Welcome, 2011!

We spent about a week after Christmas in Rolla as well, and had great New Year festivities, which I will briefly outline here.

• The morning of New Year's Eve, we learned from the news that a Tornado Watch had been issued, and that we should stay tuned as the storm came closer and news developed.  Eventually the watch because a Warning, and that means we all headed down to the basement where the kids promptly had a prayer and some special Tornado Treats in the storm shelter under the stairs (there's a monthly tornado drill, so the kids know just what to do).  The reports were that the storm was getting pretty close, but all we really saw of it was a LOT of rain and thunder, though it did touch down just a few miles from our house, and apparently killed a few people who were not under adequate shelter.  It was a little scary, but after an hour or two, the clouds vanished and the sun came out, and I even went running.  Crazy!  We were warned we might get more of the storm later in the day, but it didn't seem to come back.
• After that hubbub died down, we had a nice, quiet New Year's Eve, watching movies and episodes of Better Off Ted until midnight, where we heard local fireworks going off and watched about five minutes of the New York happenings, which turned out to be plenty.  (Some of the musical "artists" we suffer these days, my stars.)
•  Early New Year's Day, Julie, Marci and I woke up and ran a small, local 5K (which we also ran with Tyler two years ago when we were in town for the New Year, and this time with a much improved time!).  Entrance fee was a can of food for charity, and the turnout was about 25-30.  It had been pretty warm for a few days, and all the snow had melted, but 2011 started with temperatures in the teens and below, so it was an invigorating race.  According to my best estimate, my time was about 21:15-20, and I came in second overall.  (Like I said, it was a small race.)

• We spent the rest of the day eating delicious treats and playing with the kids.

  

  Such a tiny ice cream cone!

  I introduced William to The Twilight Zone as we watched a few episodes when we were done with video games (this may or may not prove to have been a mistake--after all, I was traumatized by The Dummy episode when I was like 11, and he's only 6).  I didn't get to see much of SyFy's annual Twilight Zone marathon this year, but that's okay because we only a few weeks ago finished watching all the episodes we still had recorded on the DVR from last year's marathon.
• Julie and I made Full English Breakfast for everyone, and it was a big hit.  This might be the start of a New Year's Day tradition.

 

• I had this insane impulse a couple weeks earlier when my hair and beard were getting particularly out of hand, so I decided:  New Year, new hair.  After a full facial shave, at the capable hands and clippers of Marci, with Julie's assistance, I received what surely must be my shortest haircut ever.  I thought I would panic when I saw it, but I secretly love it.  (I guess not so secretly now.)  It's probably even shorter than it ever was when I was a missionary.  The kids had to warm up to me again after, but Julie's parents really liked it.  Julie didn't recognize me when she glanced my way for the first little bit, but she kind of likes it too, and it's already growing out anyway.  (And yes, I will admit that my inspiration for the look was this.  I figured I could pull off the look now that I'm more slender than I was as a missionary.  I thought this haircut made my head look tiny back then.)  I'm still trying to decide if this is going to become another New Year tradition...

BEFORE

 

 

 

 

 

AFTER

• We said a sad goodbye to the Midwest, and had a safe and uneventful flight back to freezing cold Salt Lake City on Sunday evening.  The airplane was basically a tin can, and they didn't offer free Wi-Fi on this one (like they did on the flight over), but the passengers were a total LOST cast, and we both finished our books.  We made it home just in time to get back to work the next morning. *sigh*  Goodbye for now, vacation.  We'll meet again soon, I hope.  Until then, down comes the Christmas tree and lights.

Say, who is that guy anyway?

We'll be back soon, wife!  Never fear.

2010 was exquisite.  I expect nothing less from you, 2011!  In case people were interested, and didn't get to see our Christmas card, or couldn't read the tiny font of the text, here are our Top 10 of 2010:

Happy 2011, everyone!

Christmas Wrapping

(The title of this blogpost is taken from this song that I just love for some ridiculous reason--the associated memories, I would guess.)

