MM's Class Having Fun

Don't ask me what they were doing, but I believe that's her teacher in the middle, being wrapped in tp. The girl in the black cowboy hat with the funny face is Nina.

Costume Day at School

For the first day of spirit week at school, the girls got to dress up as their favorite fictional character. MM went as ____ and JoJo as Lucy from the Narnia books. These are class pic's (MM on top) but you can make out the girls.

Gaia's Catapult

For her physics class at school, Gaia and her partner Marco (also an exchange student from Italy) built a catapult to launch a golfball with some help from Mr. M. While it didn't launch very far, they had fun doing it and still got a decent grade.

Owen's Birthday

Ask and you shall receive:

We had a bunch of people over, mostly family, but also Owen's friends Sam & Bash. Bobbins made meatball subs and Caesar salad, and of course a snowball cake. She & Julia, with help from the girls, did snowflake decorations around the house and back patio.

 
 They were re-lighting candles, so it took a while for them to go out.

ASU Game for Birthday

I took Owen, along with Poppy, to the ASU-Colorado basketball game for his birthday. We had a great time seeing Sparky and watching the Devils explode in the 2nd half to win the game. I really enjoyed hearing the band play.

Girls in White Night Gowns

Old Bobbins' Fam Pic

Finger Surgery

I had the surgery on my finger at a surgery center by the Chinese Cultural Center. I naively thought it would be like getting your wisdom teeth out, but it was a full-on affair in an operating room naked under a gown, totally out under anesthesia. That was not a pleasant feeling, being wheeled into the OR, getting on the table, so vulnerable. But I made it without any side-effects or too much pain. Bobbins was a good wife taking care of me.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Gaia put on her chef hat and made us her favorite Italian dinner: spaghetti carbonara. Not enough meat for me, but still good. She said she eats pasta every day in Italy!

Pic of GG

For one of her assignments at school, MM drew a picture of her great grandmother in Heaven and included Gaia & Julia for good measure.

Night Out

For our January "date," Bobbins went to her friend's 40th b-day party while I met Kevin to see The Last Jedi. I thought it was good but not great. I like how they wrapped up Luke's story, and the tension & repartee b/w Kylo and Rey was well done. The side-story in the casino was pointless and stupid, and the movie was too long. I wasn't thrilled by the female leadership and am still ambivalent with a female Jedi lead.

Shots of Bobbins the partier:

 

Catherine P., EveElise the b-day girl, and Bobbins

AHG MM

The shirt was one of her Christmas presents.

Broken Finger

I got back into softball. The dads from the girls' school got a team together for a City of Phx "D" rec league. We won our first two games and had a lot of fun. The second game of the second week I was pitching. Bobbins will tell you I shouldn't have been there at all. We had our pastor over for dinner and I left to go play. Mind you, she had forgot about the dinner, so Father showed up unexpectedly, and I had already committed to playing....

At any rate, near the game's end, a batter hit a hard liner right at me, and I instinctively put my hands in front of me stop it. The ball ended up hitting my non-glove hand and smashing my ring finger. I picked up the ball and threw the guy out. I tried to bat that inning but could barely grip the bat. I took myself out and iced it, then went home after we lost. The next day at work everyone said it looked bad and convinced me to go to urgent care, where an x-ray confirmed a fracture. Just to make sure, they referred me to a specialist. I didn't want to go but ended up going because it was my right hand.

Sure enough, it was actually 2 fractures (the urgent care doc missed one), the second on the joint. The specialist gave me the dire news in a worst case scenario and said surgery was a must.

Me with the splint from urgent care, and shots of the finger:

 

X-rays showing the damage:

MLK Day Hike

For MLK Day we hiked up Shaw Butte with the Schaefers. Yes, we made it to the top, but came down the same way as up.

Enjoying Dinner on Our Back Patio

Gaia's first American BBQ, which I botched a little by over-cooking the burgers. In my defense, it was a lot of meat to cook with Nana & Poppy also over. Don't worry, Gaia will get plenty more.

WWME Epiphany Party

We had our annual WWME Epiphany party at our friends Jer & Cori's house. This year the kids put on a little nativity play. Bobbins and I have enough to fill out the cast ourselves. Jer was sport enough to be the donkey Mary (JoJo) rode on, led by Joseph (Owen). Baby Jacky was you know who, and didn't fuss too much.

Twin Selfies

Welcome Gaia

We decided to get another exchange student in December and got matched up with Gaia (means "joy") from Milan, Italy. She arrived a little after New Years on the direct BA flight from London. She is a tall blonde from northern Italy. It was fun to have Julia with us so she could experience it from the other side. She was very much the older sister. The girls of course were quite excited, and we got to break in all 9 seats of the Burb. Gaia is next to MM in the photo and will be here till June. She's going to the h.s. right by us.