Our Mediterranean Vacation

We had the awesome priveledge of joining Matt's parents and his sister's family on a 12 day Mediterranean cruise! We stopped in ports in Greece, Italy and Turkey. We thought we would share some family photos with you.

The Island of Rhodes, Greece

Aunt Laurie, Betsy and Grandma

Athens, Greece

The Parthenon

The Corinth Canal, Greece

Hannah

Naples, Italy

The Ruins of Pompei

Pisa, Italy

Hannah and Cousin April

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Betsy

Florence, Italy

Matt, Daniel, Hannah

Katelyn

Rome, Italy

The Burns Bunch at the Colisseum

The Trevi Fountain

Grandma and the Girls

Daniel

Betsy at the Vatican

Izmir, Turkey

The Ruins of Ephesus

Betsy and Hannah

The Ephesian Stadium where the Apostle Paul preached Christianity.

Istanbul, Turkey

The Blue Mosque

Burns Kids inside the Haggia Sophia

Shopping in the Grand Bazaar

Scenes from the ship

Chelsea, Josh, Betsy, Aunt Laurie, and Lori

Food, food, and more food!

Miniature golf on the ship

Daniel with cousin McKynna.

Almost the whole group!

Sa-la-la-la-laaaa-La-la-la-lah

The Burns Bunch girls had a great time in Salalah, Oman. Thought we'd share some of our photos with you ... in case you never get there!

Driving for hours and hours through the "Empty Quarter" we thought we were on the face of the moon. Talk about nothing!

We saw hundreds of camels along the way - including this one that wanted to get a closer look at us!

Once we got there, the scenery was spectacular!

Betsy getting sprayed by water at the "blowhole".
Other on-lookers!

The girls had Henna painted on their hands - don't worry, it's not permanent!

The girls with friends at the festival.

We hiked up to a beautiful waterfall. It was worth the rocky climb!

Katelyn

Hannah

Betsy

Lori

Hide "them" under a bushel?

Jesus tells us clearly that His followers are the light of the world. In not these exact words, He tells us to light our lamps and cover them up would be ridiculous and wrong.

Parenting, I have found, is a practical but difficult application of this principle. How does hiding our light under a bushel relate to parenting? I'm glad you asked!

Our daughters, as followers of Jesus, are also "the light of the world." Paul spoke to the Philippians like his beloved children when he encouraged them to "be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world."

So what gives us the right as parents to withhold opportunities from these vibrant "lights" who are burning with a passion to be Christ' royal ambassadors? Isn't this what we should be preparing them for from Day 1? Shouldn't we be longing for these moments when they too choose to go and shine their light to a dark and needy world?

Yes we should. Easier said than done.

Yesterday was one of those "moments". Hannah and Katelyn were two of 10 high school girls selected to represent their school on a community service mission to northern Tanzania, an east African country. They have been counting the days down and yesterday, at 3 p.m., we launched our two oldest "shining arrows" to be lights in Africa.

We received a phone call from our school Principal around 11:30 p.m. that the girls had arrived safely in Tanzania. But I noticed this morning, even though it was Saturday, that I didn't have the best night sleep last night. :-)

The girls will be gone for 11 days. Their itinerary includes: playing with children at an orphanage, visiting recipient families of cows donated by the school, digging foundations and preparing concrete blocks for the building of a new classroom for a local school, painting classrooms, preparing lessons and activities for local children. On the last two days they will be treated to an overnight camping trip and guided safaris to enjoy the African wildlife and scenery.

This isn't their first excursion to another country. We've launched our shining arrows before on three short-term trips to Peru. But every time they go it is a step of faith to not hide our lights under a bushel!

Please pray for Hannah and Katelyn to shine brightly on this trip. The focus of this school-sponsored trip is different than the ones they have taken before, but we are praying for the same result - that our daughters will "appear as lights in the world" and they will let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

And the winner is...

All dressed up and definitely some place to go! The annual Sports Banquet to be exact. Here are Katelyn, Betsy, and Hannah looking NOT like they just ran a race or played a game!



We are nearing the end of our first school year in Dubai. Our school year exceeded our expectations in many ways but in particular in the area of sports. Although they have played volleyball before, this is their first year to compete in many sports like Soccer, Basketball and Track.

