Almost 2 weeks ago I had shoulder surgery to fix an injury from 2 years ago.  I finally decided it was time to take  care of the issue and get rid of the constant dullness and other varying degrees of discomfort.  The surgery went pretty well.  And at this point I almost have my full range of motion back.  However it still gets sore from time to time and I find myself dropping some ice on it at bedtime (helps calm it down for bedtime).

Tomorrow is my follow up and I get my stitches out.  I’m sure it will only get better with time.

Christmas is always special.  This year it was extra special for my wife and I.  Since we are in the process of adopting 2 boys, this was our first Christmas with our kids.  It’s been 4 awesome months since we had them placed in our home.  We had so much fun buying them gifts and spending time with the family.  We also threw a birthday party for Jesus and had cake, etc.  It was truly a wonderful day.  We were also blessed with having a white Christmas.  A very cold but white Christmas.  I think we ended up with at least 7 inches of snow and the snow drifts from the 50mph wind conditions made it even deeper in places.

Last year we flew up to Seattle to my family for Christmas and was stuck in about 18″ of snow.  It started falling a couple hours before we landed and didn’t really stop for a day or two.  So we are blessed to have two white Christmas’ in a row.  In fact if we would have been in Texas this Christmas we would have had a white one as well. (very unusual)

I love the Christmas lights too.  This year we took the boys to a city park with all these lights and it took FOREVER, but we enjoyed them and had fun even though it was a late, late night for all of us.

Christmas – the Birth of Jesus:
Luke 2:8-16 (ESV)

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And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.10 And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

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Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!

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When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

The forecast changed rapidly and some times the news meteorologists have been wrong.  But not a few days ago.

I drove up to my Christmas destination on the evening of the 23rd.  It was really crazy.  When I left it was 73 out.  a 2.5 hour drive later and it was in the 40’s.  The original forecast earlier that day talked about a chance of a trace of snow and really cold weather over Christmas.  When I arrived the forecast change to 1-2″ of snow.  Now bedtime we check again and now it’s changed to 2-4″ of snow but not until mid day after some rain and sleet.

So when we woke up, nothing major was taking place and my mother in law and I were headed into town to get some last minute things a little more food, just in case we lost power, etc.  About 9 or so, sleet was starting to accumulate pretty fast so we took off.  For me the roads were not that bad.  Mostly slush at this point.  By the time we were done, all the non snow driving people were getting stuck and trying to do things you just don’t do in the snowy weather.  Then the winds pick up to a constant 20-30 mph level.  Sleet hurts when it pelts you in the face at this speed.

By the time we got home they issued a blizzard warning and the snow started falling.  It was just crazy.  I think in total we got 7-8″.  The snow drifts with the 50mph gusts created some areas that were over 20″ deep.  It was fun and really cold, but it was nice to have a white Christmas.

Reports are coming in that they finally found Clemmons. The one who was being sought for murdering 4 Lakewood Police Officers.  Seattle Officers tracked him down to a South Seattle neighborhood and they shot him after seeing a gun and him trying to flee.

King5.com article

Looks like the guy that has killed the 4 officers in Lakewood, WA was/is far from perfect.

A convicted criminal with a long following.  He had a 95 year prison sentence which was commuted in 2000.  Looks like he only served 11 years in Prison.  Then in Pierce County, WA he was recently charged with assault of a police officer and rape of a child.  Wow very nice…

Some witness stated after the fact the night before the shootings, he told them he was going to kill a police officer.  Too bad they didn’t say anything before he took action and now we have 4 dead officers.

I believe they have located him in a home in Seattle.

I’m still checking out the details.

4 Police Officers Slain…  Lakewood, Washington

After getting a message from my friend who lives in Tacoma, WA. and then getting a breaking news text from CNN, I really couldn’t believe what I was reading.  4 Slain Officers in Lakewood, WA.  That just sucks to be honest.  According to some news reports these 4 officers were sitting around the coffee shop awaiting the start of their shifts and someone opened fire on them.  I hope they find the one responsible who blatantly thought about these killings prior to doing them.  I will update this more as information is released..

taken from king5.com:

“All four of our slain officers had been with this department since it started five years ago.  Sergeant Mark Renninger and Officers Ronald Owens, Tina Griswold, and Greg Richards were police veterans when they started and all have been outstanding professionals,” said Lakewood Police Chief Bret Farrar in a press release. “This is a very difficult time for our families and our officers.  The families will have many challenges ahead of them and we ask that their privacy be respected. Please keep our families and Lakewood Police in your prayers.”

Those interested in supporting the families of the slain officers are welcome to make a donation through the Lakewood Police Independent Guild (LPIG) Benevolent Fund at PO Box 99579, Lakewood, WA 98499.

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow.

I am very thankful for a lot of things this year.  There are far to many to list.  But a couple of my top thanks.

• My lovely Wife
• My 2 Sons (who we will be adopting soon)
• My family and extended family
• My Church and their faith.

What are you thankful for this year?

Please have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday and weekend.
1 Chronicles 29:11-13

11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.12 Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.13 And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.

On the way home from my wife’s college homecoming (it was the 100th) we decided to take a small detour for a couple of hours to visit Turner falls.  I have never been there before but have driven past it and seen it from the observation point.  Well this day did not disappoint.  It was a beautiful day.

Here is one shot of it:

We heard a rattlesnake but never saw it which I think is a good thing.  The people behind us coming up the trail did see it and got a picture of it.  The boys had fun and so did we.  We really didn’t want to leave.

We will have to make some plans to go back up there in the future.

It’s been nice to have my parents here the last two weeks.  They flew down here to meet there new grand kids.  I’m glad they were able to come since travel is so expensive these days.  Originally we were going to fly up on Thanksgiving but only 4 days.  But now we got to see them for 14 days which sure beats out 4 any day.

Now the first part of there stay I want to blame them for the weather as it was non stop cloudy and rainy.  Then the day we went to the Texas State Fair the rain stopped (but remained cloudy and cool) then a couple days later the sun reappeared until this morning.  Back to a full day of rain it looks like.  Oh well that’s OK cause we have had our fun and their trip is almost complete.

We will miss them come Saturday afternoon.  Next time will be in the Summer, most likely in June.

It’s unbelievable really.  We have been so busy the past few months.  Soccer started back in full force.  Then we got news that we were selected as 1 of 2 families to adopt two boys (Brothers).  One week went by and we were selected as the adoptive family.  So after reading many, very many pages of case files we took a leap of faith and said yes to adopt these 2 boys.  They are 3 and 8.  It’s so awesome! 

However it was or has been a lot of work to prepare for this.  Tonight will mark the first week that we have had them.  Yes it’s a hard adjustment from being a married couple with tons of time on our hands to having two boys and no time on our hands, but it is and will be worth it, the remainder of our life.

We love them…

So now that things are settling into place, I hope to update this more often and have stories to tell about our mis-adventures of our new family…