Final Post of the Year

Per tradition (well, for the last two years), the final post will be Bode's school picture.  The little guy is looking like such a young man.

We had a great 2015, acquiring another house along the way, making a few trips out of state, and managing to spend some good quality time together as a family, or, as Bode calls it, time-he-could-have-spent-watching-youtube :-)  We've no major New Year's Eve plans.  We'll be lucky to see midnight EST.  We'll try to get some skiing in this weekend.  A friend of mine pointed out that it really won't be long before Bode surpasses me as a skier.  Hopefully that doesn't happen in 2016, but you never know.  Happy New Year to all!

The ABQ

We headed down to Albuquerque the day after Christmas.  We debated whether or not to go due to a winter storm warning in most of New Mexico.  We figured we should go as soon as possible because the storm was forecast to remain for quite a few days.  Fortunately, we made it with no issues, but it was a bit hairy at the end.  We had to reroute to get to Pat's house once we got to Rio Rancho, as the roads had gotten very slick, and many people in Albuquerque choose to drive rear-wheel drive vehicles.

The great thing about the snow was we all got to go sledding.  I took my camera and got lots of great action pictures.  First up is Bode and Sean positioning themselves for a good run.

Next is Uncle Pat and Bode hiking back up the mountain.

Here's a nice movie of a number of the kids going on some runs.  Sean was first going head-first and wiping out, with Bode and then Devin following thereafter.

Here's a nice photo of Pat and Dana.

At some point, Uncle Pat disappeared--I think he was worried about the car not starting, so he volunteered to go sit in it next to the heater.  I went on a few runs myself, and on the walk back up, I took a picture of Bode from a different angle--the hill loops pretty steep from this perspective.

Towards the end, the kids wanted to pile on top of each other and see if they could make it down the mountain.  Here's the first attempt with Bode on top.

Next was an attempt with Devin on top.  First, a picture.

Next, the attempt.

I think the kids tried a four-decker attempt with Brenna acting as the base, but I failed to get a movie. I don't think it worked out very well :-)

We spent some relaxing days in Albuquerque, playing card games, board games, and watching a movie or two, and going to play LazerTag and other games.  We also opened presents.  Here's a great shot of Bode and Devin.

Here's a picture of the other Albuquerque McGuirks--I probably should tell them I am going to take a picture.

The last picture I took was of Sean opening his quad-copter.  Not a great picture, but it's something.

We spent four nights in Albuquerque.  While there, I think Brenna set upwards of 20,000 texts :-)  I never realized the amount of texting a teenage girl does.  My boss would joke about it, but unless you really see how the phone actually become a part of someone's hand do you realize the intensity in the number of texts.  Very enlightening.  Sadly, we had to return home, but not before watching Auburn win the Toilet, err, Birmingham Bowl with an impressive win over Elvis, err, Memphis.

Teddy and Charlie

The Rankin cousins came down for Christmas dinner.  It's always nice to have them spend the night.  Before they arrived, Bode spent some time playing with BB8, the little robot from Star Wars.  Joey did not know what to make of it.

Dave, Teddy, and Charlie arrived for a feast.  Dave's girlfriend, Jennie, also came, and we even had a surprise visit from my Mom.  I didn't do a very good job taking pictures--more random snaps of the camera instead of anything posed.  Here is an ok shot of Dave and Ashley.

I also got a good picture of Dave and Jennie.

Next is a blurry shot of Bode and Charlie playing with their nerf guns.

And finally, Uncle Dave, Charlie, and Bode played a mean game of Sorry!

We could not have had a better Christmas--the gifts were amazing, the food was wonderful, and the visit from family of friends just made everything wonderful.  Little did we know, the "wonderfulness" was going to continue for a few more days, as we headed down to the ABQ.

The Fat Man

Christmas was a great time in the McGuirk household.  A few nights before the arrival of the big man, we had dinner with Miss Jeanice, Bode's nanny for kindergarten and first grade.

It was great to catch up with Miss Jeanice, who is in the middle of her year of student teaching.  We asked if she has had any luck finding a job for next year.  She has, and will be spending two years in Jordan teaching English.  It was rather amusing when she explained that it's the perfect time to go, as she doesn't have any baggage, at which point Ashley and I began to referring to each other as our baggage.  Overall, a lovely evening.

Christmas Eve saw the McGuirk family punch their tickets to hell.  We went to the children's service at church, which was very nice.  People are encouraged to sing at these services, which is also very nice.  However, there was one person, who was obviously a person with special needs.  He was singing very loud, but slightly off the beat, and reminded Ashley and me of Warren from There's Something About Mary ("Franks and Beans!")  We could not stop laughing; hence, our extended stay in purgatory.  After church, we came home and hung out, watched some holiday material on TV, and then it was ready for bed.  Bode reminded me to put out some milk and cookies for Santa.  We kept the tree lit so Santa could tell where to place all the presents.

