The First School Christmas Play

That first Christmas play, for some of us (me) I have no memory of it (thank you God), for others it may have been something a bit frightening.  I mean think about it.  Here is a group of pre-K kids who are all under five, us parents wanting to be PROUD of our little bundles of joys, encourage them to get in front of a horde of Paparzi wanna be, photo taking, video recording, yelling crowd of parents.  Who, by the way, are all vying for that Ultimate photo opportunity spot.

So looking at this scene from a child's point of view it is a wonder that they can even get up on the stage, let alone perform.  My little one is on the right and her reaction is so funny.  As they go up to the mic the two Cats have the line, "But it is dark in here."  The first girl says her line, than bolts back to her spot on the stage, to which my daughter starts to say her line than realizes she is alone and turns tail (literally, she loved her Kitty tail) and does not finish her line.  Too cute.

Thanksgiving wishes

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and it is a time to spend with Family, loved ones, and friends. A time that we reach out to our relationships, eat too much food, have a good excuse for being lazy, and hopefully reflect on the many things we are thankful for.

Thankful, according to Wikipedia, is a positive emotion or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received. All of us have received something, no matter how small and it is our attitude that defines our outlook on life. Are you thankful?

...always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. - Ephesians 5:20

Is it too soon for Christmas?

This was fun last year and this year JibJab, along with OfficeMax, have updated and added new dance moves to everyone's favorite Elf Yourself competition. My two little girls get the biggest kick out of seeing their Mom and Dad dance across the stage.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Of course I needed to have a bit more fun, so decided I would add my parents into a video of their own. So here they are, along with their dog Max, showing off those Christmas disco moves!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Watch out - My teen just got her license

Oh that wondrous feeling of freedom, the bliss of independence, that life marker we all remember, receiving our drivers license and heading out on our own for the first time. My daughter made a decision to wait until she was 18 to apply for her driver's license (as a parent I had no problem with this). Today her step-mom took her over to the DMV and less than 30 minutes later my daughter was coming back smiling and radiating confidence, or maybe that was fear? We all remember feeling excited, nervous, or more or less just plain scared but man what an adrenalin rush.

I am proud of my daughter, who continues to work hard while going to college and being the best she can be.

Twitter - Connecting to people online

Twitter - the next social myspace phenomenon? Who knows but one thing I do know that in the few short months I have been using this micro-blogging site I have turned acquaintances into friendships. Meaning that in the past I would see someone and while passing would, say hi, how are you, what's going on...to walking out of our way to engage in meaningful conversation that does not need the usual introductory phrases to get going.

One of our associate pastors and now someone I can call a friend, recently posted on his blog about a vision he had for our Church. His vision is one of a community that shares when together but also continues to grow and share while apart, using a twitter or another such medium.

Recently when responding to a group of fellow servants I wrote this about twitter:

"Now, for the last mention and that is the online community, which seems to be growing at Journey. The example I will use is Tara's husband and we all know him from his Service Hosting, Rod Kaya. Rod was someone that I would see, maybe say hi, he'd say hi back, and than we would go on our way. Through the online world of blogs (RodsProd provides some wonderful insight to the behind the scenes of Journey), Facebook, and Twitter Rod and I discovered that we had much more in common than either would have guessed (Sports, Gadgets, Books, etc...). Now when we see each other we have conversations, not just passing greetings. Also, with something as simple as Twitter when I see my online friends in person, instead of wasting valuable time trying to catch up with their life happenings I can get straight to the point (e.g. how was the trip? You lost to Todd on Fantasy Football. So you like Target Orange Slurpees? You are a Phillies Fan) well, you get the point. "

Want to see what I am doing, just look in the right hand column to see my twitter updates.

Lastly, I want to share this two minute and 25 second video on twitter in plain English, enjoy and I hope to see you on twitter:

The Great Pumpkin

Okay, I didn't get this idea myself but the below PowerPoint presentation is based on an idea I got from an old family friend Marko. He used to bring these wild, zany, crazy, whacked out (you get the idea) presentations in to our Middle School group and the kids loved them. To be honest, as an adult, I think they are pretty cool too.

So, get a pen, keep score, and see how well you remember the cartoon we all saw as kids, "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!"



Uploaded on authorSTREAM by chip.gillespie

Walking On Water

With today's digital imaging this may not be the real thing but I think that if I had just been ejected from a high speed boat I would also be doing my best to get out of the way. Is this a modern day Peter trying his best to walk on water?

