Christmas morning...

Happy New Year everybody! I don't have much time to write at the moment since Sarah went to work and I have both kids (this is a lot harder than I thought). She likes to pick up some shifts when I'm off and I usually take Carter and Claire over to my folks' place anyway which is fun.

Christmas was a blast. We tried our best to keep the focus on the Savior especially for Carter who is really beginning to become more and more perceptive as each day passes. As you'll see below, he received a bicycle from Santa along with many other thoughtful gifts from family and friends.

Sarah and I tend not to spend a lot on ourselves at Christmas but this year we indulged a little and bought an in car GPS system which has us both excited. It's one of those gadgets that's both fun and practical. We picked ours up on eCost.com.

Well, we hope everyone is well. Here are a few photos I took with the new digital camera my parent's gave us:


Carter has loved to draw and paint from very early on and he's getting better every day. He's now at the stage in which people's legs grow directly out of their heads. You'll note that Carter has enhanced his mother's appearance by adding a coal train smokestack. Hey, why not?









Claire with Uncle "E." She's been into the 19th century look as of late.





Cater getting his bike for Christmas. He's already had a few crashes, but he keeps getting back on! Excuse the poor lighting, it was still rather early in the morning.

My favorite sites

I don't know how many of you have certain websites that you visit regularly, but I do. When I say "regularly" I mean daily, or almost daily. I think the sites one visits says a lot about your personality. In a way I am a bit embarrassed when I look at the list. Below you'll find a few lists, the first being THE list. Here I go:

Sites I visit daily or almost daily.

1. Gmail.com
The reason why I visit this site is obvious. I use email for work, school, and to keep in touch with friends and family. I think Gmail is by far the best email program because it keeps conversations in "threads" and provides tons of space so you can archive messages and go back to them using a built in search engine whenever you need to.

2. digg.com
Digg allows users to submit content (websites, etc.) and then the other users "digg" the story thus dictating which articles and stories "rise to the top." It divides content into various categories such as technology, science, gaming, videos, etc. so there's a little something for everyone. Digg is full of geeks and "progressives," for better or worse, and comments are cruel and witty all at the same time.

3. google.com/news
I have customized my news page so I see all the world news, etc. as well as news related to particular key terms I chose to have google aggregate news on. It's a great way to catch up on news in general as well as on topics of particular interest.

4. Joystiq.com
A blog dedicated to gaming. I keep up as much on the trends in the industry as I do on the games themselves.

5. mmajunkie.com
This is a blog about mixed martial arts which is by far my favorite sport. I love to watch it and I am going to join a jiu-jitsu gym when I have more time. I know a lot of people dislike the sport, but once you're educated in the various aspects of it I think it becomes clear that it's not that much different than other combat sports. It becomes the most interesting once you get to know the various martial arts involved, the rules, and the individual fighters.

6. mmamania.com
MMA blog


Sites I visit at least once a week:

1. wikipedia.org
2. xbox360fanboy.com
3. cnn.com
4. sherdog.com and sherdog.net (forums)
5. redlands.edu
6. costco.com
7. cnet.com
8. blogger.com
9. facebook.com
10. astralpulse.com
11. bungie.net

I need to go be a dad right now, so here's where this cataloging ends. I'd love to hear which sites you visit regularly.