Final Post of 2017

As has been the tradition these past few years, we end the year with Bode's school pictures and some pictures of the family.  First, we have Bode's 4th grade school picture--quite the sharp looking kid!

Next, we have a picture from Bode's soccer team.

Finally, some pictures with my new camera Ashley got me for Christmas.  It works pretty well, but there is a bit of a learning curve.  I thought about taking a picture of the new camera with the old camera, but thought that would be stupid :-)  Below are some pictures of Bode playing his new virtual reality game.  He has to use Ashley's phone, so those two are bickering over the phone's use.  But it is a neat game...when the dogs aren't in the way.

Overall, 2017 was a pretty good year--a new dog, a new fish (RIP Mike the goldfish), a new job for Ashley, and evidently a new camera for me.  Who knows what 2018 will bring :-)  Happy New Year to all and to all a good night.

Albuquerque

We made our annual trip to Albuquerque for some post-Christmas fun.  We arrived on the 26th and had a big Christmas feast (catered, which made it even better, since no one had to cook).  After eating, we all opened gifts and played some games.

We spent the days lounging around.  Most days, we hit the gym in the morning.  We saw a movie one afternoon (Jumanji, which was entertaining), and played some vicious games of Ping Pong (I didn't get any pictures--but next time, we should probably consider broadcasting on pay-per-view).  We also took a trip to the bowling center.  Bode started off hot--two strikes in a row, and had 54 pins after 3 frames, but he quickly returned to his usual form :-)  Afterwards, Pat and Sean played a killer game of air hockey.

On our last afternoon, we played some bocci on a regulation bocci court.  It was rather fun, but surprisingly tough.

The holiday season is winding down.  We have New Year's Eve tomorrow night, which I'm sure we'll celebrate in our usual (boring) fashion.  Not sure what the start of the new year will bring--probably a nice long jog to burn off all the calories I consumed :-)

Merry Christmas

Today was Bode's 11th Christmas, and what a merry one it was.  We got back from the mountains a few days ago, and we've spent them being lazy.  We did do some last minute shopping, and Ashley did some painting in the dining room (it looks lovely--I'll post a new dining room pic later in the week), but otherwise, we just hung out.  We watched some movies and read (even Bode).  I think the days before Christmas are my favorite part of the holiday season.

Last night, Ashley was playing the piano, while Bode was just enjoying some time with his dogs.

I tried to get the two of them to sing some songs while we played the piano, but neither was really game for that.  Thus, we watched a bit of Christmas Vacation and Bode and I also watched an episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  At some point, we got everything ready for Santa's arrival.  Bode was a bit amped up, but after awhile, he went to sleep.  I took a nice picture of the tree--didn't quite catch the fat man in action though...

We woke up around 8 am, and quickly discovered new presents under the tree.  Before diving into the pile of presents (Santa brought me some alliteration), we paused for some pictures.

Bode was kind enough to get the dogs a new rope toy.  They immediately started tugging on it, but this lasted only a few mintues before Barkely took it outside.

We attacked the presents with a controlled manic attack.  We all received some wonderful presents--clothes, Nerf guns, books, a drone, some awesome science items, and, of course, some Star Wars stuff.

We spent the morning getting to know our new toys.  We then headed up to Denver and had a wonderful dinner with David, Jennie, Teddy, Charlie, Jennie's Dad, Larry, and two of Jennie's aunts.  We all ate too much and enjoyed more presents.

We had a wonderful afternoon with David and Jennie.  We are now at home, resting, and getting ready for another episode of S.H.I.E.L.D.  Merry Christmas to all :-)

End of an Era

Bode finished school for the year on Friday, 15 December.  I finished up about the same time, and since Ashley is able to work from home, we decided to head up to Breckenridge.  The weather has been unseasonably warm in Colorado, and the mountains are no exception.  I remember skiing this time last year, and there were a lot of runs open--not all of them, but a decent amount.  This year, there were only 9/34 lifts open.  Nothing on Peak 10 was ready for action, and our favorite cut-through to Peak 8 was also closed.  Alas, the one good thing about the conditions was the temperature--highs in the 40's on both Monday and Wednesday (our ski days), with a beautiful sun.  The crowds hadn't quite made it to Breck just yet, but they were starting to get there.  We skied for only a few hours each day, as by 1130 or so, the lines were just too long, perhaps not so much due to the crowds, but the fact there just weren't enough runs open.

