Julia's first soccer game!

Today at 11 Julia played her very first soccer game. Thanks to the coaches (Dad and Ashlyn), their team was able to get the first win of the season! The total score was 4-2, but who counts? IT's all about them having fun, playing hard, getting a grin on their face, running through the tunnel, and having a snack at the end!

Ashlyn, Luke and I started a small business. It is a very small
business that has a limited life. We created a mailbox repair business.
The target customer is the people in our subdivision. All homes in our
subdivision have the same mailbox design. The wood, on several mailboxes
in the neighborhood, has deteriorated. So seeing an opportunity to make
a little money and gain some business experience, we jumped at the
chance.
We developed a repair process and came up with our cost basis for four different types of repairs. The first option we offered was a mailbox top frame replacement with sanding, filler, and painting. From there we offered three more choices and had a special promotion of a complete
mailbox assembly replacement.

Ashlyn developed and printed fliers for the business. Then, Ashlyn and
Luke distributed the fliers to the target customers.

So far, we have received five orders. The kids share the work and share
the profits.

We are not making much money from the jobs but the kids are learning a
valuable experience. Plus I see this as a bonding time with two of my
kids.

One Last Ski Trip

Justin and I decided to get one last ski trip in this year. We drove the two hours north to Catacholee and skied the night. We skied from 6PM to 10 PM on Saturday. It was a blast. The snow was mostly ice and slushy ice but was skiable.

Can you see Justin and me? We are the ones waving and we are standing next to each other. Justin has an orange jacket and I have maroon jacket.

Ski Utah

Ashlyn and I went to Utah last weekend for a winter get away. We stayed in a town called Ogden. Ogden is a beautiful town surround by mountains.

We did not spend much time in Ogden because the main purpose of the trip was to snow ski. We skied at Powder Mountain. The skiing was great. The snow trails at Powder Mountain were long, with the longest run about three miles in length. The ski resort has 10,000 acres with a lot of back country skiing available. The temperature was cold ~9F in the morning but the afternoon temperature warmed up in to the teens (which is still cold). We were dressed for the weather so we didn't have any problem staying outside all day. But, at the end of the day, the hot tub sure felt nice.

Next year, Luke will join us. He is already looking forward to the trip. So am I.

Yellow Belt

All three of us are yellow belts! Ashlyn, Justin, and I have been taking Kempo/Juditso for several months. Kempo/Juditso is a form of self defense. So after learning several defensive moves during the months of training, we demonstrated to the sensay (teacher) that we are worthy of the yellow belt.

Ashlyn and Justin now know several techniques that can bring a big person like me down to the ground. They learned that strength is not needed to defend yourself but that applying pressure at few key areas can cause great pain.

Snowed In - Day 3

We're going on 3 days now that school has been cancelled. Our sled has been used so much that even duct tape isn't holding anymore. Now the kids won't get out for summer until June 11th with all the make-up days.

Since the roads are still iced over, we've enjoyed being holed up in our house spending lots of family time playing games, getting caught up on laundry, and cooking up all the food in our freezer. We're out of milk, though, so we may try to venture out after lunch when the temps are finally above freezing. The high today should be 36!

Businesses have been closed the past 2 days, but most are opening around noon today. SC has been declared a state of emergency so that additional road crews can be called in to help clear the ice.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Once again, snow has covered our lawns. Only this time, it was about triple of what we had over Christmas. So far were up to 7 inches, but its still coming down! With all this snow, the district cancelled school for today and tomorrow last night at 11:30, so you know what that means: school closed = no homework = late bedtime!!!

Snow Tubing

I tired to take the kids snow tubing today in the mountains of North Carolina. The roads were in bad shape and the Cadi got stuck trying to go up a hill. It was a frozen mess. I needed chains, a 4X4, a tow rope, and a shovel but didn't have a any of that. After being stuck for about an hour, I called my wife on her cell phone and we discussed an alternate route, with the help of google maps, that wasn't as hilly. So I drove home a different way. We never went tubing.

The kids said today that they were sick of snow and ice.

I am glad to be home today!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

I'm dreaming of a white christmas, just like the ones I used to know, Where the treetops glisten and children listen, to hear sleigh bells in the snow ...

We are having a white Christmas at my house this year. The kids and I love it. It is snow ball time!

Merry Christmas to all!

Next Day (Sunday)

Today was a fun day for sledding and building a snow man. The hills around our house make for fast sled rides. Here is Justin Luke all bundled up and getting ready for a sled ride. Ashlyn is busy making a snow angle

Pretzel Time!

Instead of making cookies, I decided to make mall pretzels (with the help of the younger ones of course). Instead of small, hard pretzels, we made the big, huge, and buttery ones. Before we started cooking though, the helper chefs had to dress up and look cute. After the dough had risen, we cut it into pieces and formed the pretzel. When all were in a some-what pretzel looking shape, we put it in the oven and cleaned the messy place up. When it was time for us to take them out of the oven, Luke took the task of buttering and salting them (good thing none of us has high blood pressure). When the pretzel making process was over, we sat down with a huge glass of milk and ate our pretzels.