Christmas Decor

This year we got Christmas lights up on the outside of the house for the first time. Typically our street is kind of a dud for lights but we must have set a good example because there were several houses that had at least a string of lights up. We got LED lights so our "white" lights have a little of a bluish tint.

We got our Christmas tree early in December and decided to try one with long needles. It sure smells good but those needles just keep falling off. We went with a combo of white and colored lights. I only ended up using about half the ornaments and that was plenty.

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving my parents came out for a visit. Mom arrived Tuesday night and we spent Wednesday shopping--for groceries and tableware. Dad arrived that night and we got some of the food prep started. Thursday was, of course, a day full of baking and cooking. We tried a few new recipes--cranberry jello, sweet potato casserole. Plus there were all the old standbys--stuffing, potatoes, turkey, green bean casserole, rolls, gravy, peas, etc. We used a turkey roaster this year so the oven would be free for the other stuff and it worked really well. We also had pie--cherry for Caleb and apple for me. We tried to teach Mom how to play Lego Indiana Jones on Xbox. Quite entertaining. Of course we watched football and the parade. It was a fun day.

Friday the guys were busy and got the Christmas lights up outside. For the first time ever we put them up along the roof and in a couple trees. They did a great job. All nice and straight. While they were freezing outside, the girls were inside putting up some Christmas decorations. It is amazing how much stuff I have but I am not sure what to do with. We rearranged a little to make space for the Christmas tree that we will be getting in the next couple weeks. We ended the day going to see Harry Potter. It was pretty close to the book and so Caleb thought it was a little slow moving.

Saturday before they left we went to see the gingerbread houses at the Eastman house and check out a little art fair on Prince street. It was a busy but fun weekend.

Halloween Fun

Last weekend we had a quick trip out to Kansas City. We ended up only being there for about 28 hours because of some flight delay troubles. (I blame this on Caleb. Before we got married I never had any problems with flights. Since then cancellations, delays, missed connecting flights, etc.) We went out there for a combination Marcell family Halloween party and a farewell party because Caleb's Parents are moving to Portland. When we got there we went right to work preparing for the party. The boys decorated outside and practiced for the spooky story. The girls prepared all sorts of snacks for that night.

Then it was time for the fun. Family photos. Eating. Monsters. Mummies. Bobbing for apples. A bonfire. Root beer floats. Cookies. Cupcakes. Remembering. Pinata busting.  And last but not least dancing. That's right Wii Just Dance was a big hit. Just about everyone took a turn and some people really got into it. It was pretty funny. We had a great time and wish it could have been longer.

Sushi

Caleb went with a couple of guys from church to try out the new sushi at the Pittsford Wegmans. He was daring and got a platter with one piece of every kind. And he tried them all. Some he liked and others were too much for him (the ones with the little balls that "pop" when you bite into them). I think he is crazy and can't bear the thought of cooked fish, much less raw.

The Beard

I provide technical support for the Blackboard Learn product, which develops and licenses software applications to manage e-learning, transaction processing, e-commerce and online communities. The busiest time at work is the is back to school time, which normally runs from August to the second week in October. As as sign of solidarity all the men and work decided not to shave. August 16th was the last day to shave and we could shave again on October 4th. I was going to take a picture each week to track the beard progress but I would always forget. So I have a beginning picture and an end picture. After 7 weeks of not shaving my face hair was 1/2 an inch long. As some of you may know I am not the kind of person to do something just to have all my efforts wiped out in one day, so I extended my beard growing fun with a beard shaving week. Each day of the week following the conclusion of the back to school season at work I shaved a portion of my beard and wore it that way the whole day. The styles ranged from a mustache to the goatee and everything in between.

