Hooray For Panasonic!

Due to an unfortunate interaction with gravity, my little Lumix camera developed a case of 'stuck lens' - aka, broken.

Upon visiting the Panasonic web site, I submitted a warranty request. They responded with a case number and instructions for sending the camera in for replacement.

And... a week later, back came a factory-refurbished brand-new-looking camera!

Excellent support and service, I'd say. They made me a loyal customer. Oh, yes, the camera works good, too. And I sent them a thank-you note.

Geeky Stuff - New Helicopter

My new (bigger, faster, stronger) R/C helicopter kit arrived. The boring details are here:

HK500 on Azure Engineering blog.

Our Snowy Day

We had a snowy day today. It rained a lot during the night and this morning, then turned to snow around noon.

Back yard...

Tree...


Tree limb...

Across the street...

Fence...

How to spend a snowy day...

Playing in the Leaf Pile

Danielle wasn't so sure about jumping into the leaf pile.


But Naomi certainly was...




After the leaf pile came swinging on the rope swing. Naomi is good at it.


Naomi talked her Mom into trying it. She didn't do so well - the swing is too low!


Next came outdoor bowling.


After a couple of minutes of that, we did some driveway writing. The marker didn't work so well.


That led to using real chalk, and the chalk board.


Danielle helped clean up.


Naomi picked a bucket of berries from the Nandinas and Hawthorns, and then sorted them...


And planted them in the flower bed. Naomi is a regular farmer-girl.

My New Favorite Way To Eat Mincemeat Pie

Thanks to Jessica, I have a lovely assortment of mincemeat pies to eat. I've liked mincemeat pie since I was a kid. But, after a while, mincemeat begins to taste the same each time you eat it.

So I decided to try dressing it up a little.

The result: a spoonful of cranberry sauce, a dab of clotted cream, and Voila'! Mincemeat Pie a la Yummy.

Christmas Day

Our friends Nancy and Doug, and Nancy's Mom, Irene, joined us to celebrate the day that commemorates the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ. It was special for us, as we had not seen them for quite some time.

Great Grandpa Huber spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with us, too.

Jeff, Jenny, Naomi and Danielle came by for a visit. Naomi and Danielle received a joint Christmas present of make-it-yourself-stuffed-bears-with-costumes. They seemed to enjoy it.

Wink loves Danielle, too.

As usual, the boxes were as much fun as the presents.

Danielle's Dad gave her a hand with stuffing her bear.

Later on, we enjoyed the excellent lunch Gail had prepared.

Merry Christmas!!

Our Friend Wink

Our dog friend Wink came to visit for a few days.

He was able to find a way to make himself comfortable after a while (3 seconds.)

Wink follows Gail. Wink sits on Gail. Wink licks Gail's face.

Wink loves Gail.

Christmas 2010 - Decorating the Tree

It started out like this - sort of a tree puzzle

Thanks to Jessica, the tree soon began to take shape.

Later, Danielle and Naomi came over with their Dad and Mom to help decorate our tree.

Danielle has inherited some of Naomi's penchant for moving furniture.

Naomi always is very busy and works hard to involve everybody.

Eventually, we got around to decorating the tree. Naomi showed great taste.

Danielle and her Dad took a more studied approach.

But she did her part, too.

At last, the time came to put the crowning touch on the tree.

How To Get Into A Chair - by Danielle

Merry Christmas Tea Setting

Thanks to Jessica, we have a beautiful new teapot and tea and other tasty treats!

Thanks, Jessica!

Julie's Big Birthday - After the Surprise

Once the Three-Fold-Surprise was over, the next order of business was SHOPPING!

While all the ladies were shopping, Danielle and John and Christopher played with Pa.

Pa also helped with wardrobe matters.

Christopher had big fun in the crawling tunnel. Er, make that 'scooting tunnel'.

John is the quickest tunnel crawler of all.

Finally, the November Birthday Girls posed for the traditional photo.

Only this time, because of the auspicious occasion, Julie got to wear the Queen of Birthdays crown.

Ta-daaa!!

Late that night, after the kiddos were snug in their beds, the adults got to go out and enjoy a fine dinner. Thanks, Becky!

Julie's Big Birthday - Surprise 3

While Julie, Jessica and Mom were shopping, Jenny, Danielle and Pa went to Olive Garden and waited.

By this time, Julie was getting a bit used to surprises, so it wasn't quite as big a shock. But she was really glad Jenny had come.

After lunch, while Danielle explored the restaurant...

Julie had her Olive Garden birthday cake - with decade candles. (And, thankfully, without the hokey waiters-birthday-chant.)