I also took a before and after picture, so we could tell which presents Santa brought.

Bode woke up at a decent hour Christmas morning, and proceeded to tell us that Santa had come, but that he'd forgotten to close the door to the fireplace the whole well.  If our heating bill goes up, I'm blaming Mr. Claus :-)  We then headed out to open some gifts, but before we started, we needed to take some pictures.

I tried to get Joey to stand still, but the little fella was just too excited.  This was the best I could do.

We then got some Mommy and Daddy photos.

After the mini photo-shoot, it was time to dive into the mass of gifts.

The big gift from Santa was the Xbox One.  Bode "knew" he was getting it for a number of reasons, one good, one not-so-good.  Before Christmas, he said he was getting an Xbox One.  We asked him how he knew that and he said, "Because that is what I ordered from Santa."  We tried to explain that Santa isn't a restaurant with the toys items on the menu, but he didn't really buy it.  The acceptable reason he knew was that some of his gifts were games for the Xbox One.  Thus, the anticlimactic final gift.

We had a lovely time on Christmas morning, but the best was yet to come, as Teddy, Charlie, and Uncle Dave were coming down.

The Little Skier Boy

We went skiing today.  The mountain estate is rented, so we had to make a day-trip up to Breckenridge.  It wasn't awful, but we'd certainly prefer to be staying in Blue River during this prime ski season.  We left early, and had a nice easy drive up to the mountains.  We arrived just as the lifts were opening and paused for a quick photo inside.

Ashley and I are getting used to skiing with Bode.  He's been to a lot of lessons at ski-school, and he's getting to the point where we all have a good time skiing together.  Granted, we aren't doing the really steep runs at the top of the mountain, but it certainly is fun watching Bode get better and better each time we go.  I took a couple pictures at the top of the lift.

You gotta love Bode's hat--it makes him easy to find on the mountain.  I also tried to take a some action photos...

but none of them really turned out well, as shown above.  I did hurry ahead of the group and take the following movie.

We all had a great time skiing.  We will be staying at the estate for a few days after the New Year.  Only two more days until Santa comes!

The Little Swimmer Boy

Bode had his second-ever swim meet today down in Pueblo.  We, as always, are extremely proud of how hard he tried.  The meet started at 0830, and it's an hour drive to Pueblo, and we needed to get there in time for Bode to warm up (unlike the Olympics, there is no second "warm-up pool" for the athletes).  Thus, it was an early start.  Bode, to my amazement, never complains about getting up early.  Here's hoping he's like this as a teenager.

We got to the pool, Bode warmed up, and then he was in one of the first events, the 25-yard butterfly. This meet was a little different in that boys and girls swam in the same heats, and there were mixed ages.  I think the director did a good job of paring up those with similar qualifying times.  Here's a shot of Bode tightening up his goggles.

He won his heat, and looked pretty good doing it.  Unfortunately, I don't have the movie, as this was taken with Ashley's camera.  UPDATED:  Ashely uploaded her movies.  Here's a great movie of Bode doing the butterfly.

Ultimately, he was fourth in the 8-and-under age group, as shown below in the results.

Note the winner was Bode's friend, Max, a man-child who is only seven but with some good Soviet genes (his parents are Ruskies).  He's a very nice boy and very friendly.  I think Bode enjoys hanging out with Max more than swimming in the meet.

The next event was the 50-yard backstroke.  This was Bode's first 50-yard event, meaning his flip-turn was going to come into play.  Like the butterfly, he won his heat.

There was a person down in lane 2 that was close to Bode at the turn, but she grabbed the wall and did a standard pull-turn.  Bode did great with his flip-turn.  He was third in the 8-and-under age group.

Bode also swam the 50-yard freestyle.  I think he was tired, because his freestyle time was slower than his backstroke--either that or he's just a very efficient backstroker :-)  The results were not posted for this event by the time we left.  I'll update when I post Ashley's movies.

Finally, Bode swam the 100-yard individual medley.  This is a hard event for him, especially at the end.  For a little dude, he did great.  We didn't take a full movie, as this race is over two minutes long, but I did take some action photos.

After the meet, we celebrated with lunch at The Waffle House, which was lovely, as always.

I suppose I should get some rest--we are going to The Force Awakens tomorrow morning--the 0930 show.  Bode (I) can't wait!