Start of not shaving 8/16/10

After 7 weeks 10/4/10

Proof it is 1/2 inch

Goatee

Fu Manchu and soul stripe

Fu Manchu 

Mustache 

Back to normal

Grape Festival

Last weekend we took a short day trip out to the Grape Festival. It was a pretty drive down with the trees just starting to change colors. Once we arrived it was kind of chaotic with so many people and cars. The festival is right in town along the street but the street isn't blocked off so there was a lot of traffic. It was mainly your typical festival with all sorts of food and craft and junk vendors. There were a lot of options if you wanted to buy tie-dyed shirts or mittens and hats. There were also a couple of grape oriented booths selling grapes and grape pies. I got some fresh honey. We also got a grape pie to take home and try out. Caleb enjoyed it, said it is like grape jelly in a crust. But for me it was too powerfully grapey like grape cough medicine was added to the grape jelly. On the drive down we saw a roadside stand selling grape juice but we couldn't find it on the way home. I guess we should have stopped in when we saw it. It was a fun thing to do once but we probably won't go back next year.

NY State Fair

This past weekend we headed to the NY State Fair in Syracuse. In the morning the crowds weren't too bad but by the time we left in the evening it was so crowded. There was barely even space to move in some areas. There was a spot where you could get fresh chocolate milk at $0.25 a cup. It was pretty tasty.

They also had a scuplture out of butter. It was pretty amazing--a farm landscape with buildings and animals. And that is a lot of butter.

And of course you can't go to a state fair without stopping to see some animals. We saw sheep being sheared, cows being shaved, and horses competing. There was one girl who was curled up sleeping with her cow. We had a fun time.

Going on a bench hunt

This summer in Rochester they have benches all over that have been painted/decorated by different groups. So we thought it would be fun to go check some of them out and take a few pictures. We got out our GPS and used it to track down about 35 different benches this past weekend. The benches are fun but not quite as cool as the cows were in KC nine years ago.

What a mess

This is what happens when Caleb lets the dogs run around the backyard right after he finishes mowing the lawn. They get grass stained. And they love to roll in the clippings so they end up with bits of grass all over. That stuff is a challenge to wash out.

The Big Rib--Yummmm

A couple years ago Rochester started to have a new festival- The Big Rib. It is held at Highland Park and last year we just happened to see a banner and tried it out. This year we planned ahead and went with some friends to do a taste comparison. There were six different competitors and we got a half rack of ribs from each to share. That is a lot of ribs. After carefully analyzing each for flavor, meatiness, tenderness, etc, we agreed upon a winner. Gator BBQ By their name you would think they were from Florida but turns out they are from Canada (that almost was worth revoking their win). One of the others was pretty close but a little to sweet. Two of them were very distantly at the bottom, not even close.

We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the good weather. Guess we will have to go again next year.


BEFORE and AFTER

A color change

We have been living here for 6 years now and recently decided it was time to change the decor a little. So we got a new rug, curtains, and throw pillow to mix things up. This shifts the accent color from green to a rusty red.

Wedding Weather Woes

Last week we flew out to SLC for some wedding excitement. My little brother Isaac married Francie at the Mt. Timpanogos temple. The weather had us worried. It was raining off and on (mostly on) for the entire 3 days we were there. My mom had us busy the day before the wedding making center pieces and decorating the room for the dinner the night before. The wedding was beautiful (was Justin nodding off back there?). And the weather cooperated until all the family and friend pictures were finished. Then it started to rain. Many of us hung out at the University Mall while it got colder and rained and rained and rained. Then it was time to head to the outdoor reception. The yard it was held in was beautiful and the decorations looked nice in spite of an uncooperative Mother Nature. After about 45 minutes of mingling with umbrellas there was a short respite from the rain. This was the chance for cutting the cake, dancing, and tossing the bouquet. When the rain started back up, it was time for the happy couple to head off into the night to the rattling of soda cans on the back of the car. So despite a lot of weather worrying, it all went well and there will be many memories.



This is my dad and his siblings and mom at the dinner. It has been a while since I have gotten a picture of them all together. I didn't have a chance to take a picture of my mom's side.

Look, I got a Nook

This is my fun new toy. For once it wasn't Caleb getting a new bit of electronics. I was very skeptical of the whole e-reader idea. I just like my books. But now I recently thought it might be kind of fun to get one. So after looking around I got a Nook and I like it. Through the library I can download free epub books and Barnes and Noble has a free book each week. I have already downloaded and read 4 books in the week since I got my nook. So far I am very happy with my decision.

Green fun

Not too appetizing but definately green for St. Patricks day-green cheese on the french bread pizza, green ranch dressing, and there were green cupcakes for dessert.

dirt dog

Who knows where he finds it but Sylvester always gets dirty when he goes outside.

