Wow! The silence!

I did not realize that it has been so long since my last update to our family news! Well, I guess it is time to add some tidbits to our page!

Linda and I are settled into our new place in Tulsa and have been doing our gardening to make it more presentable. We have had most of the grandkids over at one time or another. Jose's kids have been over twice now and we have had some great times with Chandler, Chasity, and Caden. Amiya, Matthew and Chelsea's daughter, has even been over once with Jose' and his kids.

Landon and Kayla have been over a couple of times with Kadence (she has even come over and spent time with Grandma and Grandpa!). Those visits were a blast!

Of course, Michael and Drew have been over a few times and we have enjoyed being closer to them. Michael has purchased his first car! A blue PT Cruiser has now made him mobile and out on the town!

Frances and Rainee, Chloe, and Alec have been frequent visitors to our place though we are still lacking the visit of Brody Million. We look forward to having him over to visit. He has been home for a couple of weeks now though he did have a bit of a scare a couple of weekends ago when he had to be hospitalized for a couple of days.

Well, that is about it, we still await Madison and Matthew Jr. to visit - hint hint Matt!

Fr. Boniface T. Copeliin, O.S.B. Celebrates his first Mass

From the procession, to the Homily to Consecration of the Body and Blood of Christ, Fr. Boniface seemed like he was Born to be a priest. I had the priviledge and supreme Honor of receiving the Eucharist from my old friend, ordained to the Priesthood last Thursday. As these pictures may not show, Boniface is a man of extreme humility and Grace of God. It was so nice to laugh with my friend again, see him in his moment of pride. I am so glad that God has called him to His Priesthood.

Rainee visits Grandparents

This weekend was a fun weekend with Rainee spending the night Friday and spending Saturday with us. We had a blast last night watching College Road Trip, a delightful Disney Family movie!

Blessings Abound!

I just want to make a couple of little "Praise Reports" for this week!

My friend from college, Brother Boniface T. Copelin, O.S.B. is now FATHER Boniface! Thursday he was ordained to the priesthood and I am proud to be at his Thanksgiving Mass this upcoming Sunday morning. It has been a long, humble journey for Fr. Boniface and he is finally a Young Priest! (Okay, 47 may not be young to some of you but Boniface and I are YOUNG!) God has such a wonderful new addition to the Priesthood and I am looking forward to receiving Holy Eucharist from his hands and a blessing.

On another note, there were two birthdays this week, my cousin Terrie Perry. Happy Birthday. She is younger than I but catching up!

Another notable birthday is Paul Bartlett. Paul has been my best friend since High School in Claremore and has been through the ringer with me, a few times! We have made the premiers of Every Star Trek Movie since 1979! We are Still going strong! God bless you too, Paul. Thanks for being there for me all these years!

Jose' and kids visit

New Classroom, New job

Well, here are some new pictures of the new classroom. Monday is the day the new kids come bounding through the doors of Senor Arroyo's new classroom at Zarrow International School!

From The Arroyo Fa...

Wow, Time Flies!

We are finally moved from Keller to Tulsa!



Though it has been an ordeal, from the car alternator going out the week before the move to the gas not being turned on at the new house, we have made it through! We have had the opportunity to have my sister, Christina and her husband Pat and their kids over for a cookout last weekend. This was nice to enjoy family.





With many of the boxes unpacked, though not all, I have had the chance to attend several days of training for the new school. I have my teaching certificate and am ready for my year of residency to commence for my first year back.



Linda and I are working on the new classroom and I am preparing lesson plans for the first day back next Monday! Tomorrow is the official Teachers Report day at Zarrow. We will be meeting the parents on Friday! Time sure flies!

Almost moving on

Well, we are just about completely loaded and ready to leave for Tulsa.

All Packed for Tulsa

St. Joseph, Blessed Virgin Mary and Sacred Heart of Jesus statues lined up and ready for a new garden to grace. (Not to mention a couple of frogs and a turtle among other sundries)

Garage all packed up waiting for a trailer to load it into.

This post is made from my cellphone as we await the arrival of Christina and Pat, with Rob & Amanda in toe. Michael and Drew are expected to be with them when they arrive tonight to camp out on our clean floors to awaken to loading and stuffing the rest of our earthly belongings into their truck, trailer and van.

By Monday morning, our house in Texas will be but a fond memory. We will be living close to our Twelve, yes 12, grandchildren! I will be busy getting my new classroom ready with but a week to make it a new learning home for about 40 5th graders eager to experience their last year at Zarrow!