First Day of Skiing

Bode and Ashley headed up to the mountain estate for the weekend.  Breckenridge opened a few weeks ago, but not all the lifts were open, and there was the Dew Tour going on, making it very crowded.  Bode did ski school for the day, and he said he learned parallel turns vice doing just a wedge.  I'm sure it'll take him some time to master it, but he's really progressing nicely.  Here's Bode's ski-school picture.

Ashley went to the Dew-Tour snow-boarding competition, saw some pretty cool tricks in the pipe, and even saw Shaun White do his first run.  Very cool.  We will likely do some more skiing over the Christmas Break--only three more work/school days this week and then it's party time.

We received an early Christmas present in the mail.  At first glance, I thought it was simply a standard "form-card" from the school.  However, after closer examination, we saw it was actually a personal note from Miss Maiatico, the principal.  The card is shown below.

I must say we are extremely proud of Bode--who knew we had raised such a polite and thoughtful young man :-)  He must be learning such good manners from all the video games, TV, and youtube videos that he watches...

T'is the season of Christmas cards.  I must say I'm a bit disappointed in the effort many people put into their cards.  There are those that pick out a very thoughtful card (i.e. words written by someone else), sign their names, and mail it.  Fairly generic if you ask me, especially if this is our only communication for the year.  Take the five minutes and write something personal--give me some type of update on your life.  To me, this is the bottom-tier of holiday cards.  Usually these come with a typed label on the envelope--these people have turned Christmas cards into a fast mass production, and try to be as expedient as possible.  Quite the holiday spirit.  There are also cards that are pictures, usually collaged together and printed.  I like these, because at least it is some type of personal update about what's going on, albeit minus any type of narrative.  While I like these cards, some people choose to only put pictures of their kids on the cards and exclude themselves from the message.  What's up with that?  And many people just send the collage--no personal note, no handwritten anything.  Again, a card like this seems expedient--the collage of photos did take some time to put together, but once that is done, it's off to the printers, slapping a stamp on the envelope, and you are done.  And yes, I know it is very "non-holiday Spirited" of me to take jabs at people's lack of effort on their cards, especially since we all have friends that we've sent cards to for years while never receiving anything from them.  Yes, I know there is no obligation to send a card if you've received one.  I guess I've just been hoping for updates from friends, only to be somewhat disappointed when I receive their cards.  Maybe I should just have some eggnog and cheer up :-)  Freezing cold here today--Bode had a snow-day because of all the snow.  Hopefully he goes tomorrow.  Pleasant day to all.

Second Grade Christmas Recital

The second-graders at Bode's school put on a Christmas musical.  I think it was called Bubblegum Bart or something like that.  The gist of the story was Bubblegum Bart was going to ruin Christmas at some western town (it had a name, but I don't remember it).  The town asked Santa to help, and he sent in the Peppermint Kid (a Terminator-like enforce), who talked things through with Bubblegum Bart, and Christmas was saved.  Bode told us before the play that he was just a singer in the choir.  However, just before the event started, there was a special announcement.  Apparently one of the ho-down callers didn't show.  Thus, the director tells the entire audience that, "Bode McGuirk is filling is as one of the callers."  We were so excited (sort of) that Bode would have a speaking role.

The kids all filed into the gymnasium and took their places.  I took a big group shot, from which you can see nothing.

I then zoomed in for a good shot of Bode.

The choir pieces were songs with lots of movement by the singers.  Here's a movie of one of the songs.

Next is Bode's big scene.  I'm not sure if Bode and Javar remembered to turn the microphone on or not, as it's hard to hear what they say.  Plus, the school had a limited number of microphones, so the kids had to pass them around like hot potatoes during the dialogue--which was actually very funny to watch, and they all did a great job.

The musical ended to thunderous applause and a standing ovation (there weren't enough chairs).  We were very proud of Bode for stepping in--he showed no signs of stage fright, which is pretty cool for an eight-year old.

Finally, our own version of a Mozart recital--I figured I'd see if my piano playing is getting any better (not really--a bit muddled in some places).

We've had a great holiday season thus far.  There is snow in the forecast in the next couple days--maybe we'll get a snow day :-)  Otherwise, we will continue to do our Christmas shopping, and occasionally give Santa a ring (with an assist from the Elf) and update him on Bode's good/bad status.  Pleasant day to all.

Eighth Birthday

Bode is now eight years old.  Amazing that the little guy is already so close to double digits.  The big birthday present for Bode and Ashley was their mini-vacation to Callaway Gardens.  They both had a wonderful time.  I am trying to get the pictures from the event from Ashley's phone, so stay tuned for a post from that trip.

