Our Pre-Thanksgiving

Thursday we had our Thanksgiving a week early. Here is Dad early with the bird.And later with the bird... Looking delicious!
Last year Uncle Todd made us some DVDs of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, so we had the chance to listen to the parade while we were cooking and getting ready.
Everyone pitched in to help with dishes ...
And cooking ....
And mixing ...
To present an incredible feast! We had turkey, dressing, potatoes, peas, green beans, angel biscuits, cranberries. Lots of leftovers in the fridge!!
My sweet note from Bethany!
Everyone ready to dig in!
One of our two drumstick boys!
Loving the big lunch.
We hope your Thanksgiving is just as good, when it finally rolls around.

10 Things Better About Being 39 Than 29

I know many people sit around wringing their hands about getting older. I've got 10 things (but could do more) that are much better now than 10 years ago:

10. Gray hair. Sure at 29 there was some gray at my temples, now its migrated to my chin. And my mustache, bangs, eyelashes, and everywhere else. In a place more relationally-oriented you're still a kid if you don't have any gray hair ... and no one cares what kids think.

9. Off Days. As you get older I think on your off days, you take off. That is pretty cool. I didn't appreciate relaxing nearly as much 10 years ago.

8. Cheaper insurance. At least for driving, if not your life.

7. Laughter. You get to laugh at stuff you used to think was so important and how smart you used to be. And know you'll be doing the same in 10 more years about how you are now.

6. Sleep. I didn't appreciate sleep then like I do now.

5. Coolness loses its luster. As I watch so many people still being dragged around by what clothes they see on TV, its nice to get enough perspective to know if you buy those wrinkly-looking jeans, you'll look like an idiot in six months.

4. I'm still alive. The alternative to not being 10 years older is not being around.

3. Only very old people call you "young man" and that is rare. Any sentence that starts with "young man" usually doesn't end with how valuable and smart you are. Also, not so many people look at you and say, "I used to think that too, when I was your age." It still happens but when it does, it comes from a person so old you know that they know what they're talking about and you should just shut up and listen.

2. Kids. At 29, I only had one. Plus at 39 everyone can put on their own clothes and take care of their own bathroom business!

1. My wife. She is so much sexier and more interesting now than she was at 29. I just love her so much more. Sometimes I see these old guys with young girls and I wonder what they talk about: her college classes? Lost? What Britney's new album is called? What an album was?

I can barley tolerate conversations I have to overhear sometimes, I cannot imagine having to sit every day with some kid talking about who their favorite character was on Saved By the Bell or Melrose Place. I love seeing some gray hair on her. Can growing older together get any better? Man, I hope so!!!

Big Wedding Day

Saturday we went to a wedding reception. Weddings here are interesting affairs with lots of different decorations. We're sure they have lots of meaning but not always sure what the meaning is. Take this basket of apples for example. Meaning? No idea but its pretty.
Now this is pretty AND tasty. Two delicious goats slowed spin-roasted over charcoal. I know when you first hear that you think its not good ... but it is.
Taste the rainbow. Lots of watermelon and sweet, colorful cakes.
Some kids reading the Quran during the festivities.
Cupcakes ... not sweet and tasty like roasted goat but good in its own right.
The happy couple! King and Queen for the day is what people are going for and these families made it happen. When you come visit, if we can possibly swing it, you can enjoy a wedding (and its feast) just like this!

Package Week!

We got a couple of cool packages this week. Its always cool to get boxes delivered no matter where you live!

All the anticipation! I think an unopened gift is the best! Who knows, maybe when you open it the package will have something cheesy inside. But while its closed it could be anything ... EXCITING!
Hudson got the long awaited jelly that one certain Brian Pick "didn't" forget to send way back in June. He had been sitting on one last bit of jelly, saving it. Now he's eating jelly every day again.
Turns out Ann is one of 500 people in the world who like Catalina dressing. That nasty, sticky, sweet stuff is not available here. Thankfully.
The second package was from Amanda, our former teacher.
Packages make good lunch guests!
A book is always well-received by new-teen Caleb.
Bethany, too, is a book lover.
Thanks to all our Calvary friends and Amanda for remembering us!!

