Christmas

We had a great Chirstmas this year. On Christmas Eve Kevin's parents came to our house. After a traditional dinner of soup and bread, we were treated to a program that Amanda and Rebecca had been working really hard on all week. There were handwritten programs for everyone, and there were a lot of songs and each of the girls gave a talk about the importance of Christmas. It was really neat! The girls wouldn't want to admit it, but Katrina really stole some of the show. After each of the songs we would all clap and Katrina would do this sort of flying curtsie. Both arms went out at her sides and she lifted one leg to the side and bent forward. It reminded me of an ice skater. It was so funny and so cute. The girls sang "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer" and Rebecca stood in front of us and sang and Amanda hid behind the couch and sang the echo. Rebecca sang, "join in any reindeer games," and Amanda echoed, "Like Monopoly," and then from way behind the couch we hear a soft double echo, "Like Monopoly," from Katrina. She double echoed every line and it was hilarious!

We had a great time opening gifts and then after Mom and Dad went home it took FOREVER to get the girls to bed! Amanda and Rebecca drank a lot of water to try to have to get up to go to the bathroom and catch Santa, but instead ended up getting up three or four times in the first hour and having to change pajamas because of not quite making it to the bathroom in time. And, even then, Santa slipped in while they weren't looking.

In the morning the girls were EXTREMELY patient and waited for us to get up before they got into too much of their stockings. We had a great morning. The Sister missionaries came over for breakfast and we all watched Ratatouille. (They are allowed to watch one G-rated movie on Christmas Day.) Then we went up to Kevin's parent's house for the rest of Christmas Day. We had a summer BBQ picnic for Christmas Dinner with hamburgers, potato salad and beans. We played games, did puzzles, and watched some TV.

The girls spent a lot of time playing with their new toys and things, but my favorite will be watching them putting on their program. It's wonderful to enjoy Christmas with children.


See the Christmas Eve pics HERE

See the Christmas Morning pics HERE

Memorable Fortune

We went to dinner last night with friends at Panda Express. After dinner, we all got the obligitory fortune cookie. The fortunes we received were the standard "joy", "happiness", & "wealth" fortunes except for Kevin's. As he opened his, he told of a fortune he received in a cookie a few years ago that read, "The wearing of the Green will bring you the Luck of the Irish" (True story.) An odd fortune to come from a Chinese fortune cookie for sure, but definately a memorable one. His fortune tonight had a different spin, too, and it will certainly be as memorable. He was told to "Ask Mom"!

Well... they say Mom knows everything. Maybe Mom is the secret to good fortune. I certainly wouldn't argue against that.

Sneaking up on Santa

Amanda has got it all figured out. She says that on Christmas Eve she is going to drink a LOT of water and then she will have to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. She says that when she gets up, if there are no presents under the tree that she is going to sleep on the couch until Santa gets there. If there are presents under the tree, then she will just wait for next year and try again!

UPDATE: Dec. 25, 2007
We're not going to let them do this again next year.... See the 2nd paragraph of our December 25th post.

A Small, Quiet Miracle

Tonight was our ward's Christmas Party. Our Activity Committee Chairperson, Cory Molloy (who is also a good friend of ours) was working hard to get everything ready. While we were there helping to get everything set up, she was starting to panic because she was not getting the help she was expecting and the party was starting with a few decorations still to be put up and not nearly enough food. Twelve people had signed up to bring side dishes, but with a Cultural Hall full of people, only four had been brought! After the opening prayer, the kids rushed the food table and began piling food on their plates! Several of us stood by to monitor and make sure that they only took a little bit and left food for others behind them.

Cory Molloy, Sister Orquiz (a sister missionary) and I were standing at the end of the table. With less than half the ward already gone through the line, we knew there was no way that food was going to last. Cory said she wanted to go into another room and cry. We told her not to worry, that it would be okay. And it was.

As we stood there and watched, spoonful after spoonful came out of the dishes, but nothing seemed to change. I thought to myself, "The food doesn't seem to be going down." Sister Orquiz said, "We are watching the Feeding of the 5000." I said, "I was thinking the same thing!" We stood there with tears in our eyes as we watched the entire ward go through the line, and though the last person was scraping the last little grains of rice and noodles from the bottoms of dishes, everyone got food! We thankfully witnessed a small, quiet miracle. In this season of giving, we truly received!