A couple of weeks ago, our girls took home some awards at the Annual Sports Banquet. Betsy won the "Most Improved Player" award on her Basketball team, Katelyn took home the "Most Improved Player" award in Track, and Hannah took home the Most Valuable Player award in volleyball AND the overall "Outstanding Athlete of the Year" award.

Needless to day, we were very proud of each of our girls for not only their hard work and dedication but especially for being good team players and exhibiting a Christ-like attitude to their teammates and opponents.

And the winner is....God gets more glory! We praise Him for helping our daughters not only survive their first year but to thrive!

Photos, Photos, Photos!

Hi there! It's Lori this time. I just thought I would include some of the scenes that we see on a daily basis around here. I hope you enjoy this glimpse into our lives.

Scenes from the city... The ones they want you to see

Reality scenes from the city...

This photo is inadequate to describe what the traffic can be like here.

Yes this is a man riding on the bucket! It was taken looking out over our balcony!

It takes a lot of these to power up the world's fastest growing city!

Double-dog dare: Love one another

On my recent personal retreat, I was caught off guard as I listened to an old familiar hymn, "Be Thou My Vision." I was overwhelmed with the love of my Heavenly Father for me.

I found myself resting in this Love. The by-product was peace. This displaced any anxious thought I had about the future. "Perfect love casts out fear". 1 John 4:18

My former pastor in San Antonio, Dr. David Walker, used to say all the time, "The essence of a kingdom is the presence of a king." No king. No kingdom. I've found this to be true. When King Jesus is ruling and reigning my life, His Kingdom (righteousness, peace, joy, power) is ushered in and manifested in me and through me.

Now, stay with me as I shift gears on this subject of love.

Love is defined many ways in 1 Cor. 13. One way is this: "Love does not take into account a wrong suffered." I can think of no greater "joy-robber" and "peace-stopper" in my life than when I focus on the imperfect actions or attitudes of others. In other words, love lets go.

Although I don't agree at all with the substance and "theology" of the old Beatles song, there is at least wisdom found in the title: "Let it be"!

If just to maintain our own well-being, that should be reason enough for us to "let go" and love. But there is so much more at stake - especially when the people who have wronged us or have disappointed us are brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Jesus said, "All men will know you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35. And again, Jesus prays to His Father in John 17:23, "I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that You did send me, and did love them, even as You did love me."

So go ahead. Let go. Love. I double-dog dare you. Love God by yielding to King Jesus and obeying His "new" command: "Love one another."

Not only will the presence of the King's reign usher in His Kingdom (peace and joy) in your life, a watching world will know that you are a follower of Jesus and, most importantly, will be drawn to Him.

How is your soul?

Today at church we had a visiting pastor from Arizona speak on the soul. When Jesus said the greatest commandment is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength", what exactly did He mean by "your soul"?

David, the shepherd, said of Jesus His Good Shepherd, "He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads us beside quiet waters; He restores my soul." Our visiting pastor indicated that the fact David's soul needed restoring implies that his soul was depleted!

All of our souls tend to get depleted from time to time. The busyness of life is a constant drain on the soul.

He went on to share how God uses solitude to retore us, refine us, and strengthen us. Look how God used solitude in the lives of Moses, David, and Paul to prepare them to be used by Him. Even Jesus Himself had a rhythm to His ministry - engagement and retreat; engagement and retreat.

He challenged us to develop this discipline of solitude even in our daily, weekly, monthly, annual schedules. What a confirmation it was to me on what I have been sensing my soul needs. In fact, just yesterday I submitted a request for some time off to get away for a 3 day personal retreat next week. I'm going to head to the mountains to reflect on God's faithfulness, rest in His love, and receive any marching orders He might have for me.

Speaking of retreat, Lori is at a 3 day women's conference this weekend here in Dubai. Ann Graham-Lotz is the keynote speaker and nearly 600 women are attending. Lori is on the praise team and is, I trust, even as I type this post, enjoying using her talents of singing to help lead in praise and worship of our great God. He alone is worthy!

So, how is your soul? "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations." Psalm 46:10

Babel On

Dr. Mike Hyde, optometrist from The Woodlands, Texas, came to Dubai last week to minister at Sonapur labor camp. Mike is an incredible testimony of God's grace. Since his pursuit of following Christ last November, Mike discovered/received a new talent - the gift of song writing. He has written 18 songs since last November!