Ok, enough talk.  First, a very quick movie showing Bode starting off.  He's gotten quite good--not awesome by any means, but he's at the point where I've really had to tell him to slow down, especially in the areas where there are a lot of beginners.

Next is a nice shot of Bode; not sure what Ashley was doing down in the lower-left corner.

Next, a good one of Bode and Ashley.  He's getting so tall.

And one of Bode and me.

In this next video, Bode is doing some moguls.  He isn't going very fast, because they were quite big, and it's rather narrow (you can see him under the lift).  I do like the hockey stop at the end.

The dogs also seemed to enjoy the snow especially Barkley.  She'd never seen snow before, and after she got used to it, she'd bound through it like a deer.  Of course, we also had (have) reason to (still) be mad at Barkley, as she chewed up a nice piece of wicker furniture while we were gone, and at one point, Barkley and Joey must have been rough-housing and smashed into one of the closet doors that has a mirror on it.  Sadly, I must now categorize it as a "broken" mirror.  Lovely.  Still, she is our dog, and we take the good with the bad (unless anyone wants a 9-month old rottweiler...)

Today marks the end of an era.  We decided to sell the mountain estate, and 22 December was the closing date.  Thus, for the first time since June 2005, we don't own property in Summit County.  We are a little sad about this, but we all know there are some exciting things coming down the pipe in 2018.  We did take one final soak in the hot-tub.

Finally, Bode got a haircut.  Normally, this hasn't been blog-worthy news since 2008 when he got his first cut.  However, Ashley decided to take him to her stylist, Robert.  Bode has been growing his hair out since early November.  He told Ashley he wanted a mohawk.  Below is the result--he doesn't look half bad, and it's nice that school isn't in session :-)

Santa comes in two days, and I think we are done with our shopping--might still have some presents to wrap, but it is nice to know we don't have to head out to the stores any more!  Pleasant day to all.

YES Club

Bode has been involved with the YES Club for the fall semester.  YES stands for Young Environmental Stewards.  Fortunately, there hasn't been too much left-wing propaganda as part of the program :-)  They stand after school every Tuesday for two hours, and they have learned all about ground and forest fires.  Today, Bode's team presented their work at a poster session along with about seven other schools from the local area.  Here's a picture of the team.

The judges went around and asked questions of the group.  Here's a not-so-great picture of Bode talking to a judge.

After the judges met, awards were handed out (and I think every school got an award).  The names of the awards seemed very tailored to the types of projects each school did.  Bode's school won the award for the team that best investigated the effects of outdoor fires (like I said, pretty focused).  Here's the group receiving their certificate--yes, it's a horrible picture.

It's a bit late to post this, but Bode is now 10--one decade old!  We had a small cake for him on the night before his birthday.

Per tradition, we sang.

The weather has been extremely warm--not looking like a very good ski season.  Here's hoping the mountains get some snow.

Thanksgiving Miracle

We are just wrapping up a long Thanksgiving Break.  Bode was off the entire week from school, while I only had to work on Monday and Tuesday.  I wish I could say we accomplished a lot, but we did not :-)  Lots of eating and relaxing, but we did manage to get some of the Christmas decorations up and get into the Christmas spirit.  On Thursday, Dave, Jennie, Teddy, Charlie, and Larry (Jennie's father) came down for a Thanksgiving feast.  Ashley prepared a wonderful turkey, potatoes, stuffing, green beans, and even made some home-made biscuits.  Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of the meal, but I did take some action photos playing some games after dinner.

