Grandpa Grogg's visit

Grandpa Grogg spent Christmas with us. We had a great time and pray he has a safe trip back to Cincinnati tomorrow...DW

Here is a picture of the girls loving on Grandpa.

We got a Wii for Christmas and Grandpa got hooked. Here are a few pictures of Jim bowling. He holds the high score but Derek is determined to catch him, ha.

Strike!

Christmas morning

Here are a few pictures of the children enjoying their presents Christmas morning. Afterwards, Jim and the rest of us went to my parents in Estes to fellowship and celebrated Jesus birthday with Derek's family...DW

Lucy's little toe

Last week we were shoe shopping for Lucy. She had been complaining for a while that socks and shoes hurt her little toes. We assumed she was highly sensitive. After this last visit to find shoes that she likes I got extremely frustrated and told Betsy I was going to make a doctor appointment to rule out anything physically was wrong. I thought if the doctor told me nothing was wrong then I would be justified with my frustration and persistence to have Lucy wear what we bought her. I took her last Thursday to the doctor and they immediately noticed that her little toes were under lapping; we never noticed. Lucy was telling us the truth the whole time. After an examination and x-rays, Lucy has a few things affecting her toes. One is a tight Achilles tendon causing her toes to curl in and the other is under lapping little toes (from two bones over lapping) causing friction and rubbing. Shoes with wide toe boxes are what will help her for now but, we need to do stretching exercises to loosen her tendons and may need surgery to straighten her little toes. We are glad I took her in and caught this before she got older...DW

Ice Skating at the mall

Well here are the ice skating pictures. Morgan has been a few times before but this was Lucy's first time. She loved it and did not want to stop until she had to go to the bathroom. I guess we will wait and see if this leads to a hockey career, ha. They had a great time and it was a lot of fun...DW

1st day of Christmas break

I don't have any pictures today. I keep forgetting to bring the camera in to download the school Christmas party pictures from last week. Christmas vacation has officially started for Betsy and the kids. They are sleeping in right now which they should be on break. I am going to meet them at the mall for lunch and then I am taking the kids ice skating. This will be Lucy's first time so I will let you know how it went. Then it will be time to see Santa and hope their is not much of a line. Jim leaves Cincinnati today for our house. Pray for safe travels. We are all looking forward to his visit. Merry Christmas and I will try to post some pictures tomorrow...DW

School Christmas program

We went to the RMCA Christmas program last night. Morgan was singing with her 3rd grade class and Betsy's 4th grade class also participated.

Here is a picture of Lucy hoping it was almost time to go home. :) Lucy was actually a trooper and I was very proud of her. She will get to perform with the Kindergarten class next year...DW

This is the girls before the program began in their Christmas best!

Background

Today I felt like changing the background layout to match a winter mood. I liked the previous one but it reminded me of fall. I may change it again. Let me know what you think...DW

Auto Bailout

I recently read an article on my friends blog (Howlett's) about the The Advent Conspiracy. They commented that we, as Americans, spend $450 billion each year on Christmas gifts. The Advent Conspiracy challenges us to worship fully, spend less, give more and love all. What does this have to do with the auto bailout bill in Congress? Well, if we followed the spend less and give more theory we could help change the world. I would rather see Congress spend $10 billion to pay for clean water around the world. The principles of The Advent Conspiracy should apply to big business as well as individual families. The "big 3" and others wouldn't be in this position in the first place. I want to thank the Howlett's for posting the article. I know it has challenged my thinking. Check out this website: http://www.adventconspiracy.org/ ...Derek

University of Tennessee

With the bowl season upon us I am a bit saddened with the absence of UT. We have something to look forward to with the addition of coach, Lane Kiffin. Coach Kiffin is my age and actually coached at CSU for one year in 1999. This will be a fresh start for the program and something for us, UT football fans, to look forward to. Until next year; Go VOLS!

Christmas pictures

We spent last Sunday with our small group family at the Howlett household. One of our members is an esteemed photographer who took these pictures. After food and fellowship we went to the church Christmas program and was entertained by some wonderful music...DW

Parents 50th wedding anniversary

We celebrated my parents 50th wedding anniversary on Thanksgiving. Mom (Joyce) and Dad (Duane) have been the best parents a family could ask for. They are shinning examples for parenting and marriage. Mom and Dad brought us to church every week and taught us the importance of serving, stewardship and worship. There example has led our whole family to know and accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior.

This is a picture of my parents opening their gift. Mom has her classic reaction of being surprised . My brother, sister and I gave them a certificate to the Broadmoor to use for golfing, dining, room, etc. After an afternoon of fellowship with family and celebration we went to the GreenBriar for dinner. That was incredible!

Here is a picture of my brother, Scott and sister, Julie with our parents. We had a lot to be thankful for at Thanksgiving this year; family, health, our parents 50th and most important, our salvation... Derek

Our children...

So this is my first attempt at a blog. I wanted to start with our beautiful children. Morgan is 8 and Lucy is 4. We are very proud of them. Morgan is in 3rd grade. Her favorite sports include; skiing, basketball, swimming and softball. Morgan is very gentle and has a kind spirit. She is a friend to everyone. She also enjoys cats (even though her parents don't :) . Lucy is in pre school and is ready for kindergarten next year. She is known in her class as momma Lucy as she directs the kids around the classroom. Lucy is full of energy and can make you smile on a bad day. We are very proud for their love of God, gentle spirits and their character development. Until next time... DW