Christmas 2008

We got back last night from our trip to Lafayette and Frankfort, and had a great time with family there. Singing together at Christmas is always one of my favorite things, and I got to join around the piano at Wesley Manor to sing with Pat, Amy, George, and Stan. Mom and Marleta were on the piano. Pretty amazing to see how many kids were there. Had Marleta & Larry there + there kids and Grandma Simpson.

The trip home was much easier than the trip there-- not much traffic, which was good.

The house is still in a Christmas mess of toys, puzzles, and food. Dan woke up this morning and declared "It's still Christmas!"

Courtney was going to go to her first Young Men/Young Women dance at church, but she did not feel well so she stayed home and worked on her talk that she's giving in church today. I'm giving the Primary lesson today on "We can be kind to animals". I've got the animal memory game copied out of the manual, so I'm well on my way to being ready. Will enjoy our last week of 11:30 church until we start our 9:00am church time in the new year.

I was up late last night with Teresa and the boys putting together a Monsters Inc. puzzle, which was much harder than it looked when we started. We've also been playing Spore, which is a very fun, but long and somewhat violent PC video game. I've gotten used to staying up late and waking up late during break. Will need to get back to my early morning routine sooner or later.

Here's a picture of the kids and Dad at Pizza Hut in Lafayette, and a picture at Wesley Manor in Frankfort.

Allison baptism

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Having the missionaries over tonight for Christmas eve, along with Travis, a new member of our ward. Got some more snow, and Teresa and I spent a bit of the morning shoveling the driveway.

Sunday was Allie's baptism, which included Rachel Butler, another 8-year old girl. She looked very sweet in her white dress. The dress came out of the water a bit during the baptism, so I had to do it a second time. I held her near the bottom of the font for a second to make sure that she was completely submerged. She later said that she did not mind because she is very good at holding her breath.

I'll always remember what a cold evening it was for her baptism. The kids were freezing going just the short distance from the van to go into the church building. It was below zero, and even colder than that if you count the wind chill. I don't really believe in counting the wind chill, though, because wind is so highly variable from one spot to another (are you in an open field, next to a wall, or near a group of trees?) I think it's all just a scheme by the media to make the weather sound more exciting.

Anyways, the baptism was very nice, and it included the song "I Feel My Savior's Love", sung by Courtney and Allie with Megan and Rachel Butler.

I worked home yesterday because nobody was in the office and the snow was so bad. I'm off now until January 2-- yay! It's been a busy time at work.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Party with Santa

Had a 14th birthday party yesterday, and celebrated by watching Madagascar 2, which the kids enjoyed.  They are big fans of the first movie.  The evening consisted of a Christmas program at church, including a chance to visit Santa!

Allie and Dan Pictures Taken Today

Thanksgiving Fun

Visitors from the North

We had Dewey and Susan come to visit Friday night and Saturday morning with some adults and kids from their ward. They were here for a youth temple trip-- it was really great to see them. Dewey made the eggs, Teresa made the smoky links, and I picked up donuts. Thanks for the popcorn, too, Uncle Dew!

Election

I was hoping McCain would win, but I strangely do not feel that disappointed. I think the kids were more disappointed than I was since they do mock voting and political discussions at their school. Working for a drug company, I can't imagine how an Obama presidency will actually help our situation, but living in Chicago it is somewhat gratifying to see some people very, very happy.

When in Cleveland, I had an African-American boy that was from an inner-city school that was my pen pal. I was trying to be a role model for him and encourage him in his writing. I have to imagine that it made a big impact on him when Obama won the presidency, and that made me smile. Working with so many international people in my current job, it was interesting to see how the choice was a reflection in their eyes of how much we value people in other countries and people of different ethnicities. Whether that's true or not, it did make them very happy to see Obama win.

I'm curious to see what will happen-- I worry most about the socially liberal actions that Obama may take. I can't say that I felt that either candidate would be especially effective at helping the economy. I guess we will see how it plays out-- I guess it is democracy in action.

Zoo and Fall fun

Halloween

Fun Weekend with Amy & Chuck's Family

Halloween Party

Hal preparing to bike and Teresa at Temple

Allison prepares to have tonsils removed

Navy Pier and Pumpkin Patch

Having fun in Chicago during Fall break.

In Boston

Teresa and the kids had a fun day-- went to Wisconsin to pick some apples and select some Halloween pumpkins. I'm in Boston working at the American Academy of Pediatrics annual convention, which has been a good experience so far.

I got to see the sun rise over Lake Michigan yesterday and got to see the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean this morning. It was so beautiful & made me think about what a wonderful thing it is to have simple pleasures in life.

Holly's wedding Congrats!

Holly's wedding in Muncie