Family | Vegas Geek

Swearing online and in person

September 21, 2011 20 Comments

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending my third WordCamp Portland event. As usual, it was a great event. It is consistently one of my favorite events of the year.

During one of the sessions led by Aaron Hockley, the topic of ‘personal brand’ (a term I’m not a big fan of, but for lack of a better one) came up. It’s something I wrestle with a bit and I wanted to throw my situation to the room and see what they had to say about it. I said something to the effect of:

If you hang out with me in person you’ll find that I swear. I swear a lot. I swear like a sailor. But, you will rarely, if ever, catch me swearing on my blog, Twitter or Facebook. This originally started because of my kids and just trying to keep my content clean in case they were around it. Then, I started a business and the line between my ‘personal brand’ and my business virtually disappeared. People who know me online know that I am VegasGeek and am also 9seeds. So, keeping it clean now seems like the right thing to do for the business.

After a bit of discussion, CamiKaos grabbed the mic and gave an interesting perspective. Cami had interviewed me back in 2009 at WordCamp Portland and she remarked that we had been chatting casually for a while before the interview, but as soon as the camera was on, Bam! I went in to ‘professional’ mode.

I asked Cami if she had noticed specifically that I don’t swear online. Without hesitation she said yes.

I immediately started thinking about the people I know both online and in person. Do I notice when they swear? (sure) Does it change the way I feel about that person? (nope) Do I notice when somebody swears in person, but doesn’t swear online? (not really) And, as a business owner, the most important question, would I choose not to work with somebody because they swear? (nope)

I brought this up at dinner after WordCamp. Todd said that I didn’t swear that much, but that the swearing increases proportionally based on the number of beers that have been consumed. It’s funny because it’s true.

I’m curious what you think.
- Do you think it hurts somebody’s ‘personal brand’ if they swear (online / in public)?
- Do you think a potential client would base a decision on it?
- Do you think somebody’s ‘personal brand’ extends to their company/job?
- Do you think this is all a moot point thanks to the amount of tattoos I have?

(image from flckr user joeshlabotnik)

Filed Under: Family, Personal Tagged With: #wcpdx, cursing, swearing

Recharging the batteries

May 31, 2010 Leave a Comment

For the past 4 months I have been working from home and I haven’t really taken many days off. I usually use the weekends to work on projects that I have trouble getting to during the week when I spent most of my time answering emails or taking calls. But this weekend, I tried my best to get away from the computer and do some things other than stare at the computer screens for hours on end.

Friday we went to lunch with some friends at CPK in Town Square. At the end of the day I realized that this 2 hour break in the middle of the day caused me to be more focused in the morning and again in the afternoon. I got more done by missing 2 hours than had I been here the whole time. I think I should take advantage of that a little more often.

On Saturday we went to have breakfast with our friends Craig and Ashley and their new baby who are in town for a visit. Marcia, Brent and Michelle joined us as well and we had a great time BSing. The group came back to our place for a while to play some cards and just hang out. It was a great visit and reminded me how much I miss hanging with that entire group of friends.

Last weekend Chris and I got a really nice head start on cleaning out the garage and we wanted to get a bit more done before it starts to get too hot to work out there. We’ve been doing great at getting rid of stuff that we just don’t need. Saturday afternoon we took another truck-load of stuff to GoodWill and filling up a trashcan and a half. In the spirit of not trying to do too much all at one time, we probably still have one or two more sessions to go before we are really done, but it sure is heading in the right direction, finally.

Saturday evening I watched game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. I can’t really say it was a GOOD game, but it sure was exciting to watch. After 5 goals in the first period, I expected the game to tighten up. Not even close. Another 5 goals were scored in the 2nd before it finally calmed down and only 1 was scored in the 3rd. I will say that these two teams don’t seem to like each other much. There is a LOT of hitting going on and I expect this series to get really nasty before it’s over. Before the series started I said that I’m rooting for Philly, but my gut says that Chicago will win in 6 games.

On Sunday, I spent some time at the computer while Chris and her Mom worked on cleaning upstairs. (They are doing a great job of getting our house back in order.) I spent some time trying to work on a couple projects, but really was just not feeling it. I played some online poker and did a little file cleanup that was long overdue, but not really much of anything.

In the afternoon, Chris and I headed over to the Rio to check out the World Series of Poker. Somebody we know was playing still in on day 3 of the Champion’s event and we wanted to see how he was doing. Unfortunately he was severely short-stacked and busted out about 20 minutes after we showed up. No, I don’t think the two events are related.

