All points bulletin

HELP!!! This is an all points bulletin. I have lost the following items: My mind, time, sleep, and temporarily my wife. The last time these items were seen with me was around Sunday afternoon. If you locate any of these items, besides the wife, do not try and apprehend them on your own for they maybe armed and dangerous. In case you have not guessed, Theresa is doing her field work in Worland this week. Even though she has been gone for only 3 days it seems like a month. I swapped schedules with a couple of guys so I could be here in town all week. Wait..Shhhh! Did you hear that? I think that is the sound of my wife laughing echoing around the void in my head where my brain used to be. What has brought me to this state of temporary insanity? When you combine the gymnastics, dinner preparation, dishes, cleaning up around the house, band practice, youth group, PTO, wasp nest the size of a regulation football in your attic, dog messing in the house because you got home late, work, showering children, homework, potty training a puppy, earring holes closing up and then having to re-open them, carpet cleaning, animals that refuse to eat, and the minor meltdowns of girls who miss there mom. The frustrating thing on the meltdowns is that they do not tell you that they are crying because they miss mom, NOOOO!!! you have to play the guessing game and this game usually begins 30 minutes after they were supposed to in bed. The youngest one came out on Sunday night and said that I had forgot to turn on her radio and the tears started to flow. I told her I was sorry and that I would happily come and turn it on. Fifteen minutes later through the blubbering and sniffles I was finally able to get a confession out of her that she missed mom. It is hard to play good cop, bad cop when it is just yourself. All is going well and we only have two more nights and the cleaning crew I hired will be here on Friday afternoon.

Purity Class

Liz has attended a 7 week class through our church for young adults. This class is about staying pure and how to deal with the challenges sex through prayer and self-confidence. At the end of the session they had a ring ceremony and acknowledge that they will lead the life of abstinence until marriage. At this time mom and dad had the privelage of putting a purity ring on her finger and praying for her. We ask all of you in her life to also pray that this is the life she will continue to follow and that the challenges that are to come will be made easier with the Lord and all us by her side. Her daddy cried like a baby!! It has been decided that when the time comes for marriage he will not be allowed to make any type of speech:) Now that is the love of a father!

Weakened Trip

Not to much to report for the weekend. We headed to Thermopolis (hot springs) Wyoming. This is a 2 1/2 hour drive from Casper. Purpose of the trip was to see the house and meet the neighbors of the couple that she will be house sitting for when she is away on her 8 week rotation this summer. We spent 20 minutes in the hot springs and then headed back for home. The couple is very nice and this worked out great for them and us. They leave the 2nd week of May and I arrive at the end of May, I will finish my rotation in July and they return home in August. The town is small and very homey. I will be heading in the same direction over Easter weekend for my physical disability rotation in Worland WY. This is another one week adventure that leaves the girls and husband to fend for themselves. I will update you on how they handle this trip when I return.

Party Time

A 13 year old party is always best when everyone remembers to wear deodorant:) The house was packed with 17; 12 and 13 year olds going through puberty...this was not only entertaining but would have made a great experimental project. All in all in was great, we did a scavenger hunt and the kids brought back 36 non parishable items to give to Joshua Storehouse (shelter facility in our town), we played giant jenga, sardines (hide and go seek game), and did a little dancin where mom and dad showed off their moves!!! Now this was true entertainment. Cake and Ice cream was the traditional event of the eveing. Except Liz got introduced to having to take the first bite without her hands...these are what you call real friends.

(first bite without hands)

(gift time surrounded by friends)

13 at last!

Today was the big day...thank you to everyone who helped to make it special, I do not believe the phone has stopped ringing since I walked in the door at 4pm. The big party is on Saturday but here is a picture of the birthday girl today!

Gymnastics Meet

Yep another gym meet. This was Mikaela's last time as a level 3, after this weekend she officially moves to level 4. This entails all new routines on all equipment. At this meet she took first over all her team. Out of 20 girls in different teams she took a 2nd, 3rd, and 5th. It was a good meet and judged very hard.

It's the Final Countdown

I think it was Frank Sinatra that summoned it up best when he said, "And now, the end is near" My father reminded me of one of the first times he ever met Liz and she was pushing on my rear-end trying to get me into her playhouse we had set up in the living room. She got me in and then joined me inside which made it a full house. It seems like only yesterday that she was helping Theresa and I paint our house in preperation for sale. Theresa and I were painting the shed to match the house when the dog came by with green handprints on his black coat. As I followed the trail down the path along the side of the house I came to the large tree by the front door also decorated in small green handprints. As I came up the newly stained porch with green handprint highlights I encountered a blond haired, blue eyed, three foot nuthin little girl with green hands, shirt, shorts, legs, and shoes. All those things were fixable and were cleaned up with some soap and water, but I don't know how to stop the next couple of hours from coming. I have faith that Theresa and I have done a good job teaching, learning, and raising Liz to be an awesome young woman who will continue to make me proud that I am her father. It will take me some time to loosen the grip on the reigns, but she proves to me everyday that she can and will make the right choices in the challenges she will face in the near future. She did not learn to ride a bike until we let go and went inside and she tried what we had taught her. Love You Lizzy more than you know and always remember you were chosen.

Love, Dad

Mikaela Spring pictures

Definitely has her Daddy's eyes!

Liz School Spring Picture

2 more days until she is officially a teen!

These are her spring school pics. Copies will be mailed soon!