The 40th HoopLa!!!!

My loving wife says I don't do enough hoopla for special events. So she threw me a surprise party for my 40th birthday. My Dad was there and took pictures. I told my lovely wife that I do NOT require hoopla in my life. But she does. She makes my life very interesting.

Hope for the Rangers?

Well, the Texas Rangers may be in last place in their division, but at least they beat the Houston Astros today and won the coveted Silver Boot for this season. The Boot is given to the winner of the Texas Series every year.

A Mailmans Best Friend

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share PhotosThis is one of my little friends from the mail route. He comes out and says hello every once in awhile. There is a hole in the fence just big enough to stick his head through.

Andy's Adventure Continues

I was awakened this morning to the phone ringing. I didn't even have to look to know that it was Andy calling. He said that they had been shopping at the Night Bazaar in Chiang Mai and their group was the first one back. He was excited because he had gotten a pair of Adias for just under $10. He said that they have been eating at McDonald's at nights for $2 a value meal. He said that he had gone to the orphange on Saturday there (they are 12 hours ahead but I think I tell everyone that every time I blog). Anyway, he told me that I would not have made it out of there without a few children to bring home. He had played with a little 6 year old boy and then when he left he (Andy) was crying. He said that it was emotional because he knew that he couldn't help this little boy who just wanted someone to love him. Andy told me that he wished we would adopt him. On Friday afternoon, they held the party for the college kids they had been witnessing to and 3 people got saved. He said it was awesome!

They leave for the village on Sunday afternoon their time. The village is like a small town. The analogy was that Andy was going from someplace like Arlington to a town like Maypearl. To get to this village they will have to ride for 7 hours in a taxi. Now a taxi there is actually the bed of a pickup truck. Andy said that they will have to wrap their heads and face to travel like this. He said that they would not be able to contact anyone until they got back next Saturday.

He said that the Internet there is faster than anything we could dream of here. He said "it is sick fast". He did email some people but they have now been told that the privilege is now gone because some people didn't follow the rules for it.

He said that when they start for home they will leave Tuesday night (July 3rd) their time, fly to Bangkok for an 8 hour layover, then Hong Kong for a 3 hour layover, on to LAX, and then into DFW. They will be back at Garden Valley for a couple of days to debrief and adjust to being home again.

Can you believe it has already been 2 weeks? He sounds so different and unlike the boy I sent off. I knew he would change and I can't wait to see the changes in him.

Andy's Team in Thailand

Lynne found this picture of Andy and the rest of his team in Thailand. We got it off the Global Expeditions web site. It's small and grainy, but his mommy can see him. He's the one on the floor in the blue shirt.

Then there was one

Will left for camp this morning with our church youth group. He has been packed for two days and was so excited. He was ready and hounding me about when we could leave to go to the church before 715am this morning. He was hanging out with the high school guys when I left him at the church.

Jesse is now the only one at home for a week. I think he is excited about this. It means that he won't have to fight for a turn at the computer or x-box and he has mom and dad to himself. I am hoping that he doesn't get too bored.

Andy's Trip Part 3

Andy called us on Saturday morning to say that they had arrived okay. He said that they had attended a buddhist temple to pray walk that morning (they are 12 hours ahead over there) and it had been a humbling experience. He said that they were having fun and that it was beautiful there. He sounded tired but happy. He said that as soon as they landed they dropped off their stuff and hit the ground for training and prayer. They had left so that sleeping on the plane would help them with the jet lag transition.

Andy called again on Sunday morning to tell Jeff "Happy Father's Day". He said that they had gone to church and the preacher talked about honoring their fathers and they all realized what day it was so the leaders allowed them to call again. He sounded more rested and more excited than the day before. He is having a blast there and loving every minute. We probably won't here from him again until the end of this week. It is hard to believe he has been gone a week. It seems like so much longer.

Goodbye Picture

Thanks for the picture GranPa! He took this just before we left Andy on Sunday.

Andy Part 2

Andy called us tonight to say hi and to let us know that he was getting ready to pull out on Wednesday. He said that he was going to leave DFW, fly into LAX, then on to Hong Kong. From there he would fly to Bangkok for a 10 hour layover. After that they would fly to another town and then on into Chiang Mai. He said that he would call us when they landed there. He sounds like he is having fun and he has made some new friends. AC told me that the phone calls would be the hardest and she was so right. We were at Wendy's when the call came and once I hung up, I cried.

