First real snow of the year...

We've had snow already this year, but today's snow was the first decent accumulation we've had so far. Decent in the sense that it was something we could take Sammy outside to play with. So without further introduction, Sammy in the snow...

Sammy was all smiles as we pulled him around in his sled...

Mommy's turn to pull Sammy...

Sammy's first snow angel...

Dancin' Johanna...

Johanna has been taking dancing lessons. Back in September she took part in a performance. We look forward to her next one!

Front Row: Johanna
Second Row: Steve, Hewan, Jessica, Kathleen, Maggie, Paul, Mary

Pumpkin hunting 2008...

Back in September we went pumpkin hunting. Here are a few snapshots...

Sammy shows his super-human strength...
...he was juggling those three pumpkins...
...but we didn't get the camera out in time...

So many to choose from...

Sammy posing on a saddle...
...which he was very reluctant to get off of...
...very...

We took a tour of the apple orchard...

Yes, it is what it looks like...
...so far as we could tell...
...a large tree growing out of an old silo...

Serendipitously, there was this sign at the orchard...

Trip to Guadalupe Shrine

Almost two years ago, when Anne/Diane/Paul went to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe (in La Crosse, Wi.) to see their brother who happened to be there. At the time, the shrine was still being built.

The the shrine is now completed--and Paul's parents wanted to visit it as well. This past October (just before Paul's mother's surgery at the Mayo Clinic) we took them there. Along with us came Anne, Diane, Sonny, and Barb. And of course, no trip to Southwest Wisconsin is complete without visiting our favorite Italian-American restaurant--DiSciascio's Restaurant.

The finished Shrine from the front view...

A view of Annie on the long walk up the hill to the shrine...

A side entrance to the shrine...

Interior of the shrine...

Sammy outside the visitors' center...

Enjoying dessert at DiScascios...

Sonny and Barb...

Paul's parents...

Quick as quick can be...

Today we went to the "Festival of Trees" at the Mayo Civic Center. It is a yearly fundraiser for Hiawatha Homes. Sammy enjoyed seeing the trees, though the Gingerbread Man scared the living daylights out of him.

Some of the trees...

Sammy solidly shaking Santa's shaker...

The Gingerbread Man who scared Sammy...

A local baker was finishing a large Gingerbread Men...

That's a big cookie cutter...

Rochester is a little city of big things...
...medical clinics...
...corn-cob water towers...
...and now World Record Gingerbread Men...

The Rochester Accordion Club playing Silent Night...

Sammy with Mrs. Claus...

Sammy making his own Gingerbread Man...

Paying attention to detail...

The finished work of culinary art...

Quick as quick can be you'll never catch me...I'm the Gingerbread Man!

How to make a 4-star General beat a hasty retreat...

Paul's sister Diane invited him to go to a dinner with her a few weekends ago. It was a US Army veterans group which had as a guest speaker, a retired 4-star general (a former chief of staff for the Army). As fate would have it, this same general wrote a book on management which Diane used as a basis for her master's degree capstone project. Diane's manager at work (a former Army officer) was responsible for picking up the general at the airport, so she was able to tag along and meet him. He seemed quite impressed and humbled that she used his book as a basis for her capstone project.

At the dinner, Diane introduced Paul to the general. The two of them started conversing about memoirs written by members of various White House administration members and the importance of seeing all sides. The general then recommended Bob Woodward's book, "State of Denial." He said there was a central character throughout the book who was responsible for all the problems. Sensing that he was implying Donald Rumsfeld, Paul mentioned that he was eagerly looking forward to reading Donald Rumsfeld's upcoming memoir (due in April 2009). The general eyes bulged. He literally backed up several feet. (Perhaps Paul should not have said he was "salivating for the opportunity to read Rumsfeld's book.") Then he stammered, "Rumsfeld?! Rumsfeld?! Why Rumsfeld, I'd never read his book!" (So much for seeing both sides of an issue). It was as if you had put a crucifix in the face of a nosferatu. His face turned beat red and he quickly exited the conversation.

At the end of the event, Diane and Paul went to ask him to autograph our books. Diane had bought his book on management and Paul has obtained his collected writings from when he was Army Chief of Staff. The general got in the last word by putting dedicating his autograph in Paul's book...to his sister Diane instead:

[To] Diane--with great respect. [Signature]

The General (Retired) and the Sister...

Diane remarked to Paul,
"Why are you so far away from the General in this photo?"
...to which Paul replied...
"I'm right next to him, he's just larger than life."