Make it 19. He forwarded me his latest work today and with his permission, I've posted it for you below. I haven't heard the tune yet but the lyrics - summing up his experience in Dubai - are stunning. The song title is an obvious play on words. Dubai is trying to build the world's tallest building, The Burj Dubai - dubbed by many as the modern day Tower of Babylon. By the way, the picture below shows the structure now 109 stories tall. Projected height is about 160 stories but the exact height has not been unveiled yet. Projected completion date is Fall 2008.

Thanks Mike! Keep using your gifts bro!




Babel On

The wise man built on solid rock but this nation rose from shifting sand
Through sweat and blood, mire and mud, the towers climb on backs of man
The poorest poor pay the price but no one stops to count the cost
The lonely cries from Sonapor that mourns for hope that’s all but lost

Chorus:
Pierce this shroud of darkness in the burning sand as we
Babel on, Babel on
Lead us to deliverance in this foreign land as we
Babel on, Babel on
The clock is winding down now it’s the final stand as we
Babel on, Babel on
Reach down in this place and touch the broken soul of man, why do we
Babel on, Babel on?

Covered in a thick veneer, religion’s the façade
We worship at the temple bank, our Money is our God
Amusement parks and tennis stars, they’re golfing in the sand
So once again were gathered here to test the strength of man
Were from every corner of the globe to execute the plan
To build the Tower Babel, to the heavens now it stands
But we’ve become slave drivers and abusing “lesser men”
We’ve got one hand in a pot of gold and a whip in the other hand

Wading through the Sea of Humanity as one by one the tide brings in more
Arabic, Hendi, Telegu, from Africa to the Far East too
They wash up here on desperation’s shore
Tucked outside the City, work camps out of sight,
People seen but never heard or learning of their plight
With a landfill on the left, a cemetery on the right
Treat them like trash throughout the day, and bury bodies here at night

Praying for "Lift"-off

My friend Kevin was back in town last week to nurture the Dubai Camps for Christ movement started earlier this year. (See link in the right-most column on this page.) Suffice it to say, momentum is building.

It appears that Jesus is breaking the break of His Word shared with one Telagu-speaking (Indian) congregation at one labor camp and is multiplying it - giving it to other workers to feed to other people groups and at other camps!

Here's an example of what I mean...

While Kevin was here, he led a “Train the Trainer” event for 30 people interested in replicating this discipleship ministry at other labor camps and among other language groups. One couple in attendance was an Egyptian couple. They told me of a group of Egyptian believers the husband has been working with for a few months. They asked if I wanted to meet them and explore the possibly of initiating a similar bible-storying track among this group. We went the next night.

We walked into the dimly-lit, one-room villa last about 9 p.m. These Egyptian brothers were expecting us and were eager to talk. All of them have been in Dubai less than a year and came here to work for a “lift” (elevator) company. Most of these men left young families back in Egypt. I was saddened by their basic living conditions: 15 men sharing a very small room and sleeping on thin mattresses on the floor. But I was encouraged by their heart-felt sharing. They spoke of their loneliness and their struggle to live the Christian life in this land.

God led me to share with them the parable of the 10 Virgins in Matthew 25 – five were prepared with enough oil for their lamps when the bridegroom returned, five were not. We talked about what it means to be ready for Jesus’ return – our lamps full of oil (walking in the Spirit) and being found doing what he asked us to do. We talked about Jesus’ last words to his disciples – the mandate to make disciples of all nations. We prayed. God broke into our meeting as the men cried out to Him in surrender.

Tomorrow night, I will meet with these Egyptian brothers again. I want to express to them what God has put on my heart over the last week. My goal is simply to equip and mobilize them to make disciples. Should they agree to work with me, I will commit to meet with them every week for the next 3 to 4 months. They have potential to share God's love with people I could never reach. There are tens of thousands of Egyptians in Dubai. And of course, they are much closer in culture to our priority target group.

If all goes well tomorrow, we will begin the next week by teaching them a story track on some of the prophets (Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist, etc.). Then we will focus our study on the life of Christ.

Studying this prophet story track will accomplish two objectives: 1) it will build them up in their knowledge of God and His Word and 2) it will allow them to build bridges with friends with whom they share these stories.

