Hitting the Houston Zoo

Wow. What a gorgeous, winter day today. It was a crisp and cool 65 some odd degrees and sunny. We met up with Karen and her daughter and my sisters and their kids to enjoy the day.

The Okapi's tongue can reach out and touch its own eyeball. Hmmm...could very well make another Okapi very happy...


Check out the horns on this thing

The Day After Christmas

What does one do the day after Christmas? Well, we did two things:

1. I thought that I would outsmart the crowds by hitting the outlets
WRONG. Crowds everywhere. No parking spaces. There were even lines out the door and around the corner at some stores. It was a cold day too! What was I thinking?



2. We celebrated my dad's 80th birthday with a family dinner
We had a lovely dinner at Steamboat Steakhouse to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday. The room was beautifully decorated and the whole family turned out all dressed up. Hey, the Lim/ Hunters/ Stoltz/ Lunds clean up pretty nicely when we have too.

It was a very sentimental evening for my dad as well as for each of us, especially when we went around the room and stood up to share with the group how my dad had touched our lives. My father is a very special man and has worked hard all his life. I am so proud of my father and all his accomplishments. I only hope that I am half as good as a parent as my father has been to us.

Merry Christmas to all!

I can't believe that it's another Christmas AGAIN. Only this year, Christmas is with Keira and it's a pretty darn fantaastic one. It's sunny outside, about 41 degrees Fahrenheit and we are just hanging out around at my parents' house until 3pm, when we will go over to Sandy's.

Keira got to open her first gift from Mommy and Daddy today and it was a singing Barney, which she loved for all of one minute before she moved on to terrorizing the remote controls and opening/ closing drawers and picking up who knows what off the ground and stick into her mouth. Kids...

Anyway, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and yummy turkey wherever you are!

Goofing off

We're at Judy's house this week. Here we are goofing off with the camera.

Lauren and Kendall posing for the camera

Madison after swimming

Big smile from Lauren

Cheeeeese


James searching for Transformers

Original religion

I went to church today. I haven't been to church in almost a year. How did I get to church? My sister and brother-in-law are devout church goers...they almost never miss a Sunday. They went on and on about this new Orthodox church and how the service was so fabulous and how I have never attended a service like this because the whole thing was singing and sooooo great. So, yes, yes, I got guilted into it.

I tried to get out of it. I even told my sister that I had forgotten my "nice" clothes and therefore, could not go to church because I refused to show up in jeans. Hmmm...it's a detriment to be the same size as your sister. She said, "oh, you can borrow something of mine."

I said, "but, oh, I don't have any shoes."

"Oh, well you can borrow my shoes too. We wear the same shoes."

Damn.

We dressed up. We went to church. It was a Russian Orthodox church.

What does Orthodox mean? It really means the original relgigion...before the whole Catholic church thing and the spin offs of the Protestants, etc. I think that Orthodox is a synonym for "sermon so long it will cross your eyes."

All of us, five kids and three adults, showed up just a bit late. The sermon had started around 10:00am and we showed up around 10:45am. I thought, oh, great, it'll be over and then we can eat. It wasn't over until 12:30ish. We didn't get out of there until 2pm. OMG. I thought I was going to die.

Well, I think I've paid my respects to God for this year. We can talk about it again next year. Oh, wait next year is next month! Sigh! How time flies.

Snow in Houston, Texas

I think it's a conspiracy. I don't understand it. We came to Texas to ESCAPE the snow and the cold of Norway. And what happens? It snows here. It's going to be well below freezing tonight. Why me? Why? Why? Why? Bleh.

We've been stuck inside all day. Yes, I could have gone out and driven, but it's not my driving skills I'm worried about. It's all the other Texans out there who don't have a clue how to drive on ice. The meteorologist on the TV today told people to remember to pump their brakes frequently. Like duh. How stupid can you be? Pump your brakes? You're just asking to skid and hit something.

Better stay inside. Wait it out. Better safe than sorry.

Back from Austin

Keira and I have been in Austin for the past couple of days. It was so nice to see some of my old buds and have them meet Keira. Unfortunately, the weather was crap, but that didn't put a damper on the trip. When you're in the company of good friends, everything is peachy! :)
Keira's new friend, Oso, a gift from Maris Stella

Keira making friends with Cody