Tuscany School Family Dance

On February 1st, 2007 the Tuscany Elementary School held it's inaugural family dance. Gracie looked forward to the dance for weeks. The dance was really well attended, and we all had a great time. Hannah didn't dance, except when Micheal Jackson was playing (she's her father's daughter). Matt spent most of his time running around the gym.

Here's a link to my Flickr photoset.

Winter

It's winter again in Calgary. Here's a photo I took this morning as I shoveled the driveway with Matt. (Note the band-aid on his head covering some stitches he received last Saturday when the kitchen stool fell and hit him in the head.)

Gracie's Sixth Birthday Video

Gracie's 6th Birthday

Gracie celebrated her 6^th birthday today. She had a great time. We invited the face painter who we first met at Greg Melchin's Annual BBQ (picture of Matt and Grace with painted faces). All the kids loved the face painter. Honestly we didn't have to do anything else other than let everyone line up and watch her work. Of course we also had presents, cake and ice cream... all the trimings of your run of the mill birthday party. Gracie had a really nice time, and I think the kids did too.

I've posted a Flickr photoset with a bunch of photos of the kids with painted faces, however I've made the photos private to respect the privacy of the children, and families of the children at the party. If you're interested in seeing the photos, you can register for a free Flickr account (www.flickr.com), and I'll add you to my list of contacts, which will permit you to see the pictures.

Farewell Christy and JD Taylor

We had JD and Christy Taylor (and kids) over for dinner on Thursday evening one last time before they're off ot Utah. We'll be sad to see them go. Good luck in Utah!

Christmas Day Photo Booth Session

We had fun this morning with Apple Photo Booth -- I seriously have not seen my mother laugh this hard in years.

See the Flickr photoset.

Christmas Eve Day 2006

We had a nice morning at church -- Erin sang in the choir, and I wrestled Matt in the congregation. Thank you Wendy Shipley for walking Hannah for most of the sacrament meeting.



We managed to get a Christmas photo that worked reasonably well on the way out the door this morning. Everyone is in the photo, looking at the camera, and is smiling (or at least not crying or frowning).

Photo Booth Photos

Matt and I had a lot of fun playing around with Apple Photo Booth for a while this morning. Check out our photos.

Matt and Grace

Japanes Shirt Folding

Ok, this is pretty impressive. I've got to learn how to do this.

Gracie Loses Her First Tooth

Tonight, just before going to bed I asked Grace if I could look at her tooth (which has been very loose for several days). Surprisingly she agreed. I asked outright if I could try to pull it out -- again, surprisingly she agreed.

We're please to report that Grace has lost her first tooth. Check out the Flickr photoset here.

Hannah's First Birthday

We had a nice first birthday party for Hannah. Check out the Flickr photoset.

Hannah

Matt on the Computer

Here are some photos I took of Matt playing on my computer on Sunday after church. He sat pleasantly at my computer for about 45 minutes listening to "Wipeout" by the Ventures. He was having the time of his life.

Glen Beck's Conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

I normally agree with Beck's politics, ideology and philosophy -- but not really big on his dramatics or theatrics. That said, I came across this video today in which he speaks of his conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and thought it was quite nice.

Calgary Flames Vs. Anaheim Ducks

Sean took me to the Flames game on November 10, 2006. Flames won 3-0. The first period was pretty exciting. Check out the photos I took.

Dancing Gracie

Grace, Matt, Hannah and I stayed home together the other night while Erin went out. Here' are some photos of Gracie that Matt took.

Kevin Wolff Turns 30!

My brother Kevin turned 30 years old last week. Check out the photos. It's strange to think we're growing up.

Pumpkin Carving

These are some of the best pumpkin carvings I have ever seen.

Ayn Rand's Objectivism

I've been waist deep in "Atlas Shrugged" lately, and have become a bit obsessed with it ... again. Some have asked me to define what it is about the philosophy that I enjoy, and I recently came across this description of "Objectivism" in Rand's own words.

1. Reality exists as an objective absolute -- facts are facts, independent of man's feelings, wishes, hopes or fears.
   
   
2. Reason (the faculty which identifies and integrates the material provided by man's senses) is man's only means of perceiving reality, his only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means of survival.
   
   
3. Man -- every man --is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life.
   
   
4. The ideal political-economic system is laissez-faire capitalism. It is a system where men deal with one another, not as victims and executioners, nor as masters and slaves, but as traders, by free, voluntary exchange to mutual benefit. It is a system where no man may obtain any values from others by resorting to physical force, and no man may initiate the use of physical force against others. The government acts only as a policeman that protects man's rights; it uses physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use, such as criminals or foreign invaders. In a system of full capitalism, there should be (but, historically, has not yet been) a complete separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church.