game systems this Christmas! The Playstation 3 ($499 & $599) and the Nintendo Wii ($250). That means you could buy a Nintendo Wii gmae system and a Xbox 360 for te price of one Sony Playstation 3! Anyway.... I am very happy with my Xbox 360 and There are several games coming out that I know I will enjoy in the future, so i was not every excited about either of the PS3 or the Nintendo Wii....until I saw these videos....



These videos really show how great the new Nintendo controller is...I think this system will be the definitive system for parties! You do not have to know what button to press for the basic games...you just swing the controller in the motion you want to show up on screen and it shows up. The guy in the picture above is bowling...And Nintendo is going back to the roots f Video Games and actually giving away a game with the system! Very interesting..and I really would love to play around with one some day!

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Well, I guess that is all for now...look forward to the next Craddock installment soon!