David's Life: 2018-12

2018-12-31

The boys playing “Civil war chess” with Andy’s Christmas present.

What could be sweeter than breakfast with my sisters!

Laura got us a gift card for my sisters and I to enjoy a meal together. In the tradition of Isaac's wrapping, it was booby trapped with sugar... ;)

Ian got a chance to take a helicopter tour, of Cincinnati, for his birthday.

His girlfriend bought it for him. They enjoyed it together. Here is one of the many shots he captured.

We spent the day helping my friend pack for his move. His POD is all ready to ship...

2018-12-30

We celebrated Julie’s birthday yesterday.

Presents, ruebens and dessert at the Waynesville Hammel House, and our semi-annual trek to Jungle Jim's. It was BUSY. These are all the people just walking in the door.

We finished with a nice dinner at her mom's house. More laughter and fun. I love my wife and family! Happy Birthday!

After laser tag, Andy had to try out his new unicycle.

Taking after his great grandfather, I see...

While all that gushy stuff was going on, Andy and I headed out for some tactical laser tag!

Andy 3, dad 1... He's trouble!

Johnny and Joslyn got a chance to hang out, and watch Christmas movies, at our house.

Hot chocolate, a fire, and food were also involved. :)

Andy, after one day of owning juggling pins. He’s figuring them out!

via IFTTT

2018-12-29

Now on to Laura’s!

We gave the kids a "progressive hang-out day" gift, for Christmas. They finished the day at Laura's where they enjoyed dinner, ice skating, and spending the night. I guess we wore them out. So far, only two of them are up, this morning, and it's past 8:30... ;)

Good fun and memories.

Next the kids headed to Susan’s house.

They enjoyed a build your own quesadilla lunch, a "Nailed It - Strong style" competition, and a scavenger hunt at the mall. Here's Andy, with his winning entry and winnings. We all judged them on accuracy and presentation. But he's eating his entry!?

Isaac contemplates his life choices...

...of being the only one crazy enough to jump into the freezing pond, TWICE!

I enjoyed breakfast and a morning with the cousins!

We played pool, darts, foosball, drones (real and virtual), a polar bear swim, breakfast, photography, a couple video games, music and LOTS of laughs! Foosball might have been a favorite?

2018-12-28

This can’t be good... No adult supervision!

Let the games begin!

Andy is a determined young man. This is less than 24 hours after opening his unicycle present.

via IFTTT

Here the cousins are trying to figure out what we got them...

They each received a message with instructions and coordinates on where to report 2018-12-28 at 0800 hours...

Something must have been dawning on Johnny, in the bottom pic. Haha. Fun to hear all the theories evolve.

So far, all they have figure out is they are meeting at a gas station. I have heard guesses for Great Wolf Lodge, swimming, a rodeo, archery arena, laser tag, paintball, etc...

It seems it is still quite the mystery. They will see what the day holds... TODAY!

It’s always fun to see what we come up with for our gift exchange

The cousins opted for a white elephant gift exchange, this year.

Everything from animal skulls to Depends... A math book and LED projection clock were among the most stolen. ;)

The annual unstuffing of the stockings, at my mom’s/

She always makes sure to get us a nice collection of personalized treats and gadgets.

2018-12-27

In-law Christmas Eve celebration

Hanging out with family is always a treat.

Stefanie blew us all away, by drawing this picture of Steve and Janice!

The inscription was what dad wrote in one of the many, thoughtful cards he always gave to my mother in-law. This already has a place of honor and memory, in her house.

Fun to give gifts.

Stefanie is known for coining that phrase, and I like that picture of my mother in-law. It was nice for us to have smiles during our gatherings. They are always an important and irrepressible part of holidays.

Christmas Eve service, with my in-laws

We enjoyed visiting my sister in-law's church for Christmas Eve. It's nice to see her and Josh being part of the service. So many of us serve in our respective churches. It's pretty close to every one of us, on both sides of my family. In fact, I think it IS every one of us (at least, that are of age), on both sides of my family, and in multiple ways. I am truly blessed to have that as my upbringing as well as being able to pas it down.