It's long past update-time. I can't believe how busy we've been the last few weeks.
Gearing up for Christmas
Of course, part of our busy-ness is partly, if not largely, due to the looming Christmas holiday. I would have to say this is shaping up to be the best Christmas our family has had yet. Everything is coming together nicely. We've had more of a budget this year than we've had in a few years and that has logically contributed to more lavish giftgiving, but this is also the first year all three of our kids will be able to really appreciate the Christmas occasion.
Christmas won't be the same without Kermit Dog, but we have Buffy and Angel to try to fill in that void.
At work, we tried to arrange a Christmas party for the company, but we didn't really think it through well enough and certainly didn't plan far enough ahead. By the time we started checking availability at restaurants and recreation centers, everything was already booked by other people. We may still have a get-together or some sorts in January.
Despite not having a formal gathering of the Iodynamics brains, Mike and I decided to give a geeky gift to everyone in the company and we did that earlier this week. Everyone seems pleased with their iAudio X5 hard drive-based portable digital media players.
I wonder if anyone will bother talking to each other at the office anymore. We'll all be wearing headphones and communicating via Jabber.
Not gearing up so well
Last Saturday morning, we were taking Maya and Lucy to their Christmas recital for their tumbling class when our Mazda Protege started making an unusual knocking sound after I turned a corner. It wasn't the kind of sound I'd ever heard before. I thought it might be a CV joint issue, but I wasn't sure.
The car still drove fine (aside from the noise), so I continued on to the recital. After the recital, we retrieved the other car from home and took the Mazda to our local tire store. They checked it out and called us later saying it wasn't something they could fix; It was in the transmission.
Earlier this week, I made arrangments to have the car looked at by Gary Smith -- a mechanic who is also a good friend of the family. He confirmed the problem was in the transmission and said our best bet was to replace it with one out of a car in a salvage yard. So, that's going on.
Meanwhile, we only have one car to use, which has been interesting. Christine and I have taken turns driving and giving each other rides on different days. It hasn't worked out too bad.
Last Saturday, after hearing back from the tire store, we left the kids with my parents and went car shopping. We test drove the new Mazda5 and a used Honda Pilot.
The Mazda5 is a neat car. It's the product of newfandangled cross-breeding experiments between minivans, SUVs, and compact sedans. The result is a 5-door vehicle that seats 7, has dual sliding doors for the rear passengers, gets up to 27 miles per gallon, and is available as a 5-speed stick-shift.
The Mazda5 was fun to drive too, but I was discouraged by its lack of all-wheel drive, something I consider to be an important safety feature for driving in Utah.
The Mazda5 also doesn't come with a lot of cargo room if you use the rear bench seat. If you fold it down, however, there's plenty -- more if you also fold down the middle-row captains chairs.
The Honda Pilot is dreamy. That's all I can say. I really want one, but Christine's got her eyes fixed on the Honda Odyssey right now. We'll see what happens, if anything.
Our current plan is to sell the Mazda (once it's fixed) and replace it.
Basement updates
Another reason I've been so busy is that I've been working hard in our basement. I was hoping to have the two bedrooms and the office done by Christmas, but I think it'll be more like mid-January now. I'm now using the office as an office, freeing up space in the future family room/theater where I had a makeshift office set up.
The bedrooms are getting close. All the framing is pretty much done. Most all the insulation is installed around the outside walls. Electrical is nearly finished. I need to do finish up those items and do the ductwork and then we'll be ready for wallboard.
A December party
Christine's family had a get-together for all the kids (grandkids of Christine's parents) last Sunday. It was fun... that is, until Maya got sick. She spent the trip back home vomitting into cups and bags in the car. Not so fun.
I took a lot of pictures -- no, not of the vomitting, of the get-together -- and here are some of them.
Alex Peterson working on his project | 
Benjamin Peterson | 
Eli and Howie, the Dyes' dog |
Emily and Michael Nelson | 
All the grandkids pose with their art project | 
Lucy shows of a present she got |
Benjamin came down with a headache and was not happy. | 
Morgan Peterson enjoying her new toy | 
Christine helps Eli by tracing the outline of his hand. |
Hayden Robinette holds on to his mom pants | 
Melissa and Benjamin Peterson | 
Lucy (cute antlers) adding ice to her drink. |
