While we were gone the snow came. I'd like to claim the above snowy creation as my own, but it was some random stranger's house that we drive past on the way to Garrett's preschool. We couldn't resist taking a picture with him and Snow Goliath to show you the scale of the winter giant.
Also, back when we were in Oregon . . . let me just say that my youngest sister's family is Oregon Ducks fanatics. The middle sister's family bleeds Washington Husky purple but that's a different story. At any rate the strong sports allegiances have been fostered on their spawn. Garrett's Eugene cousins root for the UO like its religion. Thus the fact that we were able to convince Colby to pose in this below picture (so that the older brother could irritate his little sister) is almost miraculous:
Of course to make sure my sister didn't throw us out on the street we also took this photo:
Well, upon our return Christmas descended with a vengeance. I'm speaking of the special events and ministry obligations not the actual holiday. There was caroling and parties and church outreaches and even a Nativity play where Lori & I had to play the parts of Mary and Joseph. This necessitated my growing of a beard. Neat. Here's the Biblical couple.
And then we had the opportunity to take Garrett on a short train ride in nearby Heber City. Garrett has always wanted to ride a train and this was called the North Pole Express. Some of our friends watched Matthew (we didn't think he'd appreciate the experience longer than 10 minutes) and we enjoyed a fun afternoon. Garrett loved it, but you can read more about that here on my wife's blog.
