Family Fun at Grandma & Grandpa's House

Christmas Day is here and it has been a great visit to Grandma & Grandpa's house. It was so nice to have the cousins together last night for the Wright family Christmas Eve tradition of acting out Luke 2.

The grand kids were so cute and they seemed to really enjoy being together. The only thing that could have made the night better would have been to have Jarom & Rochelle here - we sure miss them. Christmas morning came early (at least it did if you stayed up until after midnight wrapping gifts) and the boys were very appreciative for the presents that they received. Overall, I would say that it has been a great day.

Winter Driving Excitment :-(

While we finally made it to Utah, it sure proved to be an eventful and certainly “memorable” trip. Our Christmas vacation road trip began early Friday morning with our van covered by a nice Omaha ice storm that coated our van with over an inch of ice. After more than an hour of chipping away at the ice, and cracking the windshield of the van, we were finally able to get started for our trip to Grandma & Grandpa Wright’s house.

The drive across Nebraska went very well and we really were making great time. Yet, as soon as we reached the Wyoming border the sky turned dark and, for all practical purposes, it was all downhill from there. It was about 5:30 at night (dark) when the first snow began to fall. Within just a few minutes, the wind was whipping a rather steady snow around to the point where driving became rather difficult. Then the strangest thing happened – the road disappeared. We happened to drive right into a complete and utter whiteout. I honestly could not see the road or my surroundings. The ONLY way that I knew I was still on the road was by driving – at 5 MPH – on the bump strip that runs along the side of the road. Relying on the bump strip and the reflective road markers, we were able to creep along for a good 20 minutes before the road began to reappear. While not a fun experience for Stacy and I, the boys (thankfully) were able to sleep through most of it.

Because of the time that we lost stuck in the whiteout, we (thanks to Grandma & Grandpa) were able to spend the night in Rawlins, Wyoming. It felt great to get a good nights rest and we woke up to clear (though cold) skies. We once again made good time on the road, and despite the extreme cold (we hit 40 below a few times), soon found ourselves in Western Wyoming. That is when the snow started up again.

About 65 miles East of the Utah border, the authorities shut down I-80 due to a combination of weather and accidents. Thankfully we were able to get off the road and found a nice hotel/restaurant to kill a few hours in. It was nice to stretch our legs and get a little food. While the accident was finally cleared the weather did not improve all that much. We crept along for the next few hours until we crossed into Utah and the roads (and weather) immediately cleared. While the drive was not very fun and my opinion of Wyoming in the winter is not very high at the moment, we thankfully arrived safely and without too much concern. Now we get to enjoy the Christmas season.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope you all had a great day!


***Okay, for those that did not get the picture, just ask yourself - Where is Big Bird? ***

Random Pics of the Boys - Part II

So since it was pointed out that I left out 1/2 of my sons in the previous set of pictures, I thought it best if I did a quick upload so that Nate and Landon would know that I love them.

Random Pics of the Boys - Part I

I know that it has been a little while since I added any pictures of the boys, so I thought it best not to wait any longer.

*** EDIT *** Okay, so I just realized that Landon and Nate are not in any of these. More pictures on the way.

Stacy's Fun Creations - Part II

A fun tradition that the Omaha/Council Bluffs area has is that each year during the holiday season people are invited to create and showcase their Gingerbread creations. Stacy and the boys decided that they wanted to be a part of the fun and came up with some fun (and delicious) buildings.

The first creation is one that Taylor and Stacy worked on with some additional help from Nate. Landon, Spencer, and I just enjoyed nibbling on the treats. Except for the base that it rests upon, I believe everything else is edible and rather tasty.

The second creation is Stacy's masterpiece. She worked very hard on it over the course of may days. Much like her other craft/art creations, there is a LOT of detail involved here.

Stacy's Fun Creations - Part I

I thought it would be nice to share with you some of the things that Stacy's creative mind has been working on lately. The first project was based on something that Stacy had when she was a little girl. Stacy's grandma (Grandma Mary) was very talented at creating these little doll purses that - when turned inside out - form into a doll crib. Working primarily from memory alone, Stacy was able to recreate this craft. There is a lot of detail that went into not only the baby crib, but also the doll's clothing. Very talented if you ask me.

