Resolutions

Well, it's that time of year again. Time to announce the New Year's resolutions that will hold until about the third week of January, then be tossed aside or forgotten. These resolutions, if shared in public, will also cause an immense amount of guilt if not kept. So in honor of the new year arriving tomorrow, here are a list of several, or many, items I hope to accomplish in 2009. I am going to try my best to achieve most of them, but will not feel guilty if I don't achieve all of them. I will try and let my readers know when something has been accomplished. I will also be checking back on this post throughout the year to remind myself of the goals I had set way back on December 31, 2008. Feel free to leave any resolutions you have in the comments section.

Thanks again for making Campingdad a regular part of your online reading. It has been a blast to blog about our family these past 6 months. Keep checking back in 2009 for more fun fabulous updates from Evans, Colorado!

• Camp 10 nights in the pop-up
• Visit three National Parks
• Finish 10 books
• Finish a Metric Century ride (66 miles)
• Attend a Dave Matthews concert
• Complete two spin classes
• Have a family game night twice a month
• Swim, swim, swim!
• Help Jen achieve a full-time teaching job
• Blog lots!
• Re-read the New Testament (and possibly the Old too)
• Find a new church home
• Move into a DSL or special assignment position at Frito-Lay
• Have less debt one year from now
• Go to the Fat Tire Classic
• See Aerosmith
• Attend a wedding or two
• Snowshoe
• Have fun!
  

Tickle Me Pink

One of Laura's Christmas presents was a trip to Ft. Collins to see Tickle Me Pink in concert. It was a VERY cold night as we waited in line outside for 40 minutes. Doors opened at 8, but the first band didn't go on until almost 9. We had the privilege of seeing The Heyday, Give Her Hell, and Meece. The Heyday were actually a decent band. Go check em out on itunes. Give Her Hell was awful. Meece is a local band from Denver who have a new album coming out in a few weeks.
Finally, at 11:35, 19 and a half hours after I had gotten out of bed, TMP came on stage. I have never been to a show where the headliner starts with their two biggest hits, "Typical" and "Go Die." It was a great hour long set, but the real highlight was the encore. They came back on stage in red long johns, and did a killer cover of Rage Against the Machines "Killing in the Name." The show ended at almost 1 AM. Great night. Sorry for the poor quality of photos. They were taken from the Blackberry.

Tradition

It has been a tradition my whole life at Christmas time for mom and dad to buy a chocolate advent calendar from the German Club at LHS. They continued that tradition after Jen and I got married and started having kids. Really the only thing that has changed is the chocolate has gotten smaller. Oh yeah, and the kids get the calendars now instead of me. Notice in the photo how each child has a different way of opening the doors. Noah's looks new, while Nathanael rips the entire door off of his. Interesting.

Ryan

Friends and family were also very generous to this blogger this year. Here are a few of me rockin the Dave Matthews Band swag, Rockband, and a few others. No, I didn't get a new bike. Jen just had my old one tuned up and ready to go for riding season. In the photo with Jen, I am making the universal sign for Dave matthews Band.

Tulo

Even Tulo had a great Christmas. All the excitement can be a little tiring though.

Sarabeth

There was quite a bit of pink and purple in Sarabeth's Christmas. Ponies, doggies, princesses, fairies, and poke-a-dots were all in abundance while she was opening her gifts. Isn't that the cutest little pink robe?

Nathanael

Nathanael was the most excited for Christmas. He was moving a mile a minute as he passed out presents, opened presents, threw wrapping paper away, and kept a very keen eye on what everyone else was opening. Christmas is just so fun when you are 6!

Andrew 2

Gosh, he is a cute kid. When you are so photogenic, you get more photos taken of you. He are just a few more of Little D. By the way, if you look very close in some of the photos, you can see that Andrew is almost having a good time.

Andrew

Little Andrew also had a great Christmas. Here are a few from his Christmas morning.

Christmas Day

Santa arrived sometime during the night and brought even more presents and filled the stockings! After making a pot of coffee, we were ready to open some more presents. The kids were great, taking turns so everyone could watch that child open their present. There were many laughs, giggles, squeals, and thanks yous as the morning progressed. Beginning at the oldest child, here are a few of Noah and his gifts.

Christmas Eve and Day

We had a great Christmas with Jen's parents this year. The fun started on Wednesday at lunch, when mom and dad met Jennifer and I in Ft. Collins for lunch and to exchange gifts. They took the presents back to Laramie for them and Uncle Bubba, and we took the presents home that were for our family. I finished throwing chips at Wal-Mart, and met up with everyone and Jim and Janet's church for a quick Christmas Eve service. Then it was back to their house for dinner and presents. Here are some of the Christmas Eve photos. Everyone was able to select one present to open that night. We had a great dinner of shrimp and salad. The adults played Nathanael's new Uno game while the kids played with their new Lego sets.

Andrew

The second grade class at Frontier had a great Christmas party! Jennifer was in charge of the games, and she came up with several really great ones! The best was a pass the "Red Nose" from one person to the other. As Andrew later exclaimed, 'It was sorta like kissing 2 girls!" They also decorated cookies and made a Christmas tree ornament. Andrew never looks like he is having very much fun, but I think way deep down inside, he really is. The other boy with him in the pic is his best friend Jamal.