Madison Leigh Arroyo makes a DOZEN Grandchildren!

Madison Leigh Arroyo was born at 6 pm to Chelsea and Matthew D. Arroyo in Tulsa on July 22nd, 2008. With this new 5 lb, 10 oz addition to the Arroyo family, we now have 12 Grandchildren!



Linda and I will be moving on Sunday to Tulsa where we will be able to be present to all of our grandchildren.



Last Saturday, as Pat and Christina Brown (my sister and brother-in-law) were helping us move, Frances was chasing a plane carrying Brody to Tulsa. With Brody in Tulsa, all twelve of our grandchildren are in Tulsa! Brody remains in the neonatal ICU at St. Francis Hospital but is steadily making progress. Hopefully, by the end of July, he will be able to join his sisters, Rainee and Chloe and brother Alec at their new home.



Continue to keep us in prayers, God is Good, ALL THE TIME!

Harry Wong Came to Town

One of the best parts of the Texas Teachers' Program for my certification is getting the opportunity to see Nationally recognized speakers. Harry Wong is one of those names which just about any teacher can tell you about. I was able to get his autograph on my well-worn First Days of School book, and the picture with the author above. It was awesome to hear him speak and he was definitely worth the traffic (there were almost 3000 people there!) and the crowds!

Sing to the Glory of God!

This is a video taken last week with a visit to Brody by Rainee, Chloe, and Alec.

This week has been one of ups and downs, I received my Oklahoma Teacher Certification today and last week, my Texas Certification. Linda and I got word that we have a house, then, after the brakes went out on the car and rear end had to be repaired, found we couldn't afford to put the deposit down! Brody was denied transportation to Tulsa to be with his parents, so everything looked bleak, to say the least!

“I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much.”

Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

This quote has been ringing in my ears and we have been struggling with our faith but, true to the words I so often use (sometimes simply 'mouth'), God did provide. We have the much-needed deposit money through the Grace of God. Thank you Jesus!

We have the generosity of my sister, Christina, and brother-in-law, Pat to thank as well, they are coming down with a trailer to help us move some of our stuff this weekend into the garage of the new place. That will make a dent of our moving so we can bring a much smaller load next weekend and complete our move.

We are not out of the woods yet, "God has done great things for me and mighty is His Name..." as Mary says in her Magnificat. Keep the Arroyo family, and Brody, in prayers. More to come...

Breakfast With The Millions

The Millions are guests of the Arroyos until we move to Tulsa. Since Brody remains at Hospital, we are all here in Keller, together.

On a sad note, word was received this morning that insurance will not cover moving Brody from Ft. Worth to Tulsa, where his parents live. This is going to pose a huge problem for the Millions, since they do not live in Keller anymore and the Arroyo's are moving to Tulsa soon. We are packing a good deal of our stuff and moving it this weekend, in fact.

Frances was told that they can move Brody to a Tulsa hospital BUT they would have to pay $10,000 up FRONT! Needless to say, this is not an option that is doable at the present. We need prayers friends!

Meet Sr. Arroyo

Wow! This summer is going by FAST! My name is J.A. Arroyo, my family is from Puerto Rico but I have lived in Oklahoma for most of my life (we won't go into how long that has been!). I am married, have six kids, the youngest is 16 and the oldest is 28. My wife and I have ELEVEN Grandchildren! By the end of August, that number will jump to a DOZEN!

We are moving from Keller, TX to Tulsa in the next few weeks. I taught 5th Grade Math and Science in Keller last year but, well, we got too homesick and had to come back to Tulsa! So, we only lived in Texas a short time. I have my Standard Teaching Certification from Texas and I am converting that to Oklahoma certification. My Bachelor's degree comes from Regis University in Denver, CO and is in History and Spanish. I studied at St. Gregory's College in Shawnee, OK as well in Philosophy and Theology.

Once you see me, you will know that I am a bit older, you probably figured that out I am since I have so many grandchildren. I am in my fourth year of teaching, having been in Telecommunications for many years before finding my calling as a teacher. I am passionate about my family, faith and classroom.

When you first walk into my classroom, you will see some Star Trek Models. Those are my hobby. I will have them on shelves, hanging from the ceiling (as allowed) and around! That is what I do in my spare time. This summer, I have worked on the Enterprise NX-01 and finishing touches on the Galileo 7 Shuttlecraft. Follow this link to go to the Blog with pictures!