I hope everyone had a blessed Christmastime.  We had a wonderful, long stay in Rolla and I'm always ever so grateful to Julie's family for having us, and for so welcoming me and treating me like a member of the family.  Here are just a few exciting happenings regarding our days in MO.  Get excited for a lot of photos.

• Here are some pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, since I didn't really include any in my last post:

I dubbed myself the King of Christmas Eve.

Getting ready for the delicious Christmas Eve buffet dinner!

The kids were excited to reenact the Nativity.  Lily insisted she get to be Baby Jesus.  Special thanks to Julie for providing the lamb (bottom left).

Julie played a Christmas duet with me!  It was a true delight!  And something of a dream come true.

Julie did an impromptu photo shoot.  This is one of the very many shots that we took.  Her film was very impressive.

No caption necessary.  But I guess there is one now anyway.

I tried my hand at modeling too.  This is for the cover of GQ.

The girls took to the Christmas puzzle.  They're working so feverishly, the camera couldn't even catch them clearly.

I mean, these kids had a killer Christmas morning waiting for them.

New Christmas Eve pajamas/slippers!  Thanks, Mom!

Julie and her new Tim Burton Christmas book collection.

Finally!  My LOST DVD collection is complete!

This is a fortune cookie that appeared in my presents from Santa Claus...  It had a series of very intriguing numbers printed on it.

We're still trying to discover who sent this delightful present, but regardless, we have been enjoying it very much ever since.

• We all enjoyed going to the local rec center, doing some running and swimming with the kids in the awesome pool (which included a lazy river, whirlpool, splash/play area, hot tub and serious water slide).

• We had a lot of snow on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and spent time outside with the kids, making snowmen, rolling huge snowballs and making sledding hills in the backyard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• We had so much delicious food, at home and eating out (Steak 'n' Shake, it's been too long, and Imo's, you're always a favorite).

• We had a nice time at church, and enjoyed the Sacrament Meeting Christmas program, organized by Marci and featuring almost all of the Christmas hymns (Marci and I did a duet of The First Noel).  It was later realized that William and I wore matching sweaters, so we took pictures to document the occasion:

 

 

 

 

 

 Then Julie and Marci decided to have a Sisters Do As Sisters Should photo shoot.  Here is a sampling from that:

 

 

• We played a lot of fun games:  Settlers of Catan (several times), Dutch Blitz, Asteroids and Meteoroids (both variations of Wackee Six, a family favorite), Disney SceneIt! (a favorite with the kids), and Scribblish (a really fun new game from Julie's brother, a mix between Telephone and Pictionary).  We also played a little Wii:  Donkey Kong Country Returns (wee William was surely quite upset when I took it home with us), Super Monkey Ball and of course Wii Sports.  Then of course was Prison, an unexpectedly popular game with the little ones in which I put them under the table and they try to escape, only to be caught again and put back in prison.  O, the children!

This is me and Owen (or Mr. Bigglesworth).  He was once my rival, as Julie's Kitty Boyfriend, but as you can see, we have come to an agreement.  I of course had the upper hand in the whole affair.

• We had a really nice Family Home Evening, where I was assigned to play the piano for the musical numbers.  This proved delightfully difficult when the kids continued to climb all over me and play along with their improvised descants.

• We watched some fun and festive movies:  Love Actually, Foyle's War, TRON: Legacy, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, the better part of season 1 of Better Off Ted.  We also watched some lame-ish movies, like The Other Guys and 17 Again (that last one wasn't too bad).

• We went to the St. Louis Science Center.  It was so cool.  The kids were way into it, but so were the grown-ups.

This dinosaur is awesome!  It moves!  And I heard once upon a time it also made roaring noises.

Playing the laser light harp.

 

Julie shows Ivy the dinosaurs from the upper level.