If you are reading this, we need you to pray for us. We need your church to pray for us. A church planting movement “lift”-off among our people group will not happen without MUCH prayer and FERVENT prayer from God’s people. Thank you in advance for your partnership in the Gospel through prayer.

Tennis anyone?

This week, a local church in town hosted “The Great Commission Conference”. Hannah and I attended the first two nights along with a couple of hundred other people. In a word, the conference was awesome. The dad/daughter time was even better.

Dr. T.V. Thomas was the featured keynote speaker. Dr. Thomas emphasized being Christ’ witnesses more than doing evangelism. After all, Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “… you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem…and to the ends of the earth.” Without diluting the need to present the Gospel, he encouraged us to seize divine appointments to “defrost our frozen world” with acts of kindness in Jesus’ name.

On the third night, Hannah and I thought we were taking a break from the conference to attend The Dubai Tennis Championship. In reality, the evening turned out to be a “lab experiment” to apply what we had learned the previous two nights! You might call our lab experiment, in tennis terms, a “lob” from heaven.


THE WARM-UP

Dubai is currently hosting some of the world’s best tennis players at The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Some friends of ours enjoy going every year and this year is no exception. But their schedule prevented them from going Wednesday and they kindly offered us their two tickets. How this would work with family in town, I wasn’t quite sure. But I quickly said “yes”, figuring this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Surely someone in our family would be able to go!

As it turned out, Hannah and I made the “sacrifice” to go and spent our third night in a row together. We arrived about 45 minutes early before the day’s featured 2nd round match: Roger Federer (SUI) vs. Daniele Bracciali (ITA). Federer, still maintaining his # 1 ranking in the world, is carving out his place in tennis history as one of the best players of all time.

As we walked into Center Court Arena, there were still plenty of seats to choose from. We surveyed the grandstands but the view looked better from the other side. It always does. We found some great seats, took a few pictures before the camera batteries died, and settled in for the big show as we sipped on our frappocinos. (I know what you’re thinking… “really suffering for Jesus, huh Matt?”)




Soon the empty seats next to us were filled. A professional looking man from Sri Lanka sat down next to me along with his family. I introduced myself and we began to talk. We enjoyed each others company and prepared to watch some world-class tennis.


THE LOB

The match was done in roughly 90 minutes. Federer was… well... he was Roger Federer. Even on an off day, he advanced relatively easily, 7-5, 6-3.

That’s when it happened! Federer approached the net to shake hands with his latest victim. He took a ball and struck it high into the air. It sailed… in our direction! I thought to myself, “Hey, I’ve got a chance to catch this thing.” The thought dissipated though as the ball sailed over my head by a good 20 feet. I had almost turned away, when the ball, as with some “heavenly english”, came bouncing back in our direction!! I stood on my toes, clutched the coveted ball with both hands, and pumped both fists with pure joy! As I handed Hannah her souvenir, a memory was made.


THE VOLLEY

My new friend, sitting next to me, congratulated me on my stroke of “good luck”. I replied that it was the Lord who had blessed me.

We sat down. The ball hadn’t been in Hannah’s jacket pocket 5 minutes when the Lord volleyed back, “That ball isn’t yours; it’s mine. I want to use it for My purposes.” As a good friend of mine says, “We’ve been blessed, to be a blessing.”

Somehow I knew what the Lord wanted us to do. My friend next to me had a son about 12 years old who was with him. The son loves tennis. He loves playing tennis. He loves watching tennis. This ball, straight from Roger Federer’s racquet would mean the world to him. That was it - the Lord wanted us to give our “trophy” to the boy. Afterall, what are the chances that we would sit in those seats, next to this family, the night AFTER two great nights of teaching on seizing divine appointments to be Christ’ witnesses? Another good friend of mine would answer, “100%... when you’re a willing witness.”

I whispered the idea to Hannah. She smiled and sealed the deal when she said, “Besides, I didn’t even know who Roger Federer was until tonight!” Having put the tennis ball on the altar, the next question to be settled was how we were going to do it? With the conference teaching still fresh in mind, we knew however we did it, somehow we needed to exalt Jesus Christ and not us.


