Neighborly Love

We've been busy getting ready for the holidays and attending festive events like Christmas Parties. It's been nice to get to know more people from church and at work. We've also had the opportunity to get to know our neighbors better. They are really cool.

Cuyler (Pronounced like Skyler, but without the S):
From the Great White North, this fun loving Canadian runs a business out of the apartment below us. He was a youth minister for a long time and has recently transitioned his energy into his business, 'Inherit The Mirth'. He is a Christian Cartoonist and 'Inherit The Mirth' is the name of the strip he publishes. You can see more of his work at his website. If you are a facebook users you can see updates and participate in the 'Caption Contests' through the facebook page. I hope he doesn't mind that I've posted one on the blog. We get along pretty well and have had a range of good conversations from health and diet to religion to pop culture and movies, like 'Strange Brew'.

James & Justine:
They live in the unit behind us. We don't really know them too well yet. James from what I know is a professional actor. He has been in some Off-Broadway productions in New York City and was a 'minor' role (I don't really know what that means) in a recent TV series on NBC called Kings (It's was taken off the air after one year, but can be seen on hulu). Justine is in school, I think she is a math major. They are both a part of a local theatre, the 'Sherman Playhouse'. We went to see "A Child's Christmas in Wales" on Friday. I've never heard of the play before, but it was a whimsical production where you feel like you are observing all the Christmas rituals and fun of a Welsh family from the perspective of a little boy. It was fun to get away from the traditional 'Nutcracker' and 'Christmas Carol'. (James in the front left of this picture)

We wish you all a Merry Christmas.

Anthony, Sharon, & Ira

Life is Beautiful

Hey Everyone!
We’ve had a busy couple of weeks.

Adventures in Babysitting

We spent a week babysitting for a couple in the ward.  They have 5 kids but fortunately took the baby twins with them to Utah.  In the end I’d say the week was a success and was actually kind of fun.  With that being said, I’m glad it’s over.  And I’m glad Heavenly Father generally sends babies to families one at a time.
I guess the word is out that we’re available because yesterday we got a call asking us to babysit for a single sister in the ward who just barely got a job and needs help watching her 2 ½ year old, from 5:30-11:30 p.m.   We’re old fogies and try to head to bed closer to 9:30, but we survived.  When it got late, this cute little girl (who is tall enough to be 5 or 6) would give me a pillow, put the blanket over me and kiss me goodnight, and Ira managed to sleep through most of our more raucous games.   Not bad considering today we heard that she usually bites someone or breaks something.

Dave

One of Anthony’s best friends, Dave stayed with us for a few days as he came back East for loads of interviews for his residency.  We think it would be fun for him to end up out here, although we definitely won’t blame him if he chooses the West.  He even joined us for the last day of babysitting, and probably scared him out of ever wanting to have that many kids.

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

…or really just Automobiles.  I couldn’t resist keeping the movie themed subtitles.  We did it.  We finally got a new old car.  Our little Pearl (93 civic) is nearing the end of her road.  It was getting a little pricey to keep her up, and having two doors isn’t loads of fun with a car seat, so we’ve been thinking about it for a while.  And then when we were driving about 60 mph up to Boston, the hood flew up and put a foot long crack in the windshield.  Anthony did a great job getting us over to the shoulder safely, and even got the now warped hood to shut somehow.  But we’re not really sure if we’ll ever get it open again, and since then it started to make a kind of funny gurgly noise.  Anyway, that brings us to yesterday’s events.  We found a 2001 Honda Civic for a little less than half the estimated value.  It has a little wear and a few scratches, but it has 4 doors, has only had one owner, and seems like it’s in great condition.  Now we can drive down to Georgia for Christmas without wondering if we need to wrap the car up in duct tape to make sure it stays together.

Baby

Ira is a little sniffley, which I’m hoping means a tooth is coming in.  I think he’s going through a growth spurt because all of a sudden I can’t snap his onesies.  He is the biggest flirt.   Every time I take him out he makes everyone melt around him, not by really smiling at people, just by staring at them.  It’s nice to have an excuse to start conversations with strangers.

That’s pretty much it.  Hope everyone’s doing well, and that Christmas preparations are enjoyably not stressful.