6 December 2009 - Getting ready for Christmas

The Monday after Thanksgiving, the girls did not have school (who says Utah is the only state crazy enough to give the opening day of the deer hunt as a school holiday?!?). Joanne and I both had to teach, because we college folk are far too sophisticated to kill deer. Madeline was beside herself with anticipation for me to come home from work and get out the Christmas tree. Joanne kept the girls busy by working on other Christmas decorations around the house.

I got the tree off the shelf in the garage (that's right, we do fake at our house, but we do not judge those of you who mercilessly slaughter innocent and helpless live trees for your own entertainment ;-)


And once I set it up, the girls (and give Joanne lots of project management credit here), kicked in and did the rest.
Three years ago, I began working on finishing our basement. For about six months, I made incredible progress, finishing the home theater/storage/exercise area, and the bathroom. Then, two and a half years ago, I was called to be bishop of the Washington Ward. And...nothing else happened.
My Christmas gift to Joanne this year is to finish the kitchenette and walkout door area of the basement, which is essentially all that's left. I don't know if I'll make it by Christmas, but I got a good start on Saturday.
Anyone wanna help? Enjoy the season!

29 November 2009 - Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year, we went to Karl and Jolene's house in Delaware. We were able to go for six days, which was nice since its about a six hour drive each way -- it gave us time to enjoy, and not just travel.

On Thanksgiving morning, we had our own little Turkey Bowl in the backyard.The kids all enjoyed helping with the meal. In this picture, they're getting the dinner rolls ready.
Everybody (including me) loved holding baby Eden, who brought her mom (Danae) and dad (Jerry) down from New Jersey for the holiday.
Uncle Karl (and Trevor) even got the weekend off from work to spend time with the family. Trevor's my little buddy.

Aunt Joanne's always good for a gingerbread house with the kids. This was on Sunday afternoon before it was time to head home.
We are grateful to live near family and have the opportunity to spend time with them during the holidays.

22 November 2009 -- Daddy's Birthday

So, I hate to admit it, but I had a birthday this week. I guess the only reason I hate to admit it is because I'd prefer to just stay young. The girls all wanted their picture with me for the bday celebration.
The girls made me some happy birthday cut out letters.
They also made me a cake, and Joanne's mom sent me a window mount for my iPhone, which will come in handy when I use it as a GPS in my truck.All in all, I can't complain. It was a pretty enjoyable birthday.

15 November 2009 - Trenton's Baptism

This weekend we went to Chantilly, Virginia to see Trenton get baptized. Trenton is the son of Joanne's cousin, Jeremy, and his wife Rebbecca. I got tired of trying to explain to people how we were related, so I just told everyone it was our nephew's baptism.
All the cousins sang "When I am Baptized".We had a great time playing with cousins, swimming in the hotel pool, and kicking back with the in-laws. Joanne's brother Jerry and his wife Danae brought their new baby Eden, and there was no shortage of volunteers to hold her.On Sunday, the girls made cookies for the whole family. Trevor (Karl and Jolene's youngest) had a good time getting chocolate on his face and Emily wanted her picture with him.I finally got my bumper done on my truck, which completes my repairs from having smashed my truck into the guard rail back in October.

8 November 2009 - Fall yard work

Not much exciting happened this week, but the weather was very nice and we were able to get a few things in the yard in shape for winter, including cutting back the bushes on either side of the front porch. They were so big it took hedge clipper and a chain saw. Joanne also decorated the front steps with some flowers and pumpkins.
Jessica's fall soccer ended, but now she is doing indoor soccer. It's better because every game isn't on Sunday.

1 November 2009 - Halloween

Madeline lost another tooth this week. She has so few teeth left now, she fits right in with our hillbilly neighbors.
On Friday we got to see Les Mis again. This was the third time for Joanne and me, but the first time for the girls. The problem I see with it is that we saw it for the first time in London, so pretty much everything else pales by comparison. We had an extra ticket, so Hannah, Jessica's friend from church was able to come with us.
This year for Halloween, Emily dressed up as Ariel, complete with red hair.
Jessica was a vampire, no doubt do at least partially to a recent viewing of the movie Twilight. She was complete with pale face and fangs.
Madeline was a fantastic ghostie.
Since we had stake conference this weekend, Joanne took the girls out a little bit, then dropped them at Hannah's house so they could go trick-or-treating with her while she came to the Saturday evening session with me.Halloween is always fun for the kids, and they had a good time this weekend.

25 October 2009 - Aunt Jennifer's Visit

Aunt Jennifer came for a visit this weekend. It was a quick trip and she had a lot of things she wanted to do, but the girls still got to spend some time with her.
With Halloween arriving, it's time to carve some pumpkins. Jennifer and Brad Kita came over to the house to help out with the project.Here is a princess pumpkin that didn't get carved, just decorated.Madeline and Emily were champion helpers in getting the pumpkins ready.Emily learned about Christopher Columbus last week, and she got to bring home her craft of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. She was very proud of her work.
On Monday, I went to help Opal Shriver at her farm. You may remember that her husband Bill died about a month ago. She and her son Billy decided to auction off their farm equipment and a variety of tools Bill had accumulated over a lifetime of farming. As you can imagine, it was a big job. Many people from the ward helped, and on Saturday, they held an auction which raised thousands of dollars to help secure Opal's future, at least for the next several years. One thing they didn't auction off though was the farm land and house, which Opal will continue to manage for now.

I wasn't able to attend or help with the auction on Saturday, because I went with several of the youth and other leaders from the ward to Washington D.C. for a temple trip. It was a long, tiring day, but it was a blessing to be in the temple. While I was there, I ran into Joanne's cousin Jeremy and his wife Rebbecca. We didn't get to talk much but it was fun to see them and we'll be with them again in a couple of weeks when their son Trenton is baptized. When we returned from the temple trip, we learned that that will be our last temple trip to Washington D.C. Our ward has been reassigned to the Columbus, Ohio temple district, which makes us happy because that temple is and hour and a half closer to us.