Weekly Email

Hi Mom and Dad,

It's been a few weeks.  With the men's retreat and being on call over the president's day weekend I just didn't get my emails written.

I'm still gutted over the outcome of the big game yesterday.  I saw the tail end of the Arizona game.  They hung on against UCLA.  We had Jeff and Teri Markland over to watch the game.  Jeff M. usually has the Super Bowl party and makes amazing wings.  We invited him over to show us the secret recipe.  So we made a big ole pile of buffalo, lemon pepper and parmesan garlic wings.  They were so good.  Then we watched the game - it went well for a while.  Up by 19 pts. in the second half.  How did Mizzou manage to lose that game??  To add insult to injury, we were watching the game a little delayed on DVR and ran out of recording with 9 seconds left in overtime.  We missed the final to KU free throws to go up by 1 and the no-shot by Dixon/Denmon at the very end :-(  Oh well - you win some you lose some.  That surely knocks Missouri out as a #1 seed in the NCAA tourney.

Fiddler on the Roof was great.  Those kids work so hard and put on a good show.  Theresa went for Thursday opening night. And again with Chloe and I on Friday night.  The show ran for 1hr15min straight without an intermission.  There was a big cast party on Friday night that went 'til 11pm.  I think Theresa ordered the DVD of the show that we can share with you when we get it.  Megan also had a volleyball game on Friday afternoon before the play.  She made it back just before the show.  Unfortunately they lost the game :-( They won their first match last week so they are 1-1.

We watched "The Ides of March" last night and are watching "Mr. Popper's Penguins" right now.  Both are pretty good.  We also have the red carpet and the Oscars taping for later tonight with nacho dinner.

Megan has a big project due of Friday - historical events that happened on the day she was born - July 17th.  Wild Bill Hickok killed John Kyle in Hays Kansas in 1869.  The Spanish-American war ended in Cuba after Roosevelt's rough-riders won San Juan and Kettle Hill battles in 1898.  The Royal Family changed their name to Windsor in 1917.  Disneyland opened in 1955.  Apollo-Soyuz docked in 1975.

And that's the way it was....

luv u,

Jeff

Weekly Email

Hi Mom & Dad,
Whew. That was a close one last night. Steve didn't want to talk to
me. A few questionable calls down the stretch but that wasn't the
decider - a miraculous 11-0 run at the end of the game was the
difference.
I'm playing on the worship team this morning and then staying after to
practice music for the men's retreat. I'll be guitar'ed out after
that. The men's retreat is next weekend. I'll probably leave early
from work on Friday and head up to Estes Park for the weekend. I
haven't been on a retreat for a while so I'm looking forward to it.
Good thing the big snow was this weekend and not next.
We ended up around 15" and had a lot of shoveling to do. But it was
pretty warm yesterday so most of the roads are already clear and dry.
We did errands yesterday to Target, Bed Bath and Beyond and Safeway
and didn't have any trouble getting around. Chloe spent the afternoons
diving around to a friends diving meet and then hanging at her house.
Eldora actually had to turn skiers away yesterday because the parking
lot was too full. Megan was kinda bummed that we didn't go skiing
yesterday.
Tomorrow night we have a college night for Chloe. Just basic
information on "The Admissions Game". I'm not sure what Chloe's long
term plans are.
Megan got accepted for open enrollment at Fairview High School. We
have 10 days to decide. I don't think she wants to go there now. Her
friend, Clara, has decided to go to Boulder High. So, Megan is
following her there to BHS. I wish she would go to Fairview. I think
it's a better school compared to BHS. But she really wants to be with
Clara.
I am fasting today until the Super Bowl so I can save all my WW points
to pig out on junk food. We were supposed to go to the Markland's
house for our annual Super Bowl party. But he just had knee surgery
and had to cancel because he just wasn't up to it. So we are having
our own little private party with buffalo wings, coon balls, chips,
salsa and guacamole. I don't really care that much about the game. I
guess if I had to pick I'd pull for the underdog Giants.
Well, that's all I know for now.
Luv u,
Jeff

Weekly Email

Hi Mom and Dad,
We've spoken a few times is week so I don't have much to report.
Theresa and I are watching "Moneyball" on DVD tonight (in between loads of laundry). The girls are downstairs watching "Mean Girls".
The winter ball and sleepover went fine for Chloe. She followed through with everything she agreed too. I called the mom of the sleepover early in the afternoon to make sure it was all on the up and up. And then met the both the parents when I dropped Chloe off.
Megan had a sleepover too last night across the street at Whitney's house.
Theresa and I sang in the praise choir this morning. After church she went grocery shopping and I practiced music for the men's retreat. Megan had her second guitar lesson tonight at 6pm as well.
Good win by Missouri yesterday. Tough day for Kansas and Arizona. We did watch the end of that UofA game. Too bad!
Well that's about it.
Luv u,
Jeff

Weekly Email

Hi Mom & Dad,

We caught up a little last night so I don't have much new.

