Happy Fathers Day!

It was quite the weekend. We took my parents and my niece to Incredible Pizza Saturday afternoon. She had never been, and we knew we didn't have much time left before she went back to Arizona. We had a pretty good time! Plus, it is always nice getting to take some agression out on my wife in bumper cars (or boxing on the Wii). I can't get in trouble for "playing" the game...right!?!? haha!

After that, we went out to my parents house to play....tada, the Wii. We didn't box...but we all played some bowling and tennis. They also bought this Wii Fit thing this past week. Let me tell ya...it is real encouraging when you step on the "board" and the game makes this "oooooooohhh" sound. Yes, I know I am fat...thanks for pointing that out. haha!

Today, we had a cookout with my parents, aunt, and Liz's mom. We really hadn't decided what we were going to do until about 2pm. All in all, it was a pretty good weekend. Now the fun part of going back to work for the man. Here is a little Fathers Day video to leave you with...

It Is Official...

We just wanted to let you know that it's all official. We are excited to plan for our foreign exchange student's arrival on August 9.

Cherry (Szu-Han) is a 15 year old girl from Taiwan. She will be with us for her sophomore year of high school and return to her country when her VISA expires next June.

We're so excited about the powerful opportunity God has given us to show this girl His love and hopefully spread His word to countless others we will never meet. It is going to be so awesome to share differing cultures in the same house, while they get to experience America. Please pray for everyone involved. I know it must be very difficult leaving everything you've ever known (family, friends, sites, smells, etc) to go live a year with complete strangers in a foreign land. Also, please pray for us as we accept her as part of the family and try to share our faith, culture, and customs with her.

Updates...

It has been a long couple weeks. I was in Ponca City for 9 straight days of driving back and forth. I was leaving the house by 6:30am (6:00am if I went by the office first), picking up 3 guys, and arriving there by 8:45am everyday. We would leave there at 3:30pm, drop off the 3 guys, and get home at 5:45pm. At least I was home every night...though, that was a chore for awhile because we were in the middle of major house cleaning.

My parents got a Wii, so we were over there playing for about 5 hours last night. I love it!!!! We have got to get one!

We have finished our Adoption classes at the end of May and awaiting our homestudy. After the homestudy, they will begin the matching process which could be 2 months or maybe a year. We are awaiting our fingerprints/background check through OSBI before they will do the homestudy. We are caught in between two processes and waiting.

Another development has taken place. We decided to open our home to a foreign exchange student for next school year. We had received an email from friends stating if they didn't find families to host, they wouldn't be allowed to come to the USA (it included profiles and essays from different students). It is all but official at the moment. We had our interview on Saturday, and they were calling our references over the weekend. Our background check passed, Norman HS gave a verbal approval (awaiting the official in-writing approval), and it looks like we will be hosting a 15 year old from Taiwan. Exciting!! I can't wait to learn about their culture, while giving her a chance to experience America.

Random Thoughts...


Well, it is that time of year again. Kids are on summer break, schools closed, etc. That means that my job slows down, right? HA! This is the busiest time of year for me. Last week I drove back and forth to Ponca City everyday, and I will be doing the same again this week. Looks like an awesome mileage check coming my way!!!

I have so many jobs lined up this summer, including a $3 million job in Muskogee. I joked with my wife, saying see ya on the weekends. Truth is, I never know what is going to pop up and totally ruin whatever was "planned" for the day. Oh and I can't forget to tell the best part of working in schools during the summer....no air conditioning!!!

A thought of mine. Is it just me or does anybody else wonder how in the world they are going to make it through summer!?!? It is so stinkin' hot already! Last year, it rained so much in June...hopefully that starts, which would keep temperatures down.

We went over to another family's (from church) house on Friday night. Besides being in total awe of their house, I got to play the Wii. I have been wanting one, but after playing it...I REALLy would like one. After telling my dad about it, come to find out he has one on order. Yes!! I guess we will be spending some time during the weekends at their place to play.

For this month, my wife is hosting a women's bible study at our house on Wednesday nights. We have been "trying" to get the house totally clean. It seems we work most of the day, then look around and the house is messier. I don't think it is supposed to work that way. You should see progress...right?

The problem is that we have never been organized, so things don't really have a place. We just hide our "items with no home" in places people can't see. This women's bible study breaks into small groups and will use every room in the house. Uh Oh!! That means cleaning with with a capital C. We have our "to do" lists all planned for the next couple nights, so hopefully everything gets done.