Bday

Had a great bday today! Slept in, ate German pancakes (batter thoughtfully prepared by wifey in advance), very much enjoyed my new extremely awesome beard-hat that best wifey in world made for me, left work early after longish back to back meetings and eating some really good cookie bars that C helped me make yesterday, lunch, Rita's and delightedly happy messy kids who napped while we drove to the Washington DC temple*, spent a lot of quality, spiritual time with the kids on the grounds and in the visitor's center, drove home, and now some time to myself while J puts the kids to bed so I can actually post my first entry in a long time. Happy new year to me, happy new year to all of you reading. Pictures of beard hat awesomeness coming soon. Seriously, this is cooler than any possible version currently available on the internet and it was hand made by my darling spouse in absolute secrecy. Man I love that woman.

* Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temples are sacred places where families can be sealed together for all eternity. If you ever see this one just off of the 495 in the DC area, as soon as you drive past it, take the next exit and follow the signs. There are almost unbelievably nice, helpful people there who won't bother you but will be happy to show you around, explain things, let you watch uplifting movies, etc. They are awesome. The temple is awesome. Go visit some time. You can't go inside unless you're a member (the local church buildings in every community are open to everyone), but you can still feel God's love for you just by visiting. Seriously, when you see it rise up out of the trees, get ready to exit the beltway : )