Who Said Home Repairs Were Easy?

*** Not Actual Picture ***
We thought it would be easy to do - we really did. Yet, who could have known that the plumbing under the sink would decide to fall apart at that very moment or that our water shutoff valve wouldn't shutoff when we needed it to.

Stacy and I, out of pure frustration with our old dishwasher (it came with the place) failing to clean, decided to go out and pick up a new one for the family. The process of finding and buying one was the easy part - it was the installation that made things rather interesting.

It was getting late on Saturday when we finally got home with the new dishwasher, but we thought it would not be all that hard (or time consuming) to pull out the old one and "pop" the new one in. The first sign of trouble was when the pipes under the sink started to separate. While this created some unexpected challenges, we thought we could still work things out. Yet, when the water shutoff valve under the sink failed to perform its sole function we knew that we were in for it.

In the end, we went to bed with our kitchen in disarray (parts everywhere), the water turned off to our entire unit, and the power turned off in 2 parts of our house. In fact, our house stayed this way until we could get maintenance to fix it (rescue us) on Monday morning. While in the end everything worked out and our dishes are now nice and clean, it sure was a stressful day and half.

The joy of trying to fix things yourself. :-)

A Walk Along the River

Stacy and I felt like we needed to get out of the house for a bit so we decided to take the boys for a walk along the Missouri River. It is funny to think that despite living here for over 2 years, and despite the fact that the river walkway is only a few minutes from our house, this was the first time that we had visited the area. Pretty sad if you ask me.

The weather was beautiful and the crowds were not overwhelming. In the first pictures you will see the boys standing next to a massive bronze statute that is dedicated to the workers who made this part of the country so great. The statute is entitled "Labor" and the pictures do not do it justice.

The remaining picture is of the riverboat (party barge) that passed us while on our walk, as well as the new pedestrian bridge in the background that was erected so as to connect Omaha with Council Bluffs, Iowa. The boys and I really liked the bridge, though it did sway more than I would have liked. Stacy was the ever cautious mom who kept devising different escape routes and emergency plans in the event that the bridge were to suddenly tumble away into the Missouri River. Gotta love that Stacy.

We are doing great and the weather here has been absolutely wonderful. Hope all is well wherever you might be.

Playoff Time

While I know that in the grand scheme of things baseball will likely not matter all that much (if at all), yet I cannot help but get excited for the start of playoff baseball. My (our) beloved Red Sox team takes the field tonight as the wildcard entry against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (no really, that is their name).

While Boston has not fared particularly well this season against the Angels, Boston is still the defending champ until the scoreboard indicates otherwise. So if you get the chance, put on your Sox cap, tune into the game, and root for Beantown's best.

Nothing beats being a part of Red Sox Nation. Go Boston !!!

Landon & Spencer's Playtime

Stacy captured some really fun pictures of Landon and Spencer playing together in the laundry basket. It is interesting that out of all the toys that the boys have to play with, they seem to get the most fun from some rather unexpected sources. If you look real close, you will find that Spencer has a seatbelt made out of plastic colored links.

Hello Family and Friends

Greetings from the land of endless cornfields.

Stacy and I are hoping that this allows our family to do a better job at keeping in touch with all of you than we have done thus far. Life in Omaha is going great. Our family is doing fine, though life sure does seem to get a little hectic around here.

The boys are fully back into school and are adjusting well. Taylor is now in 6th grade (YIKES), Nathan is the self-proclaimed genius of the 3rd grade, and Landon is trying to adjust to 1st grade life now that he no longer has the zoo to call home.

Spencer and Stacy are always doing something new or exciting. Spencer has really become very active over the last few weeks. He is so much fun to watch and play with.

I am now officially in my final year of law school and the realities of that is, at times, a little scary. I am still working for Union Pacific and had the opportunity a few months ago to argue a couple of cases before a national public law board. I am heading off to California in a few days, much to Stacy's dismay, for additional training and networking.

Hope all is well with you. Take care and know that we think of you often.

Love,

Derek, Stacy, and Boys