Ok I have decided that the lego company needs an overhaul. After another evening of watching tennis and putting together the Millennium Falcon I have come to the conclusion that the Lego company is a group that likes specials in torturing parents. Papa gave Jake the "falcon" as a b-day present, never mind the fact that is recommended for ages 16 and older. How hard can it be to put together a lego set??? Instead of making it harder to put the lego set together, they make it impossible to find the pieces. So if you or I were manufacturing a set with over 5000 pieces wouldn't you think that we would organize the pieces in some brilliant manner that would streamline the assembly process? That is too logical for Lego. The age recommendation really means that maybe a sixteen year old will have the patience to dig through 5000 pieces to find princess leia's hair (which by the way is not in the same bag as her body or her head which is in still another bag). Jake and I find ourselves jumping for joy and doing the happy dance when we find the dark gray corner piece that we have to have in order to move on to page 45 - I mean really dancing over finding the lego piece. So here is my question do I spend two days organizing the pieces by color and size to make the process more efficient or do I relish the time I am spending with my son and dance a little longer the next time we find our " needle (lego) in a haystack"

Jake and I have taken on building the biggest lego set ever made. Last night we started building the Millennium Falcon, it has over 5000 pieces. We made it to page 23 of the 300 page instruction manual. Today we our progress to us to page 40 - I think we will be at it for a while. We will keep you updated and definately post proud pictures of the finished product.

So I do not have to tell most of you that I am what some people may call an obnoxious gator fan (my personal opinion is that obnoxious and gator cannot be used in the same sentence). I had the privilege of watching the National Championship game with my two OLDER brothers, Billy & Kerry. They took me to my first gator game when I was eleven and I cannot thank them enough for all the great memories :) We spent a few days in the Fort Lauderdale area culminated by watching the gators whop up on Oklahoma (the most proficient offsense in college football history I might add) 24-14. It's great to be a Florida Gator!!!!

The day after Christmas, the Myers clan (including Linda & Robin) left for South Dakota to go skiing. After our flight from Minneapolis to Rapid City was cancelled. We caught another flight to somewhere (my memory is a little foggy) and PJ drove us to Lead, South Dakota. We arrived at 3am (5 am Eastern time) to 25 degree weather and snow. Uncle Jerry & Jeff graciously brought our luggage with them from Rapid City. After a few hours sleep we were up and on the slopes. Jake & Jordan skied circles around their mother and kept up with dad like the had been skiing forever. Three days later we drove to our house in Nebraska by way of Mount Rushmore. We spent a few days touring around the area and having heated battles playing Trivial Pursuit & Taboo. Our friend and aspiring stand up comedian Cayne served as our tour guide around the area. We had a great time and the plane ride home was uneventful (thankfully).

The weekend before Thanksgiving, the kids, my mom & Taylor traveled to the Big Apple to visit Aunt Elizabeth. The weather was cold but I have to say it was the best trip to NYC ever. We visited FAO Schwartz, Toys "R" Us, The Natural History Museum and saw Mary Poppins on Broadway. Taylor and I snuck away for a hour or so to shop at "Mood". The kids adapted to the city better than most adults - Jordan's only request is that next time we go during the summer.

Once again we celebrated MLK weekend with "old" college friends & families. This annual tradition is one of the highlights of our year. I am not going to try to express in my own words what this time means to our family but share the words of one of the strongest women I know - Thank Tracee for keeping this tradition going. I look forward to many more happy times together.

"This weekend is not just a gathering of people that once shared fun times together, but it is a group that has come from many different areas and grown with each other. It touches my soul that we can sit around a campfire on a beautiful Sunday morning, listen to a wonderfully inspiring spiritual message shared by a friend, worship our Lord and Savior, and share a quiet time of reflection and grieving for our lost friend and companion. Thank you, Mas, for creating a tradition for our families and for true friendships to continue to develop. "