Murdered Sticks

Yesterday Erik asked me if we could have a funeral for his favorite stick that his brother Kurt so brazenly snapped in two. There was no saying no, so we dug a hole in the back yard, placed the broken stick into the earth, said a short prayer, and sang "Amazing Grace". But that did not completely satisfy Erik - he insisted that it have a grave stone, and he wrote on it:
Here lies stick - murdered by kurt

Are we a spoiled generation?

I got this funny video from Tim Pritts's facebook page. It's an excerpt from a Conan O'brien episode about how spoiled our generation is with technology. To quote his guest, "everything is amazing, and nobody is happy". From cellphones, to credit cards, to airline transportation... we take it all for granted.

Jackie Ray

Jackie Ray loves spending time at his grandparents cabin in Eagle River. He is a charming and delightful young man, and a REALLY good fisherman. Watch this video, and see him work double tip-ups and land a nice northern pike!

Peter's Airplane Sled

Here is a cute video of Peter explaining and demonstrating how his airplane sled would work. It's powered by an eggbeater propeller, and it would allow him to takeoff from a sledding hill and fly home. It's a good concept, but we need to find a better adhesive to hold on the wings & tail.

US Airways in the Hudson River

Kudos to Capt. Sullenberger & FO Skiles for good airmanship when faced with a double engine failure out of New York. Airline pilots go through a lot of training, but nobody trains for dead-sticking a jet into the Hudson. When I got home that night (from a ORD-EWR turn) all I could think about was what it must have been like for these guys when they came to the realization that they had to ditch in the river. Yikes, not a comfortable thought.

YouTube Video: Raw Footage of Hudson River Landing

End of 2008

Today marks the last day of 2008, that means it's time for a few New Years resolutions. I have three:

1) Get to and maintain 185lbs (currently 200lbs)
2) Get my bad cholesterol below 190 (currently 210)
3) Take the family to Disney World! (it'll be the first time)

Here's a 2008 photo slideshow...

Itchy Itchy Chickenpox

We had all three of them vaccinated, but that didn't stop them from getting the chickenpox earlier this month. Peter was by far the worst, and he was really uncomfortable for a couple days. Annie helped ease the pain with oatmeal baths, and calamine lotion. The other two guys had mild cases, but they all stayed home from school for a week. Now that we know a little more about chickenpox, we consider almost a blessing that they got it. There were a bunch of parents that expressed interest in letting their kids come over to play, just so they could get the chickenpox over with... but we had no visitors (all talk, no action).