Christmas Holiday Wrap-Up

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We had my dad, Jonathan, and Melissa and family staying with us for the week. Christmas Eve we had a buffet style dinner for 16 in addition to us with my mom, Chris & family, cousin Dan & family coming over.

Gift opening was Christmas Day. Afterwords Dorinda and I went to brunch at her grandparents and then opened gifts from her dad's parents which is always a fun time.

Rob's parents Denny & Joan and sister Jena drove out from Pittsburgh the day after Christmas and stayed at a local hotel for 2 nights. We had a great time with them also and played a fun game called Last Word.

As nice is it is to relax and enjoy some quiet time with everyone gone, we miss you all and the house seems empty. Come back soon!

Giving Back

Again this year I joined up with Mike & Ron to distribute warm clothing to homeless folks in Philadelphia. Jeff & Jamey joined in this year also so we had lots more stuff to give out. Most of it we bought at Walmart because its so ridiculously cheap, some we also got at the Salvation Army stores and Mike's neighbor had alot of stuff from last year. We also had 30 brown bag lunches to hand out. In addition to the usual hats, gloves, socks, underwear, and hoodies- this year we had sleeping bags, poly tarps, and jackets.

We loaded up Ron's van and spent the whole day driving around Center City. We also stopped at a veterans shelter called Perimeter and another one I didn't get the name for.

Going 1 on 1 or in small groups is the way to go- the guys are really grateful and only take what they need. In larger groups like at the shelters its a little tough because they all start competing with each other and it can get a little nerve-wracking when we start to run out of stuff.

We are blessed to have so much and for the opportunity to give some of it back. Merry Christmas!

McKean Deer Camp 2007

I spent a few days again this year up at Pine Tree Camp in McKean County. Had a good time although we didn't see many deer. Got about 10" of snow which was nice. My friend Jamey got a doe and his son Travis shot a button-buck. I ran into Rob and his dad on Tuesday while driving out of the woods which was cool.