•  We said goodbye to Tyler, Sarah and their two girls on Wednesday.  Lily, who told me many times how much she loved me, and demanded often to sit next to me at mealtimes, gave me a "chin hug" before she left, which consisted of scratching my beard under my chin.

So there it is, another Christmas gone, and another year over.   Stay tuned for a New Year post.
 

Christmas Day!

Merry Christmas!  It was a beautiful white Christmas here, and it was so great to spend it with Julie's family.  My wife is so amazing, she managed to surprise me so many times with presents, which is no easy feat when we live together and didn't even really go shopping separately.  My favorite presents are this, this and this, but ask me sometime about the fortune cookie...  !!!!!  (Though seriously, in this day and age, I love getting the practical things like sweaters and shoes and dress socks too, not to mention the pearl snaps.)  I managed to throw her off the scent for a couple of mine too, and Julie's special surprise presents for her family were a big hit.  Our new photobook from Blurb even came a couple days earlier than expected, so we were able to enjoy that for the big day as well.

We're also really excited about a couple new Wii games, but we're still quite baffled at the source of one of them...  In case any of you don't know, it appeared at our house a few weeks ago in an Amazon package addressed to me, but without a packing slip or note or anything, and neither of us ordered it.  I thought it would be revealed throughout the course of this moste special day, but alas, not a word!  I wonder if the mystery will ever be solved.  I guess it must truly have come from Santa Claus, but whoever it was, much thanks!  William quite enjoyed playing it with me this afternoon.  I just love that Diddy Kong, and now he has a jet pack!  It's a Christmas miracle!

For those who didn't see it, here is our delightful Christmas card.  We were so excited to do one!  We didn't really have time to get one together last year, so this is our very first.

Much thanks to Artography by Kami for the great photo, and for Julie for making it look even better.

God bless us, every one!

Christmas Eve!

'Tis the night before Christmas!  We are in Missouri spending the week with The Wife's family for the first time.  Here's the rundown of what has happened so far today:

• Had pancake breakfast with so many wee niece and nephew types!

• Watched fresh snow fall beautifully, and the kids excitedly get in their snowclothes and run out to play.

• Took a Walmart (etc.) run with the brother-in-law and his Santa hat-wearing 1.5-year-old daughter for some last-minute presents.  We had a great chat about society and iPods and modern parenting and running. 

• Had a delicious lunch of Reuben sandwiches.

• Wrapped Julie's presents and added them to the pile under the tree while talking to the sister-in-law (brother-in-law's wife) about our respective family traditions.

• Tried to make friends with some sassy household felines. (I'm getting there.)

• Played "Balter" with the kids (they had watched Balto earlier that day.  My part was Boris, the goose).

• Had an awesome, festive buffet dinner, which included ham, French onion soup, fruit and vegetables, a meat, cheese and cracker tray, clams and oysters, cranberry juice, and egg nog.

• Was dogpiled violently and mercilessly by three kids under the age of six.  I was laughing so hard.

• Watched and participated in the Christmas Eve program, which included musical numbers, a reading from The Friend, a viewing of Luke II, setting up the porcelain crèche, a live (brief) Nativity, a couple rounds of Telephone at William's insistence, trying not to fall asleep (still recovering from our late arrival last night) during a reading of the Christmas story from the New Testament (though the little ones made sure I didn't nod off), and playing Christmas songs on the piano while the kids put on their new pajamas and made ready for bed.  (I should mention here that Julie played a duet with me.  *sigh*)

• Had an impromptu photo shoot with Julie in front of the Christmas tree.  She was exceedingly fierce and really worked her angles.  I was similarly smoldering.

• Opened an early Christmas present from a six-year-old nephew (an envelope containing sixteen cents in change).

• Currently watching It's a Wonderful Life with the in-laws while Julie gets in some girl-talk time with her sister in the other room and people make final preparations for the morning, and getting ready to put on the pajamas Mom sent along with us.

I love Christmas Eve.

(Consider this my Annual Christmas Eve Journal Write, Melody.)