In Dallas

Hello all,

We are in Dallas tonight. After a day of travel, we have checked into the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, Texas. What a great hotel. The kids are already looking forward to going to the water park tomorrow. Jennifer is already checked into the BeautiControl conference so all we have to do is relax for the rest of the night.

-Andy

Accepted Position

Hello all,

I have excepted a position with DST today. I passed my drug test (no big shocker there) so I am cleared to start on the 11th of August.

-Andy

Have an Offer

Hello all,

I have an offer from DST. YIPPEE!!

I am so thankful that I have received an offer as quickly as I did. It is truly a blessing. Thank you LORD for helping me keep my wits while this is all going on.

-Andy

Playing with the kids

Hello all,

Wow.. the kids and I had a great time today playing Wii Carnival. Zac really likes the game Kapow while Ali enjoys the ring toss. It is similar to being at a carnival except for the lack of cotton candy and corn dogs...

-Andy

Evening Service

Hello all,

Tonight the family went to evening service at Good Shepherd with Diane. The service was very poorly attended. I think there were only 8 people there outside of those putting the service on. It is very sad, but the summer does draw a lot of people out of town.

-Andy

Cleaning House

Hello all,

It is that time of the week again where Jennifer and I round up all of the toys and clothes that have managed to walk out of the kids rooms and into our downstairs. The kids did a good job getting it cleaned up and the house looks good.

-Andy

Last Day At eVergance

Hello all,

Today is my last day at eVergance. I have been here for 10 weeks and the project I was contracted to work on is wrapping up its final week of system testing. The pipeline in June dried up for me. The projects they had slated for me to work on were withdrawn by the parent companies. So I must go. I have had two interviews so far. They were with Yellow Freight and DST. I will keep you all posted.

Thank you,

-Andy

Almost the Weekend

Hello all,

It is Thursday and I'm working from home this morning and going to two interviews this afternoon. I'll keep you posted as I hear something.

-Andy

More Swimming

Hello all,

Today was Ali and Zac's 2nd day of swimming lessons at the Gladstone Pool. The kids did great. Zac even said he is looking forward to his NEXT lesson.

-Andy

HOT HOT HOT

Hello all,

It is almost August and the heat is here to stay. Yesterday it was over 100° F when I headed home. Today is not much better. Tonight the kids and I headed to the pool to escape the heat. Only two more months of heat before the Fall!

-Andy

First Day of Swimming Lessons

Hello all,

Today Ali and Zac had their first swimming lesson of the year. They both really enjoyed the class. In fairness, Ali has had swimming lessons before. Two years ago she was in little swimmers, but the pool was closed last year for renovations. They are both eager to get in the pool and kick and splash.

-Dad

Another Hot Day

Hello all,

Wow... the heat is here to stay all week. It is a real oven outside. I put our thermometer, barometer and humidity gauge out on the back deck this afternoon in the height of the afternoon sun. The thermometer read 96° F, barometer read 28.6 and the humidity was 63%. All that means it is very uncomfortable outside.

-Andy

In the mid-90's

Hello all,

What a scorcher! It is over 95° F outside and the air is not moving. It is hard to believe that I used to work in weather like this on the farm. I was outside for a little while this afternoon and sweat through my shirt. Wow, it is really a warm day outside.

-Andy

Day 5 of VBS

Hello all,

The marathon is over. Jennifer and I have survived VBS. The kids had a great time. The adults are exhausted. Everyone gave each other a lot of handshakes and high-fives after closing songs tonight. Clean-up went faster than expected. It is nice to be done.

Good-night,

-Andy

Day 4 of VBS

Hello all,

Tonight I did not work late on Avaya tonight. Instead I was Zac's VBS buddy and went to all of his stations. We had a lot of fun tonight learning about Jesus and how he died on the cross to take away our sins. It is nice to hear Zac pray. He whispers most of the time, but I know he is talking to Jesus. You are the best, Zac.

-Dad

Day 3 of VBS

Hello all,

Day three is in the books. The kids had a great time. Jennifer and I are very tired. The kids are in bed and Jen is watching some TV while I write this entry.

Good night,
-Andy

2nd Day of VBS

Hello all,

Day two is in the books and the kids are finally in bed. Both Ali and Zac love Vacation Bible School. They already have the hand actions down pat and love to sing. I truly love VBS. It is a great time for the kids.

