Happy New Year

Well, you can probably guess that it's been busy around here - given that I haven't posted to the blog since October. Yikes!

We had a really nice holiday, traveling about 1,700 miles to family in Nebraska and Texas. On our drive back from Texas, we crossed a cold front and saw the temperature drop from 77 degrees to 40 degrees in less than 35 miles. I personally perferred the temperature BEFORE the cold front.

Anyway, thought I'd post a few pictures from our time over the holidays.

The first is of my niece, who is rumored to be a genius. We asked her to display some of the impressive things that she's learning in high school and this is what we got:

Yes - she's certain to be a Rhodes scholar!

During the holidays, Lora stole, er... borrowed the camera and took some nice pictures of the scenery near my sister and brother-in-law's house. This was a nice shot of the sunset.

A few days after Christmas we went bowling, which was fun. The boys hung out with their cousins. The picture below clearly demonstrates that superior intelligence and charisma are deeply embedded in the DNA of this thar family.

We finally left for Texas, learning quickly that snow and cold are not a prerequisite for the Christmas season. We had a nice time with my brother and sister-in-law and their family. While we were there I got to record my niece singing "Away in a Manger". I also attended my nephew's basketball practice and my other niece's soccer practice. Lora and I cooked one night and attempted to compete with my sister-in-law's cooking (I think she's directly related to Julia Child and Martha Stewart....)

My brother and sister-in-law treated the boys to a rock-climbing session. Here's a few pictures of Josh & James (Yes - Lora & I chickened out).

We also visited the LBJ (Lyndon Baines Johnson) Presidential Library and went to a pretty crazy movie theater.

The last night we had a cake decorating contest - Girls vs. Boys. The girls' cake was very nice and "Christmassy".

The boys' cake, on the other hand . . . . . . .(That's supposed to be Ndamukong Suh - one of Nebraska's Defensive Linemen.)


On our way back from Texas, we stopped in Dallas and had breakfast with George and Mary Stoneberg - some old friends from Fremont.

To all our relatives - thanks for putting up with us over the holidays!