Tyson & Ashley

Today marked the day that many kids went back to school here in Kansas. My two were no exception. For my oldest daughter, it was her 1st day being a second grader. For my youngest, it was her first day of school ever as she entered the wonderful world of kindergarten.

Watching them sit at their desks with excitement in their eyes brings a sense of brief relief.   For with every new day of school bring new challenges and obstacles to overcome. Will they make friends? Will they like their teacher? Will they pick up the curriculum with ease? What in that school lunch?  All we can do as parents is sit back and hope that we provided the right tools and upbringing to help them on their little journeys.  I feel confident in my little girls that they will enjoy every minute of school. But if not, I am here with a soft shoulder and a warm hug to help them along.

I would like to share a story that I find to be humorous. It involves myself, my youngest daughter and a microwave. I have a habit of leaving the microwave door open when I “cook.” My daughter likes to shut it. The problem is that the microwave is above the stove and my daughter is probably around 3 feet tall. This morning, in my haste, I again left the door open. In her usual fashion, she gets a running jump for the door and slams it shut. She then proceeds to walk away tossing her hair. She looks back at me and says “you’re welcome”. Now if you know my youngest, you would know that she is a bit of a firecracker. I had a hard time not laughing. Of course, I then have to try and explain to her that she cannot slam the door like that because it could break. She of course doesn’t understand. Oh to be a 5 year old again.

Over the weekend I performed at 24 hour fast. I decided to do it after listening to an audio book called The Great Physician Rx. The book lists many benefits of fasting including but not limited to:

• Increased energy
• Weight loss
• The resting of vital organs
• Reduced cravings for sugar
• Strong connection to God

I started the fast Friday night after getting Chinese foods with my daughters. It was father/daughter night and I knew my first test of restraint would come when I made popcorn for the kids to eat with their movie. I love popcorn and having bowls of it surrounding me was not easy but I manged to make it through. I drank several glasses of water and kept my mind busy with the movie. Bedtime came and although I felt hungry, I retired for the night. The next morning was a bit of a challenge as I awoke and made the wife and kids breakfast. Being around all that food made me even more hungry. Instead I drank a cup of hot tea and more water. After breakfast we took off to my wife’s school to help her prepare for the upcoming school year. There were times in the morning that I felt hungry,weak, and a bit disorientated but as the day went on, the hunger subsided, my energy levels increased and I regained my focus. I felt great!

One of the main reasons that I performed this fast was that I heard that it would strengthen my relationship with God. The idea was that whenever I would get really hungry, instead of eating I would sit down and pray. This is what I did. I don’t know if was my state of hunger or my increased focus on prayer but that entire day, my relationship with God seemed to be very strong and even after I ate for the day, my exhilaration withheld into the night and the next day.

For anyone interested in fasting, I highly recommend it. I will be performing many more of these in the months to come. Its such a great feeling knowing that I did something to improve my health and my faith.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

On my way to work this morning, I heard the best saying. It was “Don’t live your life as a <blank> that also happens to be a Christian, live your life as a Christian that also happens to be a <blank>”. To use me as an example, I shouldn’t live my life as a system engineer that also happens to be a Christian but I should live my life as a Christian that also happens to be a system engineer. I thought that was awesome and a great way to start my day.

A few weeks back Ashley and I were invited by the Adams family to take a vacation to Wyoming to the Bit-O-Wyo ranch.  While there we got to do everything from horseback riding to rock climbing to sitting by the campfire singing songs.  It was a great time and we are truly blessed to have such wonderful family that includes us on events such as this. Thanks guys!

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Here are some pictures from the Honeymoon in Jamaica.  We had an awesome time and hope that we can go back sometime!  The weather was beautiful and the people were so friendly.  We hope you enjoy the pics! (the pictures can also be found in an album view under the pictures heading above)

I bet you came here expecting to see wedding pictures didn’t you??? HAHA. Well we don’t have them yet! Fear not though; we have heard back from the photographers and we are set to get them next week. We have had a chance to see a sneak preview of about 6 and they are awesome!

In other news, now that the wedding has come and gone, we need to redesign this blog.  Or at least give it a good update. So if you should happen to stop by in the future and things look a tad off, dont worry, its suppose to be like that (as far as you know).

Take care everyone. Come back next week for some pictures!

Actually we have been back for a little over a week but am only getting to the blog now.  We had an awesome time in Jamaica and hope to have the pictures online soon.  We wanted to take a few minutes to give a really informal thank you to everyone that came down for the wedding. It was an amazing time and we cant believe that its already over. We also wanted to give a huge THANK YOU to everyone that helped setup and tear down. Your hard work truly helped to make it an event that we will never forget.

The day is finally here!  We didnt think it would ever get here but it finally did!  We hope everyone ready this is going to be able to make it down for the big ceremony. If not, the ceremony will be broadcast live starting at ….just kidding.  The journey has been wonderful and we thank everyone that helped to make it that much more special.  We will post pictures from the wedding just as soon as we can. Take care!

Only 5 more days left until the big day!!!  Can you feel the excitement!  The weekend weather looks to be good so far.  A chance of rain but warm.  As you hit the roads and sky, our thoughts and prayers are with everyone.    Please have a safe and joyous trip to Kansas City!