The DECK!!!

At long last, I am posting pictures of my Spring/Summer/Fall Project: The Deck.

Spring: Tear Off

Summer: Build

Fall: Finish and Landscape

I know there's a little snow on it, but I'm sure you get the idea.

Fun project. It was about 18 months ago that I started sketching out ideas for the deck. In my opinion, it couldn't have turned out any better. The only sad thing is, we really didn't get to enjoy it this summer. Guess that means we'll be hanging out in the back yard twice as much next summer!

Getting Ready for Christmas

Busy day. On the docket today:

1. Bird Feeders

2. Gingerbread House


3. Cookies

Now off to Costco...

Christmas Party and Santa

It was the Ward Christmas Party tonight. Ham, Funeral Potatoes, Salad, Rolls - the standard fare. A little singing, a little reading of the Christmas Story and of course Santa. As usual, Lindsay didn't want anything to do with Santa. I think the best we've got of any of Lindsay's 4 Christmases is a picture of her standing next to a cardboard cutout Santa. So, in walks Santa, ringing his bells and waving. He stops and says hi to all the kids that were up siging, then goes and sits down in his chair. Next thing you know, Ian is heading toward me with a very disappointed look on his face. You'd have thought someone had stolen his entire Pokemon card collection. I asked what's wrong?

"That's not the real Santa."

"How do you know?"

"I saw his moustache."

Now, I have to admit that the beard didn't fit too well and there was a lot of adjusting going on. Well, Ian eventually got over it and decided it was OK to stop and sit on this "Santa's" lap, tell him what he wanted for Christmas, and get the obligatory candy cane.

Guess we'd better be about finding a Santa with a real beard!

Join the Crowd

Time really goes by too quickly. Looking back at 2007, there is one thing that I wish I had done better and that is share more with our extended family and friends. Every once in a while you have those moments where you stop and look at what is going on around you and think "how did we get here so quickly." I guess there are certain events that trigger these feelings and today it was Lindsay's doing...
Lindsay had her Christmas Program today at the Salvation Army Preschool. Of course, as luck would have it, I had an important conference call scheduled right in the middle of it, so I had to settle for the videotaped version. The first words spoken when I walked through the garage door were from Lindsay: "Want to see my singing?"
"Of course."
"Let's get the video"
So we did, and Lindsay, Alex and I huddled around the little 2" screen on the video camera -- no time to wait to hook it up to the tv -- and watched with the volume on high. Lindsay was in the back row, in the middle. Tallest one in her class. She knew all the words (of course she practices them in the car) and didn't miss a beat. That was the moment -- when I saw her in the back row -- that I cought myself wondering how she grew up so quickly.
So, in order to make sure our friends and family who we may not get to visit as often as we would like get to share in the same happiness we do, we join the blogging world. We hope it is helpful and fun and serves as a way to stay more closely connected.
And with that, here are a couple of highlight photos.

Ft. Wayne

I saw this car in Ft. Wayne.

Canton Cousins

Hello Everyone, this is a test.