THE SERVE

The second match of the night featured the world’s #2 ranked player, Rafael Nadal from Spain. His opponent was a tough Russian, Igor Andreev. Nadal advanced after a hard-fought match that went all the way to a tie-breaker in the last set.

We were just a few games into the first set of this match when the Lord gave me the idea. I slipped out of my seat to get some nachos and popcorn. I borrowed a pen from the concessionaire, scribbled a note on a napkin, and stuffed the napkin in my pocket – ready to be pulled out at the right time. I made my way back to my seat.

After our “meal”, my friend and his family began to stir. This was it! They were getting ready to leave and we had to act fast. I motioned to my friend to wait. Hannah handed me the ball, I wrapped it in the note/napkin, and I told him secretly, “We want to give this to your son. There’s a note on the napkin. Please read it and give it to your son.”

My friend from Sri Lanka couldn’t believe it. Stunned and smiling, he said, “Thank you.” He said he wanted to stay in touch with me and proceeded to give me his mobile number. Mission accomplished.


ACE!

Oh... the note... what did it say? (I almost forgot!) Simply this:

"Jesus Christ once said, 'It is better to give than to receive.' He told us to give you this ball. We hope you will receive it as a gift from Him. Your friends, Matthew and Hannah"

Do you ever get amazed at God’s creative ability to demonstrate His love and kindness to those who are lost? Truly He is willing that NONE would perish. So go ahead - BE Jesus’ witness today. "Defrost your frozen world" by serving up an "ace" of kindness in His match-less name!

Burns Bunch Budget-Busting Birthday Bonanza!

The Burns Bunch survived 5 birthday celebrations in 25 days!!! That's enough to bust anybody's budget! But we sure had fun doing it!

Hannah and Katelyn started us off on January 29 turning 15. We had a fun family outing going bowling. See "15 candles" post for photos.

Matt's birthday came next on February 8. He says the view of his 30's out of his rear-view mirror is nice but the view ahead looks pretty adventurous! Matt enjoyed IBC rootbeer and two pecan pies on his birthday!

Lori's birthday was next on February 16 as she entered the most common age known to man - 39 and holding! We believe you honey! Lori's reward for enduring 6 months in Dubai including a Fall season without colors was a nice spa treatment at one of the local malls! She deserved it!

Finally, Daniel capped off the Burns Bunch Birthday Barage on February 22 with presents and a delicious cake. No turning back to "pull-ups" - we're going big boy underwear from here on out!!!

Daniel had so much fun bowling on Hannah and Katelyn's birthday that he was counting the days down until his birthday so he could "knock down pins" once again!!

And he received his very own set of wooden bowling pins for the apartment. Daniel and Dad came up with a great game - world soccer bowling!

Brownfield Blessings!

Lori's parents arrived last Wednesday and had a very uneventful trip half -way around the world! They survived the marathon 12 hour plane ride from New York City to Dubai.

They arrived bearing LOADS of Brownfield Blessings! Thanks to all the G.A.'s at First Baptist Church, Brownfield, Texas for all the creative cards and letters! We appreciate you!!!

Thanks too for the suitcases full of graham crackers, Paydays, Reeses Pieces, muffin mixes, etc. etc. sent from the good folks of Brownfield. Your tangible expresssions of love and encouragement were all of that and more! We love and appreciate "ya'll"! Mission accomplished!

We have have tried to keep Kermitt and Janice moving through the first few days to help them through the jet lag. Their "clocks" are getting regulated and we have had lots of fun showing them the sites.

The Shults' camera has been getting a work-out! I feel sorry for those who have to sit through the hundreds of photos of their slide show! It may take days to see all the photos! At any rate, here's a small sampling of shots!

Kermitt and Janice at the Souk Madinat Jumeriah where we enjoyed a nice Italian dinner by the water front!

They know how to do malls here in Dubai! Note all the locals enjoying their coffee at Starbucks!

They also know how to do landscaping! Here's a shot of just one of hundreds of "round-a-bouts" throughout the city.

Kermitt and Janice enjoyed their tour of the beautiful Jumeriah mosque.

The extremes... two views from the same parking deck at Mall of the Emirates. Construction cranes abound (above) and finished work beauties to behold (below).

