Small Group Christmas Decorating...

Pat, Chris, Stephan, and Jennifer take on the task of decorating the foyer at church....

Jennifer untangles lights.....

....our Minister of Atmosphere works hours (or was it a minute!) on this project!....

And what's with that HAT?

Zoe is Teeing It Up In Basketball Again This Year...

....and her Dad puts them in stiches with his officiating!

Last Evening Pat and I Attended Tree Lightings With the Kids and Grandkids.....

......Pat, Meg, Alyssa and Hailey enjoyed the lighting of the Courthouse in downtown Newark........

...while I visited the Longaberger Homestead

.....to be entertained by members of the department I used to work for..........

........reunited with friends Angie Jordan and Amy Stockdale.....

......and enjoed time with Sandra, Cheryl, Wes, Zoe and Addy.

.....the two stars over the Crawford Barn created a beautiful night scene.

......... fireworks exploded.........

....to the music of Oh Holy Night........

..........as Zoe and Addy looked on......

.....and finally .....the coming of Santa.....in a horse drawn wagon.....reminiscent of days gone by at the Homestead.

Thanksgiving is For Family...

Traditionally we meet at the house on on Quentin Ave which is where Pat's Aunt Fran and Uncle Kenny lived for years. Dave (Pat's brother) and Kim live there now and provide outstanding hospitality. The picture is of Dave and Claudia.

Alyssa bumped her lip and had to be attended to by Nurse Heather.

Fun and Food....

The Girls Enjoy The Evening

Those of you who follow our life adventure know....

.....we love to stay in touch with our French kids and grandchild using Skype on line teleconferencing. (This is me on screen bottom left watching Eloise summersaulting!) The neat part is she watches our antics and we watch her antics....laugh together....throw kisses....and the call usually ends with her hugging us around the neck (computer!) Pat talked to them this week and Nancy, Mel's Mom, was there as well. Today Nancy sent an article from the New York Times describing this very phenomenon!
Check it out here.

3 AM....Couldn't Sleep....

......so I got up...went to the kitchen....got a cup of coffee which Pat often has waiting for me at the touch of the "on" button....picked up the latest edition of National Geographic Magazine...sat next to the fireplace....and pretty much read and mostly looked at the pictures cover to cover! If you haven't guessed already this is a picture I did NOT take on our 2004 trip to Yosemite!!...however...a guy named Doug did....and I had to share it with someone .....so I picked....YOU!
As any of you who follow this blog even occasionally know...I love nature! God (my paradigm!) created some of the most magnificent scenery on earth right here in the good ol US of A! This National Geographic picture immediately traveled through the millions of my brain cells and synapisis to the location in my brain where the sights I saw at this magnificent location are stored. It caused me to recall the gradeur I observed through this very set of eyes on the day in May of 2004 I took the picture below......

.....I can only think of one word to describe the scenes these eyes have taken in and the amazing technology of this brain to find and recall it....Magnificent! Allow me a moment this Thanksgiving eve to acknowledge thanks for His Grandeur and Magnificence!

Guess Who Is 2 Years Old Today????

..........THE ONE ON THE LEFT!!

Our little Parisian Eloise! She delights the day lights out of us a quarter world away.

For more shots of her and her family click here.

I Love Our Small Group!!

Every other Sunday night Pat and I meet with a group of Christians we enjoy doing life with together.

Tonight was special since we enjoyed a prethanksgiving feast.

Chris shared some wonderful changes taking place in his life through Christ.....

Laughter.......

...and love abounds!

God has us in a wonderful place with wonderful people at this time in our lives!!

Panthers 10 Eastmore 14....A REFLECTION....

It has been a great season......

...but last night....inspite of fearse play.....We got our butts kicked!

As Teddy Roosevelt once said......

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Let us all, "Strive to do the deeds!"

Congratulations for your efforts, Panthers!

Another Day At The Office.....

Today we had a visitor at Longaberger land..... Bernie QB'd the Miami Hurricanes to the National Championship his freshman year. He went on to play for the Browns, Cowboys and Dolphins....

....and now ..........

......he's making baskets for......

......Kelly Walker!

Sam's New Company...

Riding around the streets of Paris.....

....or the Swiss Alps.....

....wearing this garb which is on it's way to Malakoff France via Pleasant Chapel Rd.

Birthday Bash

Tonight was a mini birthday bash for Hailey (5) and Heather (20). The early part of the evening was spent with Zoe checking the parts to the Cadillac that Meg bought for Hailey on her birthday.

....while Addy did her homework......

.....and practiced her flute....

.......and then the two of them assembled the Caddy!

.......Heather's singing Nun card...

Hailey gets her cake....

.......and then....the PINK CADDY!

.......which Alyssa gets to drive through the front yard!

Will You Help This 88 Year Old Computer Guru???

For a while I have been helping Pat's dad get his new laptop up and running. He is now becoming semi prolific at emailing, surfing, and even skyping (Thanks Kevin B) Could Facebook be next???