Bent Image

Okay - this is way too cool not to post. The folks at Bent Image Lab use what they call, "Tilt-shift lenses sit off-center of the film (or sensor) plane of your camera to produce photos with extremely limited depth of field, giving the effect of a macro shot of a tiny scene. When the effect is matched with the surreal speed boost of many stills strung together into a time-lapse movie."

This produces an amazing affect on the reality we are seeing before our eyes - ENJOY


Bathtub III from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Kassie's First Field Trip

Kassie is enjoying her first year in school, or pre-school. Today she got to take part in her first field trip and went to a local farm for some fun and pumpkin picking at Victoria Gardens, Lakeside, CA. My family back home in Maine always seem to be amazed that we live in such a large city but have farms so close by.

From Kassie's Field Trip 10.01.2008

For the Grandma's

This post is for my family and specifically the Grandmas. Katie and Kassie have been working hard learning their Sunday school lessons and their Sunday school songs and wanted to perform (in their best dress) for Grammie (Jenny's Mom) and Nin (Chip's Mom). They even insisted on 'formal' wear for the performance. I'm not sure if they would be America's Got Talent winners but in my show these two little girls are the Star Attraction!

10 Classic Film Comedies for a Well-Rounded Geek

They just do not make them like they used to. This is a listing of some of the funniest movies of all time and the best part about these movies? You can watch them with your kids, have some laughs at some of the best slapstick comedy on the planet, and not have to worry about the rating.

Of the ten Classic Film Comedies listed I have seen five and will be checking out the others the next time I am at the video store.

World Vision and Walk Their Walk

This is the second year Jenny and I have participated in a very worth-while cause called Walk Their Walk. This effort was started by someone in our local Church, who after spending twelve days in rural Zambia, witnessed first hand the beauty and hope of children living in dire circumstances.

The first annual Walk Their Walk was held on Saturday, September 29, 2007 at Lake Murray Regional Park in La Mesa, California. With nearly 200 walkers and volunteers present walktheirwalk successfully raised $27,215.25! The money raised was directed to help build Siantete Basic School in Twachiyanda in Zambia. Please view photos of construction here.

If you would like to provide a donation to the efforts for improving the lives of children, living in the poverty stricken country of Zambia you may visit the team's online giving page at: http://www.firstgiving.com/jennifergillespie

The Procrastination Flow Chart

Okay - have you been looking for the ultimate decision matrix, flow chart, what am I going to do with all of this time on my hands, guide? Look no further. Below you will find a graphic representation of years of research into complex algorithms and scientific studies to determine the ULTIMATE process flow for the bewildered and confused. Do not take this lightly, this graphic is a geometric representation of a step-by-step solution paradigm with flow lines for the purpose of leading you, blah, blah, blah. I think I'll just finish this post later....

The Little Drummer Girl

This past weekend we took a family trip north to Bakersfield to visit family and friends. Bakersfield is the city my wife used to call home, before moving to San Diego, and both her brother and sister still live there. It is always nice to visit family and see friends and all enjoyed are last holiday weekend of the summer.

As you can see, Katie was excited to play Uncle Jesse's drums and what a drum set it is!

First Week Of School

Wow - Katie is getting to be such a big girl and this week is one of those life marking milestone weeks, she started her first year of school. She was so excited on her first day and continues to look forward to going to school everyday (yes, I know it has only been four days). Our hope now is the excitement of learning and being in school stays with her but we know too well that, like all things new, the excitement tends to fade overtime.

Today, Mom picked Katie up from school and she was bubbling over and could not wait to go to school tomorrow (Friday). Why? Her teacher (Mrs. Dziaks, pronounce Jucks, like trucks but with a J) said that she would have homework to do over the weekend! This will be Katie's first official homework assignment and Jenny was wishing she could have recorded the conversation to play back a few years down the road when Katie realizes that having homework over a holiday weekend might not seem 'fun'.

Camping - A Dad's Perspective

Camping and the great outdoors, I do not know what the draw is but kids sure seem to love camping. Maybe its a chance to just goof off all day long, go hiking, cooking out, smores, or the many other things that camping offers.

