Happy Mother's Day! (tomorrow)

I would like to give a public shout out to my wonderful wife Stephanie, who just so happens the be the mother of my two super-cool boys. She does a great job with them, and I think I picked them a pretty good mom. When we're at home in Omaha, it seems like she is doing something fun and interesting with them every day, be it the zoo, the children's museum, going to the park, taking a walk/"exploring", or whatever. In fact, on a couple of occasions, while putting Caleb to bed, he says, "It can't be time for bed yet, Daddy, we haven't done anything FUN yet!!" When I ask him what he thinks is fun, he rattles off the above list and says Mommy ALWAYS does something fun before it's time to go to bed. It's true, part of that is just another one of Caleb's schemes to avoid bed, but I think you get the point.

She is also an incredibly good sport to go trouncing around the globe with me while having two small (and very stubborn!) kids in tow. She just ups and learns how to cook from scratch, how to grocery shop in a 4th world country only once a month, and how to deal with tropical bugs everywhere including cockroaches crawling out of (freshly bought) cereal boxes. I love the way she supports me and at least lets me believe sometimes that I'm able to call the shots! Seriously, though, she is a great, smart, funny lady and I'm glad that she's my partner in life and the mother of my boys. Happy Mother's Day Stephanie!

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank my dad for picking such a great mom for my brothers and sisters and I. She was always the first to listen, the last to lose her temper, and wanted nothing more than for her kids to know Jesus and succeed in life. She was a real tender, sensitive lady, and while the world has been worse off these last almost 12 years without her, heaven is even better. Love you Mom! Can't wait to see you again and introduce you to the mom of my kids!