That brings us to today. I got up early (again!) and rearranged the poker room so we could have access to the treadmill. I set it up and walked 2 two miles. We have a TV set up in front of the treadmill, so time flies pretty well when you are walking and watching Galaxy Quest.

We took the kids to see Shrek Forever After. I’ve been wanting to see it even though I wasn’t expecting a lot from it. I’ve enjoyed the first 3, but really, the 3rd was a far cry from the first 2. I definitely can’t say this one was as good as the first 2 either, but we did enjoy it.

We stopped by the mall and I got to shoot this silly video of Paxton in the Hurricane Simulator.

Really it’s been a pretty low-key weekend. But, with trips planned for Chicago, Orange County, Reno and Lake Tahoe already for June, it feels good to get the batteries recharged now.

How about you? How was your holiday weekend?

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: around the house, holiday, weekend

Childhood memories and a good wife

June 23, 2009

I wasn’t one of the lucky kids who’s birthdays was right in the middle of the school year where everybody would make a big deal out of it. Instead, mine was right in the middle of the summer, pretty darn close to the 4th of July. So, as a kid whenever I would see the first fireworks stand go up in the parking lot at the grocery store, that was the signal to me that everybody in the country was getting ready to celebrate. And more importantly, it is almost my birthday!

Last week I left my office to meet up with Rob for lunch and as I turned the corner, there it was… The first fireworks stand of the season! I smiled and reached for my cell phone. I opened up the text message program (while stopped at a red light, of course) and sent my wife the following message:

It is almost my birthday.

Being the absolutely awesome wife that she is, she responded with:

LOL, did you see a fireworks stand today?

… as if I needed a sign to tell me I picked the right woman!

So, how about you? What triggers your strongest childhood memories?

Filed Under: Family

Favorite WordCamp SF moments

June 4, 2009

Each time I go to a WordCamp, there are certain moments that stick out as great memories. Some have to do with who you meet, some are just right place/right time and others are just personal. This past weekend at WordCamp San Francisco, I had a few of these moments and thought I’d share them with you.

The first one happened at the WordCamp after party. I was chatting with Joseph Scott from Automattic and my friend Todd and I asked Joseph what projects he’s been working on. He then spends the next few minutes talking about a ridiculously cool feature that is going to make handling videos for your blog easier (i.e. from your dashboard) and without having to give away all your rights to the video by placing it on other services… When he was done, Todd and I agreed that this sounded freakin’ awesome. So I did what any true geek would do when presented with something so cool information, I threw my arms out and said, “Bring it in.” Joseph, being the cool guy that he is, opened his arms and leaned in for a quick hug.

Later that night when we were back at our hotel and grabbing some food in the pub, the thought of hugging Joseph came back to me and I cracked up. Thanks Joseph for being such a good sport!

The second moment requires a little bit of setup. My wife is very much non-technical. Even still, this past weekend was her 3rd WordCamp event thanks to hanging out with me. Though at her first WordCamp she worked the registration desk and at her second she spent much of her time playing games on her iPhone.

While at the Reno-Tahoe WordCamp, we heard Matt Mullenweg talk about a cool WordPress theme called P2. P2 gives you the ability to post directly from the front page (like Twitter’s home page) and then updates automatically when new comments come in. This can be used for groups of developers to discuss a project they are working on collectively and will store all the information for viewing later if needed…

Fast forward to this past Saturday. We were sitting in the Q&A session hosted by Matt. Somebody in the audience stood up and started asking a question. As he was describing it, in my head I already know that Matt is going to tell him he needs to check out the P2 theme as the answer to his need. Just then, still before the guy has finished his question, my wife leans over to me and says, “He needs P2, doesn’t he?” I can’t tell you how proud I was at that moment!

This final moment I’m going to tell you about also needs a little back story. Last Halloween Todd and I set up a photo booth at the party we were at. As the evening went on, people had more and more to drink. This made the photos later in the evening just that much sillier. One of the photos is of my wife holding up her fingers as if she’s holding a couple six-shooters, and though you can’t hear it, she’s saying “Pyew Pyew” as she’s shooting them. And, for the record, “Pyew Pyew” has stuck around and is still something we laugh about.

