Christmas in pictures. Also- PLEASE VOTE on the gingerbread houses- leave a comment on the blog of on facebook about your favorite. Thank you.

For Christmas, my Mom and Dad and Courtney came up to our house. This is at a local restaurant we went to on the first night they were here

After eating at the restaurant we got on this boat and traveled across Lake Coeur d'Alene to the North Pole (even though we were technically traveling south--I'm not sure how that works). In the North Pole we saw Santa and it turns out that all of our kids are on the nice list. It was a fun night.

We have a lot of snow up here right now, and sledding was a popular activity. It started out with the run down the stairs that Jackson and Grandpa made. 

The nearby golf course had some better hills

On Christmas Eve we had a big dinner before sending the kids off to bed. Also, Rachel interpreted a Christmas Eve church service that night, and my Mom/Dad/Courtney got to go watch her.

Christmas Morning before opening presents 

Evelyn at the new piano we got.

Just goofing around with their new underwear

Rachel worked hard this year to make stockings. They turned out great! These will be in our family for many years.

This was actually before Christmas, but we didn't put pictures up yet. Rachel has spent hours this year ringing the Salvation Army bell with each of our kids. Unfortunately I could not find a picture of Addy. Of all the kids, Jackson got the most into it, and I am sure he set a record for how much he collected. Afterword, we were walking around Walmart and he would go up to random strangers and ask them if they saw him ringing the bell. If they said no, he would say "Oh. That's too bad. It was pretty awesome," and then just walk away. It made me smile.

Gingerbread house contest- Please vote by leaving a comment in the blog or on Facebook. Thank you.

Gingerbread House A: Traditional log cabin in the forest. Rock chimney, snowman and firepit in the front. A skating rink and lamp pole round it out.

Gingerbread House B: Modern high-rise with roof-top garden, walkway, and landscaped gardens including stream.

Christmas Letter

This morning I decided that we should do a family Christmas letter. I figured I'd do it as a poem, just to make things a little more interesting. Here's the result. Enjoy!

-*-

I sit by the window and watch all the snow

And think of a time not too distant ago

When my mom wrote a letter, but also a poem

That gave a brief update of affairs in the home

And thinking of this, I had the ambition

To try and keep up this amusing tradition

Now, I’m not quite as good as my mother at this

So I hope you’ll forgive me if things don’t quite rhyme or keep time

Or fall nicely in line.

But here goes, I will try, if you will not dismiss

The honest attempts of poetic design

To start with I’ll talk about me, and I pray

You’ll forgive this brief egotistical bray

But the truth is that I’ve been doing quite good

In all areas where my interests have stood

From rock climbing, (this year I did five thirteen!)

To philosophy courses and Saint Augustine

Besides this, I play every week in a band

Lead electric guitar is the place where I stand

And as far as career goes, I’m gonna’ be honest

I’m a pretty good dentist, and now have my own office

This state of affairs represents a promotion

And I’ve got to admit, caused elated emotions

In short, things are good, in fact couldn’t be better

So I think it is time to move on in this letter

As for Rachel, who I will always hold dear

It was fun to look back this decennial year

On all of the wonderful times that we’ve had

While at the same time thanking my mom and my dad

For they offered to take all the kids on their own

So that Rachel and I could spend time all alone

At nighttime we stayed in a lakeside chateau

And by day found adventure in North Idaho

I surely got lucky with her as my wife

To have and to hold as we’re dancing through life.

