Grandma's Christmas Lights

Hope everyone had a great Christmas I sure ENJOY !!!!

Why'd I do that?

I stayed up until 2am this morning putting together a toy kitchen for my girls. I woke by reflex this morning at 8am I'm going to be lots of fun today ;). I really wish I'd had some power tools last night or at least stronger forearms.

I'm glad I got it put together though. Now Grandma and Grandpa Zacharias can see it put together when we Skype this morning.

Merry Christmas Eve!!!!

One Man's Trash...

Thanks everyone for working so hard today to get through so much at Stephen's house. I really appreciate it and think we got a lot done. I want to especially thank mom for putting up with all of us. I know it was hard work for all of us and I appreciate it.

Let the Real Work Begin

I wanted to thank everyone for all the help with the storage unit project.  It was great to see everyone pitching in and making it a group effort.  Especially, I wanted to thank Stephen and Sarah for offering a temporary sorting area and storage in their garage.  Thanks also to Josh and Jennifer for providing their time and vehicles.  I really appreciate everything.

Now that the storage unit is empty, the real work begins.  As you all know there is a lot of stuff at Stephen's and some of it is just trash.  However, some of those things are important sentimental artifacts.  I'm hoping we can all find another time to help Mom sort through Grandma Nana's things.  I think its a lot to ask Mom to do all that work alone, so I propose that we meet at Stephen's house (probably on the weekend) and work on sorting together.  Even if we don't finish it all, we will at least knock out a substantial portion and reduce the amount of work left for Mom.

If you have other ideas about how to approach this issue let me know.  Thanks again everyone, great teamwork.

Not a creature was stirring...

So what happens when you stay up late one night after everyone else has gone to bed? And the answer is not "see Santa". The correct answer is "feel your first earthquake". Yes, you read that correctly, earthquake!

I was laying on the couch using the laptop and I felt the couch shaking. I paused to see if it was really moving or just my imagination and sure enough it was moving. For about 5 seconds, it was moving enough for me to feel the rocking.

I thought one of my boys might be pushing on the couch being silly, so I got up, but no one else was in the room. It was quite disconcerting; I couldn't figure out what had been moving the couch. The best I could come up with was the support that Stephen and JR had fixed in the couch when we got the couch had broken and it was shaking from instability. But it didn't seem like a very good explanation.

Low and behold, after checking online resources (USGS site), at approximately 10:53 pm local time a 5.2 earthquake hit about 70 miles outside of Oklahoma. I checked with some local friends here in Little Elm and I wasn't the only one who felt the shaking.

It felt very weird! That was my first earthquake. Glad it was a little one. (Mark/Elaine felt it much stronger in OK, according to Facebook conversation.)

Baby guesses

So, with four people picking the correct date for the arrival of Baby Gaius (Sarah, Stephen, Adam, and Jarom), I thought it would be fun to guess the gender of the two babies joining the family next spring. I've heard a rumor that one baby has already given a possible sneak peak, but I'm sticking with my original guesses. Anyone else who wants to chime in is welcome! Let the guessing begin!

Jennifer
boy: Sarah, Adam
girl: Stephen


Laura
boy: Adam
girl: Sarah, Stephen

Cleaning House

We helped mom clean out grandma's storage unit. We found some cool stuff but also a lot of stuff we need to get rid of. We still have a lot of work to do but we got a good start today.

Mmmm... Hot Cocoa

We had hot cocoa tonight, it was really good. It was just cool enough to be fun without being uncomfortable. We gave chocolate milk to the girls so they wouldn't get jealous of our cocoa. Lilia laughed when she saw the Nestlé Quik rabbit drinking on the container. She tried to make some sort of joke, but it was pretty awful. We laughed, but not at the joke.

Eleanor is starting to try to talk. She waddles when she walks. She loves shoes, especially when they're not hers. Her stoic persona is starting to yield to her more human characteristics. She's actually starting to develop a sense of humor.

Laura is feeling better these days. She will occasionally have a bad day, but for the most part is feeling fine. If she can stop catching colds, she'll have it made.

I'm doing well at work. I'll be traveling a lot these next few months. I'll be in DC next week, in Miami at the end of November, and back in DC at the beginning of December. Ugh.

Carving Pumpkins and Fall Recess

It has been a while since we posted. I was going to wait a bit before I did this, but I knew that if I didn't do it now I would forget. Here are some pictures from UEA weekend (teachers union meetings) and the family carving pumpkins. It has been a good week.

Dallas Arboretum

We went to the Arboretum today and it was awesome. They had a special display which included a pumpkin patch, hay maze, and pumpkin houses. We had a great time and so did the girls.

Labor Day

This is the first holiday weekend in a long time that I don't have any obligatory plans.  What are you all doing over the Labor Day weekend?

Just to be clear, I'm not necessarily looking to tag along.  I'm looking for something fun to do and thought you might have some good ideas.

Nathan's Baptism

Nathan is now 8 and Here are some pictures from his baptism. It was a great day.

Children and the sacrament

Should children who haven't been baptized be taking the sacrament on Sundays? If so, why? What's the reasoning for it? What's the purpose?

(And, conversely, if you say they shouldn't be taking the sacrament, what is your reasoning for that?)

Graduation and UT

We're all done.  I graduated on Sunday afternoon and couldn't be more happy about it.  Laura and I both felt a sense of closure and relief.  We are looking forward to our vacation to Utah and the chance to visit with the whole family.  I took a few extra days off so we will be leaving for Utah tomorrow and spending the weekend with Laura's family in the area.  We plan to spend the latter part of the week with all the Anguianos once everyone begins to arrive.

We are all excited to see you.

Pictures from Southern Utah

We went to Hurricane, UT for our Wright family reunion. All but three of my brothers were there and it was good to see everyone. Here are some neat pictures from down there.