Finals are OVER-Inlaws are HERE

Finals are finally over. I had one class left but I did not have to go, because I was able to finish my final project and was able to upload to the internet. The professor said if we had the project done and turned in, we did not have to go to class. YEAH, I finished my project on Monday and so did not have to go to class on Thursday. Good thing because Angela's parents arrived from Houston, TX last night.
They got in about 4-4:30 pm. They started their journey on Wednesday. They stayed in Joplin, MO on Wednesday and drove the rest of the day on Thursday. We are glad to have them and glad that they did not have any weather problems and glad they are here to spend the holidays with us. They were pretty excited to see snow and if the weather holds true, they will get to see it snow on Saturday as they are calling for some rain, freezing rain and snow for Saturday.
Now back to my classes, I know for sure that I got 2 A's and 1 B+. I think in my last class I will have an A also. I am hoping anyway. I am taking only 10 cr next semester (3 classes). After next semester, I will have 43 credits left to go. I think it will take me a year and a half or 2 years. Seems like a long time. We will see, I hope I can complete it sooner than that. That would be great. But I am working full time during all of this as well, at least 40 hours a week and usually more and trying to be a good husband and do chores around the house. It is a lot to manage, but I am getting through it. My wife has been so supportive and so wonderful, I can't thank her enough! I LOVE you, honey!

Here is Dad and Angela during Thanksgiving, oh and Buddy, Mom and Dad's sort of new addition to the household. For being a mostly outside cat, he sure behaved well inside the house. Even when no one was holding him, he did not stray too far from Dad or the living room. It might be because it was the warmest room, but who knows for sure. He was a pretty good little kitty. Dad really seems to enjoy him a lot.
We were able to visit my Mom and Dad over Thanksgiving. We actually got to see both families for the holiday and that was a treat for everyone. We got up at 5:00 am on Thanksgiving morning to catch our flight leaving Des Moines at 7:00 am and arriving in Memphis a little after 9:00 am. Then we drove down to Angela's grandma's home in Water Valley, Mississippi. We arrived there around 10:30. From there we went to have dinner at Tim and Andrea's new home in rural Water Valley. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving meal and good time with Angela's family. Her parents were also there. They came from Houston a day or two before and stayed until Monday or Tuesday. They drove from Houston. I think if we were to drive, it would have taken us probably 13+ hours to get to Water Valley. So we opted for flying to Memphis, plus it gave us the opportunity to see how it me be to see both sides of the family since my folks live in Moody, MO. Just outside of West Plains, MO and a few miles N of the Arkansas border.

We stayed in Water Valley until Saturday at lunch and then drove to my folks in Moody. It took us about 4 hours from Water Valley, so it was not all that bad. We were unsure what it was going to be like, that was the main reason we tried it, plus we did not want to drive all that much and this gave us the best chance to see both families. It really was a nice time. I definitely think we will do this again.
We were also able to give Mom and Dad part of their Christmas. Morgan, Andrew, Jeff, Tina, Angela and I all chipped in and bought them a digital camera with a printer. We wanted to give it to them early so that I could be around to help them figure it all out. I hope it worked. I have not seen any pictures yet, but she seemed to have a pretty good idea of what she was doing when we left. I hope they enjoy it and I hope they enjoyed having us there as we enjoyed being with them.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of watching one of my god-daughters for a few hours. It was fun. That is the first time I had watched her by myself. We had a blast. Mostly she was interested in the cats, Tigger and Eyeore, and for the most part they were pretty friendly for not being around little ones very often. I know it help having me there with them. Claire was great with them. She pet them very gently and just loved them. The cats would get up in their stand and feel safe because Claire could not get to them. So she watched them up there and they watched her.

Then we played and watched Barney and "Bingo". It was a pretty good afternoon. I hope Claire had a blast and would like to come back again. I was supposed to watch her this past weekend, but with the lovely Iowa weather we had, her parents decided to not go out and therefore I did not end up watching her. Oh well, there will be another time.


Thanks Claire for the fun afternoon and be good for mommy and daddy!