Bode had a nice birthday.  We went bowling and played video games and laser tag.  Bode's buddy, Tylen and his Dad, Scott, were able to join us.  We then went home, started a fire, and stayed inside, as it was bitterly cold outside.  We watched the Auburn-Alabama game (sigh), and then we watched a movie--X-Men:  Days of Future Past.  Bode liked it, and he's at the point where we don't have to explain something to him every five minutes.

Bode received a ton of great presents.  Here are some pictures of him opening them.

We also got him a little cake (he had a big ice cream cake at his birthday party), and, of course, we sang.

On a cold night, there is nothing warmer than a sleeping rottie :-)

I guess we will go back to work tomorrow.  Bode has three more weeks of classes until his Christmas break.  The second graders are also giving a choir recital next week, so that will be enjoyable.  Only 26 shopping days left, and remember:  Santa is watching.

First Home Auburn Game

Before this year's college football season began, Ashley stated she wanted to take Bode (and me) to a home Auburn football game.  We looked over the schedule and wanted to balance time away from school (work), and also the ability to get tickets.  Recall, Auburn was picked by some pundits to not only win the SEC but to also make it to the national title game.  With that data, we reasoned the Alabama game, while likely very exciting, might be an expensive ticket.  Therefore, we opted for this past weekend's Auburn game versus Idaho (not Boise State; Idaho).  Fast forward eleven weeks, and we are grateful we opted against the 'Bama game, not because of the cost of the ticket, but rather the likely beat down the team will take (but we'll still watch and we'll still cheer hard).

We left on Friday and caught a direct flight from Denver to Atlanta.  We stayed with Dave and Cathy Bledsoe, who have two boys, Westin (age 8) and Keller (age 6).  Bode was thrilled to have some kids to play with, although playing has certainly changed since I was a little one.  Now, playing seems to be defined as two kids, each having their own Amazon Fires, sitting side by side and watching Youtube videos.  Perhaps I'm just being a grumpy old man.

Saturday, we drove from Atlanta to Auburn--about 90 minutes or so.  The Bledsoe's have a large vehicle complete with DVD player, on which the boys watched Stars Wars Episode II.  While the adults were very excited when we got to Auburn, the boys seemed sad because the movie had not yet finished.  Still, Ashley managed to get Bode fired up after we exited the car.

We headed towards the stadium but along the way, the boys found a big field of grass and started tackling each other.  All have skill levels at or beyond most of Auburn's linebacking core.

The weather was a bit overcast, but no chance of rain.  Pleasantly cool, as we Colorado people would call it; the Atlantans called it damn cold.  Funny how perspectives differ.  We stopped for some pictures outside the stadium.  Here's Ashley and Dave sporting their Auburn attire...

and then a picture of Ashley and Cathy.  Note Cathy is a Georgia alum, so wearing a shirt that is sort of orange is about as much Auburn spirit as she can show.

We then went and splurged on some foam fingers and claws...

and then we found Aubie and the band.  I think it would be hard being a cheerleader or baton gal--it just seems like they are walking around in their underwear right next to fully clothed people.

We then found the statue of Cam Newton and paid homage to the great one--it was a lot like having gone to see Michael Angelo's "David," but in our case, probably a lot more meaningful.

We had some time before kickoff, so we found a small field and let the boys run around with a football.

Soon enough, it was time to enter the Sistine Chapel, I mean, Jordan-Hare Stadium.  We, of course, had to take some pictures.

Note the giant new scoreboard/HDTV.  Auburn spent $14 million on that monster, and I must say, it has a very nice picture.  In fact, on many plays, I found myself watching the scoreboard, only to suddenly realize the action was directly in front of me.  Soon, the team took the field.

Auburn started fast, but gave up a quick TD in return, but slowly, they pulled ahead.  At some point, we paused for a picture.

I even managed to take some videos of the game, and got the below touchdown pass.

Auburn ultimately won 56-34.  It wasn't near as close as the score shows.  We had a wonderful time at the game and with the Bledsoes, and the boys were all happy because we were able to finish Attack of the Clones on the drive home.

I flew home today--I have school tomorrow and Tuesday.  Ashley and Bode stayed in Georgia and are going to Callaway Gardens for a couple of days to relax.  Fortunately, Bode's school has the entire week off from school, so he's not missing out on his education :-)  JoAnne and Frank are going to meet up with them, so they should have a great time.  They will come home on Wednesday, just in time for a Turkey Day feast on Thursday, but not soon enough, because coming home on Wednesday means I will be responsible for some of the feast preparations :-)  Pleasant day to all.