See all of the pictures HERE.

Daily Rider & Ice

It was 28 degrees according to the Time & Temperature clock when I left Kerman this morning. Luckily it was clear and relatively dry. About 6 miles east of town, the temperature had dropped a few degrees and I began to get into some fog. The fog thickened up to about 500 feet visibility and the bike & I were getting wetter & wetter in the fog. I needed to wipe my face shield off every minute or so.

Then came the inevitable results of combining a foggy mist with mid 20s temperatures and a 40-50 mph wind; my faceshield would not wipe off. (A quick look at a NOAA windchill chart later in the day showed the effective temperature to be about 4 degrees.) Some quick and vigorous scraping poked a hole in the ice on my shield big enough to see through. The heated grips on the bike (Wow, do I love the heated grips!) had the palms of my gloves very toasty so rubbing the ice with the palm of the glove got a bit more ice removed. I would imagine that the sight of motorcyclist riding through the fog with one hand covering his face & eyes was a bit strange (and possible memorable) to the drivers going the other way. The way I figure it though, I already couldn't see because of the fog & ice; covering my eyes with my hand wasn't going to make things much worse. (Really, though, this whole scene only lasted 5-10 seconds.) After I got a hole made in the ice, I was able to keep it clear, even though the rest of my visor continued to ice up.

A few more miles up the road and the front of my jacket was white with ice, particularly on my arms, as were my knee caps and the toes of my boots. I had horizontal icicles hanging from the top of my windshield, my handguards, and on the lower crashbars. Thankfully, the fog was not resting on the ground and/or freezing there. Ice & motorcycles do not play well together.

By the time I reached the Fresno City limits, the fog had lifted and it was clear & dry again. Within a few miles, the ice was gone, but it was still cold.

The Jaws of Life

We went up to Mom and Dad's for Sunday dinner and as we passed the Auberry Volunteer Fire Station, we saw that they were all VERY busy today! The Auberry fire fighters and a few from some other nearby stations were practicing with the Jaws of Life and the Spreaders. They had several old cars that had been donated and they were in various stages of being cut apart. There were a few CPR dummies in the cars and the firefighters were practicing cutting the doors and the tops of the cars off to get them out.

We only mention this because Kevin's dad, David, is one of those fire fighters. He has been on the Auberry Volunteer Fire Department for nearly five years now.

It was interesting to watch the fire fighters and to see what those machines are capable of. It is always comforting to know that when someone comes to cut you out of a car, they know what they are doing!

See all of the pictures HERE.

Daily Rider in the Rain

More rain today. I don't mind riding in it. I kind of enjoy it, and I think it makes me a better rider. The roads get very slick when they're wet with the first few rains, so I don't man-handle the bike as much. I'm much more conscious of my throttle & braking, particularly how smooth (or not) it is. If it's smooth, there are no problems, but a jerky thorttle or a quick jab at the brakes gets things unsettled very quickly. I read that somewhere, but experience has made it sink in.

64,000 Miles

I rolled 64,000 miles on the BMW R100GS on the way home tonight. I'm aiming at 100,000.

It was pouring rain for most of my 28 mile trip to work. I managed to get there dry & comfy without any leaks. It rained most of the way home too, but by this time my boots were soaked. It's supposed to rain for the next few days. We'll see how that goes.

Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!

Today we got our Christmas tree up. I normally would put it up the weekend of Thanksgiving, but it came really early this year, and I don't have my usual Christmas spirit this year. I decided that we were going to tone down Christmas this year.

We usually decorate three trees - the big one with everyone's ornaments, the middle-sized one with all my nativity ornaments, and the small one with all the girl's ornaments on it (all the ones they made in school, etc.). This year we took the small 3' tree to Gma Willie's and set it up there. It fits perfectly in her small apartment. I made ornaments for her tree that were pictures of everyone in the family. She really loved it!

Today we put up the middle-sized tree and put on just the nativity ornaments. It was nice, as the girls haven't always seen all the ornaments since they usually stop helping when the big tree its done, and so it was like they were hanging up all new ornaments. I usually buy them each a new ornament for Christmas, but this year I am in the middle of making them each a little ornament book that mentions all the important things they did this year. They will be nice when they are finished. Right now though, I have to finish sending out our Christmas cards.