Well, we got back to Steamboat around noon today after leaving yesterday after lunch. Yesterday afternoon we traveled through horrid whiteout conditions over Rabbit Ears Pass (Continental Divide) and on to Silverthorne. When we got to Silverthorne, we found out that they had closed Rabbit Ears Pass only 10 minutes behind us. Traveling to Silverthorne is usually a 2 hour trip at the most, but it took us nearly 5 hours to get there. Our parents were praying for us, and we know that God protected us during our travel yesterday!

Once we finally got to Silverthorne, we found out that CDOT had closed I-70, the interstate that we take from Silverthorne to Denver. The town was absolutely packed, and of course all the hotels were full. We heard that the Red Cross had opened a shelter at the local rec center, but by the time we waited in traffic to get there, it was full. So, we joined many other stranded travelers and spent the night in the outlet parking lot in our vehicles! It honestly wasn't as bad as it sounds, thanks to the blanket & pillow that my mom insisted we bring when we left Texas & all the snacks that Dave's mom sent with us when we left Steamboat (for the first time) yesterday!

When we woke up around 6:30 this morning (sore and stiff!), the interstate was still closed, so we grabbed a quick breakfast at Burger King and then joined the long line of vehicles sitting on the shoulder waiting for the interstate to open. Thankfully, we had lots of books, sodoku, and books on tape to keep us occupied. I also walked to the closest gas station for awhile so I could charge my phone in an outlet. We sat there for 3 hours, until Dave's mom called with a very bad update. Apparently road crews were using explosives to try to bring down the snow in 10 different areas BEFORE the road is reopened. We decided to head back to Steamboat (thankfully all those roads were open!), and while road conditions weren't great, they were definitely better than yesterday! At this point, the interstate is still closed; but, we're hoping that it will be open by tomorrow morning so we can head back to Texas! This isn't quite how we planned on spending New Year's, but we're always glad for extra time with family! Please pray for our safety as we head home.

We received this little laugh from some friends in Lafayette, IN. This is a humble attempt to define/describe women from an engineer's point of view... all in good humor!






I (David) would like to point out that the woman never even enters the Gap store in order to complete the mission. The woman obviously attempts to avoid the man (possibly in the Gap store, but most likely lost in the mall) and thus risk returning anything she deems "cute" (everything).

From our house to yours...

...we wish you a truly wonderful Christmas! We're headed to Trophy Club today to spend Christmas Eve & Day with my family, and then we're driving up to Steamboat Springs to be with the Rinns! We'll be back in January!

Merry Christmas!

ICE! at the Gaylord Texan

Last night, Dave surprised me with a wonderful evening out to ICE! at the Gaylord Texan! I knew he was planning a special date night, but no matter how I pleaded, begged, and connived, he wouldn't give me any clues! On the way there, he tried to trick me and said he had packed my swimsuit, which made me think that we were going to the brand-new Great Wolf Lodge right across the highway from the Gaylord Texan.

As it ended up, we saw an amazing ice exhibit made of 2 million pounds of ice at the Gaylord Texan, which is a gorgeous resort on Lake Grapevine. (It is also where we attended the Weekend to Remember conference last March.) Even though we had to wait in line for an hour, it was well worth it! They even give you very fashionable jackets to help you keep warm in the exhibit, which is reportedly 9 degrees. It might not have been the cutest parka I've ever worn, but its slippery material did help me slide very fast down the ice slide! Here are a few pictures from our very fun date night:


There was a stunning nativity scene completely sculpted of ice.
This is the best picture we have of Dave going down the ice slide! It was a ton of fun and made me want to go tubing when we're in Colorado next week!

Christmas Lunch

Yesterday we had my family over for a Christmas lunch! We wanted them to be able to see all of our Christmas decorations. It is always fun for my grandma to come over to our house, plus Anna is here now, too! We're so glad to be able to spend this Christmas season with our families!

EBI Christmas Party

Last night was the Earth Builder's Christmas party at my aunt and uncle's house! (As most of you know, my dad and my uncle Kym are the owner's of Earth Builder's, where Dave works.) There is always great food and hilarious games at these parties, & last night was no exception!

The festivities began with an intense scavenger hunt around the house. For example, did you know that Kym and Bernie's house has 51 doorknobs and 36 steps? This style of game is definitely not my forte! :) After dinner we had a traditional white-elephant gift exchange, followed with a competition of my favorite game, Spoons! It is always customary to have 3 "semi-final" games of spoons, and then 2 people from each semi-final game head to the "championship game." Here are Dave and Bernie in their intense semi-final game: Of course, Dave was one of the winners from his table....but he was very surprised to see ME at the championship round. (This was my first time getting to the championship; of course, Dave has been in it every year he's worked for EBI.) Dave was even more shocked at my mad spoon skills as, round by round, the other 4 players were eliminated, and it was just he and I left to compete for title of winner!Although I tried my best, Dave was dealing (which gave him an advantage), and he won (in about 15 seconds)! Even though Dave wins every game, no matter what it is, it all ended well!
As always, we had a great time at the party; until next December, we'll be playing a lot of Spoons at our house to sharpen our skills!

