Merry Christmas!

Isaiah 9:6-7

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and of peace

there will be no end,

on the throne of David and over his kingdom,

to establish it and to uphold it

with justice and with righteousness

from this time forth and forevermore.

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

2 Corinthians 5:21

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,

that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Thank you, Jesus!

Texas BBQ

While in Dallas I couldn't resist trying some true Texas Barbecue: Beef brisket. I've only had brisket a couple of times and I'm sure it was not cooked as good as they do it in Texas. I checked out some places online and found a blogger who had reviewed a ton of barbecue joints in Dallas. I found one called Baker's Ribs which he gave a good review of and it was close to our hotel. I got a 3 meat plate with pork ribs, sausage and sliced brisket. All of the meat was excellent. Maybe the best ribs I've ever had! The brisket was nice and tender and had a great smoke flavor. And the sausage was pretty good too. Their potato salad and sweet tea were also very good. I wish I could have gotten some pics of the food itself, but I was in a hurry to eat it before getting ready for the wedding. While I was hurrying to eat my food, Laura Susan went with a friend that lives in Dallas to another Barbecue place called Sammy's. She had a chopped beef sandwich and thought it was good. So if you're ever in Dallas and looking for some BBQ, check out either Baker's Ribs or Sammy's. You can't go wrong.

Our Nephew's First Birthday

We think W had a great time at his party... except for the hat... he wasn't crazy about the hat.

Continuing Update

4. Beat Auburn... booyah!  This was Springer's 16th Auburn-Georgia game in a row.  That's dedication.

5.  Visited the Slatens... love this family!  Met Baby B for the first time and had a great time playing with L!

Frustrated with Blogspot

For some reason the picture part of blogspot is not as user-friendly as it used to be anymore.  So sorry about the weird spaces in the last post.  It's the best I can do without totally losing my cool.

Month in Review

Lots going on in the Cain family... here's what we've been up to!

1.  Attended Springer's 10-year reunion.  It was actually a lot of fun!

My friend Jennifer is also married to a Brookstone alum, and we had a great time catching up! She and Josh were YL leaders with us in Athens, and they also lived across the street from me when I first moved to Augusta. The weekend that Springer and I got engaged, I came back to a sign from Jennifer on the backdoor of my apartment that said "SHE SAID YES!"

2. Traveled to California for a meeting (American College of Clinical Pharmacy). Went to DisneyLand with my friend and co-worker Lori. DisneyWorld has DisneyLand beat hands-down, except for It's a Small World (my favorite ride)... much bigger and better in DisneyLand.

3. Threw an entertainment shower for our friends Samantha and Jeremy (not to be confused with our friends Amantha and Jeremiah). The soon-to-be Orlich's are getting married in December, and the Hill's are expecting in March! Hooray for our sound-alike friends and exciting times ahead!

Isaiah 62:5

As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

so shall your God rejoice over you.

We went to a really special wedding this weekend for some dear friends... on Friday I was reminded (thanks Lord!) of Isaiah 62.  You have to know our friend Mack to know what a jolly sort of fellow he is.  Over the weekend I determined to remember the Lord's love each time I saw Mack's grin or the way he looked at Rebecca, so joyful, so in love.

What a precious reminder and what a blessed weekend!  Pictures to follow...

Shane&Shane snuck up on us!

New Shane&Shane album out!  Thanks to Ryne Stokes for giving us the heads up on this one...

I had no idea they had a new CD coming out! 

Just downloaded it, so no commentary yet.  I feel confident that it will be spectacular!

All Hallows Eve

The Cain's started off with a traditional jack-o-lantern with a big grin, created at CrossPointe's 20-somethings party.  Then when the Hagan's had us over for the 2nd annual pumpkin carving extravanganza, we decided to shoot for the stars and carve a golden retriever.  It really took forever and was rather difficult, but I think it turned out pretty good.

Finally Springer's company had a pumpkin carving contest today, and his department submitted a "pumpkin pie".  Pretty clever, huh?

Whole Hog!

Last weekend Laura Susan and I helped throw an engagement party for a good friend who's getting married next month. We were in charge of the food, and of course we decided to do barbecue. But not just any barbecue, but a whole hog! His name was Herman and he tasted great!

Celebrating Jasper's First Birthday

Today we celebrated Jasper's first birthday.  Hope you enjoy the pictures of the festivities.

We love you, Jasper!  Hope you had a happy, happy birthday.  And we think you did!

BBQ

As I've mentioned on here before, this blog kind of started out as a BBQ blog; a way for me to post about barbecue joints that we've been to. Well in the past 2 years that we've had this blog I think I have made 2 barbecue posts. I guess I've been slacking a little bit. I want to try to make a better effort at it and it starts today. Over the past 6 months or so at work, we have been conducting a Q-Review. Every 2 or 3 weeks we go to a barbecue restaurant in Columbus and do a review. We all fill out a scorecard after we go and judge everything from the meat and sauce to the ambiance of the place. We went to 8 different BBQ joints and over the next little while I am going share my reviews on here. Our boss puts together a write up after all the scorecards are received. He tallys the points and comes up with an overall score. The final one is about to be done and a champion will be crowned. Who will it be? You'll just have to wait to find out.




Meanwhile though I will share a couple of pics from a recent cookout that we did. UGA was playing Arkansas and I thought it was appropriate to have some Boston Butt. It turned out good and the Dawgs won!
 

The butts right off the grill.

Ready to eat!

Laura Susan enjoyed it!

Jasper after a long day of smoking some barbecue.

Shout Out to the Dawgs, Jasper Update, and Balloon Glow

Go Dawgs... make us proud this afternon. We're rooting for you... even Jasper.We thought it was time for another Jasper growth update, so above is where we started, and here he is at 11 months, 70 pounds!In other news, we went to Callaway last night with our friends the Finchers for the annual Balloon Glow. Reminded me of the Cherry Blossom Festival back home.

Happy Labor Day!

We're looking forward to a good weekend with the Darnells in town.

Favorite Picture from the Far East

Here we are on the Great Wall, and yes, we are soaken wet! It started pouring soon after we stepped on the Wall. On the bright side, the people in our group were the only ones on the Wall (no crowds... a rarity in that part of the world). Bad news was that it was quite slippery! But we had a good time!

I'm singing...

My sister introduced me to a new friend recently... so I've never met her in person, but I'm sure if I did, we'd be good friends. I really love her music. Check out her self-titled album. I promise you won't be disappointed. So far, my favorites are: Beautiful, My Beloved, and No Sweeter Name. www.karijobe.com

East Asia

Click here to view these pictures larger

More Beach Pictures!

Click here to view these pictures larger

Beach Bums

We enjoyed our recent trip to Grayton Beach... we haven't spent a week at the beach since our honeymoon! Enjoy the pics... hope you are having a good summer!

Jasper's ready for the beach!And he loved the pool too!

Attempts at a family picture...

More pictures to come!