A glimpse of "greatness"

Yesterday, I did something I’ve never done before. I attended a pro golf tournament - the Dubai Desert Classic. I received an offer for a free pass from a friend who couldn’t attend that day – the final round of the tournament. Lori and I had a lunch meeting already scheduled with an older, dear couple who is retiring from our company. I didn’t know what time we would be done, so I told my friend that I probably wouldn’t go. He told me to call him if I changed my mind.

Lori and I finished up our lunch meeting around 2 p.m. I assumed it was too late to make the tournament, but I checked the leaderboard on-line just in case. To my surprise, the last group was still on Hole 8. Tiger Woods was still lurking two-shots back on Hole 9. “What if it goes to sudden death like last year?” I couldn’t resist.

I grabbed a cab, picked up the free-pass, and headed towards the golf course. I knew it was going to be close. I arrived well after 3 p.m. I felt a little childish asking the Lord to allow me to at least see Tiger on the last two holes.

As I got out of the cab, I wasted no time. I walked straight to Hole 17 and nestled myself in near the green. I saw one group approach. Some “no-name” Europeans. They were the third to last group. That would mean Tiger’s group was next. Yes!

Then I saw him - bigger than life. Tiger stepped out into the fairway – true to form wearing his red shirt in the final round. He addressed the ball. I held my breath – afraid to cough or make even the slightest noise. You could have heard a pin drop as Tiger’s ball dropped out of the sky with a solid “thud” landing only 5 feet from the hole. The gallery thundered. Greatness.

Still on a cloud, I floated over to the 18th Hole. Finding room near the green was impossible so I settled in about 50 yards away. Then, I looked up and to my surprise, there was another living legend, tennis king Roger Federer! I must confess, even though cameras were prohibited, I took out my phone and grabbed a quick photo as he strolled by just 5 feet in front of me. Another brush with greatness. “I cannot believe this!”

As if that wasn’t enough, I witnessed another sports legend at the trophy presentation. Michael Shumacher, Formula One Racing Phnom, came forward to present the runner-up trophy to Ernie Els. Although I’ve never watched a single lap of Mr. Schumacher’s career, I could sense that this man commanded the respect of the gallery – certainly more knowledgeable about racing than me! Greatness. (I’ll take their word for it.)

Then, to top off my big hall of fame sports day, I got up early Monday morning to watch a masterful performance by MVP Quarterback Peyton Manning in Super Bowl XLI. Greatness. That sums up Peyton Manning.

But what is “greatness”, after all? Certainly, no one would argue that these gifted athletes – Woods, Federer, Schumacher, and Manning – have reached the pinnacle of their respective sports because they have mastered specific skills. But that’s just it, our entertainment-addicted culture measures greatness on performance. And though the annals of time may preserve their “greatness” for a while, their trophies and records will some day, undoubtedly be forgotten.

Heaven’s perspective on greatness is drastically different. Jesus said that if you want to be great in His Kingdom, you must be a servant.

So, “upon further review”, I was in the presence of true greatness yesterday. It just wasn’t at the golf course. Remember the lunch we had with the couple that is retiring? By heaven’s account, these two – Gerry and Arylis Milligan – are truly “great servants”. Gerry and Arylis have lived in obscurity on this side of the planet for 30 years serving our Lord Jesus and our organization with excellence and faithfulness.

Thanks Gerry and Arylis for modeling for so many of us what true “greatness” is all about. You will be missed but your legacy lives on!

15 candles!

I can remember as if it were yesterday. "D" day - January 29, 1992. Lori was "great with children". The twins would make their great entry into the world and turn their mommy and daddy's world upside down. We're still trying to recover! My dad asked me a penetrating question. "Son, are you ready for a 20 year marathon?" I had no idea.

Well, Dad, we're 3/4 of the way through the race and turning the corner for the last 5 years. I'm not sure what I was thinking but I bought both Father of the Bride - Part 1 and Part 2 - the other day. Just thinking about walking my daughters down the aisle sent me into an emotional tail-spin. Ok, Ok. That's enough of that. This is turning into an on-line therapy session!

We had fun celebrating by going bowling! Daniel had his first experience bowling and actually beat some of his sisters. I won't embarrass them by mentioning their names!!

Cheese! Cheese!

Ice Cream! Ice Cream!

Queso!

What Daniel lacks in form, he makes up with body english!