Snow angels

With 6 inches of fresh snow it was the perfect day for snow angels. Natasha had fun since she was all dressed up. Dad froze since he was only wearing slippers.

J’s Karate test

J had his Karate test today. As always he did great and he was awarded his next belt. It is orange with a white stripe down the middle. I took my flash and stand and set it up on the other side of the room to light the pictures better. The room is very dimly lit so photos don’t turn out very well. I learned a lot about flashes in this hour, so I will have even better photos of him next time.
J has been invited to join the Jr. Olympics/US Open competition team. Only invitees are allowed to join. Unfortunately he will not be able to attend several of the practices since we will be in Thailand, so he may not be able to compete on the team. We will have to wait until after Christmas to talk to his Sensei about it.

Later in the evening we went home and Mom & Dad made us open their gifts to us. 20 years ago that would have never crossed their minds.

Christmas Lights

We went to see the lights at a co-workers house. I took this picture standing on the luggage rack of the van. Turned out OK I think. Next time I will be sure to take my tripod.

Lots of snow

It has been snowing all night and all day. Here is a picture of J clearing the driveway. Nuan actually shoveled most of it when she got home from work.

J rocks the house

J performed two perfect numbers at his piano recital. He was the only one I heard that didn’t slip up, but he said there was one other girl that played her song without mistakes. There were a couple of kids that played very difficult numbers so even though they weren’t perfect they were still impressive.
One teenage girl did so bad she cried afterwards and ran outside. After seeing that, J decided it was a good thing that I made him practice his songs all week. Chalk one up for the old man!

The Kids Visit Santa

We took the kids to visit Santa and they each received a present. I guess they have made it on the “Nice list” once again. Some days I think they know an elf named Vinnie who accepts bribes to get kids on the list.
Family tradition dictates that they will get to open their gift from Santa on Christmas Eve. This ensures they lay awake in bed half the night anticipating the next day and don’t wake up until at least 9 am.
After Santa, we went to Build-A-Bear and spent a small fortune on a pink cat and a turtle. They had fun doing it. J’s turtle has a karate gii just like his.