New Year's Eve Eve

Meggar hosted her 2nd annual New Year's Eve Eve party yesterday. The moms like it better when their teens are on the road one night early. Plus Dorito is in high school now so I encouraged him to invite some freshmen. There ended up being 32 guests, so I was glad we had enough food (10 pizzas) plus pop and snacks. Good fun with Guitar Heroes, Bubble Hockey, a new Ninja game, and "The Star of Bethlehem" which I have previously reviewed as a favorite movie of ours.

Feet in the Photo

In case you're wondering, my idea for our family Christmas photo came from Meggar--or really from Domitille. The first French phrase Domi taught her was "Feet on the Beach" when we arrived at the lake in Minnesota. "Pied sur la Plage" was easy to say and easy to remember. Then Meggar took lots of pictures of toes in the sand at the beach house in the south of France. Her own toes, Domi's, and the little cousin's. The photos were cute and a bit artsy. So I started brainstorming from there. It's been a year of Highs and Lows. The kind of year where you trudge on after mistakes with as much mercy as you can show. It's the kind of New Year when I should say "We're going to put our best foot forward." Happy New Year, everyone!

Trans-Siberian Orchestra & Science Project

We took Grandma to the Sprint Center for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra just before Christmas Eve. There was great music, electric violins, and an amazing laser show for the sold-out crowd. Captain said the drum pit looked as fun as a cockpit! Now we understand where his passions originated, and why he received a trap set for his 15th and 40th birthdays. This led Meggar and I to devise a scientific poll. (No standard deviation.) We found that 100% of the visitors to our basement will touch the drum set and nobody ever touches the three library shelves nearby. Amazing! Nobody says, "Look--they have The Chronicles of Narnia and Mr. Popper's Penguins and a stuffed Wilbur to go with Charlotte's Web." Why are the drums such a magnet? We will have to do some radioactive testing and publish our results in "Modern Electricity" or "Rolling Stones" magazine.

Icicles Were Hung by the Chimney with Care

Biggest icicles we've seen. More snow than St. Joseph usually gets for Christmas, too!

My Brother's Engagement

Today, my youngest brother proposed marriage to his Miss Kathryn--on the Feast of the Holy Family--and she accepted! His long-time bachelorhood will end on August 14 in Cleveland, we're told. CONGRATULATIONS and may God Bless!

Pope's Sentiments on Christmas Day

Our pastor quoted Pope Benedict's Christmas message saying, "We can conquer the world only through the innocence of a Child." I am not sure if it's meant to be a Capital C or small c in child-- but I like the sentiment either way.

Playing with Cousins

Playing and singing with all the cousins...
smiling... then more playing in the snow and in Grandpa's basement!