Shell-Family.com: January 2007

Christmas in Iowa

It was several weeks late due to illness after illness, but we were finally able to celebrate Christmas in Iowa.

The usual karaoke in the car on the way over.

Yay - we made it. Let's play.

Bella and Jack help Grandpa open his gifts.

The chase is on. This went on for about an hour!

Go Bears!

Sunday afternoon, we had a nice impromptu gathering at Lou and Angela's to watch the Bears win their game against the Saints and advance to the Super Bowl. Following that we had some tasty bratwurst, potato salad, and coleslaw.

Baby Update - It's a girl! *

* - Dr. is 99% certain.

Baby Shell 2 at 20 weeks. She's now about 11 inches long and weighs about 1 pound 1 ounce.

Smiling at the camera. If you look close, you can see the lens on her left eye (freaky).

Col. Harvey C. Barnum, Jr., USMC (Ret.)

Having been an Artillery officer for ten years in the Army National Guard and Army Reserves, I had to take advantage of the opportunity to get a picture taken with Medal of Honor recipient Harvey C. Barnum, Jr. As an Artillery Forward Observer with the Marines in Vietnam, then 1LT Barnum received the Medal of Honor for actions taken during Operation Harvest Moon in December of 1965. The video of his appearance can be viewed at the Pritzker Military Library website.

Geoff & Yukiko Visit

Saturday night we had a nice visit with Geoff and Yukiko. It was their first time seeing our house. We knew their schedule was going to get really busy so we wanted to have them over sooner rather than later. Sabine and I had a late night the night before, so our dinner wasn't as elaborate as we planned. And we had such a good time talking and listening to Geoff and Yukiko's music that we never got around to playing any board games. But it was great to see them again, and we're looking forward to getting together again soon.