Now I’m changing things up a little bit here

Because as I read this, it sounds to my ear

A bit too much “Seussian,” and I have to admit

That it makes me a little bit tired of it

So I think that I’ll bid the good doctor goodbye

And maybe give William Shakespere a try

So now we can turn back to Rachel again

Upon a new pastime, her fine tastes did alight

The objective, not easy, but worth all the pain

To experience life from the seat of a bike

She rides with a passion unmatched by her foes

With the wind in her hair, her legs turning sore

But ever upward and onward she goes

Racing at times fifty miles, or more

In her career too, she's held high in esteem

And she’s gotten to work in some prominent venues

Because of her skill, opportunities gleam

She interprets her way to Alaska, by cruise

And now on to Evelyn, the eldest of kin

She’s tall for her age, with more wit

She lives in a world of books and of pens

And is smarter than she will admit

She is also an artist, and lives with the aim

To work in a studio when ere’ chance arrives

Art camp even gave her a chance at acclaim

At least among other young children her size

As for Addy, she is second to none

When cuddles are high in demand

And I can be sure that she’ll be the one

When I want to hold somebody’s hand

She’s learning to read and does well in school

With her teachers she’s surely a star

Her shortcomings, few, her faults miniscule

I have no doubt that she’ll go far

As I write I am feeling myself getting tired

And words are escaping my mind

I can’t keep the structure much more that’s required

So I’ll switch to limerickian rhyme

So next up is Jackson, my guy

Who many mistake for small fry

But put him in the game

And watch people exclaim

He’s one to exemplify

‘Cause Jack just knows that he’s good

Confidence runs in his blood

Persistence and grit

Are the traits he transmits

Especially when misunderstood

Basketball is becoming his sport

Even though he’s really quite short

His foot-shuffling trademark

Is the talk of the ballpark

But it doesn’t change skill on the court

This limerick stuff gets old fast

I need to rethink my attack

When it comes to good taste

Robert Frost is a case

Who’s rhyming schemes go unsurpassed

My Maren, little fire child

One day sweet, the next day wild

But she knows how to win me o’er

With nothing but a simple smile

In preschool she has lots of friends

To whom her pleasantness extends

Adult and child alike, it’s true

That age, her loveliness transcends

And finally little Lindsey dear

Who says some words, but not too clear

She walks around the house and then

Lights up the room with childish cheer

And when a soft thing she doth spy

A blanket or pillow standing by

Bends at the hips and plants her face

Her need to cuddle gratified

So that’s a wrap, I won’t rewrite

This poem- I take preemptive right

To call the day, and expedite

The process for a copyright.

On second thought, I’ll be polite

Merry Christmas to all

And to all a good night.

Can I just say I am looking forward to a small break next week?

As a kid, I remember all the grown-ups talking about how busy the holiday season could get. I never quite understood this. Busy? Why on earth would you be busy? It's just a great time to relax and enjoy family and big meals and parties and open presents and play and stuff, right? Well, it turns out that someone was actually in charge of organizing all those things. It also turns out that the house doesn't magically clean up after itself when these things are over.

Who knew?

On top of all the holiday stuff, work has been really busy and I rarely get a chance to sit down during the day by myself. Lately, I have been seeing more patients in a single day than I am used to seeing in any given week. We have also had at least one social engagement every day since last Wednesday. This is all really good for now and I'm glad that so much is happening in so many different areas, but it's also demanding. Between work and home I do not think it is a lifestyle I could sustain for the long term. I am looking forward to being able to just sit and read a book with my kids without thoughts running through my head of how I can expedite their bedtime so that I can finish up with the daily chores.

Thankfully, we are almost there. We have gone to all the parties. We have wrapped most of the presents. We have spent all our money (not really, but it seems like it). And we have had a lot of fun doing these things. But now it is time to just breathe a huge sigh of relief, cuddle up under a blanket with a warm cup of hot chocolate, turn on some classic Bing Crosby, and wait for Christmas to arrive.

Oh, how I love this season.

Setting up the tree was a little more difficult than we thought.

Sorry for the dark picture. This was a gingerbread house party that Rachel did at our home.

Boxes, boxes, and more boxes. We did most of our shopping online this year. I think we are up to around 20 door deliveries to our house in just the last week and a half.

This is a preview of a project Rachel has been working on. She has more patience than I do.

This was really sweet. With the dry winter weather, Maren's eczema has really flared up. When I went down to kiss her goodnight a few days ago, she was already asleep. This note from Evelyn was under her arm though. Nobody asked her to write it or even expected her to notice Maren's hardships. She is so thoughtful.

Dear Maren,
I love you. You are a good sister! I hope you get well soon. You are cute. I know about your legs. I know they are painful. I hope they get well soon!
-Evelyn

Well...that's all we've got. Unfortunately we didn't take many pictures of all the stuff we did. I guess you just had to be there.

Have a great week!

