I think it's Joshua chapter 10 where God listened to Joshua, and had the sun and moon stand still for a day. I wish that these first days of being a Dad could just stand still. Here is a picture of Benny and his cousins on an early Thanksgiving morning.

It's hard to think about yesterday and tomorrow when you are wrapped up in right now. I hope you have moments like these this week-whether your kid has crazy hair or not.

I hope you all had a thankful Thanksgiving. We visited G's brother in DC, and met up with Leslie/Darrel and the girls. While there, we were able to catch up with Jason/Amanda. That was a treat. We grew to love them in CO, and now see them on occasion in DC. Hopefully next time we meet, they will have their little China doll.

While in DC we did a brief tour of the Washington Monument, and the Subway sandwich shop at the Museum of Natural History. I am still enthusiastic about visiting DC these days. I love the history. A highlight was visiting Arlington. I had the honor of finding the grave of Mark's uncle. It is located behind the Tomb Of The Unknown. My patriotic roots run deep, and I am thankful of the men and women who serve. Interestingly we visited JFK's eternal flame on the anniversary of his death. Here are a few pic's.

On a side note. It was great to finally meet Brad and Sue Stevens' daughters after church. What a great family with blessings overflowing.

One of my favorite movies is Caddyshack. It's corny but true when they say "They don't make 'em like they used to". Of all the scenes in the movie, one of the funniest is when they yell "Doodie, Doodie!" when someone notices a conspicuous object floating in the pool. We had one of those moments last night at Uncle Re-Re's house during bath time, only it wasn't a Baby Ruth. I guess it was only a matter of time.

There is nothing like being able to end your day with the IPod blaring out your favorites in sweet solitude. This was the case last night..or so I thought. Before G and B went to bed, I had a hankerin' to just chill and flip through the music selection. John Mellencamp, U2, The Shins, Dido, Elton John. Let me tell you, after a long day/week/month...this is a nice way to tap into your inner musician. My air guitar and air drums were wailing. Of course I was trying to be a good husband and father, keeping my concert-we'll privately between my ears! That was until G kicked my feet for me to turn it down a notch (I'm not sure if she was talking about the air drum movements, or the bleed over from the headphones). Concert's over.

It was bliss while it lasted. So there you have it. One minute I am in a private concert. The next minute I am transported smack dab in a 747, which is precisely what Benny's White Noise machine sounds like. Not to be mentally defeated, I got up and took one big look at Bennys sweet sleeping face. I didn't want my last visions of the day being my lovely wife kicking my feet.

A few have asked about my business. I own a franchise that specializes in new home warranty management. My clients are homebuilders. Legally they need to furnish a 1 year warranty with their finished product. My company goes on the preclosing walkthrough with the new homeowner, and will handle all warranty related calls for the first year of ownership. If you build homes-you want to concentrate on building not servicing claims. Too often their buyers call builders to do alot of extras that aren't warranty, but cost the builders tons of $. This is where I can be of value, along with giving them a legal layer of protection--I won't get into this though.

I have just been reminded by my favorite baby doctor sister that I used to gag if she brushed her teeth in the same room. While the effects of smell have decreased in my overall gag factor, years later these same brushing issues still exist. I periodically need to replace my toothbrush if my bristles happen to brush (pardon the bad pun) against G's. This is somewhat akin to Jerry dumping his belt in the trash because the buckle hit the mensroom floor on Seinfeld. What makes me real mad is if G takes advantage of this, and rubs our toothbrushes together and laughs. Oh, I laugh to...all the way to the closet for another toothbrush. In keeping consistent with my wierdness that my sissy talked about, I also do not like to brush at the same time as G. If you check out her side of the countertop, it has toothpaste stains around the sink and mirror. The thought of these randomized outbursts of airborne flails of mouth stuff make me gag.

How cool is this. 2 meetings with builders, and 2 positive responses. Thank you for your prayers for building my business. This is an endeavor I started out in order to honor God, and to provide for my family.

I remember my mutual fund wholesaling days...."Sell the sizzle, not the steak" exclaimed a big-wig manager with a large bank in California. This is what I'll do, as long as there is truth in advertising. Hopefully my prospects will see steak in what I'm saying.

My prayers are lifted to the Schnakenbergs. The father of a buddy growing up passed away this last week. Eldon was a great person.

Ahhh...as I am relishing the joy of fatherhood, I find myself consistently doing things never imagined. This ranges from changing atrocious diapers to handling various bodily fluids without problems. A top 10 moment would entail gathering and delivering "specimin samples" from diaper to the pediatrician's office. One thing that amazes me is the Smell to Gag Reflex mystery. All my life smelly things make me gag. Not so much any more.

We'll gotta run for now. Evidently it's "din-din" time.

Today I have been reminded that not everyone in this world has it "easy". Without making judgements of how people get in their particular binds of life, my challenge is that if you see someone in need-try to help them out.

What a great weekend. Had family over and took Benny to Church to meet everyone. Here is a pic of the kiddos hanging out.

Spring, Fall, Concrete Wall

What a day!

It's going to be in the 70's, and we have relatives coming over this weekend. A glorious Spring-like Fall day. I can't wait to see the gang from OKC--especially Carly and Abby. We had a great time during their fall break last year, but I suspect this is going to be even better. After all, it's not every day you get to meet a new cousin.

This weekend I'll be practicing my "script". I start setting appointments on Monday to begin building my business. I have been praying for success, but now is where the rubber meets the road. Benny's Uncle has a pretty big presentation on Monday as well. It was a sacrifice taking off from work to see us. He sure could use a heavenly boost, too!

Here's a pic from last year.

Kelli (Benny's Uncle's Cousin if readers are curious), thank you for the kind note and gift certificate. We will be sending an official thank you. As usual-you are awesome! I would love to see you guys sometime.

Oh yeah...one of the funny Halloween traditions in STL is telling a joke before actually receiving candy. We had a trio come to the door. 2 boys and a girl. The boys told their jokes, and the 6 yr old girl had a doozey.

Cute Girl: "What does a fish say when he hits his head on a concrete wall?"
Cute Wife: "I don't know, what?"
Cute Girl: "Dam!"

This is one joke Benny will not know, but it was pretty funny.

One of my favorite things about being a dad is laying next to Benny trying to coax him to sleep. I am famished and tired, but this is way better than eating and sleeping. It is pure joy to look at his little face and sing him a sweet melody. Tonight with the kids class at church we were talking about Abraham and Isaac. I can't imagine coming close to Abrahams obedience. Genesis 22:14 is stuck on my mind. In our quest to have a child over the years, we have tried to hold to the faith that "The Lord Will Provide". He has done this beyond my wildest expectations. Only God can knit a family of three people, each born on 3 different corners of the earth. How cool is that. For this He is to be praised.
Oh yeah, I am still learning my lessons as a rookie. Most recently is never...Never sit your naked kiddo down on your knee while filling up the bathtub. Probabilities are good that he will observe the running water and react in a similar biological fashion. In this case all over my jeans. I have never done so much laundry in my life!

Last night before bed I caught one of my all-time favorites from the 80's. Family Ties. At the time I thought Alex P. Keaton was so cool. In this episode he had insomnia for 8 straight nights. I can relate on a minor scale. The reason I catch this sitcom sometimes is to listen to the theme song. Just hearing the tune sends me down memory lane. It goes something like this "What would we do baby without us..what would we do baby without us.....". So true whether talking about our immediate family, extended family, or Church family. With so many personalities, you take the good with the challenging times and thank God for those relationships.

Oh yeah...here's a pic of our pumpkin from last night.