The Latest

It's hard to believe it's already December 21! The last few weeks have been so busy! My 4th grade honor choir sang 7 concerts last week, and then this Tuesday my third graders performed their holiday program! Whew! My students did fantastic, but I am very relieved that I don't have another program to put on until February!

My Grandma Dolores is here visiting from Minnesota, and, as many of you know, she is slightly hard of hearing. I explained to my students that my somewhat-deaf grandma was coming to the concert (all the way from Minnesota--this really impressed them!) and that, if she was going to hear anything at their performance, they were each going to have to sing very strongly. (Don't worry, all my sweet vocal major friends---I don't teach them to sing "loud"--just "strong.") Well, my story apparently made quite an impression on them, because they did sing very well...but, yesterday I got an e-mail from a mother of one of my students who asked if the whole "deaf Grandma from Minnesota" story was real, because her daughter told her in all seriousness that "Mrs. Rinn said we had to sing loud enough so that her grandma could hear the concert!" I laughed so hard, especially when the mom asked if it was true or just a tactic I use to get my students to sing well! Ha! It was truly special for me to have both of my grandmothers at my Christmas concert!

We also sold our Camry tonight. We had half-heartedly been trying to sell it via the newspaper since we bought the Tahoe in September. But, my parent's good friends Kenn & Kath bought it and are going to give it to a family as a gift! We had a lot of great memories in our car (many, many long trips to Colorado and Minnesota!), but we are very happy that our car is going to someone who is receiving it as a gift through our friends! God really does work all things out--even the details of selling a car! Here are a few good-bye pictures of us with the Camry!

Lunch at Mac's

Mac's is our favorite place to eat after church on Sunday, and today Grandpa and Grandma Bergstrom treated us all to another delicious lunch there! (Sadly, Dave isn't in any of the pictures since he was taking them all, and Mom is in Minnesota until tomorrow!)

Our Annual Progressive Dinner

Our annual Christmas progressive dinner was a blast last night! We started the evening at our house with appetizers and carol singing!
Then we headed to Kimi & Rob's for the main course (served on Kimi's beautiful Christmas china!). Kimi and Rob just recently moved into their new house, so they were very brave to have 16 people over so soon after moving! Our evening ended with dessert and an hilarious white elephant gift exchange at Brian and Tiffany's. We somehow ended up with a Kenny Rogers DVD compilation and a "Dance Like a Superstar" DVD, which we immediately gave to Jenny, who truly wanted it! ;) We feel so blessed to be able to celebrate Christmas with such wonderful friends!

Bible Study Girls

These precious girls have been an amazing encouragement to me this fall as we have studied Hannah's Hope together!
(back) me, Terri, Kimi, Jenny (front) Tiffany, Courtney

Birthday Time!

Last night we celebrated Dad's 55th birthday along with Nate's 21st birthday! We brought a bakery red velvet cake--both Dad and Nate's favorite--that everyone loved. (If you know my family at all, you know that we all LOVE good bakery cake!! My dad was even successful in sneaking extra pieces when my mom wasn't noticing!)
My grandma crocheted Nate an afghan in his UNT school colors, and Nate also got some useful presents for living on his own in his new apartment.
Dad had a LOT of fun opening his presents--an adorable photo book and poem by my mom about their cruise to Alaska, a fridge stocked with steaks (because all my parents eat is chicken!), a new Mannheim Steamroller CD (his favorite, and he always plays it on maximum volume), and a new game from us, Ticket to Ride. We all were having so much fun with Ticket to Ride that we played until 11:30 last night! I think it might be our new favorite, second only to Settlers of Catan!

The Gecko Who Visited...

The story of the gecko who visited our house has 3 parts:

Last Monday--To set the stage, you must first understand that I was home alone. Jenny and I had gone to see the movie Bella, and when I got home, around 9:30, I noticed what I thought to be a large bug on the kitchen floor. As I got closer, I realized it was a gecko! If you know me at all, you know I am absolutely TERRIFIED of anything reptile-like! I grabbed the closest issue of Martha Stewart and tried to get the gecko to climb onto it. My plan was to throw it (magazine AND gecko) out the back door! (Yes, I was willing to sacrifice my beloved Martha mag just to get the gecko out of the house!) Probably due to my crying and screaming, the gecko froze in the corner and wouldn't move. At this point, I (still screaming and crying) called Dave and not-so-calmly explained the situation. He laughed. I screamed louder. At any rate, I finally convinced him that there was no way I was going to pick it up and toss it out the door (which was his suggestion, along with, "Oh! Those are fun! Their tails even fall off, and then you can catch it again!"). So, Dave called Jason, our next door neighbor, who was my hero for the night and came over and caught the gecko (with his bare hands--wow! I was impressed!).