The girls are down at Flatiron Crossing looking for a dress for Chloe for the winter ball in Feb.  I'm kinda watching the football game in the background.

We didn't end up watching a movie last night.  We watched a reality tv show called 'DC Cupcakes' - they made a one ton cupcake to break the world record.  Then we all played one game of spite and malice.  I won  Then the girls played WII and Theresa and I went upstairs and watch an episode of Mad Men.

I've signed up for the men's retreat at Calvary Feb. 10-12.  It's the first time I've gone in many years (maybe 4 or 5 years).  I'm also helping out with the music.  Should be a good time.

I started doing my taxes early this morning.  I don't quite have all the paperwork yet though so I can't finish it.

We've had some amazing winds this past week.  Fences and trees blown down all over the place.  We lost a tile out of our patio table on the back deck that shattered into pieces.  But, nothing worse than that.  Other than that, just several nights of no sleep, and grumpiness the next day :-(

Well, nothing much else interesting to report on.  So I'll sign off.  Until next week!

luv u,

Jeff

Weekly Email

Hi Mom (and Dad)
Once again I've left this 'til late and I'm running out of steam on a
Sunday night. So this will be short and sweet.
I watched the Broncos get pummeled yesterday. Oh well, it was a good
season. Earlier in the day I watched the Tigers beat Texas. That was
fun. We watched the movies Red w/Bruce Willis on Friday and Zookeeper
w/Kevin James tonight - both were pretty good. Theresa is watching
Downton Abbey Season 2 on PBS right now. She really enjoys it - don't
know if you've seen it.
I played at church this morning and Theresa worked. So, we were a
little disjointed. Chloe dropped Megan off for first service and then
drove herself back for second service. Megan walked home. Chloe has
been finding any excuse to drive everywhere. Basketball games,
lunches, friends houses etc.
We had fun at Bring It On The Musical. It wasn't very 'deep' but it
was up beat and positive and the girls really enjoyed it. We didn't
home and in bed until midnight on Wednesday - too late for me.
Other than that it was a normal busy week. BSF in Monday, I actually
hung out with a friend on Tuesday night instead of Theresa going to
girls night out, Wednesday was the musical, and music practice on
Thursday. Megan is going strong in Fiddler on the Roof - she told me
she has a solo as a Russian girl in one of the songs.
I got the part for the garage and it did the trick. Yeah! $30 and
we're back in business.
We are scheduled to return electric blue on Tuesday morning. It sure
has been nice having and I will be sad to see it go. With Chloe,
driving it's been nice to have 3 cars. I imagine at some point we'll
have to figure out something for her. Although I added her to our
insurance of an extra $800/year (compared to $1,200/year for BOTH
Theresa and I).
Well that's about it for now.
Luv u,
Jeff

Weekly Email

Hi Mom and Dad,
Whew - it's been a hard, busy week after a lovely vacation. Tough to get back into the swing of things. Just the normal routine though.
Of course our big news is Chloe passing her driving test. She drove to pick up Megan from school and also to the BHS b-ball game on Friday night, out to a party in Erie on Saturday night, and then to Target today. Anything to just drive :-). Our garage door opener broke yesterday so that has been a real pain. I ordered a new circuit board off of EBay today for $30 that hopefully fixes it. It won't arrive until late next week. Until then we have to manually heft the door up and down.
I went for an eye exam on Thursday morning. I'm officially old and had to go buy some 'readers' from Walgrens. My LASIK is still holding up though - 20/20 far away.

Weekly Email

Hi Mom,
One week to go. I was checking out the weather.... Good news, bad news
- I think the weather will be fine for traveling. But it's not looking
great for skiing. They don't make snow at Powder Mountain and it only
has. 15" base. Snow Basin has about a 37" base. But at least we'll
all be together :-)
We went to the Christmas concert at church tonight Theresa was a part
of the festivities. I'll send you a link to the video.
Now we are sitting here watching "The Help". I checked out all the
other movies you asked about and they are all too new to be on Netflix
or even Redbox.
I watched the Broncos today. Their luck finally ran out :-(. It wasn't
really Tebow's fault. They had too many turnovers and penalties.
Missouri was on too but they were in a blowout over William & Mary so
I didn't watch it.
Yesterday I spent all day in bed sick. A bad head cold snuck up on me
starting Friday afternoon. I think I'm kicking it just in time to head
back to work. But at least I have it out of the way before our trip.
I hope I haven't given it to any one else.
The girls are glad to be out of school. I'm finished with BSF for the
year as well. Theresa and I have to finish up our work week then
Christmas and traveling. Yeah, can't wait.
Well I'm going to sign off for now to pay attention to the help.
Luv u,
Jeff