Hello family and a Very Doggy Holiday to You!

This holiday season Gus, Benny and I have had a good time. Last year was difficult for me so it was nice to have a quiet and relaxing holiday season. As a family the Givan's decided the have Christmas be less of a big deal so instead of putting up our big family tree we each put up our own little tree. We decorated it as we chose (or in Chris's case except for his rather large tree topper - see below) chose not to.

Benny participated in the family gift exchange and Grandma has his name. He was very happy with his presents as was Gus whom Grandma was nice enough to include. She made them each a blanket of "their colors". Benny's favorite color is orange which you may not believe but he does have a preference and will pick an orange toy our over others. Dogs by and large are color blind but they do see differences in shades and orange appears different than others. And Benny very much likes it. Gus is turquoise because I like it. :) Benny had Sarah's name. He enjoyed shopping for her very much although he did send Gus in his place to the stores.

All six (mother is cringing as she reads this. She doesn't like to say the number out loud) of the dogs opened their gifts Christmas day receiving a bone and another item. The bone's purpose was to distract them while we opened our other gifts. This worked wonderfully and we opened the rest of our presents to the sound of gnawing away.

 Christmas day was spent with Grandma and Grandpa. Gus was the dog who accompanied us (little Liza went too in her special sweater) and he enjoyed the attention. Gus likes to have Grandpa pet him and is learning that Grandma gives treats. Although he chews his. Benny does not.

Anyways, that sums up the holidays for the dogs and I. It was uneventful really. We enjoyed the time and the festivities but kept it low key. I didn't really decorate my apartment except set out my dog that I got for my Birthday (thank you Aunt Pam and Aunt Vicki etc) that lights up.

Here are some pictures from our holiday:

Chris's tree with the very large hat

My tree

My mother's tree - note the pigs. All that is on there is pigs

My father's tree

Gus was not a fan of the moose at the mall. Even if it didn't talk this year. I wasn't either Gus when I was your age.

Adelynn at the gift exchange trying on Olivia's crown.

Olivia in the very popular Frozen crown

Examining a gift together.

Ava and Benny share his new blanket

Rivers Ripple

A bit late, but it is the season!  This week has been a particularly "out of the norm" week.  Thankfully Dan should be on vacation starting tonight.  (Crossing fingers as it was supposed to start this past Wednesday.)

Since we last posted...
Dan continues to work at KWCH-12, learning more about his manager responsibilities in this past week and a half.  He's been playing fairly regularly with a band around town about twice a month.  We try to get a date night each month together and that has been a good thing.

Sarah has still been working at Via Christi Rehab. This quarters lesson--please take care of yourself.  Just do.  MOPS has had a good start.  We have about 8 moms who regularly attend and are about at max on our childcare capacity.  The group has been a good one, as God has brought together moms with similar interests/backgrounds and/or parenting philosophies. Either way, we get to support each other and say we are not alone in the job of mothering.  Sarah has continued to try new recipes (mostly baking this past three months) and has managed to start a new cross-stitch. 

Olivia loves preschool--learning new things, songs, and enjoying playing outside.  She's been doing swimming lessons and can do a rudimentary front crawl and floats.  She seems to really enjoy it.  She also asked for gymnastics so she's been doing that too.  In between, she plays with her figurines and Barbie-type dolls.  She turned 4 in November!

Kinley just turned two this week and is really developing a personality.  She is a sweet, cuddle-bug who has a budding sense of humor.  She says a lot, although sometimes you have to really listen and decipher what she's saying.  Her favorite phrases recently are, "fix the button (which sounds like "fixabuton")" and play with me (which sounds like "pay me").  She likes her new "dolly house" and Little People.  And continues to enjoy her babies and coloring.

Brisco has been playing, dealing with his allergies, and snuggling when it is cold. 

We are enjoying the Christmas season, taking time to do a craft or activity together each day.  We've baked, painted, colored, glued, seen lights, eaten donuts, taken baths by the light of Christmas lights with Christmas music, danced, and read books. 

Enjoy the season and many blessings are wished for a wonderful 2015!

Chris' Update

I work, a lot, at the Cosmosphere. I do Dr. Goddard's Lab, the Planetarium, and the Dome (formerly IMAX) theater. Technically I'm box office staff, so I do that a lot too, plus an odd education program here and there. In the in-between time, here are my "hobbies:" (you'll notice that they overlap with work. In philosophy we'd say the two were coextensive).

Rockets: I've completed a flyable model of a Chinese Long March 2F, and used some of my time in the Dome to design a Brazilian VLS, Indian GSLV, and Chinese Kuaizhou. I haven't gotten to build any of these yet but hope to do the VLS in the next month or so.

Relatedly, I get to do a "Coffee at the Cos" presentation on other country's space programs next year!

I don't read and write as much as I used to, but I've got some "forthcoming" posts on my friend's blog about a thought experiment in philosophy that is used to "disprove" hedonism but which I think is silly. They're quite dull reading but I am excited that I've finally gotten around to writing them.

Thanks to a project the Cosmosphere has been working on, I've been drawing in Google Sketchup again. Below is an education space as well as changes I want to talk the Cosmosphere into making to one of their exhibits.

Beside some projects not quite done yet (RCAT is reviewing their Google Maps data, an education program called Mars Rescue is almost done testing), I dove back into scripting this month with two little web apps. Neither is done but they provide good entertainment while I'm at the front desk!

Events since our last Post

It has been a couple months since we last posted so here are some pictures from a few special  events.

                                               Birthday dinner for Pam & Vicki.

                                         At the pumpkin patch with Pam and the Rivers girls.

                                                        Two of our trick or treaters

                                          Time for Christmas decorating.  (This is at Stage 9)

Christmas Parade

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.