From a Dad's perspective (and I am always trying to change this) when I think camping my thoughts turn to packing, loading the car, setting up the camp, erecting a tent, and the list goes on. I must admit there were several times (like when we did not have metal ground stakes for the tent) that I became very, what's the word? frustrated. I thank God for such a patient and understanding wife, who kindly reminded me in a moment of frustration, "Look at the girls and how much fun they are having." That little reminder was all I needed to put things into perspective and to realize that: 1) do not sweat the small things, and everything is small; 2) We are camping in the city, WalMart is only 10 minutes away (my wife went and got the extra things we needed); 3) Having several days of pure family time is well worth the extra effort!

We had a great spot, right on the lake, and everyone had a fabulous time.

As you can see by the pictures Katie was proud of her snail shell she found by the lake shore and of course my youngest is the 'ham' in the family, as noted by the unprompted poses in each of these photos.

Elevator Phsycology

It is amazing, yet predictable, how influenced we are buy those around us, which makes for a very good reason to be sure you know the company you are keeping! We seem to take on the habits and characteristics of those we are most close too and that is why we must carefully and purposefully choose the people we are friends with. There is strength in numbers and the bonds formed in close friendships will keep us united during the storms of life.

Of course we all know the old saying, "You cannot pick your family, you can pick your friends, just do not pick your friends nose!"

1 Corinthians 15:33 (NKJV) says, "Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits."

The below video, from the classic show Candid Camera, truly emphasizes the undo influence felt by even a stranger.

The Tooth Fairy is coming to the Gillespie's

Katie's First Lost Tooth

We knew they day would be coming soon and today was the day! Katie has had a loose tooth for the past couple of days and today it came out, she is so proud of herself. Now the ongoing discussion is, "How much money does the tooth fairy bring for that first lost tooth?" We want it to be a bit special but at the same time we do not want to set a precedent that would be expected on subsequent teeth.

We asked Katie how much she thought it should be and her response, "How about 30 bucks!" Wow, I know today's dollar is not worth what it used to be, inflation is on the rise, and we are in a recession but 30 bucks?

Kassie's (my three year old) response to her sister's lost tooth, "Holy Cow!" Very appropriate.

My wife posed this question to her Mommy friends and got all sorts of answers back, ranging from conservative to way out there.

We are going to have to talk this one over with the tooth fairy and see if we can come to some fair terms but I am thinking a nice crisp five dollar bill should work.

Hilarious Signage

I know, we have all seen a gazillion pictures with whacked out signs and these signs are not really any different but these are just as whacky and even make you wonder, "Do people who create these signs have any common sense?"

Still, I get a chuckle out of reading these signs and I'm sure a few of these are 'photo chopped' but you still have to give kudos for creativity.

Enjoy.....http://tinyurl.com/6qbw4b

Craig Groeschel: Lifechurch and IT!

If you haven't heard about IT than you just have to check out the notes that MaxiMeyer put up on his blog.

Craig Groeschel: From Life Church TV presented at the Leadership Summit. Our Church, Journey Community Church, was a host site and Jenny attended the two day conference. Craig presented concepts from his new book IT. The basis behind this is How leaders can get IT and keep IT.

What is IT? Craig doesn't know but he explains how you can walk into certain Churches, or places of worship, and something seems just a little bit different...the seem to have "IT" - you just know that God is present.

So Check out Mark Meyer's blog to get some good notes about IT - well worth the read and who know's, maybe IT is right around the corner for you.

The Idiot Test

Okay - this is one of those tests that just make you want to persevere through. I mean, really, who wants to be considered an idiot? We know that we are all the smartest, most intelligent people on the face of this planet and this web site is just the test you need to prove it.

Be warned, one mistake and you will have to start all over again. I only need the help of my very intelligent wife to make it all the way through, after it became obvious (I think the laughing and under-my-breath griping may have been a hint) that I needed help to make it through!

Click on the link to play: THE IDIOT TEST

Have You Ever Googled Yourself?

Okay - yes I have Googled myself just to see what comes up and since breaking into the blog sphere (which is hosted by Google), Facebook, and now Twitter I have seen the number of hits directly related to me increase a lot.

Obviously (being a guy) I like technology and finding out about the latest gadgets and gizmos. Speaking of the latest, if you haven't heard about Slydial, check it out.

My wife was shopping with a friend yesterday and was at the outlet stores when they wandered into the Big Dog store and she saw this t-shirt and she just had to get it for me.

So, if you haven't Googled yourself try it once, you may like it!