If only he would fold it

Sylvester loves to lay on the clean laundry. Whenever we dump the clean clothes on the bed to fold it all, Sylvester jumps right on and gets comfy. As the pile disappears, he shifts to lay on what is remaining or onto the newly folded clothes.

To Geek or Not to Geek

You know you are a computer geek when an IM exchange between two co-works looks like this.

[10:12] 03/12 Seeker: whats the difference between star trekk and star wars??
[10:12] 03/12 The Wise One: A whole lot
[10:13] 03/12 Seeker: their saying nothing down here
[10:13] 03/12 The Wise One: Name a field
[10:13] 03/12 Seeker: that there is no difference
[10:13] 03/12 Seeker: IDK
[10:13] 03/12 Seeker: how about the space ships
[10:13] 03/12 The Wise One: Well, the fundamental philosophies are different
[10:14] 03/12 Seeker: are they set around the same time?
[10:14] 03/12 Seeker: they're both in space though
[10:14] 03/12 The Wise One: Starwars was build around Eastern Mysticism, Buddhism, etc.
Star Trek focused (initially) on the bright future of humanity
[10:16] 03/12 Seeker: so, its religious ?
[10:16] 03/12 The Wise One: Starwars had a lot of Yin-yang aspects ... Star Trek had a replica of international events
[10:16] 03/12 The Wise One: On a fundamental level
[10:16] 03/12 The Wise One: So far as character and plot are concerned
[10:16] 03/12 The Wise One: Ship technology is remarkably different too ...
[10:17] 03/12 The Wise One: Star Trek features heavy shields on ships, and phasers that provide pinpoint accuracy in a near total coverage around the ship
[10:17] 03/12 The Wise One: Star Wars has no such devices, and so fighters are viable
[10:18] 03/12 The Wise One: Star Wars also has no transporter technology. Star Trek used it as a crutch in presenting the flow of the episodes
[10:18] 03/12 The Wise One: Since Star Wars was movie length, the transport time in ships was no problem ...
[10:19] 03/12 The Wise One: Yes, I know far too much about this ...
[10:19] 03/12 Seeker: what about the millenium falcon?
[10:20] 03/12 The Wise One: What about it?
[10:20] 03/12 The Wise One: Besides the differences in inter-galactic travel ...
[10:21] 03/12 Seeker: was the best ship in the galaxy?
[10:21] 03/12 Seeker: yeah whats that too?
[10:22] 03/12 Seeker: intergalactic planetary planetary intergalactic......
[10:22] 03/12 The Wise One: "Best Ship in the Galaxy" is something to be applied to specific tasks ... Best in the Galaxy for ... trade, battle, infiltration, ...
[10:22] 03/12 Seeker: battle
[10:23] 03/12 The Wise One: Star Trek used the "Warp Factor" system, implying that their ships achieved faster than light (FTL) travel by non-Newtonian physics to achieve speeds literally faster than light
[10:24] 03/12 The Wise One: Star Wars FTL travel involved moving between this dimension, and a parallel one where Newtonian physics either do not apply, or where the distances between points are drastically shorter. I'm fuzzy on this point.
[10:26] 03/12 The Wise One: If you want to consider Best in the Galaxy for Battle ... you need to break it down again. The Falcon would not stand up against a Star Destroyer in a Ship-Ship fight: it doesn't have the firepower, and it doesn't have the shields to repel a shot from a Destroyer's main guns.
[10:26] 03/12 Seeker: what If the star ship enterprise got into a fight with the millennium falcon who would win?
[10:26] 03/12 The Wise One: In a fighter-fighter battle, the Falcon looses, unless you hold to unusual situations, like trying to get the **** out of Dodge.
[10:27] 03/12 The Wise One: No question: Enterprise
[10:27] 03/12 The Wise One: The Falcon was built for smuggling and speed
[10:27] 03/12 Seeker: so is the falcon faster then?
[10:27] 03/12 The Wise One: Not a straight up battle
[10:27] 03/12 The Wise One: Oh yes
[10:27] 03/12 Seeker: Oh
[10:27] 03/12 The Wise One: Very yes
[10:33] 03/12 The Wise One: See ... everyone looks at "Best in Battle" as being determined by who can beat who in a proverbial ring. But a battle isn't always about bludgeoning the other into submission. The Falcon excels at surviving by speed, maneuverability, and an excellent range of fire. It also excels at inserting special teams into an objective.
[11:07] 03/12 Seeker: What would be better to have, a light saber or a phaser?
[11:18] 03/12 The Wise One: What would you rather have: a sword that can cut through anything, or a machine gun?
[11:18] 03/12 Seeker: IDK what are the pros and cons?
Seeker buzzes The Wise One!
Seeker buzzes The Wise One!
[11:50] 03/12 The Wise One: Eh?
[11:50] 03/12 Seeker: IDK what are the pros and cons?
[11:51] 03/12 The Wise One: Oh
[11:51] 03/12 The Wise One: Sword doesn't need amunition
[11:51] 03/12 The Wise One: Machine gun can kill from a distance, pin ememies behind covering terrain, deny a field of advance
[11:52] 03/12 The Wise One: Sword, if you're good, nearly negates anything positive with a gun if you're within 15-30 feet