Well, it's been another crazy weekend with lots and lots of driving. It was worth it though, because we went down to Utah again and got to see a lot of family. Allison and Clayson were blessing their baby at church, so we went to that and then had a big breakfast afterwards. We also got a lot of good talking time in and we went to a trampoline place with Griffin and Courtney. It was a good weekend.

Also, I have been promising for a long time to post pictures of our new furniture, so for those who care, here it is:

Leather furniture. Guitar in the corner. Projector screen pulls down from behind curtains for movie nights.

Another view. I love walking into my house- it feels so warm and inviting now.

Rachel worked hard on these shelves. Every piece is significant.

Dining room. I feel like we need a bigger art-piece for the head of the table.

Leather chairs and benches. Bar Stools have become very useful for crafts/cooking/informal meals.

This is the only picture I have from our weekend. Rachel has a bunch on her phone...but her phone at Qdoba right now...in Missoula. I'll put some more up when I can. Maybe.

Thanksgiving

The house is quiet. Rachel is at a book club. I just read two chapters of "Ms. Beard is Weird," and now the kids are in bed and acting really well behaved. They must be tired. The mess from dinner is still sitting on our table, but writing this is more important to me right now than cleaning. When Rach gets home we will probably read our book together (currently reading The Martian) while the other person cleans, and then maybe talk for a while about our days or the news or her book club or something, and then finish off our night with an episode of The West Wing. It's a pretty typical night for us.

This last week has been a whirlwind and it is hard to know where to start. At the same time, I feel like I am sort of at a loss of what to write about, since it seems like so much more has happened than what I can remember. I think that in my last post I mentioned that we were heading down to Utah for Thanksgiving, so I guess I'll start there.

We drove to Rexburg after I got done with work on Wednesday, and then finished our trip to Sandy early the next morning.

Thursday was mostly a sit-around-and-relax day, since Wendy had to work at Target.

On Friday I got up early, and since nobody else was awake yet, I went shopping. I didn't buy anything, but I did take myself out to breakfast at Ihop. It was a good morning. Later that afternoon we had our Thanksgiving meal at Wendy's house with all of Rachel's family in attendance.

Saturday morning, Rachel and I went to Mimi's for breakfast where we met up with Jill and Lee. We had a good conversation with them and it was fun to catch up with each other. Later that day we went to Layton where we got a professional picture taken with the whole Almond side of the family, and then hung out for several hours at Shannon's house. That evening, Rachel and I (and the kids) went to my Grandma and Grandpa's home in Draper and caught up with them, as well as with my aunt Natalie and some of her kids. They had all just returned from a trip to Rio where my cousin had just finished serving an LDS mission, and it was neat to hear about their experiences. I'll tell you what- if I am anywhere near as active as my grandma and grandpa are when I am their age, then I will consider myself a very fortunate man!

We went to church on Sunday with Wendy, and then hung out some more at her house. That afternoon we drove up to Logan where we had dinner with my family. It was great seeing them, and we had a good evening together. That night, we stayed at Griffin and Ashland's house (my brother), and then spent the next morning talking with Ashland. Around lunch time we packed the kids in the car and drove the 9 hours home in one shot. It was a good drive. Our kids are good travelers.

...Which is a good thing, because this next week we are doing it all over again.

In short, lots of family, lots of driving, lots of food, lots of talking, and lots of fun.

Enjoy the pictures!

They sure like their cousin Tirza

Pizza at Shannon's house

I think Rachel and I need more sleep

This was very sad. Froggy (the stuffed animal on the bottom left) has, for all intents and purposes, become a member of the family. He is Jackson's best friend. Well, unfortunately for him, he got stuck in the microwave on a waxed plate, and burned his legs off. Our kids were devastated. Being the totally empathetic dad that I am, I took a picture of their misery. It really was very sad, and they got lots of hugs.

Allison and Gracie are soooo talented.

Last night we were watching a football game, and commercial came on for a well-known company. The tag-line for their product was to turn Thanksgiving into Thanks-getting. Clever...but in a way disturbing. The company is big enough that I'm sure plenty of market research and results from focus groups were scrupulously analyzed in the coining of this term. Getting. That's what's important. Really?

*******

I was driving with the kids the other day and Evelyn asked me how much money I made every day. I told her and she said "Wow, that's a lot" ("A lot" is a relative term). Then she said "That's pretty neat. You know why?"