-Andh

First Day of VBS

Hello all,

Wow, the kids were really rocking the sanctuary this evening at Good Shepherd. Zac did not like the loud singing. It hurts his ears. Ali had a blast. Both kids are very excited about returning tomorrow night for day 2 of God's Power Lab

-Dad

Day before Vacation Bible School

Hello all,

Tonight Jennifer and her mom prepared for vacation bible school at Good Shepherd. Diane is in charge of the groupings and Jen is again helping her with registration. This is always a stressful week so say a prayer for both of them.

-Andy

BBQ at David's

Hello all,

Tonight Jennifer and I went over to David's for a BBQ with their Uncle Jeff and his girlfriend Kim. We played the Wii for a while and shared stories of Jen's younger memories of her Uncle Jeff. Everyone had a good time and were sad to see the evening come to a close.

-Andy

Uncle Jeff in town

Hello all,

Tonight Jennifer and I went over to Larry and Patty Ann's to have dinner with the Thompson Family. Jen's Uncle Jeff and Grandmother Barb drove down to KC today from Minneapolis. It was really great to see them and meet Jeff's girlfriend Kim.

-Andy

Big changes

Hello all,

There are some big changes happening right now for me. I do not want to go into them now, but I will let you know more as they get more defined.

-Andy

Life Insurance

Hello all,

Tonight we met with the life insurance lady. Jennifer and I will finally have a policy that is outside of our employer. I think we are finally growing up.

-Andy

Big Leap for Zac

Hello all,

This evening Zac did something he did not think he could do. He held on to the kick board while I held on to the board. He floated in the 4 foot pool and kicked his feet. It took a few minutes for him to get accustomed to the idea of not holding on to me, but he managed to overcome his fear! Way to go little guy... I mean, big guy!

-Dad

Swimming

Hello all,

It is over 90° F in KC today and the pool was our destination tonight. While at the pool, we signed the kids up for swimming lessons later this month. The kids pool was closed for lessons tonight, so we took the kids into the 4 to 6 foot deep pool. Zac held on to my neck while Ali used a kick board to move around the pool. We all had fun and are looking forward to coming back soon.

-Andy

Moved the office upstairs

Hello all,

Today Jennifer and I moved the office upstairs to the baseball room. We cleared out all of the kids clothes that we had been collecting to give to the Salvation Army and moved the desk and printer upstairs. We moved the treadmill over against the wall and now the room looks great. We rearranged our bedroom to better utilize the space. It looks like a room out of a hotel. It has a chair and a lamp for Jen to read at while I have the TV right in front of our bed. It is the best of both worlds!

-Andy

Cleaned

Hello all,

Today we cleaned the house again. Everyone loves it when it is time to take the toys back upstairs and get the house back in order. It did not take long and now the house is looking good again.

-Andy

Happy 4th of July

Hello all,

What a great day so far! This morning Jennifer and I took the kids to Corner Cafe in Liberty for breakfast/lunch. We then went bowling. I bowled with Ali while Zac bowled with bumpers in the lane next to ours. We all had a blast as mom cheered us on. I think she didn't want to show off her bowling skills and just let us play. After bowling we came back and changed into our swimming suits and went to the Gladstone Recreation Center for some much needed pool time. Mom and I swam in the big pool. Do you want to know what else: Ali swam, in the six foot pool as well. She used a kick board and did a great job. We are both very proud of you Boo! Zac is still kinda afraid of the big pool and likes his little pool still. Maybe later this year we can get him into the big pool again.

Well, we are off to the store to get food for tonight.

Love you,

-Andy

Happy Third of July

Hello all,

Today is my last day of work for this week. I am looking forward to a long three day weekend. Jen and I are taking the kids to the pool on Friday and then having a cook out at our house. I'm sure Kellen and Vanna will drop by. Diane is suppose to come by as well. I'll be the guy on the deck grilling steaks or chicken... I would not want it any other way.

-Dad

Second Day in a row of working from home

Hello all,

It is so nice to work from home this week. Most of the people in my office have taken the week off so I really do not have any reason to be "in the office" with a bunch of empty desks. I get to save some money on gas and get my work done. It is a nice change of pace from driving to Overland Park five times a week.

-Andy

Working from home today

Hello all,

I am working from home today to get more stuff done on the Avaya project for eVergance. I have less distractions at home than at work. I can sit in my own chair and work at my desk. I've accomplished a lot today and hope to be able to work from home tomorrow as well.

-Andy