I ended up going with a Canon Eos 50d. I got a deal on it that made it not cost much more than a 40 would have. I figured that since it has basically the same interface as the 5d MK II I would have a good upgrade path when they come out without having to relearn anything.
At the moment I have the 24-105l on the body and have a EF 100 macro and a 100-400L to experiment with thanks to my good buddy.

My next decision will be on which lens to add to the range that we have available to us. Maybe a 100-200 f2.8l to have a faster zoom but more likely a wider angle zoom to better cover the low end. Eventually I'll get a 24-105l of my own.

Thanks for all the help, now I've got a lot of learning to do!........................DJ

Remember this is all supposed to be for fun.......................