[11:53] 03/12 Seeker: would I be able to fly if I had the Sword?
[11:53] 03/12 Seeker: I would need the force huh?
[11:55] 03/12 The Wise One: No, actually. Police and Military are trained to keep any assailants with a blade more than x feet away from you, because inside this distance the individual becomes a threat
[11:55] 03/12 The Wise One: That's untrained
[11:55] 03/12 The Wise One: A trained swordsman can cross a 20 ft gap in, litterally, a second
[11:56] 03/12 Seeker: ahhh, but like I mean the force like will be with you.... is that in the light saber so I could fly and stuff?
[11:57] 03/12 The Wise One: the Force is intrinsic to the Jedi, not the equipment
[11:57] 03/12 The Wise One: And that's part of the buddhist/eastern mysticism philosophy
[11:58] 03/12 The Wise One: Pardon me, the ability to use the force is trained in the Jedi, not imparted by equipment.
[12:05] 03/12 Seeker: well then which one has the more advanced technology?
[12:06] 03/12 The Wise One: That's a toss-up
[12:07] 03/12 The Wise One: Trek relies on technology, and focuses on the bright future through technology ... at least until the original writer retired
[12:07] 03/12 The Wise One: Wars has a lot of high tech, but the story relies upon the Jedi religion, the Force, and such other concepts as its driving force
[12:10] 03/12 Seeker: Oh yeah, in star trek, they have the replicator and…… what was that room the holograph something…
[12:10] 03/12 Seeker: and star wars is more like tree huggers
[12:11] 03/12 The Wise One: Well, that's a fairly ... esoteric? ... way of phrasing things
[12:11] 03/12 The Wise One: Star Trek was a story of the bright future of Mankind, and how technology is the driving factor in our bright future
[12:13] 03/12 Seeker: would it be safe to say then star trek would kick the crap out of everyone in starwars?
[12:13] 03/12 The Wise One: That depends ....
[12:14] 03/12 The Wise One: I would be of the opposite perspective ... that Star Wars is more war-hardened, and uses a better bredth of technology use: infantry, vehicles, fighters, ships, space stations, certain stars of death ...
[12:15] 03/12 Seeker: ya ya you're right.....
[12:16] 03/12 The Wise One: Plus ... Yoda would totally pwn Picard any day of the week
[12:16] 03/12 Seeker: wow! i didn't think of that. No doubt
[12:17] 03/12 Seeker: I thought the enterprise can blow up planets?
[12:17] 03/12 The Wise One: Uhm ... maybe?
[12:17] 03/12 The Wise One: If they could make a black hole or something ...
[12:18] 03/12 The Wise One: Enterprise does wierd things to get out of tough situations
[12:19] 03/12 Seeker: I think if that one ship was in star wars they would all lose
[12:57] 03/12 Seeker: So in a straight-up fight, would the empire squashes the federation?
[12:58] 03/12 The Wise One: given that the empire's name is The Galactic Empire for a reason, and the Federation is a "Peacekeeping, Humanitarian Armada" ...
[12:58] 03/12 The Wise One: *ahem*
[12:58] 03/12 The Wise One: What Federation?
[12:58] 03/12 The Wise One: :-D
[12:59] 03/12 Seeker: I dont get it....
[13:00] 03/12 The Wise One: Also, the empire's Star Destroyers are the size of a city, and bristling with weapons meant for destroying other ships and *planets*
[13:00] 03/12 The Wise One: "What Federation?" Was the emperor's comment when he invaded
[13:02] 03/12 Seeker: but isnt the enterprise more powerful ?
[13:02] 03/12 The Wise One: No
[13:03] 03/12 The Wise One: But then again ... we are talking about two different universes with two different sets of tech
[13:04] 03/12 The Wise One: Joe here has a point ... the Federation is focused on anti-capital ship warfare ... so their shields are probably far superior, and their weapons would be more effective against capital ships
[13:04] 03/12 The Wise One: But it's up in the air
[13:07] 03/12 Seeker: so, but i thought that the enterprise could do time travel and alternate detentions...... so they could meet up
[13:07] 03/12 Seeker: what about that?
[13:07] 03/12 The Wise One: Yeah
[13:07] 03/12 The Wise One: About that ...
[13:07] 03/12 The Wise One: That's the one part of Star Trek that makes no sense
[13:08] 03/12 The Wise One: If you can go back in time, and travel to alternate dimensions, what's to prevent a powerful cabal from utilizing it for their own interests?
[13:09] 03/12 Seeker: well i think that a great point...
[13:09] 03/12 Seeker: so in your opinion which one is better?
[13:10] 03/12 The Wise One: *sigh*
[13:10] 03/12 The Wise One: I have no definitive opinion right now
[13:11] 03/12 Seeker: I find that hard to believe
[13:11] 03/12 The Wise One: Believe it
[13:11] 03/12 The Wise One: -_-
[13:11] 03/12 Seeker: http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Essays/FiveMinutes.html
[13:17] 03/12 The Wise One: Yeah, see, that's what I wanted: technical specs
[13:17] 03/12 The Wise One: Star Wars, hands down
[13:17] 03/12 The Wise One: Long live the Republic

