The best part

Here's the part of the Christmas program that wasn't included in the first post. Check out those moves!

Aint that the truth!!

Our weekend

We're back in town, for a few days anyway. Our trip to IN went well. I had a great time with my friends and Chris had a great time with his friends. We saw his family, and I got to know them a little better.
We're planning on seeing Jodie Clark on Thursday. She's in the area visiting her grandmother, and she'll come over on to eat on Th. So, between now and Sat. I need to cook, clean, shop, do laundry, and have people over. : )

Latest

Just wanted to let you all know the latest. I got my grades for the semester, and I got five A's and one B-. My best semester yet in my academic career. It helps that the program is easier then seminary.

Still keeping busy. Last week I was sick for several days (mostly just weak and sleeping 15-17 hours a day, with no appetite), so they let me postpone my statistics test until Wednesday. Which was a blessing. That's my major news for the week, cause I have no life.

Other than that things are going well. Kim was sick last week too, but is better. Work is going well for her. There are a lot of changes at work for her, so I get to hear second hand how things are at my old stomping grounds. We're both looking forward to being at Ben's for Christmas. She's only going to stay for a day, and leave Sunday evening, so she can be with her family for Christmas.

" "

The B Team

Micah's Wisdom

When I arrived home from a staff meeting tonight, Micah came running up to me: "Mom, I want to give you a hug, because I just need to." Who can argue with that?

He was running around today, playing with a sword, destroying bad guys, and he assured me, "Mom, I'm not going to kill you. Because you would give me a big spanking." Glad he realizes that.

Leftovers

How do you tell a venus fly trap that it has to eat everything on its "plate" when you wouldn't eat its leftovers either?

Weekend productivity

Chris and I played hookie from church yesterday, but we got lots done otherwise. We didn't have an evening service, and Chris had several things he had to finish for seminary this week...so we stayed home. I felt really good about myself, though, because I got lots done (including five loads of laundry and washing my car.)
The costarican girl we met at Kim's grandparents' house told me about a grocery store in Philly that had some Argentine food. I wanted to stop in before Christmas and yesterday was the only day that I could drive down to check it out.
I was surprised by what I found, and very happy. : ) I also stopped by the Brazilian section of Philly to get some Guaraná. So we now have Guaraná and Paso de los Toros Pomelo sitting on our floor because we don't have any room for it anywhere else.
I got a stash of Cerealitas crackers, of which I'm very happy (they're the best crackers ever!) They had mate, but of course I have enough, so I didn't get any. Seeing Exquisita cake mixes made me laugh, for some reason. I was very happy to also get La Salteña ravioles and empanada discs (Chris loves empanadas). They also had pascualina discs (for a lack of a better word), but I didn´t get any because I don´t have a pan I could cook them in. I´ll have to work on that. There´s also some Terrabusi products in our apartment now. : ) I´ll have to hit the gym every day for the next month, I think.
Anyway, it was a strange weekend for us, but a good one. Chris only has one more sermon to finish this week and he´s done with projects! He technically won´t be done with his requirements for his MDiv until next year when he does his senior sermon in chapel, though. But after his one sermon this week (just needs to be prepared, not presented), and a Hebrew final, he´ll be done with his immediate requirements for his MDiv!!!
He´ll probably start on his ThM next semester--he does have to hand in the application first. : )

My weekend productivity

I forgot to post this a few weeks ago: I made this dress for Elianna one Sunday afternoon.

Some of the things we learned on this trip

~It's not a good idea to try to return books to the library before a trip, if there's a blizzard dumping snow on your town.
~Plow trucks are helpful when you've tried to return books to the library during a blizzard...especially if you've managed to straddle the curb in the process of being a good library patron.
~In Iowa, bigger silos mean you're about to reenter civilization.
~Nebraska has lots of cows.
~Driving through the Rockies while it's snowing, with warnings of ice on the road, is very stressful.
~Your ears pop when you drive through the Rockies.
~Most states list the city's population on city limit signs. In Colorado, signs announcing city limits show the elevation of the city.
~Steamboat Springs is at an elevation of 7,000 feet. Your ears pop there, too.
~In Steamboat Springs, the McDonald's has free wi-fi. Do you know of any McDonald's like that?
~When you leave after church on Wed., to drive from Colorado to Wyoming, people warn you to beware of elk crossing the road.
~Mount Rushmore is impressive.
~There's no cell phone reception in the Black Hills National Forest.
~Crazy Horse costs more to see than Mount Rushmore, and it's not even finished.
~Twenty-two hours of driving each way means lots of Dora the Explorer...

States we drove through on this trip

Mount Rushmore

Steamboat Springs

These are pictures from the church and the parsonage. I don't have time to post much more right now. (We are enjoying the free wi-fi at McDonald's. Yes, that would be free wi-fi at McDonald's. Tells you how ritzy this area is.) One picture I took as we drove through the bigger mountains, west of Denver; most of the pictures I took from the car were too blurred. The picture of Jared is in the snow fort he and Andrea built next to the parsonage. One picture shows the kids in the foreground, with a house in the background. The house is the parsonage; the picture was taken from the porch of the "guest house," where we stayed.

Tired but happy

Chris and I went to see "Phantom of the Opera" last night in Philadelphia. We had fourth row seats--it was sweet!! We went with Donna and Alyssa (my supervisor and her daughter.)
I think we're all paying for it today, because we're all exhausted!

It was worth it!

Here's a closer picture of Bryan's smile.

It was worth the sore back, headaches, miles, hours, money, and everything else, just to see these little faces in person! :)

Lunch with Andrew

We had such a good time with Andrew today! He's just as funny as he ever was. We had a good time listening to him talk about what he and Sam did when he was in Argentina. He talked to Sam a bit on the phone, which just revived his memory. Anyway, we had a good time. I got to meet Aunt Carol's mom and sister and Andrew confirmed that they all really do look a like. : )

Gotta love Peanuts!

:-)

Need a smile? Click "play" on the page that will open.

I'm being spoiled

Well, not only did I get a bonus at work, but I also got a nice little gift.
And then, yesterday, I was surprised by seeing a new flat-screen monitor at my desk! Ironically, someone told me my regular monitor was dying (of course I couldn't tell because I looked at it every day), and then out of the blue I got a nifty new one. :)
They're spoiling me at work.