Christmas Day and the Day After 2008

Christmas has been a wonderful time with family this year.  We wish more of our loved ones from Michigan could have been here in North Carolina, but we were happy Paul and Liz could come from Michigan, and Tammy Carl and Griffin could come from Tennessee.  There were many special moments and these snapshots capture a few.

Christmas Eve 2008

We had a great time over at Matt and Katherine's house (my brother and sister-in-law).

Amanda and Emily's Christmas Performances

Amanda and Emily have had plenty of Christmas activities this year at church and at school:



Amanda and Emily at our Church children's musical.  Both girls sang.  Amanda had a lead speaking part and also played the piano.



Here is Emily's School Christmas Choir (on 12-16-08)



Here is Amanda and her Teacher, Rick Hendricks, at her Christmas Piano Recital (on 12-20-08).

The following are videos of both events:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPzowxMZ4Wc[/youtube]

Emily's Christmas Choir (12-16-08)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC7S43raLHk[/youtube]

Amanda's Piano Recital (12-20-08)

I'll have more Christmas posts soon.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Our Thanksgiving Trip to Williamsburg, VA

We decided to do something adventerous this Thanksgiving.  We were offered a free trip to Williamsburg and $150 spending money if we would listen to a timeshare salses pitch.  We were skeptical, but we thought we'd try it.  It turned out to be a lot of fun.  The presentation was about 3 hours.  We got to stay in a very nice condo and had fun touring Williamsburg.  We didn't buy the timeshare.

Thanksgiving Dinner at Matt's House on 11-27-2008

We had Thanksgiving Dinner at my brother Matt's house on 11-27-2008.  Here are some pictures:







Here are some videos expressing thanksgiving:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uND-MXb7BT4[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fPSvYxh9h4[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krFdULRKKFg[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KaYrC_ePDM[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1npWVR9REBo[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrNvXRtu0Y8[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy9nLfT_3g0[/youtube]

Papa Don's Birthday Party

Here are some picture's from my Uncle's Birthday party on November 2, 2008.

Halloween 2008

We enjoyed "trunk or treat" at our church.  People put candy in their car trunks and meet at the church parking lot.  Everyone gets to see how the kids dressed up.  It was fun.  Emily dressed up like a girl from the 1950s and Amanda dressed up as a tree.

Dixie Classic Fair

My family always enjoys the fair.  We had a good time this past fall at the Dixie Classic Fair in Winston-Salem, NC.  We went on 10-11-08.

Here is a picture of Julie and me with Chris and Ashley (friends from church):



Emily enjoying a pony ride:



Amanda and Emily with Papa Don:



It was a lot of fun and I'm sure we will be back next fall.

Emily's Ballet Recital

Here is an excerpt from Emily's ballet recital.  It was on 11/17/08 at the Kernersville YMCA.  She was 6 years old.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh3zl6pRcow[/youtube]

Labor Day at the Greensboro Natural Science Museum

We had a great time today.  The tiger was beautiful and wasn't shy.  The tiger would "talk" to one of the zoo keepers.  The zoo keeper told us he was used to her and she would growl in anticipation of dinner.

Here are some pictures of Euri the anteater.  Euri is 7 feet long (a lot of it being his tail), 135 pounds, and he eats 30,000 ants each day.  I have never seen an anteater close up.  He had very interesting markings and was fun to see.  Euri was slow moving and didn't seem to have a care in the world.







We spent about an hour inside the museum and saw some dinosaur bones, some reptiles, and some other interesting science exhibits.  We spent about 3 hours there total and plan on gong back soon.

It was a good way to end the holiday weekend!

Amanda and Dave enjoy a trip to Pilot Mountain

For Amanda's birthday this year, one of the gifts was a day trip she and I would take together.  She chose to go hiking.  We went to Pilot Mountain and had a great time.  We hiked on the intermediate trail, so we were both very tired.  We got to see some birds of prey.  I don't know what type they were because the sign listed several different kinds of birds in the area, including Bald Eagles.

We both had a great time and it proves again the truth of the saying:

"The best things in life are free."

Mother's Day, 2008

Today, our family went to church together and then celebrated Mother's Day. I have heard that Mother's Day is the busiest day of the year for dinning out. We enjoyed a wonderful turkey dinner together at my mom and dad's home. Aside from saving money and gas, having lunch at home is much better than going out. The food was delicious and it was good to be able to enjoy each other without fighting a crowd.

We are thankful for our mothers and believe that these are three very special ladies.

Freedom Writers (2007)

Freedom Writers (2007) - Movie Info - Yahoo! Movies

Julie and I watched this movie a couple of days ago. We both liked it a lot and thought it was a great drama. We probably both enjoyed it because we both like to help people. Hillary Swank played the leading role and she was passionate about helping high school students. The movie was based on a true story.

Thankful for my job...

We all have frustrating times at our jobs. The government vehicle I drove today got a flat at the home of one of my patients and I had to wait 90 minutes for a ride. Engineering decided to leave the vehicle there overnight (which was fine with the patient) and fix the flat tomorrow (it was raining hard). I got home 90 minutes later than normal.

Aside from that, it was a great day. It is very fulfilling to help my patients and my coworkers are great people to work with. During the difficult economic times our country is facing, many Americans have either lost their jobs or lost the earning ability they need to meet many basic family needs. My job not only meets our needs, but I am always home before the kids are in bed.

I am very thankful for my job.

Four Seasons in NC...

It is getting close to a full year since we moved to North Carolina. We moved this past Summer and it is now Spring. Things are very busy for us and there have been many adjustments for us all.

Julie is now working full time at a social services agency for children and adolescents. Amanda and Emily are keeping busy at school. Both are doing very well. Julie and I were relieved to finish our taxes this past weekend and are looking forward to the rebates that the government will be sending out. We are still working hard to pay off debt, but have been making good progress over the past few months.

We have not had any offers on our home yet. It went on the market in June, 2007. We lowered the price again and our Realtor is having an open house on 4/23/08. We are hopeful we will get some interest. The market is very difficult now.