On Friday, Todd, Chris and I decided to visit Alcatraz. As we went through the line waiting to get on the boat, there was a photographer there taking photos of couples and groups that they would then sell you upon your return for $22 for two 5x7s. I was certain there was no way we were going to purchase these photos, so I told Todd to go ahead and join Chris and I in our shot. Right before he snaps the shot, I hold up my hands and make the pyew-pyew noise. This makes the photographer laugh and in turn Chris and Todd, too. So I make Chris and Todd join me and we all throw our six-shooters in the air. When we got back, the photo was just too good to pass up.

You can find the original photo on this page for comparison.

Filed Under: Family, WordCamp Tagged With: alcatraz, san francisco, WordCamp

OMG! He's 18

May 15, 2009

Paxton at 8 Weeks It’s nearly 3am. My friend Dave and I just finished playing Sega Genesis for the past 4 hours. I tip-toe in to the bedroom trying not to wake Chris. It’s no use. She’s awake.

“Don’t get comfortable.” she says.

“The doctor told us to stay home until you can’t stand the pain any more. Let me get a little sleep and then we’ll see how you are doing.” I tell her.

I dive in to bed and fall asleep hoping to steal 4 or 5 hours. But it’s no use.

12 days had passed since her due-date came and went. After 9 months and 12 days, and roughly 6 weeks before I’ll be able to legally purchase a beer, we are headed to the hospital. This is it. The big day.

I’m scared shitless.

After a relatively uneventful labor, sometime around 5pm, my wife gave birth to our first child. Our Son. Paxton.

That was 18 years ago today.

18 years. Wow. It still sounds incredible to say. My Son is 18. How is that possible? How did that happen? Where the hell did the time go?

It would take weeks to write about all the fun, exciting, terrifying, frustrating and proud moments I’ve experienced over the years. Instead, here’s just a few that jump out.

The first day
Paxton at 1 year That day was filled with a bunch of firsts. I remember vividly how amazing it was to watch the doctor hand my wife our newborn baby. A few minutes later I filled out some paper work and wrote a word that had taken on an entirely different level of meaning; Father.

Chris and I hadn’t confirmed the gender of our baby with the doctors ahead of time. Though we both strongly felt we would be having a boy. Even still, we hadn’t purchased any gender specific items prior to the birth. Even though I was running on almost zero sleep, after the Paxton was born and the doctors ran through their litany of tests, while Chris took the opportunity to get some much needed rest, I ducked out of the hospital with a friend and went to the mall. I returned a short time later with a pair of infant sized Air Jordans.

Paxton at 6
Eye surgery… yikes!
When Paxton was 6 he needed to have surgery to fix a “lazy eye”. This is one of those times in a parents life where they would give anything to switch places with their kid. No parent EVER wants to see their child having surgery. And of course, because of this, the whole process leading up to the event is absolutely terrifying to Chris and I. But, as parents, we need to explain to our Son what is going to happen. And, like the honest and forthcoming parents that we are, we sat Paxton down and told him the following; “Here’s what’s going to happen. The doctor is going to give you something to drink that will make you go to sleep. While you are sleeping he’s going to pull out your eye and pop it in his mouth and swirl it around to clean it all up. He’ll then pop it back in place and you’ll be all done.” There was a whole visual that went along with this where the doctor at one point drops the eyeball and it rolls around like a marble which he picks up, dusts off on the sleeve of his jacket and pops back in his mouth for further cleaning.

Remember: Honesty is the best policy!

Kids say the darndest things
I used to play in an ice hockey league which always had games late in the evening. Chris hated to stay home alone, so many times she would drag the kids along and sit in the stands to watch the games. As you can only imagine, as a little kid Paxton didn’t really enjoy going. He’d play some games, have some snacks and mostly be fairly civil. But that wasn’t always the case.
Paxton at 12
One night at a game on the other side of town, Paxton did his best to give Chris a hard time the ENTIRE game. By the time the game is over and I’ve had a chance to change in to street clothes, Chris had had all she could take. We got in the car and headed home. I was driving and Paxton was in the seat directly behind me. Paxton was not ready yet to give up on driving Chris crazy that night. While Chris temper increased, mine shot through the roof. After having had quite enough of his antics, (while driving on the freeway, mind you), I reached behind me to give him a smack on the leg to let him know I meant business. Unfortunately, the angle was horrible and I couldn’t reach him while driving without putting all our lives at risk. So instead of a smack, it was much more like a tap.

