Saturday, February 27, 2010

Sunset

Awards

Snuggies rule

ahhh - comfort

functional

IMG_2742

IMG_2747

tea cup

tea cup and magic carpet

a matched set

Gaston

lamp

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Weekly Email

Hi Mom,

Sunday evening.... already wishing I could take a snow day tomorrow! It's been snowing almost all weekend. I'd say we have about 7-8" right now. Snowy days are really making me look forward to Cancun. Lance and Jessica Wolleson are headed to Cancun too (in April a few weeks after we go). Jessica is on a major diet in preparation for the swimsuit portion of the trip. I think she's doing really well.

Getting to ramp up for the 'really big show' week. Megan's debut in Beauty and the Beast begins tomorrow with a show for the elementary school kids during the day. Then evening shows on Tuesday-Thursday nights. A lot of hard work has gone into this production. I think it will be exciting to see it all come together but also a bit of a relief when it is over.

Theresa and I had a nice evening Friday night. Both girls had a sleep over. So we were on our own - two boring little old people - watching the Olympics. Saturday night we were all in. Theresa and I rented "Couples Retreat" with Vince Vaughn on OnDemand for $4.99 (we were too lazy to even go out to the $1 movie box). I actually thought Couples Retreat was pretty good. It was in pretty strong support of marriage. Vince Vaughn can be pretty funny at times with his dry sense of humor.

I watched Missouri beat Texas on Wednesday night. Then they followed it with an easy win over Nebraska on Saturday. So I think they are at 20 wins and 3rd in the Big 12 now. A couple of steps closer to the NCAA tournament.

We've seen most of the big Olympic moments. Bode winning bronze, silver and gold. Lindsay Vonn winning a couple of medals. Apollo Anton Ohno winning 7 total over 3 Olympics to make him the most decorated Winter Olympian. Chad Hedrick, Shani Davis on the long track. Amman in ski jumping. Some 2 man bobsled and skeleton or luge. We watched a little bit of the ice skating - pairs, mens, ice dancing. Russia/Czech and USA/CAN hockey. But somehow I've totally missed out on curling - don't know how that happened.

Theresa took Dots in last week to have him weighed - he's lost 3-4lbs! in about 4 weeks I think. His goal is to lose 10lbs. So, he's doing pretty good.

Today is Mona Witthar's birthday. You can wish her a happy a birthday now via email - kwitthar@gmail.com.

I played on the worship team again this morning. That makes about 3 out of 4 weeks in the last month. I don't mind. I really enjoy playing. Everybody is so good - it's a just a privilege to play with that caliber of musicians and I think in the end it really is a powerful worship experience (if you like rock and roll :-) ).

That's all I know for know. Time to figure out dinner and cozy in for the evening.

Luv u,

Jeff

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Belated Christmas

Belated Christmas

Belated Christmas

Belated Christmas

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Weekly Email

Howdy,

Quick update. Same old busy week as usual - BSF, girl's night out, Chaos, music practice, play practice....

Theresa and I did get to go out for a Valentine's date last night. We had dinner at Pei Wei and then went to see "Up In The Air" with George Clooney. I actually liked it. I can see how you might have a little angst over the ending. It doesn't wrap up neatly - happily ever after.

I've started reading a new book called Touch The Top of the World by Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind climber to summit everest. It came with the DVD so I watch that first - amazing! If a blind dude can do it I think I could too - right? Anybody got an extra $60K to spare to get me to Nepal?

We've watched a bit of the olympics. The opening ceremony was fun. I came in late from work on Friday night (8pm) so I missed the broadcast of the We Are The World remake for Haiti. I also kinda dozed a bit at the end so had to rewind to see the torch lighting mishaps.

So far I watched long track speed skating with the Dutch skater Sven Kramer winning gold. I watch the Swiss ski jumper Ammann win gold. I saw the replays of Ohno winning silver after the Koreans wiped out. We watched a little bit of the luge - tragic that the one guy died in the practice runs earlier. Today I watched biathlon - crazy sport with cross country skiing and shooting. I also watched the Nordic combined event, jumping and skiing - americans in 2nd and 4th - first medal ever for USA in the event.

It's surprising about the weather in Vancouver. Not enough snow, rain, yuck. As opposed to the US - snow on the ground in 49 states yesterday (yahoo news).

We booked our spring break trip to.... CANCUN! everything just fell into place. NIce windfall from the Sun/Oracle deal closing, great airfare $340/ticket, and timeshare availability. We can't wait - Mar. 22-29. It will be here before we know it. February is already half gone.