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving 2008 was a busy event. We must have had over 25 people throughout the day come through our house. It was wonderful to have friends and family over.

While Paul's mother was at the Mayo (for back surgery this past October), she obtained for herself a new "daughter" named Veronica (one of the nurses at the hospital). Veronica is of Italian descent and she and Paul's mother seemed to hit it off. Veronica came over with her husband and her (real) mother for dessert on Thanksgiving night. Paul's mother continues to reassure her children that she won't leave them for a new family.

Diane the pie maker...

Dinner as Sammy saw it from the end of the table...

Michele and Sammy...

Johanna...

Chris enjoys dinner...we think...

The first ever annual Thanksgiving Day pie parade...
...Michele, Linda, Anne, Diane...

We had a ukulele trio with Kevin, Ryan, and Sammy...

Paul's mother with some of her new family members...
...and a few legacy ones...

Diane realizes she is no longer the number one nurse in the family now...

Sammy and his amazing technicolor winter hat...

Yesterday we went to Zumbrota to see the United Redeemer Lutheran Church's presentation of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." A coworker of Paul's sister Diane was in the production. It was nicely done. It was Sammy's first (off, off Broadway) Broadway Show.

The fellow who played "Joseph" did an exceptional job. Sammy was excited to see it. Afterwards we took Sammy to meet "Joseph." True to his cowboy interests, Sammy pointed at the rope around "Joseph's" waist and said, "You have a lasso!"

On the way back, Anne & Diane left in their car before we did. We stopped for gas and a donut for Sammy. And we still beat them back. Somehow they managed to get lost...in Zumbrota.

Sammy in his amazing technicolor winter hat meets "Joseph"...
...photo courtesy of Aunt Annie's cellphone...

The Great Minnesota Recount...

Minnesota is currently in its greatest election recount since 1962. Senatorial incumbent Norm Coleman (currently) has a slender lead over Al Franken. When the Coleman campaign asked for volunteers to help in the recall, Paul chose to help out this past Wednesday. After the recount is all said and done, we'll put in a complete account of Paul's experience. For now, here are some photos taken when Sammy came to visit his father that night at the Olmsted County recount.

Sammy is all smiles as votes are recount behind him...

Sammy gives his father tips on how to count...

Paul at the recount table...

Locked in the bathroom by George W. Bush

Global warming. An economy in crisis. Mortgage mayhem. Declining literacy rates. An escalating energy crisis. Just about every bad thing has been blamed on our sitting president. Can there be no end to the list? What other ill could he be guilty of one might ask?

Yesterday, our phone would not work. We called the cable company, reset the modem, etc...nothing seemed to remedy the situation. Today Paul came home from lunch and was checking some things and found that his framed George W. Bush portrait had slipped and pulled the phone cable from the wall. Reinserting the cable made the phone work. No wonder liberals loathe President Bush so much.

Later on...

Our house is about 50 years old. Things start to go after a while. Earlier this week, Michele was trapped in the bathroom because the door knob mechanism no longer would work. Paul was able to release her with a credit card after loosening the molding.

Ever the dutiful husband, he went out this week and bought a new door knob set and began replacing it. Sammy was napping. His mother (recovering from back surgery at the Mayo Clinic) was downstairs. Michele had run out to the store. While Paul was trying to remove the door knob--well you probably already guessed it--he accidentally locked himself in as well. Sammy awakened from his nap, came out and stood powerless to help his father.

Paul's mother climbed the stairs (even though Paul told her not to). Though she suffers from severe rheumatoid arthritis...she took a screw driver he passed through the door knob opening, loosened the molding, and released him with a credit card. Yes, Paul's mother is a regular MacGyver. When Michele got home, Sammy retold the story finishing it with (really), "We're all nice people."

Some may think Paul was a bit absent minded to get into such a predicament. But Paul knows it could not be his own fault--he was again victimized be George W. Bush.

George W. Bush

Samnastics

Last week they took team photos at Sammy's gymnastics class. Getting six toddlers to stand in a line on a balance beam for a photo was an incredible achievement.

Preparing for the 2024 Olympics...
...and all those lucrative product endorsements...
...to take care of his parents in their old age...

Sam-o-lantern...

Sammy's Grandma D is here visiting (while recovering from an operation at the Mayo) and helped him carve pumpkins earlier this week.

Sammy explains his technique...

"I envision the final work of art and just remove the excess to release it."

Sammy working the pumpkin...

Grandma D and Sammy celebrate Halloween spirit with his trademark "silent scream"

Boo!

Son & father...