He could however, use some practice! Would you take a moment and email him. If you ask about airplanes or railroading you will hit a subject of interest.....or....just get to know him! He's a great guy and gave the magic answer when I asked him if I could marry his daughter 41 years ago!

His email address is:

bnoengineer@roadrunner.com

Last Night's Regional Finals Playoff Game Vs the # 1 Division III team....

......started with 45 minutes of "lights out" football when the power went off leaving us "in the dark" on a 30 degree windy wet night!

....but once the Panthers kicked into gear.....including Erik Mitchell who gained 87 yards.......

....thee was plenty to cheer about as this picture shows. Actually...this random picture from the Advocate web sight includes my Longaberger friend Kelly Walker (lower left) and Pat's dad (hodded dude behind the raised arm. Seth and Meg were on hand as well!

....And So...the End Result....

.....Storm stormed for 115 yards......

........Grant Markert and the defense held a high powered offense in check.......

....and the Panthers were crowned regional champs again for the second year in a row. With only 4 teams left in the State we will play 12 and 1 Columbus Eastmore Academy Saturday night at 7 PM. for the State Semifinals. Anyone wanting tickets should contact me by Wednesday. Here are the brackets for the finals.

Revisiting An Old Friend...

I have reengaged with the Longaberger Company. Since Dave Longaberger moved in a mile from Toboso school I have been connected with the business doing everthing from leading kids on nature/history trips, managing horses, singing to internal management training.

Sadly since 2001 the company has reduced its workforce from 8,000 employees to 1800. Now I am working 2 dys a week and loving it. My responsibilities are:

A. Internal Project Communication
1. Improve meeting effectiveness
2. Facilitate communication among leadership team members to accomplish project tasks
3. Provide help to improve individual and collective accountability
B. External Project Communication
1. Work with HR and company communication specialists to convey elements of the changeover within the organization
2. Assist in the communication and celebration of benchmarks as team project goals are achieved
3. Assist in attaining outside recognition of project accomplishments
C. Training and Coaching
1. Work with individual team leaders to improve leadership, communication, organization and time management skills
2. Work with project teams to inspire trust and improve effectiveness
3. Help leaders evaluate resource needs
4. Assist leaders in evaluating personnel alignment
5. Instill principles consistent with company values

I hope I can help add value to a huge basket operations changeover and see this great company survive even in this economy......even soar again!!

Breakfast Together

We met Bob and Claudia for breakfast at a fun new Restaurant in downtown St Louisville Ohio....

.......the place is run by 3 cute sisters, Sara, Jessica and Elizabeth, and a "kid they used to babysit!" They are full of life, call everyone that came in by their first name and just kept people smiling and entertained. Bob has cut their hair for years. Excellent food and fun entertainment.

Bob pays the Bill while our server, Sarah.....

....throws a kiss to Alyssa.

Licking Valley 47 Poland 7

The Panthers leaped........

.....Stormed.....

....and threw...themselves into the Ohio Regional Finals last night. Seth and I were on the 50 yard line for all of the action. We earn the right to play the #1 ranked Division III team in the state next Saturday....possibility at Zanesville.

Anyone wanting seats purchased and saved for this titanic clash .....let me know early this week. (Even you down there in Tennessee, Kevin!)

Guess Who Just Turned 30......

.......would you believe all our kids are now in their 30's !! Seems like yesterday they were all in their teens!

......so we invited the sibs and kids over for a celebration.... (Sorry you were sick, Cheryl!) Including a gift to remember her French connection as well....

........It was "Happy Time."

The Evening Included....

.....a spin for the girls around the block.....

.....a look at Granpa's connection with the garage floor at his apartment...

.........and these two.....

Pat Fixed a Delicious Birthday Supper..

A Good Time Was Had By All...

Signs of Fall Around Bill's Botanical Gardens....

....some plants are being prepared to br brought in for the winter....

........while this Europeon Larch's turning needles reflect the fall sunlight....

It's Great To Open The Door To This Fall Scene

Guess Who Has a New Computer and Now has Skype Capability...

Remember Last Year's LV Bid For The State Championship???

Sorry...I couldn't get blogger to take my pictures...but here's the post.

Sam and Mel were home from France and we joined together for the State Semi Final game........

......and Mel became "Panthorized!!"

.......Well we are at it again. Last night the Panthers led by quarterback Drew Ryan defeated Buckeye Local 37 to 6! Although so much has been made about Ohio State bound Storm Klein, Drew (above) scored 3 rushing and 2 passing touchdowns, had 2 interceptions and punted a ball to the Buckeye 1 yard line! Not a bad night's work.........so......

.........now the only question is.....WHO IS GOING WITH ME TO THE REGIONAL SEMIFINAL GAME NEXT SATURDAY AT NEW PHILIDELPHIA....against the Poland team that beat Granville by a field goal with 2 minutes to go??? Will it be Sam and Mel coming back or will they just wait for the State Championship game?? Will it be Beth Brawley and her kids??? Kirby...who lives on the way from here to New Philly?? Will it be my kids or Grandkids?? WILL IT BE YOU???
Just let me know early in the week. I'll be getting tickets Thursday. Hope you can come.