Reaching out through Pop Culture

Our Church does a tremendous job reaching out and one of they ways that they do this is through Pop Culture. I recently read a book by Tim Stevens, Executive Pastor of Granger Community Church title Pop Goes the Church. In this book Tim talks about how Jesus used the pop culture of his time to relate to the people around Him and teach the Good News. Tim uses these founding principles to explain how today's modern Church needs to continue reaching the world through pop culture instead bashing pop culture. Tim maintains a very interesting and up-to-date blog, worth checking out: http://www.leadingsmart.com

Leveraging today's pop culture and the popularity of movies our Church does an annual series entitled "God at the Movies" and before a sermon, which used the movie Enchanted they played the below video. All I can say is that we have the most talented and best production team, who used a green screen to film this intro - it is hilarious. The stars are from our Pastoral team and church. The guy in the headphones is our teaching Pastor. This vid is well worth a couple of minutes to watch, enjoy.

Go Green - Get Cash for those old Gadgets

Go Green and get rid of all those old gadgets hanging around the house. http://www.gazelle.com promises to

"...provide an easy, fast, and safe way for you to sell electronics and recycle electronics. When you sell cell phones, mp3 players, laptops, or other gadgets to us, you'll earn cash and help save the environment by keeping old, used gadgets out of landfills. You get green while being green! The bottom line is you want to sell electronics and we want to buy electronics.
A perfect match!"

Even if you have an old gadget, that is broken,
outdated, or you just plain want to get rid of it this
site may NOT pay you money for it but they will still
take the device and they WILL pay for shipping.

What a Deal!

Summer Fun

Katie and Kassie had sooooo much fun at VBS this year and the final presentation for the parents was amazing. It wasn't amazing because of the production value (although you could see how hard those kids worked), of for the wonderful venue, or even for the professional singer brought in to lead the kids in music. It was amazing to see all of these kids so fired up for Christ. There was a ton of energy in the room and like I said before, VBS has a lot of special memories for me.

The fund raiser this year was for a couple and their family, who decided to give up everything they have here, and become missionaries to the kids in Cabo San Lucas. They needed $6000.00 to build a house and the kids brought in more than $8000.00 after the final count - just amazing.

Will Humans Eat Anything Covered in Cheese?

When checking out one of the many blogs I subscribe too, Stuff Christians Like Prodigal Jon had a post about Jessic Simpson. In his blog he talks about Jessica Simpson coming back to Christian music and uses scientific analysis to answer the question, "Should we take her back?" In the blog entry he talks about Jessic's Pizza Hut commercial and refers to a comedy clip (below) that he ran across. Most notable quotes from the clip: "Humans have a genetic predisposition to eat unhealthy foods from other unhealthier foods." and Prodigal Jon's "Best line of the whole piece was "Dr. Moore said he initially had moral issues with conducting the tests on humans but has since come to see the subjects as quote 'cheese and sauce consuming beasts.'"

The Liberal Brain

Saw this pic and thought that it was rather funny but someone spent way to much time and thought putting it together. Notice the global warming panic center and the raise taxes reflex center? Put these into proportion to say, the sense of humor cell.

Happy 45th Wedding Anniversary Mom and Dad

Wow 45 years of marriage! Today is my parents 45th wedding anniversary (the year of the sapphire) and I am so proud of the incredible family foundation my parent's have built and continue to maintain year after year. When I was younger my Grandparents seemed to be that central hub the family revolved around but since my Grandmother passed away my parents have silently, yet willingly, excepted the responsibility of always being there when needed.

As a son who appreciates the warmth, love, humor (check out my Dad's face in the pic), loyalty, and the list of attributes goes on, there is nothing more comforting (even for an adult son) than to see the love and caring shared between your parents.

Dad, just in case you needed to know,">According to Wikipedia, "Sapphire is any gemstone-quality corundum that is not true red. (The red variety of corundum is also known as ruby.)" :-0 I thought you would like to know that Scoring 9 out of 10 on the Mohs scale, sapphires are second only to diamonds in hardness, and they're out of most people's price range for 45th anniversary gifts, so take the money and buy Mom a tank of gas instead!

Summer Blast

For the first year my two youngest will be attending Vacation Bible School for the first time. Shadow Mountain is doing their Summer Blast program starting tomorrow and both Katie and Kassie are looking forward to going. It is hard to believe that we are already past the midway point of the summer season, with the month of August looming on the horizon.