"Why?"

The kids all responded at the same time with similar answers. Something like the following:

"Because with that much money you can help a lot of people."

*******

This was one of those parenting wins where it shows that something is getting through. We have tried to involve the kids a lot lately when it comes to our giving- from filling boxes for displaced families in Syria to buying Christmas presents for local families in need, to earning extra money so that we can take impoverished teens on much-needed shopping trips for new clothes, our kids have been a part of all of this and more, and have been able to see first-hand how their good fortunes can lift others as well. More importantly, they are starting to realize the contentment that comes from putting others' needs above their own. "Where much is given, much is required" is a mantra that will resonate in our home. At least that is my hope.

*******
This last weekend has been really good. On Friday and Saturday I had study club, where I got to do my first sinus lift surgery. Things went great, and hopefully within the year I will have done enough of these to introduce them as a regular part of my practice. This is exciting for me. I think I've mentioned it before, but ever since dental school I have wanted to drive my career toward the oral-surgery end of dentistry, and these plans seem to be falling into place nicely. Also, study club weekends are always rejuvenating. The camaraderie of the other doctors, the academic discussions, the reduced-fee services to our patients (we are learning, after all), and the hands-on clinical portions all mix together to remind me how much I really do love what I do.

On Sunday after church, Rachel and I took turns taking the older kids to Pizza-Hut to celebrate their reading achievements from school. I really like these one-on-one times; they are all too infrequent in a big, busy family, and it is nice to be able to have elongated conversations with the kids while doing something fun together.

I also took the older kids this weekend to see the NIC Chamber Orchestra perform their "Music Around the World" concert. It was fun, and the kids were surprisingly attentive. Toward the end they got a little restless, but hey, what can you expect from three kids under the age of 8? Jackson's biggest gripe was that they never had a song that featured "his" instrument- the drums. We'll have to watch some music videos of Rush for him to get his fill, I guess. (Mission accomplished. Neil Peart is officially my sons biggest hero).

Sunday evening we had a family Seahawks party on our new movie screen (yes, we have a movie screen in our house) with home-made pizza and ice cream with Seahawks sprinkles on top. Again, our kids were surprisingly attentive and asked intelligent questions about the game. It is fun having them grow up a little bit.

Today (Monday), Rachel and I finished going to all their parent-teacher conferences and came away feeling very lucky to be the parents of some pretty amazing kids. Like I said last week, Evelyn is way above grade level in pretty much everything, and is starting to really come into her own at school. She virtually danced around the classroom as she showed us all of her projects and her teacher said that she is almost always happy and fun to be around. This is welcome news to us, as you might remember me talking earlier about how Evelyn was going through a hard time (9/14).

Addy is also doing great, academically. She especially likes reading, has already passed off all her reading stuff for the whole year, and enjoys one-on-one reading time with the teacher while the rest of the class works on easier assignments. She is also making lots of friends, which is good to hear. "She is just a very sweet girl," is what her teacher had to say. And it's true. "Sweet" is probably the best word I could think of for her.

Jackson too, is doing well. He is a little quieter in class, but is very focused and extremely creative. He has formed a group of friends that his teacher calls "the art boys" who she has a hard time getting to finish assignments because of their excessive attention to detail and need to get things "just so." He is keeping up in other areas too, and has become the teacher's special helper when it comes to cleaning up. The one thing that he needs to work on is that he is really hard on himself when he doesn't get something perfect- an attribute that I think will push him to succeed, but which needs to be kept in check to avoid discouragement.

Well, the kids are starting to finish up their quiet time, so I'm going to go hang out with them for a while before Rachel gets home from work. They are out of school already for Thanksgiving break, and I have a shortened work-week which will be nice. We are looking forward to back-to-back weekends in Utah (with lots of driving in between), and the friends and family that we will be able to reconnect with during this time. It really is a good time of the year to be giving thanks- we have a lot to be thankful for.

Have a good week, and we'll be seeing some of you very soon!

Here's me and Ev when we went out to pizza. It's also our only picture for the week.

Normal big family doing normal big family things

It's about five thirty on a Tuesday morning and I am looking outside at our first snow of the year. It's already melting (I've come to appreciate the sound of water dripping off our roof through the drain pipe), but it's a better start than we've had in years past.

