Mr. Biscuit? Excuse me Mr. Biscuit?

The night before we left for summer training, the Rosser crew went to a Montgomery Biscuit's baseball game. It was a gorgeous evening and we enjoyed each other's company.

Guy's Recreation

You will never guess the sport that all the guys play every Tuesday night. Okay, you might guess it when I tell you that my husband has never been happier. Yes, it's soccer. And guess who everyone looks to for a leader? My husband. He is having the time of his life and I enjoyed watching him play, yet again. Here is a picture of the married men's team.



They prayed before and after every game.


Needless to say, Tyler is in his element and is loving it.

FOCUS:New Staff Training Day 1

And so begins our FOCUS blogs! We are at FOCUS New Staff Training from May 28 to July 3rd. We are so excited that this adventure is FINALLY beginning. We both have been feeling called to FOCUS for years. I remember hearing all about summer training and it's crazy to think I'm going to experience! As Tyler's wife, I get to basically do everything he does. He's the "missionary" but I get to go to classes with him and it's like a two for one deal. Pretty sweet I think!

We made it to Champaign, IL after getting up this morning at 4am. We made great time and had good weather until the last half hour when it was raining heavily. The drive went fast for me, I slept a lot, but we took turns driving and all in all it took about 11 hours (leaving from Montgomery, AL).

Thanks to TomTom, our GPS guy, we made it to the Newman Center and got checked in. As we went into the building, we heard, "THE ROSSERS!" and were kindly greeted by Rob, a missionary we met two years ago at Auburn. After that we saw many people who were at our interview weekend. It already feels like a family!

We got checked into the "married couples" floor. Thanks to my friend Lynn Burda, who has done this the last two years, I had brought things to make our dorm feel more like a home. Also, Tyler and I had a lot of practice at Ave and I feel like God used living in the dorms there as preparation for us. These dorms are much smaller, but we don't need much and hey, we have a queen-size bed here! (In Ave we put two beds together and it made a sort-of-king size bed with a large dent in the middle.)

We had dinner and Tyler is now practicing with the worship band for praise and worship tonight. I got a whole hour and a half to be domestic and get our place ready! Although it went pretty quickly because it was basically getting our room ready. (We have two rooms adjoined by a bathroom.)

Stay in touch for more blogs-to-come about training. We are so thankful for your prayers for us as we go on this adventure. Know we're praying for y'all too!

Big Boy Bath Time

As you drive away you realize life is never going to be the same. You look in the rear view mirror to get one last glimpse of your mom, dad, brothers and sisters, and, of course, your family pet before going to college, moving out of town, or going on a honeymoon with your spouse. Excitement is building up inside of you as you embark on a new journey, but then a troubling thought enters your mind: what if I never see him again?

That "him" is my dog-"fur angel" as mom calls him-Mr. Rudy Toot Toot II or Rudy, for short. Rudy was welcomed into the family in the spring of 1998 shortly after the first Rudy passed away as a puppy. My dad broke the sad news to me after he picked me up from another fun-filled fifth grade day. Little did we know that another pup had been waiting for six months for us to take him home. When we arrived at the pet store that same day-my parents wanted to quell the hurt of losing the first Rudy by getting another bichon frise immediately-we could not have found a happier little man and we brought the second Rudy to his new home where he has been a little light to the Rosser clan for over thirteen years.

In doggie years, Rudy is now a little over 91 and he is definitely showing his age. He does not hear, can no longer climb up stairs or jump onto the furniture, and is acting a little stranger every day. It is no wonder every time I leave Alabama I become sad at the thought of never seeing him again. Every time I return to Pike Road, therefore, I make it a point to pay extra special attention to him so there will be no regrets when he does pass away.

My parents usually take him to the "spa" to get groomed, but since we are enjoying our final, relaxing days before becoming full-time missionaries with FOCUS, Dene' and I decided to give Rudy a "big boy bath"-my mom came up with the term-ourselves. Rudy does not like baths, but he sure is appreciative after they are over. One can tell he is happier and a little more confident-the lady dogs all love Rudy, but sorry girls, he is neutered-when his coat goes from looking like a dirty sheep to a nice, soft, and white Q-Tip (we should have taken a before and after picture). And, I can tell he is very thankful to Dene' and me as he consistently follows us around and, after we pick him up when we are sitting on the couch, he rests his head in our laps.

Mr. Rudy Toot Toot II is such a joy to everyone he meets and we are thankful to spend this time with him before we look in the rear view mirror next Saturday before beginning a new phase of our lives with FOCUS. St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us!

Sweet HOME Alabama

We are enjoying a relaxing time in Alabama with Tyler's parents. Whenever we visit The Waters we feel like we are on a retreat. It's a beautiful haven from the busy world. The Waters is a beautiful southern town tucked away and is filled with sweet people bubbling over with southern hospitality.

I have had a few southern firsts this past week. I tasted my first homemade banana pudding at the Wishbone Cafe here in The Waters. Very delicious. The owner gave it to us to have one bite at the cafe and then eat the rest at home. Well, mine was gone within three minutes. I also had my first taste of collard greens. I saw them all the time in Florida and didn't know what to do with them. My husband ordered them as a side to his lunch today and I had a little taste. Not my favorite, but now I can say I tried them.

I also went on a boat for my first time today. It was a pontoon boat that was full of cobwebs, spiders, wasps, and probably more things that we don't want to know about. The spider freaked us out (it was huge and fuzzy) so Tyler sprayed the boat with water and then smashed the spider with a paddle.

When we did get out on the water it was very relaxing and we were thankful for the shade and the little breeze. Tyler is used to the water and water sports so he filled me in on all I have been missing and promised he'd take me out on another boat soon.

Here's the handsome driver!

Safety first...

Here are some pictures of the town from the boat. Very beautiful!




I love the spanish moss on the trees.



Here's the house from the boat.


We are headed to Champaign, IL a week from today to start summer training for FOCUS so we're thankful for one more week here before our next adventure begins!

Only God Makes a Perfect Cake

Here are my attempts at a tiered wedding cake. I am happy with how they turned out, although am already planning how to improve them. I covered them with fondant (made with marshamallows and powdered sugar) and then tried different decoration techniques.

Team Rosser

Tyler ran the half-marathon last Sunday. He met his goal of running the whole way and finished with a time of 1:55:10. Dad and I went downtown to join in the fun. I think we had the better deal! After we saw Tyler cross the starting line we walked downtown to Panera and then waited in Memorial Stadium at the finish line. The finish line was the 50 yard line in Memorial Stadium and Tyler said if he wasn't so exhausted after running he would have enjoyed it more and would have taken time to look around. It was really fun to see. There were 10,000 people running on Sunday, about 7,000 ran the half-marathon and 3,000 ran the marathon. Tyler placed 1638 out of 7208 people and he ran 22 minutes faster than the average person so he jokes that he is 22 percent above average in everything now.

Here we are just before the race.



Can you spot him on the big screen? This is just after he crossed the finish line.



He took the rest of the day to rest (and watch basketball) and he is ready to keep on running! He's already planning his next half-marathon in December.

Here's the medal winner:



And the future half-marathon runner? We'll see...