As I kid I remember the summers and how they seemed to stretch on forever - when you grow up on a working farm that is self-reliant there is a tremendous amount of work to do, even more when there is no school. I do miss haying season sometimes, not for the hard work, sweat, being covered in hay chaff, or forearms that looked like they went through cheese graters but for the bonding. Not too mention the self-sense of pride of being able to work a 14 hour day slinging hay and feeling good at the end knowing that I accomplished something. Or maybe it was for those late night dips in the lake to cool off before going to bed.

VBS has a special place in my life as I spent several summers attending VBS and in the summer of 1977 I became saved. I still carry my VBS card, from that year, in my Bible - My 'Stand-up and Shout' card.

Video Games

Last night at our small group study a couple of us guys had a talk about video games and the addictive nature of them. Today my wife, while looking through the fliers, found an ad for a t-shirt (pic on the right). The small print reads, "It was the worst 15 minutes of my life!" There are so many studies and surveys done about gaming and to the left is survey from the AP that shows an amazing 69% of American heads of households who play computer games. Wow! WebMD has a great article about the whole video game phenomenon: http://www.webmd.com/content/article/124/115554.

I have never been much of a gamer but there was a time when my son and I would play hours of the original Command and Conquer game. Now I have more fun building operating systems and scouring the net for the latest technology advances, which can be quite addictive as well. My son still games on a regular and consistent basis that at times seems to interfere with his life. The Bottom line is that there are a lot of theories and speculation on why one becomes addicted but medical science still is wondering about the why and how to cure the obsessive gamer.

House Hunting

To the right is a picture of one of the houses that Jenny and I made an offer on. With the housing market pummetting, lenders scrambling to keep people from forfeiting, and interests rates still halfway decent we have decided to start actively finding a home. This home is now bank owned (by indy mac) and is being offered well below market value. It is in a nice part of town and there are no neighbors across the street, or to the right of us. Very nice for a San Diego suburb. We have been comfortable renters for years, especially since the housing market has been so costly for a single income family and the one upside to renting is that the cost of any major repair goes to the owner.

Let's beat constipation

Wow - now I have seen everything. On occasion I check out various news sources that basically create an aggregate of stories in one place to save me from having to go to a bunch of different sites to see what's going on in the world (e.g. http://www.drudgereport.com). One of my favorite sites that I subscribe to is NEWS of the WEIRD (http://www.newsoftheweird.com/) where the motto is, "Proof that true stories are weirder than made-up stories." Proof of this is in the below summation from a News article that ran, not only on CNN but on AP, BBC, and most of the major outlets.

* Dozens of spas operate in Russia's Caucasus Mountains region, exploiting the mineral springs in the area, and apparently colonic treatment is a specialty. In fact, in June, the Mashuk-Akva Term spa in Zheleznovodsk unveiled a large monument to the enema (an 800-lb. brass syringe bulb held aloft by three angels). "Let's beat constipation," read one banner. Said the sculptor, "This device is eternal; it will never change. We could promote this brand, turn it into a franchise with souvenirs and awards for medical doctors." [CNN-AP, 6-19-08]

Legoland

What a great week we have had - it started out with a decision to just take a mini-vacation this year and do something local. We were really bummed not to make it back to Maine but the rising cost of air fares is just to prohibitive. It has been more than a year since we were last at Legoland and my youngest is now tall enough to do most of the rides and attractions. We treated ourselves to three days at the Legoland resort in Carlsbad. This is a very new hotel, which opened earlier this year and is probably one of the nicer hotels I have ever stayed in. One of the perks of staying here is that the hotel has its own private entrance to Legoland! It was a wonderful three days of just hanging out with the family, enjoying some entertainment, spending time relaxing, some good eating, and even some reading.

We finished the week off watching the El Cajon Fireworks show with family and a couple of friends. Of course, after the long week, both of my girls were pretty tired by the time the fireworks started and were more interested in going home than the show.

After severing in the military for almost 24 years holidays, like the 4th of July, hold a special meaning, as I have been at the 'Tip of the Spear' forward deployed, defending our freedom, like so many young men and women are still doing today. I am proud to have served but even prouder of those who are still serving and sacrificing so much that I am able to retire and enjoy the freedom they provide for us all.

Below are two items I have posted from the vacation, the top is a link to my online photo album with a few pictures from the vacation. The below that is a short (~30 sec) video of Kassie's first driving experience. That girl sure did have the look of concentration and was very competitive!