As for us, things continue to go really well. Our upstairs is almost completely furnished, but we're still waiting on some benches so I'm not allowed to post pictures yet. Also, I finally finished a big project I've been working on to publish in print the last three years of The Hazard Chronicles. I love having the hard copies, and they usually turn out looking great (patting myself on the back here). They are also a lot of fun to make despite the tedium of it all, since I am forced to go through every post that we have made and remember the events described in them. Man, it's been a crazy few years for us. Fortunately, 2015 is shaping up to be very different in a good way. I don't think I have felt this much stability in all aspects of life at any time...ever.

As for the week, it seems like we have been doing a lot

Last weekend we got a babysitter for Lindsey and everyone else went and saw Disney on Ice in Frozen. We all had a good time, but I think Jackson and Addy were the most impressed. It was really fun to watch their faces any time someone did a neat ice-skating move, or a new character came out, or a song came on that they knew.

Later in the week Rachel and I got out on a fun date where we bought barstools, ate at one of our favorite restaurants, and watched a movie in a real theater. And even though I just re-read that last sentence and it makes us sound really old and boring, we still had a lot of fun.

One of my favorite parts of the week was hanging out with Jackson on Saturday. He is in a city-league basketball game and I got to watch him play. He's pretty awesome. During the game he told me conspiratorially that he had a super power but that I couldn't tell anyone (so of course I publish it on the internet). His super power was that even though the other kids had their hands up, he could still see where he was going. Aha- so that's how he does it! Later that day I took him out to Pizza Hut to celebrate his reading achievements in school. On the way home he said "Dad- this is my favorite day ever because I get to hang out so much with just you."

It's stuff like that that makes it rewarding to be a dad.

Also, Evelyn had a movie night at her school this week that the whole family got to go to. We watched "Hotel Transylvania" and had a good time.

Speaking of Evelyn, we got her report card this week and she is way above grade level in pretty much everything. What I am even more proud of though, is our conversation last night. I asked her how school was going and she said "Good, but there is something I am struggling with in Ms. Jillette's class (GATE). It's really hard and I don't understand it right now, but I'll figure it out though. Ms. Jillette said she would help me, and I can work a little extra 'till I get it." That confidence is something new in her, and I hope it stays because I think it will push her farther in life than good grades ever will.

From her teacher: "Evelyn is a smart, quiet, and helpful young lady. I can always count on her to offer help to those who are struggling around her. Her compassionate heart makes her very well liked within our classroom. Evelyn takes her time on her assignments to make sure they are done just right. She is very artistic and focused to do her best at all times. I love having her in class."

Addy and Jack got their grades also. They are both doing well, though Jack seems to have a hard time with numbers. That's okay though- It just means that we  get to play a lot of BINGO at home with 1-20 on the cards. The kids love it! Their teachers didn't write anything about them on their report cards, but we have conferences coming up this next week so maybe I'll have more to say about them later.

Well, that's about it for this week: More of a log entry than any sort of deep insight into our lives. Put it all together though and I think it paints a picture of a busy family doing things that busy families do, which would be an apt description.

Lindsey is growing up! She walks around so much it is hard to keep track of her any more...especially when she finally figured out the stairs. Recently she has started to experiment more with her voice and it is fun to hear her say "uh-oh" every time she falls or drops something.

This was a Family Night activity where we took stuff apart to see how it worked (don't worry, the cord in the picture goes to something else).

Sculptures with Mama.

Pizza Hut with Papa

We came home from our date and saw "Evelyn's Flower Book" on the counter. "By: Evelyn of course!" I took a picture of my favorite page- "This is the walking flower. Yeah! I know it's pretty wired (weird), but it really does walk!"

Maren is rich!

Here's Jackson bringing the ball down the court for his team.

Have a good week!

The year before I graduated from high school, George Lucas began releasing the movies which told the story leading up to his Star Wars "trilogy" from the 70s. From what I could tell at the time, this was a big deal. Star Wars had been a pretty successful film, and these were supposed to be even better! Even in the small town of Rexburg, I remember seeing people lined up in front of the theater to see the first showing, some waiting in line for several hours, and many of them dressed up as their favorite characters. I wasn't too into Star Wars at the time (I'm still not), and I thought it was all a little bit silly.

