Home for the Holidays

We had a wonderful time at Christmas. Nicole and Dan drove down on December 20th and Jared flew down on December 23rd. We had everyone over for dinner on Christmas Eve -- it was the first opportunity that we had to use Christmas plates that we had received as a wedding gift:












After a wonderful dinner, we continued an annual tradition by reading the accounts of Matthew and Luke regarding the birth of Jesus, and then watching "Luke 2" -- a video depiction of Luke's account.

Then it was time to open presents:

First up is Corinne, who is very excited to read a new take on an old classic --"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" (no, I'm not making that up):



Ashley also received some new reading material -- Dan Brown's "Lost Symbol." Ashley had told us that her boyfriend, Jason, and his roommates have every geek movie known to man, except they do not have any of the Star Wars movies. We solved that problem by getting him his own copy of "Star Wars, Episodes I-III":



Dan and Nicole were ready to show off their cooking skills -- Dan with his air-pop popcorn popper, and Nicole with her spring-form pans:


We had the unique experience of sharing our Christmas Eve celebration with a homeless man:


No, wait -- that's Jared, admiring a new digital clock that he received. He also used it to practice for a mug shot, should the occasion arise:


We also enjoyed celebrating Jared's 26th birthday! At his request, we fixed spaetzel and meatballs (Nicole did a great job of preparing the spaetzel), and then enjoyed a delicious dessert prepared by Jared himself. The dessert consisted of crushed oreos, cream cheese, chocolate pudding, and Cool Whip. It was delicious!

Because it was his birthday, we put candles in it to celebrate:



We had a great time with everyone here: watching Nicole laugh so hard over childhood memories that she couldn't finish eating, playing ImaginIff and wondering who the last person would be to pick up the check at dinner, enjoying a fun night of bowling, having a great meal and fun conversation (including a discussion of "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies") at Cheesecake Factory, and playing countless games of Uno Spin (we'll forever hear the Gregorian Chant, "Draw until red," in our heads). It was over all too soon. Fortunately, Nicole and Dan were able to soak up a little sun before returning to the cold and gray of Utah:


We really appreciate all the effort everyone made to come together during the Christmas season!

New Pool!

We have been talking about replastering our pool for a couple of years now and finally decided it was time. I took some pictures along the way so you can see the transformation. This first picture is just after draining the pool.

Then they chipped away the old plaster. It surprised me that so much of it seemed to be left when they were finished. But this is as much as they took out.


Then came the tile.


Then they plastered and filled up the pool. I didn't think to take a picture of the new plaster before it got filled up all the way. Sorry! It was very bright white!!