To all of my family members and friends... thank you for your love and support!

Highlights:

1) May 21 - June 6 My parents returned safely from their Safari in Tanzania, Africa

2) June 17-August 2 I shall be gone this summer so I can attend the high school camp at Camp Alandale in the moutains of Julian (www.campalandale.org). Then, I shall go to Romania to work in an orphanage with Heart 2 Heart International Ministries for 5 weeks (www.h2hint.org).

3) April-June 17 My cousin David graduated as a sniper at Camp Pendleton after 12 grueling weeks of training. He has been visiting my family on the weekends for the last 3 months, and he is returning to Japan now, and then he'll start his first tour to Iraq. Some of my favorite times with him were our visits to Barnes & Noble, our walks on local trails, and our times together at my church.

This is a picture of my parents and my brothers and myself taken inside Jared's restaurant. He is the manager of a restaurant next to a newly renovated track in Boise, Idaho. It was a special time for me to see my brothers since we all live in different states now.

Also, it was a wonderful time for me to get to know Laura, Jared's amazing girlfriend. She is studying at Cal State San Marcos to be an elementary teacher. He even said the "L" word to Laura a few weeks ago, so I am happy that he has found someone very special -smile

Here is a picture of my 11th grade English class. It was an honor and privilege to teach them this year. I am thankful to God that He helped sustain me with energy, passion, patience, discernment and care for my students.

Next year, I shall be teaching College Prep 11th grade, SEI 11 grade (sheltered for outgoing ELD students), and ELD 2 (a class for students learning English). It shall be a challenge to have the entire range of leveled English courses at the same time, but I am thankful to my fellow staff members who are a great aid and support.

I went to go visit my Indian family in May, and I am so thankful that they have helped mentor me in my Christian walk. Also, they are a lot of fun too! They were teaching me a new video game called "Guitar Hero." I must give Tosh the prize of the "Best Guitar Face."

Here's Tosh and Ohio rockin' out...

I hope to update this blog after I return from Romania with pictures about my experience. I will be very limited in access to email, so forgive me if I am very slow to respond until I return on August 2nd.

Here is a verse that shall be my theme for this summer:

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit"

Psalm 34:18