Baptism

Last Saturday Sam was baptized. The weather was not too great but the event was very spiritual. Sam really enjoyed his baptism and getting his own set of scriptures. The only disappointing part of the evening was that somehow I did not get a picture of Sam with Jen.

Golden Birthday Trip to Magic Kingdom

This past week was Sam's golden birthday. To celebrate I took him to Disney World for the day. We used the Give a Day Vouchers that we earned by making our Linus Project blankets. We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort in the new pirate themed rooms. Our room was awesome and the view from the balcony was outstanding. It was right on the beach (lagoon) and we could watch the fireworks from Epcot and the Magic Kingdom each night.

This is the T-Rex that is in the airport.


This is what our room looked like. The beds were pirate ships (with cannons poking out the sides), end tables were barrels and treasure chests, even the fridge was hidden in a front opening hinged barrel.



I wanted to get a picture of the palm trees at the resort to show how nice the weather was in FL while back home was getting 18" of snow. We were heading down to the pool for a dip and fun on the waterslide.


The wind made swimming outside a bit chilly, but again, we were not getting 18" of snow (he-he).


Prior to going to the Magic Kingdom, we went shopping at Downtown Disney to get a Disney Birthday hat. We also stopped for lunch at Rainforest Cafe (one of my personal favorites).


We went to the Magic Kingdom on his birthday and he had his Disney Birthday button on. Sam received birthday wishes from over 100 people during the day including characters (Marry Poppins and Alice) that were in the Spectromagic Light Parade.





He had the chance to meet Mickey and Minnie in Toontown for a special birthday visit. Minnie loved his light-up birthday hat and Mickey loved his special light-up Mickey pen.




Sam even was chosen to be an honorary pirate and had the opportunity to sword fight Cap't Jack Sparrow (other kids only fought with Mack his assistant).



We had lunch at the Magic Kingdom at the Liberty Tree Tavern (another favorite of mine) and were able to meet Pluto, Dale, Chip and Minnie. The food was outstanding. They even brought out a birthday cupcake with a candle to blow out while singing a special Disney Happy Birthday.

Part of the Magic at the Magic Kingdom is enjoying a Mickey Bar.


The day was just about perfect, weather was perfect and the park was a blast. Not a bad birthday if you ask me.

Project Linus

Sam and I completed our blankets for Project Linus over the weekend (with a little help from Jen). We made blankets to fulfill our service agreement for the Disney Give a Day Service Program. By making two blankets for Project Linus, Sam and I will receive two day passes to DisneyWorld. We are very excited, I plan on taking Sam to DisneyWorld for his golden birthday this year, just the two of us. It should be a blast!

I believe!

Christmas is here and I am very grateful for the birth of Jesus Christ. This is such a special time of year.

This morning the kids woke up and came into my bedroom to see if they could go downstairs to see what Santa brought. I asked if they were sure if he came. I then told them that I heard a noise outside my window last night on the roof of our addition (which has a slight slope). I told them this past week that this is where Santa would land since the main part of our roof is way too steep. When they looked out the window they couldn't believe their eyes, proof that Santa had been here. There in front of them were sleigh runner marks, hoof prints, and even large boot prints (one set going from the sled and one set coming back). I couldn't believe my eyes!

This is a shot of our addition where Santa landed.


This is the shot showing the marks left by Santa.


Close-up of Santa's footprints.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve Sledding

Today will be the end of our snow. I thought it would be fun on Christmas Eve to get some sledding in before the rain comes tomorrow and melts it all away. We had a blast. We went just outside the Agriculture Sciences Building. While we were sledding a family from Nepal stopped to watch and I sent them down on the sled. They said they have never been sledding before and it was quite fun to watch. This is what I love about Universities, the exposure to cultural diversity.

We will miss the snow!

Happy Holidays!

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Be Very Very Quiet, I'm Hunting Deer

Yesterday I went out bow hunting. I have been out several times this season and usually have seen deer each time but rarely have they come within range (I like them to be at nor more than 20 yards). I chose a new tree for my climbing stand and had put out some doe scent about 15 yards behind me. The wind was perfect yesterday carrying the scent up over to the top of the ridge. At 8 AM my 8 point buck must have caught the scent and came trotting down to check it out. Once it was under my stand I made a grunt sound and he froze. At this moment I took a shot and unfortunately, shot him in his spine. This severed his spinal cord paralyzing his hind legs. I then shot a second arrow and hit his shoulder. At this point I was really wondering what was wrong with my shooting skills (this was all in a matter of about 6 seconds). I then grabbed one more arrow to get a vitals shot and drew back my bow and the string popped. My bow made an exploding sound and broke my carbon fiber arrow in two places. I was not happy to have this happen but it definitely explained why my shots were not going where I had aimed. Fortunately, my shots were fatal and he died quickly. I am happy that I was able to get at least one deer before rifle season this year. Deer jerky, here we come!