This raising kids thing is so much harder the bigger they get. You have to step back and realize you are no longer the center of their universe and I don't know if I like that. I am sure that as time goes by I will be glad that they grew up and moved on but in my heart they are still my little babies who need their momma.

Andy's Big Trip Part 1

Sunday was an eventful day. We (Grandma, Grandpa, and the five of us) loaded up in the Excursion and headed for Garden Valley, Texas. It took about 2 1/2 hours to get there and it was somewhat stressful for me more than anyone other than Andy. He was nervous and excited all at the same time. This was the first time he would venture out without family or known friends traveling with him. We arrived at Garden Valley around 130pm and took Andy into the activity room where he got his name tag, took a picture, and finished up registration for his trip. This all took about 45 minutes. During one of the times that we were waiting for the next step, a lady got on the speakers behind Jeff and started encouraging people to go out and welcome the newcomers. She was really loud. Most of the staffers went out and cheered and clapped as the newcomers came in. It was neat the way they welcomed people in. We then drove Andy over to his hut to put his stuff up. It was males only but Jeff said that it was just a long room with big fans at both ends blowing hot air around and being really loud. After that we took Andy back to the activity center so he could meet people and see who all was going to Thailand with him. It appeared that there were more girls than boys going so......

Andy hugged everyone first and then he hugged me really tight. I had promised him that I would not cry (I had been doing that all week and even now as I write this) when we dropped him off. I kept my promise and did really well. I only had a couple of tears after we left him. As the momma, this is hard to have my first baby leave for so long (a month!). What am I going to do when he goes to college? I may have to chain him to the porch. HAHA!!!

Jeff sent the camera with Andy so we don't have a way to post pictures. You may want to check out grandpa's site for pictures. As we hear from Andy and get updates from Thailand then we will update the blog on his trip.

Will and Jesse say they are glad there is one less but I sure did hear how bored they were today. Will even cleaned his room.

Flare

Lynne, Sue Ellen and Grandpa went to Sonic to take advantage of the free root beer float night. When Lynne got home, she took Jeff to Low Water where they were flaring a well. We were able to several pictures before the security guard drove up and got on to us for being there. Of all the pictures we took this was the best one. Lynne had seen the glow the night before from the bathroom and drove down to see what was going on and then realized they were flaring the well.

Halo Party!

Since Andy is leaving for Thailand on Sunday and Uncle Alan was having Halo withdrawals, we told them they could have a Halo party. A Halo party is defined as several computers being linked together throughout various rooms in the house and as many people as you can have(depending on the number of controllers, x-boxes, and routers). We ended up at one point with 14 guys playing Halo. This party lasts until all have passed out or they have to leave. Above in the gaming nook is Unlce Alan, Andy, and Matt.
This is the linking box that sat in the middle of the hallway connecting 4 televisions, 4 x-boxes, 1 x-box 360, and 14 controllers. There were wires running to four different rooms in our house.
In Will's room there was Will, Lucas, and Dan.
In Jesse's room, Taylor and Juan were on the x-box 360.

Garrett, Nick (the sunburned ears), Yager, and Jesse (laying in the floor) were in the living room. Lynne fixed the guys 32 quesadillas and the boys brought chips, drinks, and dessert. Within the first hour of everyone being here, all the quesadillas, two bags of chips, 4 12-packs of Mountain Dew, and numerous cookies were gone. As the night progressed they downed 2 more bags of chips, 2 12-packs of Dr Pepper, and 2 12-packs of Pepsi. The group made it until 530am the next morning with a couple of guys having to leave at 100am. For breakfast, Lynne made 2 dozen scrambled eggs, a dozen biscuits, a dozen cinnamon rolls, 2 dozen pigs in the blanket, and 30 sausage patties. This was gone in about 20 minutes by the 4 guys who actually got up and ate. It was a lot of fun hearing the guys yelling and having fun.

Attack of the Giant Miniature Dachshund!!!

With forced perspective you can make anything look big! There was no PhotoShop involved. Lynne held up Pipper right in front of me and Jesse stood at the edge of the yard. Luckily they both looked the right direction.
The hog picture below prompted this little experiment. We've decided that the kid in the picture is kneeling 10-15 feet behind the hog making it look much larger than it is. What do you think?