Happy New Year!!!

On Sunday evening my mom got out one of the puzzles that santa brought Justin. As she dumped the pieces out on the table she let out a loud shriek. Inside was a huge wolf spider. We think it may have bitten her. I am not sure what happened, but the picture below shows how she woke up on Monday.

Happy New Year to all! And a happy birthday to mom/grandma/spiderwoman. We finally finished up our Christmas season over the weekend with my mom & dad visiting. The boys had the 3rd & final round of presents. Everyone had a great time. On Friday we went to the Hurricanes game. It was a great game with a lot of action, a fight, and even a penalty shot (I had never seen one in a live game before). On Saturday we had another warm day and went to the science museum in Durham. On Saturday we had a rare cold and rainy day and just sat around and let the boys play all day. It was a fun weekend.

It is hard to beleive it has already been 1 year since we made our move. In some ways it feels like we have just moved here, in others, it feels like we have been here for years. Life is kind of weird like that. We are looking forward to a great 08 with continued adventures. We love being able to keep everyone updated on the Blog and will continue to due so.

Make it a great year and live it with no regrets!!!!

Until next time...

Merry Christmas to All!!!

Merry Christmas (belated) everybody!! We had a really nice first Christmas in NC. On Christmas Eve we let the boys open their gifts that they had received in the mail from family. They received Nintendo DS's, DS games, gift cards and some nice frames. Later in the evening we had our friends over for dinner (a big feast as the boys say). They had a great time running around and playing with their friends and eating cookies. Thank you to everyone that sent special holiday cards and packages to the boys, we all really appreciate it!! Thank you!! Christmas morning at 5:00 a.m. Owen woke up anxious to see what Santa brought. So we went and woke up sleepy head Justin and just like a switch he was awake and ready to go. Santa brought new bikes, DS games, gameboy games, new fishing poles each equiped with their own tackle boxes, another guitar for Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero Legends of Rock, and some other small things. They played all day with everything that they had gotten. Then in the afternoon we went over to visit our friends that came over for dinner and let the kids ride their bikes outside. Then went to another friends house for dessert. Their house was full of kids that the boys know from school and the pool and friends that we know that are all in our situation (family living out of state). Although it was a very different Christmas for all us and we miss everyone we had a nice holiday. I tell the boys how lucky they are to get to celebrate Christmas so much this year. We celebrated Christmas with my family over the Thanksgiving weekend, Christmas over the past two days, and Dan and Deb are coming in on Friday to celebrate Christmas. So I think they are enjoying the extended holiday season and gift giving! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas

Dance, Dance Revolution!

Round Ball

Greetings from Apex, NC where it is a chilly 42 degrees. Once again we headed over to the hardwoods this morning for Justin to work on his B-ball skills. He has so much fun he can't wait to go. He is now off until January for the all-star break. Watch closely in the video, at about the 2:08 mark he hits the kid in the face with the kids own hand. Then at about 3:10 he spots the camera and is running over to tell Jamie to turn it off. Stinker.

Until next time...

Feliz Navidad!

Today Justin had his Christmas program at school. Jamie took Owen out of school early so we could all be there to support Justin. The kids were so cute. Jamie thinks Justin was Just lip syncing (check out the video below)They are learning about Christmas in other areas of the world and sang a couple of different songs with a Mexican theme. After the program we got to have some treats with him at school. I think he really enjoyed doing the program and us being there.

The boys also received a package today. They are always excited to get a package (especially Justin). It was some Xmas ornaments for the boys from Uncle Ken and Aunt Pam. A special thanks to them for thinking of the boys.

Although it is only 12 days until Xmas (I think that is a song or something), it sure doesn't feel like it. It has been hot all week. Today was the 4th straight day of record highs. On Monday it was 81, it was the warmest December day ever recorded in NC. It is gradually cooling down and is supposed to consistently be in the 50's for the next 10 days. I don't think it's going to be a white Xmas. We still need rain drastically. The lakes are literally drying up before our eyes. You know me, I'm a real conservationist. I suggested to Jamie that we save water by showering together, but she didn't go for it. Hey, I tried to do my part.

On a sports related note, the Wings beat the Hurricanes & the Pistons beat the Bobcats (hey dad, I keep forgetting to tell you it's not the Hornets anymore) this week. And, our football team is worse than the lions. It's a good thing we didn't move here for the sports, although the entire state is still gloating over the little mountain college that beat Michigan in football this year. At the mall they are even selling posters of the scoreboard at the big house.

Until next time...

It's only just begun...

...our wide world of sports. Owen finished off his first session of roller hockey. He had a great time and is obsessed with roller blading. He'll start again Jan. 8th for his second session. Shaun took the boys to the roller rink last night and Owen skated for two hours straight. He loves showin off for the ladies!! Justin had another great day at basketball. He is absolutely loving it. There are two video clips of his game yesterday. The first video is where you can see he is the first at hustling up and down the court. He is always anxious to get the rebound and even starts telling his teammates what to do. The second video was when he was set up to get the ball to make the shot and my memory card filled up, literally 1 second too soon. He sank the ball with nothin but net. He is an allstar!! He is a goofball out there too, he has so much fun and you can hear his giggle over all the noise in the gym. It's fun, this new chapter with the boys and their sports.

It's an amazing 73 degrees today!!! It's supposed to hit 79 degrees on Wednesday. I went to a Christmas party last night and it was so weird walking out in a tank top and summer knit sweater to go to a Christmas party. Not used to that yet. The boys are outside playing in shorts and t-shirts, doesn't feel like December 9th. Not trying to rub in this beautiful weather but I'm lovin it!!!

Hope all is well with everyone!!

Love,

Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan (there is a slight resemblance and he went to UNC!) and very proud parents!

It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas...

Christmas is near. Today we went down to the New Hope Valley Railway. They run train rides once a month and have a Christmas ride in December. We weren't quite sure what to expect, but the kids had alot of fun. We took a train ride throught the woods that lasted about 45 minutes. Santa came out and gave all the kids candy canes. Luckily we dressed warm because we didn't know that the train cars were not enclosed and it was only about 50 degrees today (brrrrrr!). Yesterday, Justin had basketball in the morning. He loves it. The practiced for 1/2 hour and then had a learn to play game against another team. He was all over with a smile on his face the whole time. He would score a basket, run back for defense, give his teamates on the bench a hi-5 and then get in his position to try to rebound. Even though they were not teaching it, and really trying not to have the kids do it, Justin would get a rebound and make a fast break. It was hilarious. Later in the day we all went to a B-day party for one of Justin's school friends. It was an outdoor party on Dec. 1 (you gotta love that). Then in the evening we went to the Apex X-mas parade. Since we were coming from the party, we didn't get their early (I wish we did). It was packed. I stood about five people back with Justin on my shoulders and Owen snuck for a front row seat. It was neat going to a parade at night.

As you can see from the video below, Owen is still loving roller blading and hockey. Tuesday is his last day for this session. We signed him up for another session that starts after the new year.

Also, it's a day early, but since we will be busy tomorrow and probably won't have a post, we all want to wish Grampa/Dad a very happy birthday.

Until next time...

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!!!!

Well, I guess better late than never!!! My parents, sister, and neice came down for a visit over the Thanksgiving day weekend. We had a great time. We had a great feast on Thanksgiving, relaxed and enjoyed each others company, went ice skating and celebrated Christmas on Saturday. It was a great first Thanksgiving for us. Here are some pics from Thanksgiving and other misc. pics for your viewing pleasure!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend!!

Take care and love to all,

Shaun, Jamie, Owen, and Justin