Status on Brody

Brody is finally able to wear Clothes! 7-13-08

How precious and Tiny life is! Brody's hand can now wrap around two fingers!

His eyes open! Seeing the world, and his mother!

This is a boy that needs to come home! We are still praying for this to happen soon!

Back from Tulsa

Well, we had a visit to Tulsa on Friday and Sat. Linda had a chance to meet my team teacher, Sra. Tshida, and my Principal as well as see my new room. It is big and she was impressed.

From Zarrow, we went on to look for houses. I wish that was as good of a adventure as the first, it was not. We looked at several and just did not have a good feeling about any. There was a duplex but that was six blocks from the highest crime area in Tulsa! It was nice, but not that nice! Sat, we had a bit of a scare with Andrew while we were there and his mother passed along a house for rent close to them. We liked that one and submitted our application. We will hear back Tuesday or Wednesday. Unfortunately, there are a couple ahead of us in line (a couple of applications, not A Couple!). After seeing that house, we saw another one that was also close to the school. We fell in love with that one and applied there as well. We are PRAYING for a house to move to!

The trip is a long one to just go and drive around looking for signs! Keep Drew and his intentions in prayers. We love our son and keep his spiritual wellbeing in prayers constantly before our Lord.

Until next time....
J.

Certified (no longer just Certifiable!)

Well, I am patting myself on the back today! I am now Officially Texas Standard Certified! I am validuntil 2014!
Since I am now official, I was able to apply for my Oklahoma Certification and should know soon about that. I still need all the prayers I can get, I am now in the hands of Oklahoma Department of Education to get my Oklahoma License before school starts!

Keeping my eye on the prize...

J

Thoughts on Good and Evil and a video

I receive emails from St. Joseph Covenant Keepers and this was included this week:

Random Thoughts: Freedom and evil

"A man who is free to love is free to hate. He who is free to obey is free to rebel. Virtue in its concrete order is possible only in those spheres in which it is possible to be vicious. Man can be a saint only in a world in which it is possible to be a devil! You say,

“Well, if were God, I would destroy evil.”

"Well, if you did that, you would destroy human freedom. God will not destroy freedom. If we do not want any dictators on this earth, certainly we don’t want any dictators in the kingdom of heaven. Those who would blame God for allowing man freedom to go on hindering and thwarting his works are like those who see blotches and smudges and errors in the student’s notebook and would condemn the teacher for snatching away the book and making the copy himself.

"Just as the object of the teacher is sound education and not the production of neat and well-written copybooks, so the object of God is the development of souls and not the production of biological entities."

By Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (t 1979), Servant of God.

Below is a short video of Rainee, Chloe and Alec as we went up to visit Brody in the hospital over the weekend.

Another tidbit of news: My certification has been recommended and I should receive my Texas Standard Certification soon!

Brody Not Out Of The Woods

Last night was a night to thank God and be anxious at the same time. Brody reminded us that he, though having done incredibly well this past two weeks, is still Eight Weeks before his due date! He stopped breathing in his mother's arms last night and had to be resuscitated.

As Frances watched them revive by bagging her 3 pound, 12 ounce baby boy in the NICU, she was all too aware of how fragile life is. They did successfully revive Brody and told Frances that it would be alright. I guess it is easy, when you work around the fragile all the time, to see things in 'alright' terms. For those of us that do not encounter it everyday, or when we do encounter it, it is our own flesh and blood, it is hard to see it as "alright".

This episode did remind us, and them I hope, that Brody is still in the woods, that he is still early and his lungs are still not to be taken for granted and are still developing. No matter how well he is doing, his body still is not ready to be in the world just yet and needs our prayers and the Hand of God. Though he was born two weeks ago, Brody was not due until August 31st, still almost 2 Months away!

So, please, keep him in prayers. I believe in prayer, it works! God Bless you all and thank you for your prayers.

Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day! Alec, Chloe and Linda are at the pool at Dannie Needham's, our past Grand Knight, for their annual pool party. "A Good Time was Had by ALL"

Alec jumped the gun and dived into the pool. Linda rescued him! He was so excited that he forgot he didn't know how to swim.

Hot dogs, Hamburgers and all kinds of goodies were brought by the Knights and Ladies to the party. Good eats and good company.

Chloe and Rainee found friends to play with and J. had a blast playing volleyball in the pool. Oh, well, we had fun, though we did not come close to winning!