Well that's all I know for now. Speak with you soon!

luv u,

Jeff

Cute

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

We got your valentine package last night. Thx.

Just wanted to let you know I just finished reading my personally autographed copy of "The Extra Mile" by Pam Reed. I have a stack of books on my bedside stand that I am trying to whittle down. That was one of them.

It was a pretty good read. Fun hearing some of the Tucson details and reading about some of the other runners and races I'm familiar with. I was aware of her and had heard about her accomplishments before (2x Badwater Overall Winner as a woman is pretty impressive). I have a good friend who has done the Leadville Trail 100 several times. None of that sounds appealing to me at all. 135 mile races accross death valley, 200mi, 300mi, 500mi race - no thank you.

I think being an elite athlete means making a lot of sacrifices and pretty big ego. I'm not sure I like the personality type it takes to be that good (Lance Armstrong is in that category) - so I never quite connect when the book when they write their autobiography.

Luv u,

Jeff

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Weekly Email

A few additions :-)

I played hooky from work on Friday - Theresa and I went to see Sherlock Holmes. It was pretty good. I was supposed to be skiing but the guy I was going with had a crick in his neck and couldn't make it. So, I just decided to take the day off anyway.

Chloe went to see Dear John on Friday after school. She came home with runny mascara eyes - I guess it was sad :-( She babysat first thing on Saturday morning at 7:45 am. I had a worship team meeting Saturday morning. Then we both came home to visit with Joy and Bobby Orf and their little one, Padraig. They had been in Ireland for a little while but are back now trying to figure out what to do next.

As Theresa said - she and I went to the CU vs. MU men's basketball game on Saturday. It was fun - I don't even remember the final score but it was around 20+ points. We left with 5 minutes to go. I guess CU was worn out from that overtime loss to KU on Wednesday night - that sure was a close one.

I watched Tin Cup and Everest this week on the DVD. I just kinda got sucked into Tin Cup w/Kevin Costner - I hate the way it ends. I actually watched Everest while running on the treadmill at work. It's the IMAX film that was shot the same year as the terrible storm that killed all those people (Rob Hall and team). John Krakauer's Into Thin Air book chronicled that story.

luv,

Jeff

On Sun, Feb 7, 2010 at 1:51 PM, Theresa Sherard <tsherard@comcast.net> wrote:
Here's the current batch of pictures of little Jacob (Shields)--weighing in at 4 lbs. 11 oz., making his own red blood cells, but still needing to develop some stronger lungs!

Good afternoon from snowy, cold Boulder, CO!
That darned groundhog saw its' shadow and here we go with 6 more weeks of winter! I much preferred our upper 40 degree days along with the bright sunshine earlier in the week. Grandma Shields said last Friday, 'enough is enough', she's ready for Spring! Amen, sister!
We are getting ready to go over to Jeff/Terry Markland's home for the annual Super Bowl party--he's famous for his hot wings and the rest of us bring along what sounds good. my Jeff is just now making Dolly's recipe of "Coon Balls" okay, I know that sounds funny, but apparently there is such a thing as Coon cheese (a sharp cheddar)--you mix up the grated cheese with hot breakfast sausage, bisquick and bake til golden brown. I think they're pretty good. What I like about them today is that HE is making them, not me! We'll leave here around 3.30 or so to make our way.
I'm finishing sewing up some curtains for the Beauty and the Beast set and a skirt for the 'enchantress' character (there is silver glitter all over the house from the material!) The curtains are just a quick zip for the casing to hang it on a dowel rod...easy peasey, or so I thought! Friday night, I must have been a bit sleepier than I thought--I ended up sewing through the tip of my thumb (sorry if that makes you squeamish!) Anyhoo, the good news is that the needle quickly went in and right back out before said needle broke off, but bad news is that the tip of my thumb is super sore! You can see the entrance and exit wounds! Gross!!!
Jeff will probably write family news later today, so I'm sure he'll fill you in about MU/CU men's basketball game yesterday. We whooped up on 'em. GO TIGERS! We proudly wore our Mizzou sweatshirts and cheered loudly amongst the buff fans!
Well, I'll close for now, we'll talk soon, I suppose--just not our regular 4pm Sunday chat. love you guys!
Theresa :-)

p.s. Jeff just said this is the weekly email...too tired after making Coon Balls ha ha ha ha

Saturday, February 6, 2010