A Very Busy Christmas!

It has become a tradition for our family and Jon's siblings and their families to get together for a separate Christmas celebration so that all the cousins can be together.

There are 8 grand kids, so there is always lots going on but it sure makes for a great time!

Here we have Emmy and Kendall before heading off to catch up, very cute!

Emmy hamming it up for the camera.

Here are almost all of the Grandchildren at dinner...clockwise we have Henry, Kenny, Kendall, Emerson, William (although you can't see him, just his plate) Jack, Anna, and Madison. Lots of kids to fit at one banquet table but we make it work! Lets just hope the couple that owns most of the kids at the table don't get any ideas. Kidding, have at it!


Here we have Auntie Heather in the red crying in pain because like Madison, she went sock surfing on a rough part of our newly exposed hardwood floor and got herself a heck of a sliver. Nurse Helen is busy performing "surgery".

No stitches were needed this time, thank goodness!

Here we have Helen (Ken's wife), William, Henry, Ken (Jon's brother), and a little bit of Heather (Jon's sister).

Kendall, Jack and Kenny getting ready to open gifts.
***
As usual, we had a great time...great food, conversation, and lots of fun memories!

The "Cousins Sleep Over"

Emerson has been complaining for quite some time about how "Madison gets to have all the fun" in that Madison has had several sleep overs in her time.

Emmy has had none that were officially labeled as "hers", so she made some cute invitations for her cousins Kylie and Kasey and the date was set!

Here Emmy and Kasey do the usual "joined at the hip" thing that seems to happen every time they are around each other...very cute!

Here is the Emmy and Kylie alone time with a new toy from Christmas.

Here is video of the classic Emmy and Kasey type moment...enjoy, we sure did!

The evening ended with some excitement when Kylie lost a tooth! Here she is showing the camera where the tooth once was. It was fun to have the tooth fairy visit too!

We all had a great time and Emmy is looking forward to having them over again.

Christmas Day Fun

It snowed on Christmas day and the kids were happy because they were able to try ot their gifts from Santa.

Emmy chilling out...literally!

Madison got a snow board and Emmy got a sled...here they are getting ready to test them out. Madison was really excited to try hers out, as it was her first ever attempt!

Ready, set....

Go!

***

This was Madison's second attempt with the snow board and she actually made it all the way down standing up!

It was a great snow day!

Christmas Eve 2007

Look how grown up our girls are getting!

Grandma "Rudolph" wearing the blinking red nose that Madison and Emerson picked out for her.

Santa visited my mom's house this year and Emmy got a chance to remind him of her wish list.

Madison was a good sport too!

Madison, Kylie, Emerson, Santa, and Kasey.

Here is Emmy saying a blessing before our meal.

Here Kasey is saying a blessing too...so cute!

We are so proud of this young lady!

Here is baby Kelly getting ready to don Grandma's reindeer ears.

Here Emmy is opening "The Magic Tree House" series of books she got from Grandpa and Grandma.

Jessica, Kyle, and Madison, who is looking at the special doll Jan made for Emmy this year.

I received a very special gift from my Aunt Jan this year, as did Madison and Emerson. This is a picture of the Angel that Jan made for me that she worked on for three months. The detail alone is amazing, but there are very special things about this doll that are written on the back of her wings. The wings and top part of her skirt were made from the lace collar of the dress my Grandma Ione wore to our wedding, the small pearls on the wings were from a necklace of hers and the green pendant on the necklace around her neck is made from one of her earrings.

It of course made me cry, even though I knew it was coming because the girls opened theirs before I did. It was a beautiful gift and I am so thankful for the special remembrance of my Grandma as well.

This Christmas I am so thankful for the family that Jon and I are blessed with, both those here and thousands of miles away, please know that you all make our lives full and we are so thankful for the contribution that you have made to our lives.

I spent a lot of time in prayer this Christmas and more than anything I am so thankful for the grace that I am shown each day, and for the precious gift of the Christ child God sent for us.

Merry Christmas!

Cookie Time!

Jon and the girls made some beautiful cookies for Christmas this year while I was finishing wrapping gifts, here is the result of their hard work!

Beauties!

The "Jon and Lisa" cookies that Jon made.