Legoland

Summer is Here!

This morning while getting some breakfast for the family I was listening to a local radio show talking about the more than one million folks who will be visiting San Diego beaches this 4th of July weekend.  During the dialogue the DJs starting talking about sunscreens and a new study that has come out from the Environmental Working Group stating that 4 out 5 sunscreens do not work as expected.  Living in San Diego and the sun my wife always has sunscreen on hand, it is just a way of life, and most of the things in the study she knew but we were still amazed by the fact that the brands we use were way down on the list (#159).  To check out the study go to this link: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/sunscreens2008/summary.php.  Along the top navigation bar you can also click on find your sunscreen to see where your sunscreen ranks.

Hayes Gray and Underway

Wow - after 24 years of being in the Navy and serving in various capacities, including four shipboard deployments, has given me a great respect for the sailors that deploy onboard US Navy ships.  I recently spent 12 days underway on the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD6), http://www.lhd6.navy.mil/. However, the difference this time is that I am now retired, and went as a civilian.  It brought back a lot of memories and gave me an opportunity to share some 'sea' stories with some of the younger sailors.  I do not miss the shipboard life though, even with today's standards and advances in technology, it is still challenging to communicate (on a regular basis) with loved ones.  There is email and they do have the ability to place phone calls underway (when the system is up), which is much better than the 'snail' mail (a.k.a letters) of my generation.

If you are interested in seeing a few more photos from the trip click on this link

 

How Does David Copperfield fly?

A very interesting video that will spoil this trick for you the next time that you see it - so be warned before watching

Find more Magic Tricks videos

Kids are so great

My two girls are so cute and this picture was something I took the other day when they were playing around.  When showing their Mom the pic she noticed their t-shirts, which says Princess and Cute.  Of course they are the cutest but they sure are hams for the camera.  These are just the sort of photos that will come back out for viewing in about 10 years to show their friends.  My Mom and Dad used to have family slide show evenings, using the old slide carousal projector.  With today's technology I just need to plug the computer into the TV and who knows in a few years pictures will be in 3D.

Shadow Mountain Sunday Nights

For those that may not know, Shadow Mountain Community Church has special speakers on Sunday evenings during the summer months.   Last weekend Lee Strobel spoke and it is a terrific sermon.  If you would like to watch the replay of this sermon, or any other sermons for that matter just head over to the streaming evening services page - click here to go to the site.

Father's Day celebration with Katie

Today I got to got to school with Katie to see all the hard work she has been doing over the past school year and to be honored as a father. Katie is doing so well and I rarely get to take her to school, so she was very proud to show me around her class room and playground. There was even a little celebration for the Dad's, which included coffee and donuts. All Dad's love donuts



Below is a short video of Katie singing - I think the most touching moment for me was when she presented me with a little gift and just said, "I love you Daddy." What more could a father ask for than to have the love of his children?

How Time Flies

I can't believe how fast the days go by but they do - must be the age because the older I get the shorter the months become. Not a whole lot to report, the family is doing good, work is going well, and we are starting to look for a new home.

I am Terrible at Blogging

I am so terrible when it comes to maintaining a blog and keeping it current. Time just seems to have a way of passing by and before you know it - well I think we all know it.

The family is doing well and last month my oldest daughter graduated from High School. As parents we had the privilege of presenting the diploma to her. We are so proud of her and she has come so far over this past year.

Katie and Kassie are both doing well and Daniel is going to college full time.

Snow, Snow, and MORE SNOW

Can you say Snow? Wow, this picture is the front of my Mom's house, taken the day after New Year's Day. I don't think you can imagine a better winter country scene than this. Beautiful blue skies, deep snow, and the icicles. Of course, living in San Diego I can imagine this and dream of beautiful winter days but I sure wouldn't want to have to deal with moving and shoveling all of that snow.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! What a great end of the year we have had - nothing significant or monumental happened, which means we had a nice quite end of the year. I took all of the last 12 days off from work and it was great to just hang out with the family.

This year both Katie and Kassie were so into Christmas. Katie was so amped up that she had problems sleeping several nights before Santa came. Christmas morning found Kassie running around and helping pass out and open presents. Kassie finally understood that after opening one present, not to play with it yet, because there were more waiting for her.

Again, Happy New Year everyone and one of my resolutions is to post at least twice a month to this blog - more for a historical reference as our family grows older.