Baby Pictures

These are the pictures from our first placement. He was with us for his first 6 weeks, and they were an amazing 6 weeks. Pictures of our new placements to follow.

Let's Move

Karissa says she can feel the baby moving inside her now. I'm loving every minute of this.

Big Day

Does anyone else see the similarity? Do you think I should be worried? Is it possible that Strong Bad is actually my mail man and I didn't know it all this time?!?







Now to quote I Can Has Cheezburger?:

"I can has spine!"

Can I get a what what?!? *while raising the roof*



And Finally...

Just wanted to say "Hello."

I'm Back!

It was brought to my attention that I hadn't updated in a while. I'd be lying to say that I hadn't notice. I got to thinking about my quirks and then I never got around to actually writing them out. So to say true to my word, here are my 5 quirks that I promised would be my next entry.

1) I tend to like to take my time to do things. Not that I can't go fast. I actually do a number of things quickly. Like taking a shower (something I picked up on the mission, the amount of time you had to exercise (which wasn't an option) make breakfast, eat, take a shower, get dress and ready, was somewhat short and a 30 min shower was no luxury we could afford), driving home from work, and falling asleep. But most other things I'll go slower, enjoying it more, or putting it off more, which ever be the case.

2) Drinking Root Beer on "special" occasions. Special is in quotes because I'm the one who determines if a meal gets the root beer to wash it down or not. To be "special" I just have to either: a) really want root beer and have to justify lowering our amount in stock (since we never know when it might go on sell again and we can afford to buy it) or b) need a pick-me-up to change how the day has gone thus far.

3) Yelling out "Fazoili's!" whenever we pass by it. If you haven't eaten there, it is a fast food Italian place known for it's good food and awesome bread sticks. But to me, it is simple known as The Garlic Party On My Tongue Lounge. Yes, it is that amazing, I invite you to the party. The only rule is to yell out "Fazoli's!!!!!" whenever you are driving by it in your car. This quirk has its genesis to my Wichita Falls days when I would ride along with Jessica Stout and we would yell out random things to be cool... because turrets was cool back then... and it has carried over to my current life status. Go ahead, say it... you're jealous.

4) I know grammar and never have issues with it on spell check... just I can't spell for the life of me. So if you are ever in a position where you need to spell something correct or you'll die horrible with a noxious disease, don't call me. Call my wife.

5) I always say "Ideal" when I mean "Idea" and never do I say "Idea" when I mean "Ideal". To me, they are the same word, they do mean the same exact thing, and I can't tell a difference between them. My wife has gotten into the habit of always saying "Huh?!" when I use it wrong, she thinks that will undo 20 years of improper use... she is a little naive. But I can say this about her, she is consistent.

So, things have been up and down here. This last week at work my hours got "cut". They don't want up filling in on the other shift as much as we have. Karissa and I have opted to wait until after Christmas to do presents for each other so we can stay in budget. But we just love this time of year, it's our favorite, and I have to say, we have been taken care of so far, which is a great blessing.

On the Foster Care front, I call every Monday to check in on the status of our background check. Because mine had to be sent to Texas it is taking a lot longer. It's freaking annoying. Once that gets back we are good to go. They say we should be licensed by January. It can't get here soon enough.

Worth repeating

I am so often amazed at how much some of the boys I work with change, and it's usually the ones I least expect it from.

One in particular has made a complete turn around. He went from always fighting, arguing, cussing, etc, to now being funny, respectful (most of the time), and a scholar of the Bible. Yeah, that's what I said. He always says to me: "Hey, Luke 2:11, do you know it?! I do!" "Matthew 6:14-16, that's my favorite!" He actually wants to study and then share what he learns. Know why? One night, after having a lot of problems with him I took a different approach with him, and he completely opened up to me, telling me everything he wanted to do in life (become a chef and open his own restaurant), and then he wanted me to answer his questions about God and religion. After that he got interested in what the Bible said, so I told him to read some parts. He did. He liked it. He felt like what I said was what he wanted to believe. So off he went. He said that night was the first time he had ever prayed, and that the very next day his pray was answered. Now tell me, how many of troubled teenagers do you think actually have the maturity to not only pray sincerely, but also recognize when they get an answer? I'm telling you, I'm proud of that kid, and it really makes my work worth it, and gives me what I need to do more.

Last night I got approved for my 9 month bonus. Good, good day. So very excited about that one.

I got tagged to do the 6 Quirks, so I will be thinking about those and posting it soon.

frozen toes...

The title on her car came in, so I could finally take the temporary car plate off and put the real ones on. We are pretty well settled in now. And feeling pretty comfortable too. It's a nice feeling to know you are doing everything on your own.

Work has been great lately. I'm enjoying it more everyday.

Finally, my postal exam scores came back. I passed. 84.70 rating. Sounds good huh? I dont know how high in comparison to everyone else I did. They put everyone on a list, starting with the best and going down to the worst, and when they have an opening they call up the first person on the list for an interveiw and everything. So now, I guess I just wait for the phone call. I'm happy waiting.

It's gotten cold. Not so cold you can see your breath every exhale, but cold enough you stand there huddled up wishing you were inside.

Where were you when it happened?

I was going through some cds I have with pictures and films from my mission when I came across this favorite. I had forgotten it even happened. Good times huh?





This weekend was fun. We finished our classes, then we headed up north to Draper and visited a little place called IKEA... way cool, and way fun. We got a lot of cool little things to put in the kids room. I'm sure my old lady will get that up and show everyone soon, if she hasn't already.

Work is going good. I'm doing good. Everything is good. And I'm going to beat the socks off of JM in chess tonight or thursday night.