Dave, Jennie, and the boys spent the night, and we all watched a movie.  The rest of the weekend is a bit of a blur.  Bode and I did some exercise, Bode went to a friends house, I put up some lights, and there was a little football game on Saturday called the Iron Bowl, which Auburn amazingly won.  Ashley was thrilled.  Afterwards, we had a little birthday cake for Ashley, whose birthday is on Monday, but she's traveling to California for a conference.  Bode and I decided to sing for her.

I think we are going to get a Christmas tree today and finish with the decorating.  Then, only 30 shopping days until the jolly dude comes down the chimney.  Pleasant week to all.

The Soloist

I must say I was surprised today, but perhaps I should have known better.  Bode joined the school's orchestra this year and started playing the violin.  He practices at home (with some prodding) while the school orchestra meets twice a week.  He has told us he enjoys it and is doing well.  The orchestra had a concert tonight.  We asked Bode if there was anything special going on, and he told us that there wasn't much.  Fast forward to when we arrived at the concert and received our program.

Note the third line down:  Up and Down, Bode McGuirk and...  We did a bit of a double take when we saw Bode's name in the program.  Apparently Bode had a duet.  We were very excited but also nervous because there were quite a bit of people attending.  We took some pictures as the orchestra was seated.  Bode is there right in the middle.

The first two songs came and went, and before we knew it, Bode was up in front of the crowd getting ready to play. 

Recall how I said Bode had a duet.  The other part of the duet wasn't there tonight (and Bode said something about how she just wasn't ready to perform on her own, according to the teacher).  Thus, just Bode and the piano accompaniment--how scary!  Needless to say, we were very proud of our little dude.  After the first round of applause, the teacher (Mrs Scott) told the crowd, "You all realize how much courage it takes to play by himself in front of all of you, so let's give him another hand."  Afterwards, Bode told us he was so nervous that his legs were shaking. 

The rest of the concert came and went.  The whole group brought the house down with a beautiful performance of Maple Leaf Rag.

We (Ashley, Bode, and I) have been watching Season 2 of Stranger Things.  I'm told I need to cut this short because they are waiting for me to watch the next episode.  Pleasant week to all.

Bode's B*tch'in B-Day Bash

No, you didn't miss Bode's birthday in case you are worried.  Since his big day falls right around Thanksgiving, we typically have a birthday party two weeks prior in order to get maximum kid-participation.  This year was no different, and it certainly won't surprise us if Variety magazine calls it the party of the century.  We scheduled the party from 4 - 6:30 with the hope it would not conflict with the Auburn-Georgia game.  Sadly, the game started at 1:30.  We did all the party prep early Saturday morning, and then watched the first half of the game.  Joey could barely contain his excitement, while Ashley fretted because Georgia quickly went up 7-0.

Auburn started slow, but fortunately, they were able to rebound and were up 16-7 at half-time, which was right about the time the Game Truck showed up.

The game truck is exactly what it sounds--a big trailer with all sorts of TV screens, comfy chairs, and every possible gaming console you could want.  We herded the kiddos down to the trailer, and the games began.  A popular game with the ladies was Just Dance...

while the boys played all sorts of different adventures.

David was kind enough to bring Teddy and Charlie down for the party.  Ashley and Dave spent most of the party shuttling kids to-and-fro the bathroom, but also tracking the Auburn-Georgia progress on their phones.  I'm happy to report that Auburn won 40-17, which explains the huge smile on Ashley's face).

After two hours of gaming, it was time for pizza and ice cream cake.

Of course, we did have to sing to the birthday boy.

Afterwards, everyone enjoyed what was unanimously called "the best cake ever."

Tyler and Eli spent the night.  The boys spent some quality time on the Xbox and doing whatever it is boys do...

The boys have just woken up and Ashley is making pancakes, I mean, VICTORY pancakes :-)  Best.  Day.  Ever :-)  Pleasant week to all.