With the timing of seasoned comedian, Paxton says, “You hit like a girl.”

Houston, we have lift off.

I pulled the car over to the side of the freeway. I’m pretty sure Chris thought she was about to watch her son lose an arm or leg. Chris pulled out the perfect mechanism to defuse the situation… she started crying. We sat on the side of the road for a minute, collected ourselves and then got back on the road. The rest of the ride home was fairly silent. When we got home and put the kids to bed, Chris tells me that she had to start crying just to keep from laughing her head off. We must have spent the next 45 minutes cracking up about the whole scene.

To this day, “You hit like a girl” never fails to make me laugh.

Kids say the darndest things, part 2
Mom does all the laundry in the house. Which is a good thing or else we’d all walk around either naked or wearing some seriously stinky clothes. As kids get older, the size of their clothes start to get closer and closer to those of the adults in the house. So it’s really only a matter of time before somebody ends up with a stray item of clothes in their drawer that doesn’t belong to them.
Paxton at 13
One day Chris took the kids to Chuck-e-Cheese. After getting home Paxton goes to change in to his pajamas. When he comes out he says to Chris, “Mom, why did you buy me these freakishly huge underwear?”

Realizing that Paxton had been wearing my underwear the entire time they were out, Chris doubled over in laughter.

And now, here we are less than a month away from his high school graduation. Chris and I are pretty much in a state of shock. At any given moment one of us is always on the verge of vomiting. But really, we feel like the luckiest parents in the world. Paxton has always been a great, great kid. He’s never once been in trouble at school, he’s nearly a straight A student, we constantly get complements on his manners when we’re out… now, if we could just get him to clean his room.
Paxton at 14
Yesterday afternoon he hopped on a chartered bus with his classmates and headed to Disneyland for Grad-night. He got to spend the first few hours of his 18th birthday at the Happiest Place on Earth. Sounds like a pretty good birthday to me.

Happy Birthday, Paxton.

Now, get a job.

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: 18, birthday, kids, son

Our first photo safari

March 2, 2009

After months of waiting and very little planning, this past weekend I set out on a photo safari with my buddies Doug, Todd and Andrew. Thanks to a bit of lucky timing, we ended up planning our safari around a WordCamp conference in Denver. This worked out real well as it gave us a destination to aim for. We sketched out a basic route, but other than that, we were open to anything and everything that came along on the way.

We left Vegas on Wednesday evening after work around 7:30 with no real destination for the evening. We would drive as long as Doug felt awake enough to drive and then find a hotel for the night. We pulled off to the side of the road in Zion National Park to take some pictures of the stars. The sky was perfectly clear and there were millions of stars to be seen. It was fun taking long exposure shots of the stars and trying to capture the outline of the trees or mountains. As with much of the trip, it was a learning experience.

After we were all good and frozen from standing out in the cold of Zion, we hopped back in the truck and stopped for the night in Kanab, UT. In the morning Andrew and I walked around the town for a while and snapped some shots of the local scenery. There wasn’t a lot going on in Kanab and many of the shops were closed for the season. We did, however, get to make our own waffles at the hotel’s continental breakfast. That was a new one on me.

We left Kanab and headed towards Colorado. One of our first stops of the day was at a bridge overlooking the Colorado river. We stopped to take pictures of the dam. The bridge had a pedestrian walkway on both sides making it easy to take shots off either side. Knowing that I would likely blog about the experience, I asked a lady if she knew the name of the bridge. She said “No, but that’s the Hoover Dam.” I didn’t have the heart to tell her she was several hundred miles from the Hoover Dam.

Back on the road we stopped at what looked like abandoned rest area. We took some exterior shots and a few shots looking in from the outside to begin with. Andrew and Todd weren’t sure we should enter the building as the floor was in bad, bad shape. Never one to play it too safe, I headed in. The floor was actually fine. The spots where the holes were had nothing to do with natural erosion. Somebody was ripping up the floor on purpose. So as long as you stayed clear of the holes, you were fine. The place was a lot of fun to shoot in.

Our next stop was at Four Corners. This is the place where Colorado, Utah, Arizona and ~~Nevada~~ New Mexico meet. We paid our $3 per person to drive up to slab of concrete with a plaque marking the spot. I remember being at that same spot with my grandparents back when I was about 8 years old. I think even as an 8 year old I was underwhelmed. Prior to leaving for the trip, Todd suggested that we bring along costumes so we could each dress up as a native for one of each state. The idea was quickly dropped, thankfully.