**Special note to Pick -- just kidding!!

Haircut

The other day Dad got the job of taking Hudson for a haircut. Because any excuse to end up at McD's drinking a Diet Coke is a pretty good one ... we celebrated being able to see Hudson's ears and eyebrows again.

All Kidding Aside

We will shoot you if you climb over our fence. Even if you are trying to run away, we will shoot you in the back. Do not cross us. Or our fence.

Home School Science

Bethany was studying about animals a couple of weeks ago when we visited a friend and saw a bunch of tadpoles in some water near his house. We asked if we could take a few and the guy did us one better and caught and delivered some.

Its one of my great failings as a bad blogger of late that I didn't take daily photographs of these guys as they changed. It was pretty cool to wake up and one guy have front legs and then everyone have front legs by the end of the day.

Here is what they look like now living on our kitchen counter. We are just waiting to get them fattened up enough to eat! Just kidding. We're going to eat them while they are still tiny.

Divas

We found these cool sunnies at the mall the other day.

Apparently we looked really cool in them because we got a lot of attention.
I mean a lot of attention. People can be so jealous! They just need to get over themselves...

Dad The Hunter

For his birthday Caleb wanted to try out the indoor paintball place we found in our town. Since its cheaper and less-crowded on weekdays, we went on Friday afternoon. Can you sense the danger?!?

Dad is a crazy manhunter and especially enjoys the yelp kids make when you shoot them with a paintball. Caleb's friend who accompanied us had never played before. Dad almost felt bad that the first shot the kid ever took was to the mask. Almost. Turns out the kid did not run out crying, which was a good thing ... especially since it wasn't Caleb that shot him.

The picture below was taken by one of the guys there. First he insisted on doing it. Then after snapping this he said, "Beautiful." When we got home we realized it was so blurry you can't see much. "Beautiful." Wonder if that is a commentary on how we look normally or in our blurry state.
All geared up and ready for action.
This is after about an hour. We each started with 100 paintballs. Caleb used all his the first game. So we each gave him 15 of ours and played again. Caleb shot all his again. So we each gave him some more of ours and played a third time. Caleb shot all his again. Finally Josiah finished his shots on the practice range.
This part of my head is still hurting. The games would go like this--two on one, Dad against the world. Game begins, Dad stalks. Dad shoots each kid a number of times, we continue playing. Dad finally takes a hit, the ref calls game over. Take five and then repeat.

Perhaps the goal was to get in a head shot, I kept aiming low or at the back (or backside). Caleb shot me once in the mask sending yellow paint into my nose. Dad loses. Later I shoot each kid multiple times (I know this by their yelping). Then Dad takes one in the head and he loses again. Third game, Dad shots each kid a few times and then runs out of bullets. Dad the loser.
Some battle wounds after we returned home. Looks like a huge ringworm.
As far as I know I only got this one, the one on the mask, and the one on the head. Not too bad for $11 bucks each. Not as cheap as the last place we lived but OK nonetheless.

Happy 50th Birthday MARIA BELCHER!!

OK, we sort of apologize for using this picture where it kind of looks like you might cry. I think maybe its because you did ... but I'm not sure. Happy Birthday!! We love and miss you and have a bed waiting for you and the good Dr. too!!!

Drums!

There may be more insanity in it than any other decision we've ever made but a set of drums came into our family this week. Caleb started taking lessons back in the Spring and has been working pretty faithfully but its a bit difficult with no place to really practice.

This is the moment he realized they were in the street. "Happy," I think you call that expression.

Since we are not totally out of our minds, we went with an entry level electronic set--not the full blown volume of regular drums. Easy for one guy to deliver and carry up the stairs (and the "one guy" was not a family member).
Hudson's normal pose for photos.
Some quick instructions and the dude was off!
Here is our budding Ringo Starr tap, tap, tapping away. Angie was quite merciful on his birthday morning (the drums arrived the evening before) since the tap, tap, tapping started about 6:50am. Not sure how that will go over if it becomes a habit, though!
Nor sure if we should say, "Thanks!" to John R our drummer friend from Ohio who encouraged Caleb. Maybe "Thanks ALOT" with just the right emphasis would be more like it ;-)