On the night of January 20(?), 2009, we all celebrated an event which I thought I would never see come to pass in my lifetime: the beginning of the presidency Barack Obama, an African-American. Our friends Kif and Sterling Adams organized a big inauguration ball at a cafe downtown and it was a gala affair -- not quite the same as going to an official ball in Washington, D.C., but hey, it was way cool, nonetheless. It was a night of great joy and hope for everyone. Here we are all dressed up and ready to go, and Emma and Adam were old enough to come along -- we wouldn't have had them miss it for anything!
The night began with a limo ride from the Wells Fargo parking garage to the front door of the ball hall. We decided we like to be hauled places in very large, fancy limos.
And here is the red carpet entry:
This was the scene of the festivities, and I think everyone may be getting ready for the big toast here. That's our friend and neighbor Susan Barber in the front left, Bruce Young from the English Dept with his wife in front also -- fellow Dem's and revelers:
And here is energy boy with own fancy, non-alcoholic cocktail: 
Every January, a student organization at BYU hosts a candle-light vigil and series of speeches on the eve of Martin Luther King Day. It's usually freezing, and that night was no exception--though also great fun for all. The next three photos are us at the Kimball Bell Tower on campus where the march always begins.
These next slides are of Emma's science project -- her little brother was her 'guinea pig' on which she experimented. In addition to television, our Energy Boy also appears to be hyper when exposed to the planet's atmosphere (and also when he's not):
And here is Emma posing with Melanie, one of her best friends and a classmate this year.
And this is Emma with her 4th grade teacher Ms. Kartchner, an absolutely outstanding teacher in every way. (When Caren was just out here logging hours of classroom observation for her Masters in education, she went to Emma's class for a day or two and said Ms. Kartchner was the best teacher she had ever seen.)
Various family photos at home ...
Here is a photo of Monroe and Shirley Paxman who I have been hometeaching for a few years. He is 90 and she is 89 and they are some of the brightest, most interesting, most service-minded people I have ever met. Below them is Zane Kay Wall, my HT companion and a wonderful guy.
Here is Emma playing the guitar at her Christmas music class -- they did okay for a group that just started a few months back!
Anna had her eartubes put in again in December also. The first pair lasted two years and really helped eliminate most of her ear infections. (And although Mark believes all of evolution, he does think that evolution really screwed up on kids' ears, alas.) As you can see, Anna was all smiles during the initial weigh-in, mostly because they gave her a new stuffed lion to play with and those funky hospital socks to wear:
More pre-op and she's still lovin' life: phones, books, etc. to play with to her heart's content. (In the future, of course, kids will be text-messaging when they do this instead of pretending to actually talk on a phone):
Anna got a bit more serious when the stuff that looked like real medicine gradually started to come into play: 
Anna after the minor surgery. She looks dazed and confused, but hey, at least she has a full head of hair, unlike that other mammal in the background:
Erin doing Emma's hair in the kitchen. (Mark was actually got pretty good at braiding her hair when he had to get her ready each morning in Ann Arbor, but that skill has faded with disuse over time.)
Cute girl on a snowy day:
The kids' next-door neighbors and best friends: Laura, Tess, and Maddie Windhorst:
Sam in the exact position he maintains for a very long time each day:
For the second year in a row, we decided for Thanksgiving to go with our friends Lawton and Amy Smith to a local Marriott Residence Inn meeting room that Lawton gets at some discount related to his business. The advantages: it's big enough to invite lots of folks, it has a nice TV for watching football, and best of all, it has a big pool for the kids to play in post-feast. Here are some highlights of the day: first, Adam was the only other family member as fascinated as I was by the turkey heart we found while Erin was preparing things that morning. We did a bit of home surgery, could see the various chambers in the heart, etc. -- fascinating to we males, gross-out for the other non-males in the family:
At the Marriott, here is the kids' table and I think kids ready for dessert a few hours later:
Here are the other two long tables with the adult friends and family: 
And finally, after dinner, the star attraction was ... the pool! 
The night began with a limo ride from the Wells Fargo parking garage to the front door of the ball hall. We decided we like to be hauled places in very large, fancy limos.
And here is the red carpet entry:
This was the scene of the festivities, and I think everyone may be getting ready for the big toast here. That's our friend and neighbor Susan Barber in the front left, Bruce Young from the English Dept with his wife in front also -- fellow Dem's and revelers:
And here is energy boy with own fancy, non-alcoholic cocktail: 
Every January, a student organization at BYU hosts a candle-light vigil and series of speeches on the eve of Martin Luther King Day. It's usually freezing, and that night was no exception--though also great fun for all. The next three photos are us at the Kimball Bell Tower on campus where the march always begins.
These next slides are of Emma's science project -- her little brother was her 'guinea pig' on which she experimented. In addition to television, our Energy Boy also appears to be hyper when exposed to the planet's atmosphere (and also when he's not):
And here is Emma posing with Melanie, one of her best friends and a classmate this year.
And this is Emma with her 4th grade teacher Ms. Kartchner, an absolutely outstanding teacher in every way. (When Caren was just out here logging hours of classroom observation for her Masters in education, she went to Emma's class for a day or two and said Ms. Kartchner was the best teacher she had ever seen.)
Various family photos at home ...
Here is a photo of Monroe and Shirley Paxman who I have been hometeaching for a few years. He is 90 and she is 89 and they are some of the brightest, most interesting, most service-minded people I have ever met. Below them is Zane Kay Wall, my HT companion and a wonderful guy.