We made our final stop for the night in Durango, CO. While at dinner in a pub we used priceline.com to find a reasonably priced hotel in Durango. We ended up in the Econolodge. We definitely paid more than the place was worth, but thankfully priceline saved us at least one arm and maybe a portion of a leg. We didn’t do much shooting in Durango itself as we were all quite tired after the long day of travel. Though, I did snap this shot in the yard of the house directly behind our motel in the morning.

On Friday our first stop was in Silverton, CO. This was a tiny town nestled in to the hills of Colorado where you’d fully expect Barney Fife to be sheriff. We walked up and down the main street snapping photos along the way. We settled on the Brown Bear Cafe for lunch and had an unexpectedly great pizza.

Back on the road we made several stops along the side of the winding roads through the mountains. The views in this part of the country are breath taking. One of our stops was especially fun as we got to watch some people ice climbing. It looked like a lot of fun!

Our final stop was the Courtyard Mariott in Downtown Denver. Thanks to some fancy priceline.com work by Todd a month or so back, we actually stayed in this awesome hotel for less per night than the econolodge back in Durango. Since we were going to be there 2 nights, it was nice to be staying in such a great place.

On top of being the best hotel we’d stay in the whole trip, it was also conveniently located. Walking out the back door would put you right on 16th street. From there we simply hopped on the free mall bus that took us within 3 blocks of the Denver Art Museum where we would spend all day Saturday to attend WordCamp Denver. After WordCamp and dinner, Todd, Andrew and I walked several blocks in the opposite direction down 16th street to Union Station. By the time we made it to the end of 16th street it was quite cold. We just hopped back on the free bus and it took us back to our hotel in a few short minutes. I have to say, I love the way the 16th street mall is set up. No motor traffic other than the free bus running up and down the street. It would have been nice to have had more time to check out the shops along 16th street. Maybe next time.

We all hit the sack fairly early on Saturday so we could get on the road bright and early on Sunday. Though we took 2 days to get to Denver, we were planning to make it back to Las Vegas in just 1 day. We knew we wouldn’t have time to make a lot of stops for photos on the way back, but we still made time for a couple. The first stop was at a lake that had frozen over. We noticed people out walking on the lake. Across the road were some big horned sheep, or “Big Orange Sheep” as they became known on our trip thanks to me not hearing Doug correctly. Turns out that if we would have had more time, we’d have been able to see guys racing some pretty sweet dune buggies out on the ice. Again I say, maybe next time.

Our final photography stop was at a HUGE hole in the ground. It has a name, I’m sure. I just don’t know what it is. No, it’s not the Grand Canyon, thank you very much. We hung out here for a while before diving back in the car and making the long journey back home.

Of course, as we pulled in to town we ran in to all the traffic from the NASCAR race letting out of the speedway. After more than 10 hours in the vehicle, I think we were all on the verge of road rage. Cooler heads prevailed and we made it back to Doug’s safely around 8:15pm.

I dropped Andrew back off at his house, Todd back at his and then headed home myself. While I had an excellent time on the trip, I has very happy to be home and back in the arms of my lovely wife. We chronicled our trip along the way on a dedicated website called photosafarinoobs.com. You can find more photos from all 4 of us. You can see even more photos from the trip on flickr.

I’m already thinking about what to do for our next safari!

Filed Under: Family, General, Photography, WordCamp Tagged With: psn09, road trip

WordCamp Denver & Photo Safari are a go!

January 20, 2009

Since roughly August of last year, some friends and I have been trying to put together a photo safari along the lines of MammothMen.com. The main difference being, those guys are a bunch of really great photographers and we are, well, noobs. But, you can’t get to be as awesome as they are unless you get your ass out there and shoot a lot of photos. So, we started planning a trip. Then, something would come up and the date would get moved. Then moved again. And again, and again. So, I hatched a plan. Let’s set a date several months in the future. This way, it would be on our calendars already and any new plans would have to be scheduled around it. The dates we chose were in the middle of February. Then, along comes WordCamp: Denver and Doug has an even better idea… “Let’s move the safari back one week and make the trek to Denver for WordCamp.” Done and done!

