Post-Blizzard Thrills

Because of Saturday's blizzard, most local schools were closed, hence I was suddenly face-to-face with three additional days of vacation before I could fly home to be with the family.

While the thought of "don't you wish you had booked an earlier flight" was expressed by many, the truth of the matter is, had I booked it, I would have been stuck anyway, and had the "darn snow" not come, I would not have had these three extra days, SO I am happy with the situation... no complaints about three days to get things done that the hustle and bustle of everyday life does not generally allow, such as...

• Updating my blog ;)
• Christmas visits to friends with Adrienne
  
• Shoveling the driveway/street and reviving our cars of 24 inches of snow (Aubrey and I were joined by our new found friends (our neighbors) to help tackle part of the road)... It was actually really fun to shovel--- I think it might not be as fun if it was like this day-after-day, but it's sure a novelty here :)
  

• creating tutorials for my students
• going to the temple with Cara!
• DC monuments running in the snow... I repeat, I just never tire of this running route- our Nation's Capitol is Beautiful!

• Christmas runs to the local airports
• and, you know, "those" lerking errands
  

Winter Wonderland

The weather man was spot on! The big Dec 2009 storm started right at 9:00pm on Friday and did not cease until 11pm Saturday.

By late morning I measured 8 inches with my trusty ruler
By afternoon, my ruler was nolonger of use because the snow depth surpassed the ruler's abilities.
By 7:30pm I brought out the tape measured and measured 21 inches!
By 11pm I was too tired to measure again, so I will leave it to the news report... 24 inches!

While it was fun to watch the fun from the inside, it was even more fun to...
-Shovel the driveway of 15 inches so we could pile in Adrienne's car and try to find a good sledding hill
-Adrienne's windshield wipers broke so we turned around, headed to Kmart in an unsuccessful attempt to get some help from one of the few open stores, so we went home
-Run 10 miles up the middle of the local snow-covered roads
-Visit neighbors in the middle of the storm
-Make Snow Angels and Do flips in the powder in the front lawn- I've never done this at home before!!!

Images by Memory

Grateful that our Minds are Better than Supercomputers... For better or for worse, I lost my camera and did not find it until after I returned home from the road trip to Florida for Thanksgiving.

Hence, I did not manage to record the adventures with a single photo, however I am converted to the land and will therefore return at another time with camera in hand.

In short, I am grateful for incredible sites of dolphin backs, fading sunsets, ship lights on the horizon, beautiful birds, palm trees of plenty, the smells of the salty ocean, the tastes of freshly picked tangerines, apricot chutney, turkey and stuffing, the sounds of breathing fish, surfacing turtles, bubbling springs, and crashing waves.

Thankful for good memories, safe travels (all 1700 + miles of it) and enjoyment of some of God's creations which are so varied and uniquely beautiful.

Thank you, Tali and Whittemore family, for sharing your home with me!

Maybe Next Thanksgiving...

will be enjoyed off of Planet Earth! Welcome back to the Atlantis crew... Tali, AJ, Angie and I breathed the same air that the Atlantis reentered earth's atmosphere in this morning... Because of their early landing, we missed the site, but it was cool to be here so close!
Check out the video, and watch the third down on the right bar... now that looks like a pretty sweet Thanksgiving!

Atlantis Space Shuttle Landing

This year, it's been a lot of fun to hang out with Tali and her family, the Whittemores in Mims. After a delicious meal, we all went surfing at New Smyrna and caught some waves! The water was awesome... so good that we stayed out and played under the moonlit sky.... Now that's the way to overcome the post-meal sleepiness! Thank you Whittemores!

Perfect Cube

A month has nearly past since the start of a Perfect Cube year.
Renewed by a birthday in November, the year is 1/12th of the way in the past!

To celebrate, I enjoyed a run in DC with my friend, Annie, rounding the Lincoln, Washington Monu. and World War II, as well as passing by Arlington Cem. and the Pentagon... I just don't seem to tire of this run, so I treated myself to it in for a start to a great new year.

After a day of familiarizing myself with the age of 27, Adrienne and Aubrey, pulled off an incredible feat of creating a towering 27-layer cake! We had people over to celebrate as they shared in the delightful treat... much more cake than the average person may ever desire, but delightful nonetheless.

