A Moment In Time

On 24 January, our beloved son Caleb will turn four years old! Wow.

When one considers the amount of time that a child normally lives within the same four walls as his parents it’s likely that, for our family, at LEAST 20% of this time has already passed. For me, that’s quite sobering. So… let’s not dwell on the future but discuss the present.

Today, we celebrated at that restaurant that’s long been a favorite of many a four year old, McDonald’s. Here’s the Birthday Boy with some of our closest south-of-the-border friends.

After returning to our apartment Caleb was very excited to blow-out the candle on his cake. However, for those of you who know our son well, he still doesn’t like to eat the cake. Nevertheless, anything that prolonged this fiesta was still fun for all.

Here’s a shot of Caleb proudly displaying one of his newest possessions.

Over the 2009-2010 season my son has displayed a peculiar affection for the team that wears the black & yellow… weird. Oh well, it doesn’t say “Colts” on it, but at least this ball is the right shape.

Winter in Mexico

Really? YES! Mexico does have a winter and it seems to be making its strongest appearance of the year this week. Even now I can almost hear the snickering from those in the Old North State who have been contending with single digit temps. Down south our nightly lows haven’t been quite as impressive but in our part of the city the temperatures have remained in the mid-30s for the last several nights.

Since central heating hasn’t quite made it this far south of the Texas boarder this can make for some chilly mornings. Above is a picture of typical campus attire inside our classroom.

Look, a heater! I didn’t think that there was a Spanish verbal equivalent prior to a few weeks ago. This is just one of three that we now own to keep our apartment warmer than average. While this electric radiator does its job well, below is a picture of the most effective heating unit that we use.

A New Year, A New Decade

Happy 2010 everyone! After living the greater portion of 2009 south of the border Amy, Caleb and I were blessed to be able to spend the latter two weeks of the year in good ol’ North Carolina. When we arrived in NC the temperature in our home state was among the lowest of the year. However, the warmth of the reception we experienced from family and friends raised our spirits to some of the highest they had been in months.

After arriving home we soon learned that our visit wasn’t the only occasion making this year’s Christmas special. On December 19th my sister Ellie became engaged to Keith Richards (formerly of Tupelo, Mississippi and currently of Longmont, Colorado)! Ellie and Keith have planned a wedding for late June of this year.

Early in our visit to Durham, the north portions of the county received a very rare December snowfall. We loved the opportunity to refresh Caleb’s memory of the white stuff. Here are a few pics of his enjoyment of the season.

During our visit we also had to make a visit to the ENT doctor to check on Caleb’s ear tubes. This visit led to him having his one remaining tube surgically extracted on Christmas Eve. Caleb was a real trooper and made a complete recovery quite quickly. (The above picture was taken roughly 10 minutes before the anesthesia kicked in.)