I own a Digital Rebel with the 18-55 mm lens. (Jeff Kramer, if you're reading, it's the one I bought from you in May.) My wife now wants a zoom lens. We are definitely amateur photographers and aren't sure what to get. Would the 55-200mm linked below be a good purchase for us?

We'll mainly use it for pictures of the kids (soccer, dance, basketball, etc.) and just regular family photography.

Thanks for your help.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=300600&is=USA&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

I'm sure that would be a great lens. It picks up right where your other lens stops. I shoot with Canon DSLR equipment, and I have the following lenses.

15mm fisheye
19-35 wide angle
28-135 Image Stabilizer
75-300 telephoto

The best advice I can give you is to stick with Canon lenses. My 19-35 is a Quantary, and it's a pile of poop. It was cheap, but I'd have been much better off waiting to shell out the bucks for the Canon.

Good luck!

If you can stretch your budget abit, the Canon EF 70-200 F4L is a killer lens for the price.
I love mine.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=183198&is=USA&addedTroughType=search