Christmas 2007

Hope all of you had a good Christmas and happy New Year's. We had a busy, fun holiday season visiting with family and friends, but are kind of relieved to get back to our "normal" schedule (today was our first day back to school and work).

So here's what we did! Christmas morning Susan, David, and Jonathan came over to our house and opened gifts with us. Since Susan and David were staying for the week, they brought a few movies and games along with them, including an extremely fun and addictive Play Station game called "Guitar Hero". I don't know if anyone reading this has tried that game before, but it involves pushing colored keys on a plastic guitar that's hooked up to your TV set; while you play you see an image of "yourself" (but skinnier, cooler, and longer haired) performing before an eager audience. You try to hit the appropriately colored button on the guitar at just the right moment that color flashes before you on the bottom of the screen. The colors come along according to the guitar notes of whatever song's playing. If you're good, the audience cheers and goes wild. If you miss a lot of notes, the audience boos and throws food at you.

Christmas afternoon we headed over to Jon's brother Phil's house for a celebration with the rest of the Hurlburts. Their house is nice and spacious so it's easy to find a place to sit down and relax. We chatted and snacked until the early evening hours.


Here's Emma entertaining her cousin Jessica Hurlburt's baby girl, Malia. It's fun seeing the little girls all dressed up in their holiday finery. Emma and Malia were very interested in each other, and I couldn't help but think what a good big sister Emma's going to be in a few months...

Michael had fun playing with Malia, too. He also enjoyed wrestling with his older Hurlburt cousins. Notice the handsome new Donald Driver Packer jersey that Michael's wearing-- a Christmas gift from Grandma Bragg. Donald Driver is Mikey's favorite Packer these days, and he LOVES the new jersey. He also loves the new blue hat Grandma Jane knit for him (his hat was one of 52 hats that Grandma Jane knitted and gave out as presents this year).















Here are Susan and David, at the time of Phil and Jill's Christmas party. Notice David's long hair, a style he's had for several years now:

Now check out David the very next day, after he made the big decision to have his hair cut (a suggestion that came from his girlfriend, I believe). What a difference! We thought his long hair looked nice, but this cut is amazing!

















A few days later, on December 28th, we headed to Cornell and opened presents with Jon's parents. That evening we went over to Jon's sister Ann's house for an 81st birthday party for Jon's father.

Pictured at left are Susan (with little brother Logan on her lap), Jonathan, Michael, and David holding Emma.









Here's Bud and Jane (Jon's parents) at Phil's house on Christmas day. To their right is Jon's nephew Steve Hurlburt.


At left is a picture of Jane in her own home. Notice her Christmas tree, featuring pink ornaments. It's always fun looking around at her Christmas village and miscellaneous holiday decorations.

The next day we headed to Rhinelander, to visit with my parents and brother Don & family. Don and Hope, along with their three children, live in Arkansas, so it's always a treat to see them. They have a 4 month-old, Stephen, who we've only seen once before, so it was great being able to hold him and feed him-- as well as watch 5 year-old Kenny and 3 year-old Beth play with Michael and Emma.

Stephen seems like a very calm and content baby. He looks a lot like my brother Don and Don's oldest son, but I also think he bears a strong resemblance to Rich Pruden, Hope's father.

Mikey and Emma are fortunate to have surrogate grandparents in their in-laws. My sister Laurie's husband's mom made personalized cookies for the kids, with their names in frosting. And my brother Don's wife's parents wrapped nice Christmas presents for the kids to open. So far we've all managed to be fortunate with our in-laws... a very thoughtful group of people!

My brother Don scored bigpoints with me when he gave me a container of rocks he'd collected around Arkansas and labeled for me. Those of you who know me well know I'm not being sarcastic, either: I LOVE rocks. He found petrified wood, potsherd, and black and grey Novaculite, among other nice specimins. I was very touched and impressed. Thanks, Don!

We brought our snowmobile and covered trailer to Rhinelander, so the kids were able to get a cozy (and probably bumpy) ride through Mom and Dad's snowy trails. Jon's brother-in-law Pat Sime gave us the covered trailer a few years ago, and it has provided our family with a lot of fun and adventure. The kids enjoyed their ride, and Mom even enjoyed a quick solo ride. Susan and David took turns on the snowmobile, as well. Afterwards Kenny and Emma did some sledding down the hill we used to sled on, while Beth and Michael warmed up inside.

The next day we headed back to Eau Claire, so Susan and David were ready to be picked up by their mother. We had a good visit with them and were glad they were able to make the trip.

Here's a photo of Mom and Dad by their tree in Rhinelander, while Kenny plays on the floor.

Hope everyone is well!!