After a little coaxing of the wife, the plan is set. Doug, Todd and I will set out on what what we are calling Photo Safari 09. Destination, WordCamp:Denver. As with anything worth doing, it’s worth doing as geeky as possible. Therefore, in addition to all the Wordcamp related tweets and blog posts along the way, you’ll also be able to follow along with our photo safari antics at PhotoSafariNoobs.com. The site is currently in the planning stages, but I expect great things over the next 6 weeks or so.

If you’d like to see the course we plan on taking to get to Denver, you can find it here on Google Maps. You can follow our tweets using this handy link to the hashtag search at #psn09 on twitter.

Currently there is one seat remaining in the vehicle. We are now accepting applications (and bribes) for those who may be interested in joining on this historic journey of geekery. Please announce your willingness and reasons we should pick you to join us in the comments below.

Filed Under: Blogging, Family, General, Photography, WordCamp

My favorites of 2008

December 31, 2008

2008 will be history in less than 24 hours. Before we close the door on it, I wanted to look back and take a snapshot of the things I liked (and disliked) about 2008. These are in no specific order at all. Please feel free to comment and leave your list of faves.

Favorite Gadget: 3G iPhone
This one was easy. The iphone has become more than a phone, I use it as a business and organizational tool. I won’t say “can’t live without it”, but it really is handy.

Favorite iPhone App: Evernote
Having the ability to quickly bookmark something while away from my desk or retrieve information I’ve previously saved has been an extremely useful tool.

Favorite Movie: Choke
You may think this was an automatic decision for me, but it really wasn’t. I had a hard time narrowing down my list. But, at the end of the day, for a movie I had been waiting so long to see, it did not disappoint. It’s one of my favorite books and Sam Rockwell absolutely nailed his performance. Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Wanted and Zack and Miri Make a Porno were all in the running for this one.

Favorite Educational Blog: Strobist
Off-Camera lighting to me is the most interesting and challenging part of Photography. The information and knowledge shared in this blog is priceless. As a bonus, there are over 40,000 members in the strobist.com group on flickr with over 180,000 photos. People take the information they learn from the blog, apply it and then show their results. It’s incredible way to learn.

Favorite Photography Blog: TheBlogIsFound.com
When I grow up, I want my photography to be like Nate and Jaclyn. I find that when I look back through their blog and find sets like this one, I want to email and ask how Carla and Adam are doing. It’s more about capturing the moment and presenting an engaging set of photographs. One of my things to do in 2009 is get out to SoCal and take part in one of their shoot shops. So much to learn from these two.

Favorite Memory: Our trip to Alaska
Face it, everybody is too busy these days. We go go go go 1000 miles an hour all the time. My kids are growing so fast and it won’t be too long before the idea of taking a vacation with mom and dad will seem like torture to them. Getting away with just the 4 of us was absolutely incredible. Even if we were to hop back on the ship and head back to Alaska tomorrow, it wouldn’t come close to how special that trip was to me.

Happy New Year to you all. I hope you go out and make a million memories in 2009.

Filed Under: Blogging, Family, Photography Tagged With: 2008, favorites, review

Christmas and Family

December 25, 2008

santa Christmas is a time to spend with family. This year, thanks to a freak snow storm in Vegas, this is the first year since we moved to Las Vegas 7 years ago that we did not travel back to Southern California to visit my mom, sister and grandma for the holidays. We normally go out for a couple days before Christmas, but then high-tail it back to Vegas in time to have Santa come for a visit. Christmas morning has always been with our immediate family opening gifts at home and I intend on keeping it that way.

While I’m bummed that we weren’t able to spend any time with my side of the family this Christmas, we still managed to have a house full of family with us today. After we opened gifts first thing this morning, around lunch time we were joined my mother-in-law, both brother-in-laws and their families. This brought our total to 11 for the day’s festivities. The ladies spent some time in the kitchen making stuffed shells while the boys played Rock Band. We ate dinner around 3pm and then all 11 of us gathered around the table to play a game of Apples to Apples. If you need a game that can be played with a large group of any age range, you MUST buy this game. Good, clean, family fun. That’s not easy to come by these days.

After playing and then having some pie, we said good bye to our family and now we are back to just the 4 of us, which is nice, too. The kids are both playing with new games and toys while the wife and I are in our PJs laying in bed. She’s reading and I’m blogging. The dogs are curled up between us glad for the peace and quiet as well. A fantastic end to a fantastic holiday, all of it spent with family.

Merry Christmas to you and yours. I hope Santa brought you everything on your wish list.

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: christmas, Family