That same year, Weird Al Yankovic released his most successful album ever, "Running With Scissors." The first track on that album was a parody called "The Force Awakens," a song who's success as a hit single was directly related to the new movie, and sung to the tune of Don McLean's "American Pie." I remember getting a chuckle out of the song, and I even still remember some of the lyrics. I also wasn't too into Weird Al though (I'm still not), and I thought it was a little silly.

That song though, had a melody that somehow stuck with me and led me to the actual version of "American Pie." Now, I am sure I had heard the song before this point, but I had never before actually listened to it. When I did, back in 1999, I was completely blown away. Here, you had a country singer giving a beautiful history lesson on the history of Rock and Roll. Music was one thing that I was into at that time (I still am), and I thought that this song was a work of pure genius.

Since then, I have listened to a lot of music. I have learned the stories of a lot of bands, and I have even learned to play many of my favorite songs on the guitar. I don't know what it is, but Rock music, as a genre, as a cultural phenomenon, and as an "experience" is simply fascinating to me. It is fascinating to see the influence it has had over time, and how it, in turn, has been influenced and changed.

Why did I choose this time to tell about this? Well, I just finished my weekly lecture/assignment of "The Histroy of Rock and Roll" course as taught online at the University of Rochester, and I thought it would be a good way to open the blog. Also, I have been playing the guitar a lot lately, and so I guess music has sort of been on my mind.

Actually...about that. 

A few weeks ago I mentioned on our blog that I help with the music at the church our family attends (1st Pres. CDA). I have been hesitant to mention this too much on our blog, because I'm not sure how it will be taken by some people, but it has become an important part of my life so I figure I'll share. A few months ago I made a casual comment at a church social about how I liked to play the guitar. Well, one thing led to another, and soon enough I found myself on a stage in front of about 300 people. 

Over time, I have become a pretty regular part of the "worship team" (band), and I switch back and forth each week between playing lead electric and rhythm acoustic guitar. Our church has two different congregations (wards) that meet on Sundays, each with about 250 people. Our family attends the first one and then I stay through the break and play at the second as well. It works well for us. I have also gotten to know a lot of people through it, and have had a great chance to hone my musicianship. It has been a wonderful experience so far, and I look forward each week to finding out what we'll be performing the next Sunday.

Just as a disclaimer for those who hear "electric guitar" and immediately think of Angus Young, Slash, or Jimmy Page (at least that's who I think of), the music we play is pretty mellow. It definitely has a rhythmic or "rock" feel to it, as well as the occasional guitar solo (which I love), but there's no screaming or wild bends with the notes. For those who may be more familiar with LDS music- think about your EFY CDs as pretty typical for the type of music you would hear on any given Sunday. Anyway, I just thought I'd share. Like I said, it has become a fairly significant part of my life, if anything, because of the amount of practice that I have to put in each week to be able to not make a complete fool of myself :).

Other exciting news we have is that we got new furniture! This is a big deal to us. It is a signal that we finally think our kids are at a stage where we can start having nice things. That's all I'll say about that for now, since I want to include pictures of it on a different post (it's not totally set up yet).

I also guess I should write something here about Halloween Night. In our last post I showed off our pumpkins, but didn't mention costumes or trick-or-treating. It was a lot of fun though. The weather cooperated and the kids got tons of candy. Early in the evening we went downtown (Coeur d'Alene), where businesses all hand out candy. There were tons of people there...and tons of candy! When we got home we went around the neighborhood and had as much fun looking as the decorations as we did getting candy. I have said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it every year it comes around- I LOVE HALLOWEEN.

Trick or Treating 

Rachel was a ninja turtle.

Lindsey was a cute (and warm) little unicorn

Evelyn at her school carnival

This was a fun activity- we are currently doing an "engineering" unit in family night (for Addy). This is us trying to build bridges,

Addy was heartbroken when we sold our old furniture. They were good couches. They were also good boats, good lava rocks, good forts, good shields, and good rocketships. Our kids have certainly loved that couch...almost to death. It was a hard day to see it go. I guess it's true that "every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end" (Seneca, as quoted by Semisonic). This one was particularly hard for our Addy. I can only imagine what she would be like if we had pets.