Adrienne, placing the last layer... steady, steady :)

Whipped Cream frosting

Art.
The party would not have been complete without a competition, inspired by Adam, of course... 4 men racing to inhale a quarter-pounder (of CAKE)... Jared pulled off the defeat with Patrick in close second (even with his handicap of additional cake due to his fresh stomach advantage)!

The incentive was disappointingly NOT 27 kisses from yours truly, but a steak... sorry guys, you'll have to be the extenders of invitations if kisses are truly desired.

Ready, set...

How you feeling, Jared? Victory!

Phone calls and kind wishes from family and friends were the icing on the cake---What a perfect start to a new year... Perfectly cubed, 27 is proving to be a great season of life... memories to look back on, bounties to enjoy now and more to look forward to!

Halloween

Halloween was quite eventful this year. Aubrey and Adrienne are really good at making costumes, so we had a good time pulling our creativity together. Adrienne and I found pieces at a second hand store to cut up and alter to create the majority of our costumes, and Aubrey worked her magic in making a plain pink hat into a strawberry shortcake hat!

Aubrey was a true Lisa Simpson, and Adrienne (not pictured) was an authentic Rainbow Bright.

On the Eve of Halloween we went to a barn dance, then on Halloween Kim (lady bug) and I went to Carrie's (Alice in Wonderland) farewell Halloween gathering then had some friends over for an non-costume halloween party where we raced eating donuts on a string and watched Monsters and Aliens.

President Uchtdorf says it well.

Skeen Time

In more ways than one
three days were filled with great skeen time
dad was the dreamer
who made it simply sublime

(Madi and I went biking with Mom)

Home for some family time

in Autumn amidst school days

so grateful to have been there

for reasons more than words can say.

(we made autumn cupcakes for a gathering)

For some fun we did look

though not far distant we could see

Pike Place market in the sun

Ivar's fish and chowder a plenty.

(Kristen, Madi and Kevin)

Storms let up just in time
the last hours 'fore my return
we slalomed on glassy lake water
Dad cut his ski through the cold water burn.

(dad looks great!)

(dad-daughter time on Lk. Sammamish)

Seasons change and paths take turns
while days too come and go
but some things are unchanging
like family, a love and home you always know.

Monticello

The drive to Monticello was BEAUTIFUL. Fall leaves, open fields, good music, and good company. As another "Autumn Get Off Your Bottom" activity, Adrienne and I fulfilled the dream with a group of friends and acquaintances.

After seeing the graveyard with the tombstone of TJ and his wife, his garden was just up the hillside with a beautiful view behind.

Grapes

Asparagus (aka asper-grass ;) )

Parsley, alongside other spices

Sunflowers with tons of dropping sunflower seeds--huge!

The grounds alone were stunning, let alone the home with its conveniences that were quite unique for its time.

Jefferson is a very inquisitive man, and he made time to seek a lot of very practical answers to his questions, leaving to a more comfortable life than perhaps many others would have live at that time.

One of my favorites was independently changing day-of-the-week calendar that had a weights that hang next to the name of the week by a pulley system that was adjusted with an automatic clock system (picture below shows the clock in the corner---not my own, from here).

Canoe, Bike, Run

Boyds, Maryland... Little Big Adventure Triathlon!

Luke and I race in our first team-triathlon together today! Looking around at our competition against other 7/8-year-olds and their parents, especially the fathers, we were determined to make up lost time on the canoe leg during the bike and run legs.

Canoe...

Some how team "Walkin' on Water" pulled to the lead (literally) of the pack during the half-mile canoe stretch!!! We were so shocked!!!! Luke is a natural.

Bike...
Hills, rocks, and roots made the biking leg adventurous... Luke wished he had his paved path for a smooth ride, but he did awesome jumping over the bumps along the way and climbed the hills like a champion. Even with sore legs and a confusing turn as we approached the finish, he pushed through! It was a beautiful trail.

Run...
More hills were on the menu for the last leg, and we did it! Most was on a paved path, but we enjoyed a little trail running at the end, as we worked hard to keep out distance ahead of opponents. Sprinting to the finish line, Luke didn't waste second before he gave his muscles a break. :)

Way to go team Walkin' on Water! We couldn't have done it, literally, without our SUPER STAR Fans.... Nate, Marci and Frank! Together, we placed 3rd in the 7/8-age group!!!

THANK YOU, Dietrichs, for yet another great ADVENTURE!!!