Happy Birthday To Wendy & Happy New Year's Eve!

A shot of the moon & a fireworks burst of light courtesy of my dad's pyrotechnic aptitude.

Last year we spent New Year's in Green Bay but this year we were able to get away to the Star Lake Cottage with my parents, my brother Kyle & his family, and my sister Keira.

This shot was taken via tripod on bulb mode on New Year's Eve.

Our annual tradition of sparklers & fireworks!

I did manage to get a few football games in and saw the Packers clobber the Bears but unfortunately they just missed getting into the playoffs with the Giants having a stronger strength of schedule or something like that. I guess I'll be cheering for the Seahawks instead - my B-team ended up in the Superbowl last year but they definitely aren't the same team. New Orleans would be my next pick - we'll see what unfolds during the wild-card weekend.

A shot of Chelsea & yours truly doing some skiing at sunset on Star Lake.

A shot of us in less of a posed shot.

I got lots of skiing in - I'm guessing about 20kms by the time the weekend was over and Chelsea joined me for a km or two on the lake trails that my father groomed. We also cleared off a huge section of lake for a skating rink which was a workout in itself.

My little sister Kiki skating (hey if you don't want this posted let me know)

I was able to play a bit with my camera during Wen's birthday celebration that coincides nicely with New Year's fireworks!Wen's birthday cake complete with the appropriate number of candles.

The birthday girl Wendy & our daughters (kind of cute how Chelsea is holding Wens' belly where child #3 currently is hiding out!)

Christmas for unfortunately often involves tons of marking exams - I had total of 86 exams to go through and I managed to get all my marking done by Dec. 30th. On top of that I had to create new syllabi for three courses because of our switch from a modular to a semester double block schedule. So yeah - although I got to play with my family and enjoy some of the festivities, I still had lots of work to get done.

Aimee bundled up, if you look closely you can see her dad in her eyes!

A nice shot of Chelsea in winter-mode.

The girls absolutely love the outdoors and highlights for them included playing with their dolls, building forts, Chels' skiing, Aims' snowmobiling with Grandpa, and both loved going for short hikes in the snow!

A couple shots of Aimee & Grandpa on the snowmachine!

Wendy has caught up to me once again age-wise - at least until March! 2006 was a great year for us as a couple and a family. We'll see what 2007 brings? I'm hoping lots of mountain biking, teachable moments in the classroom, fun & learning times with the family, escapes with Wendy, a healthy baby boy in May, the list continues...

Another shot of our annual tradition of sparklers & fireworks!