Birthday Girl

On March 6th Camberly turned the big 30. It was hard to celebrate her birthday on that day because she had to work during the day and we had stake conference at night. So we celebrated her birthday on Sunday. To celebrate I made dinner which consisted of fried chicken, white rice and a green salad. Then I made her a chocolate birthday cake. As you will see from the picture I am not a pastry chef so the cake does not look the best but it tasted way better then it looked.

Happy Birthday Dear.

What a professional cake.

Auction quilt

The scouts in our ward are having an auction to earn money for scout camp. So I decided to donate this recent finish to help them out. If you are here in town you should come to the spaghetti dinner auction and bid on something.

Slacking off

I have been a slacker for blogging about our long trek over the holidays. This year we decided to drive to visit both of our families. Doing this made it possible for us to take Sadie and Sylvester along. We spent the first 5 days, including Christmas, in Denver. It was full of traditions like baking, Christmas Eve dinner, and shoveling snow. Then there were the new things like learning to line dance from Francie, going to an arcade on Christmas Eve, and having a BB gun shooting contest.


After the first shot at plywood where the BB bounced off and hit my dad in the chin, things were reconfigured and we aimed at our targets on a cardboard box.


Then we headed back east to Kansas City and spent several days there. We had family pictures taken, visited Kemper Museum of Modern Art, baked, made gingerbread houses, and had a fun New Years Eve Crab fest and party.


For the New Years Eve party I painted a scene with four snow people and we cut hole out for peoples head. It was a fun project.


Sadie and Sylvester did very well with the three days in the car each way. Sadie was a little on edge with Will (just in case he snuck up on her) and Sylvester enjoyed having someone at his level. We had a lot of fun seeing everyone.

PB love

Whenever we finish a jar of peanut butter we share it with Sadie and Sylvester. Sylvester does much better with the lid (a little extra smear of PB in it). Sadie on the otherhand will take the jar and go to town. She holds it tightly between her feet and sticks her tongue in as far as it can possibly go, trying to get every last bit. She will shove her nose deep in until the jar is stuck, but she doesn't care. Whatever it takes to get the good stuff.