Christmas twice, and I am still Standing

Tis the season where families gather, share in each others joys of a year coming to the end and finding graditude in what we have. Tell stories of adventures and mishaps, everything from Dad(aka Uncle Herb) slipping on a piece of paper on a roof and dislocating his shoulder, me shooting myself in the thigh with my nail gun in february and pulling the nail out with pliers and going back to work, tales from my 3 year anniversary in AA, Cassie growing so fast and learning a new game almost every week, to even tales told by Melissa about Ireland, Roberts adventures in a mixed martial arts tournament, and tales of Mom raising us kids. Lori on Christmas Eve prepared a gorgeous dinner at her new home in Saddlebrook. Her and Chris were the perfect hosts. They went the whole nine yards to make everyone comfortable and welcomed. Danielle and I played in the back yard with Cassie while dinner was being finalized. The extra special treat was a deep fried Turkey, it was really good. A big treat for everyone was watching dad eat with his shoulder still being sour. Danielle did more than hold her own this year at the table by throwing around some zingers people set themselves up for (you know who you are..lol). The whole time spent at Lori's was such a good time. Chris had to go in to work, but stopped in a few times when in the area as we opened gifts! Then on Christmas day, we went to Mom and Dads for another great dinner that Melissa cooked. It was a 10 pound prime rib, and cooked perfectly. The evening was a great mix of eating and playing. Melissa, Robert and myself showed Cassie how to dance like a Neuhaus, not well but enjoyable. The big kick for me this christmas was watching everyone dote over Cassie and noticing that the transition of who Santa Claus is is complete. When I was a child, Santa was a big fat guy with a white beard who rode around in a sled, to when I was a little older seeing that it was my parents, to when I was a young adult, santa was only symbol of the holiday spirit of giving and receiving, To this year, Christmas morning Santa Clause was staring back at me in the mirror and we both had a great big smile. I hope everyone had a great Christmas, we sure did! And our love goes out to everyone. Have a safe new year

Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, we did! We spent Christmas Eve at Chris and Lori,s new house, with Bob, Melissa, Charles, Danielle, Cassie, Granny and Melissa,s friend Matt. We had a great Turkey dinner, and opened our gifts. Of course we all had fun watching Cassie run around. This morning we got up had our coffee and went to Herb and Cindy,s to have a great breakfast with their family and do the gifts. Back home to Melissa's great Prime Rib dinner . We cleaned up and played with Cassie. Granny, Aunt Robin and Matt joined us for desert, coffee and more gifts. To end the Day we got to talk to Aunt April and her family. later on we talked to Kelly . We just had a great day ! Love to all Herb and Gail.

Merry Christmas!

It's been a wonderful day! Cathy's family and mom came to our house for dinner and we spent the afternoon unwrapping gifts, talking, laughing, eating too much, and enjoying each other's company. We were able to talk with Aunt Gail & Uncle Herb, Aunt Robin, Gramma, Melissa, Bobby, and Charlie; which added to the joy of the day.

We wish everyone a very merry Christmas!

April, Orlando, Cathy, PJ, Becky, Nyssa, and Cari
(and photographer Sandi!) 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

40 Wonderful Years

We were married 40 years ago today. Dec. 11, 1965 . We have seen a lot of changes over the years. We have watched our 5 children grow from babies to Adults with there own lives now. We have seen good times, sad times and rough times , and kept right on going. We have a lot of family all over the place and love that everyone can keep in touch better now, and can share their lives with us . Here are some family photos from over the years. Couldn,t find the more recent ones, sorry! Love Herb and Gail

Tournament

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu No Gi Tournament

Double Elimination Brackets
Three Weight Divisions; Light Weight, Middle Weight, and Heavy Weight (i was in middle weight)
Each Match was 5 minutes long, Win by either Submission or Points

Match One: Catching Some Air Time. Win by Submission

Match Two: Moving a little too fast for the camera. Win by Submission

Match Three: Pic One; Big dude isn't he? Pic Two; The aftermath of me getting choked into unconsciousness. I probably should have tapped a second sooner. If you look closely you can see my eyes closed. Lost, due to unconsciousness

Match 4 (double elimination), Taking my frustrations out on my next opponent. Win by submission

Match 5; Rematch against my first opponent, went about the sameway match one went. Win by Submission

Match 6: (Yes thats 6 matches in one afternoon) After winning through the losers bracket I get to go against the guy who choked me out again. This match went alot better. The score was zero to zero until the last 30 seconds when the ref made a bad call, and i was too tired to argue. I was happy with second.

Second Place: Me with my trophy. The trophy is a real mini samurai sword. Its prettcy cool, and I was happy with placing 2nd in this tournament. The guy that got first is a Purple Belt (i don't even have a belt) and is a professional fighter in the MMA Circuit (Mixed Martial Arts)

Free snow, take all you want!

Well we got quite a bit of snow as you can see, Charles has been shoveling for nearly 2 hours now, being he cant just do ours, he needs to shovel out a few of our neighbors as well (what a good citizen) and Cassie is in awe of all the white stuff outside, shes seen snow before but I think she was too little to remember... Just wanted to share a few pics of the white stuff for those of you who dont see it too often! Enjoy!