Christmas Play - 2007

Madison and Emerson's school had their annual Christmas program and were fortunate enough to have a great cheering section this year.

My mom, brother Kyle and his girlfriend Jessica, sister Carrie and two of her three girls, Kylie and Kasey, all joined Jon and I to watch the program.

Here are some pictures from the evening...hope you enjoy!

Jessica flashing a smile for the camera!

Carrie, Kyle, Jessica, and Kasey.


Here is Madison playing the flute in the band before the program, she is in the blue.


Carrie, Kyle, Jessica and Kasey...love the art on her little face!


Cousin Kylie sitting on Grandma's lap taking pictures with her fancy camera.

Madison played Mary in the play...here she is receiving the message of her future as the mother of Jesus.

Here is our little lamb making her way to the stage for the performance below.




Check out our little lamb! Double click on each of the arrows to play each video.

***

Mary and Joseph, no room at the Inn.

***

Yes, that is a real baby!

***

Grand finale with the whole school...Pre-K to 8th grade.

Afterwards, the whole gang went to dinner to celebrate the perfomance...this is afterwards just outside the restaurant...so cute!

Kyle being silly with the girls.

That's Kyle under the bench, hiding!

Uncle is lots of fun, just a big kid himself!

Uncle Kyle is 23!

Wednesday night we went to my mom and Bill's for dinner to celebrate Kyle's birthday.

Here he is with four of his five girls...little Kelly snuck away before we could snap the picture.

Hard to believe this is the same kid, huh!

Happy 23rd Birthday Kyle, we love you very much!

Madison's Busy Day!

Today was a very busy day for Madison!

It started out in the morning with rehearsal at school for her upcoming role as Mary in Mt. Calvary's Christmas play. (Which is this Thursday at 7pm) After lunch the school band and choir headed to the Mall of America for a concert in the SEARS rotunda. Madison plays flute in the band and also sings in the choir....double duty today.

They all did a great job!

After school she headed off with her basketball team for their last game of the season, they lost...but just barely.

Before you know it she will be getting ready for her favorite sport - Volleyball!

That should start up by the end of January.

My Trip to Japan

This was my third trip to Japan on business, (yes, it's really Jon blogging) and this time I was facilitating the training of a new crew software that we are launching.

Here are some of the pictures I took, hope you enjoy!

Here is the 747-400 I flew to Japan. I was lucky enough to sit in first class where there was non-stop food and beverages. Champagne and snacks upon departure, then 2 full meals with wine and dessert after that, as well other mid-flight snacks.

The seat actually extends to lay flat if you wanted to sleep, which I did after enjoying two movies...thank goodness for the Bourne Ultimatum and Fantastic Four, as 12 hours is a lot of time to fill.

I can't wait to go back in a few months, and maybe my wife will join me this time? :)

In Japan you can buy beer from vending machines right on the street...weird!

The trip was mostly work, but I took a few hours to tour the Narita-san temple.

This is the entrance to the temple.

There are a lot of graves and headstones on the Temple grounds...some of them are from the Royal family, people of honor, and even SAMURI's. So cool!!



Hey, that's me, Mr. Jon-san!

(Seriously, that's what they call me in Japan)


This is a kind of mausoleum...the ancestors are buried in the hill and marked with the writings you see here.


Even in the winter it's pretty.


It was raining all morning...cool picture though.

Many people are there to pray and they burn incense in big copper burners...it smelled really good.


Not sure what she was selling...but I wasn't buying.

Most restaurants will display what their food looks like on tables outside or in their windows. It's actually fake plastic food but looks just like what they serve inside. They are big on what I called "meal deals".

You can get a main course, salad, soup, rice and dessert (which isn't sweet) all for like 12 bucks. I tried it twice, both times leaving me hungry still.

On my birthday some of my Japanese co-workers brought me out for lunch.

I tried Sushimi, which is raw Salmon and Tuna. Everyone knows I am a burger guy but I have to admit it was good.

The best part was having them sing "Happy Birthday" to me with their Japanese accents.

This is the road leading up to the Temple.

The streets and cars are really small and narrow, I however am not, so I was really careful not to get hit.

The are not use to seeing large people, so I got some looks!

We think this was an ancient medicine shop (very mysterious) or, it was some pretty scary food??