Last Wednesday--My mom, cousin Christy, and her son Zion came over to my house for a visit. As they pulled up, Jason was out in his driveway, so my mom made a big to-do about thanking him for saving me from the ferocious gecko. (She understood what a dire situation it had been!) He laughed and said that he put the gecko in his own house. At first my mom thought he was joking, until he convinced her that he really had put it in his house, because "they eat a lot of bugs." (Trust me, I would much rather deal with a few bugs than a lizard in my house!)

This Tuesday--As I was leaving for choir rehearsal and Dave was leaving for jury duty, Jason walked out of his house. As I started to drive off, I rolled down the window and said, "Is it really true that you put the gecko in your house?" Jason laughed as if he couldn't believe I'd ask such a ridiculous question and assured me he did! He said he hadn't seen it since that night, so then I asked, "How does Jennifer {his wife} feel about that?" He said, "Oh, she doesn't even know I put it in the house!" Dave and I both laughed so hard!

Weekend in Austin

David and I spent a wonderful weekend together in Austin. We ate great food, slept a lot, played many games of Scrabble, caught up on some much-missed reading time, and learned more about our great state of Texas! Here are a few highlights:

We took a very interesting tour of the Texas Capitol on Saturday morning. We really enjoyed our time there and learned many unique facts about Texas which I'm sure our faithful readers will enjoy, such as:

*the Texas capitol is taller than any captiol building in the nation, including our nation's capitol...everything really IS bigger in Texas!

*the emblems in the rotunda floor represent the six nations that have ruled Texas in its history: Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas, the United States, and the Conferedate States.

*the Texas government paid the contractor who built the capitol building with 3 million acres of land in the Texas panhandle.

*if Texas were its own nation, it would have the 11th largest economy in the world, ahead of nations such as South Korea, Australia, and Russia!

*the chandeliers in the House of Representatives and the Senate are in the shape of the Texas star and the letters T E X A S are in lights in between each point of the star.

*Sam Houston is the only governor of any state who was governor of 2 states: Tennessee and Texas. However, Houston did not want Texas to become its own nation, so he was "removed" from office before Texas' fight for independence. Here's Dave and Houston's marble sculpture:

*the star at the top of the rotunda looks very small from the ground, but it really is huge; the distance between each point on the star is 8 feet.


Here's a picture of me demonstrating my cowgirl abilties...good thing I chose a different profession!
Here's a picture of Dave with Davy Crockett, who was killed at the Alamo...remember?

This is Dave's favorite Texas flag as it represents "the spirit of Texas." (As they say, it's hard to be humble when you're a Texan.)

We spent many hours playing Scrabble; much to my chagrin, Dave won every game, although I was very close (one time!). :) This is our travel Scrabble game, which made quite an impression on the waitress at Souper Salad (where we played for 2 hours on Saturday afternoon). She was so impressed with our game that she was going to Target to buy her own as soon as she got off work!
As we wrap up this Thanksgiving season, we are very thankful for wonderful times together!

Thanksgiving 2007

Yesterday we enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving day at my parent's house in Trophy Club! We had an amazing meal that we loved eating! YUM!!
We also attempted to beat my cousin Zion at the game of Construction Memory. He's only 5 1/2, but he beat both Dave and me! (For example, when I played him, I had only 6 sets, and he had 30 matches!) At one point when he was playing me, he said (with a straight face), "I don't know why I'm so talented!" Ha!!
Zion had a new Nerf archery set that was a big hit with all the boys (big and little) in the house. They took turn shooting the yellow balls at various targets (including people, of course).(There's Dad in the background talking to Em on the phone; we missed her a lot this Thanksgiving!)

Mom, Kathy, Dave, & I also played a game of Scrabble, which Dave won decisively. His top scoring word was "quiz" which was on a triple word score and earned him 63 points! He really needs to practice his Scrabble strategies, because Grandma Sorbel is coming for Christmas, and she might be his toughest competitor yet!
And what would a holiday at the Bergstrom's be without an intense game of Settler's of Catan? Nate, Mom, Dad, Dave, and I struggled through a 2 hour game to see who would be the next king of Catan....and this time, Nate was the winner! However, Mom did her best job yet in a game of Settler's, ending with 8 points and a 2nd place finish. (This is why she is holding up 8 fingers in the picture.)
We truly do have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, and great times with family are definitely at the top of the list!