Getting Ready for the countdown

We just got back from Outback and I am FULL!!! I ate my 12 oz. Outback Special and portions of both my children's. And a double order of their delicious broccoli. Mmmm. We are getting all packed up and have set the clock ahead 2 hours so that the kids can experience "midnight" and the countdown. I would like to thank youtube and it's community for helping make that possible. How do we take care of the 1988? We'll see.

Happy New Years friends!

--erik w/a "k"

ok...an addendum.
we got our ice cream sundaes and drinks and gathered around the 17"laptop to watch the countdown "live". If you have viewed the video above you will notice that there is a 1988 that pops up after the ball drops. We had to run "pass interference" as soon as the ball dropped. It was very funny and I am sure we will talk about it for years to come.

Golfing during the holidays

Yesterday I went on our "annual" Williams Men Golf trip. We headed out to one of the fine golf courses in South Carolina and began what is always filled with laughs, arguments over scores and lots of terrible shots.

My dad, brother, brother-in-law and I hit the links. We actually went 2 days ago and then by the 4th hole it was raining too hard that we called the front desk and asked for a rain check. I didn't even go look for my ball I hit off the tee because it was raining too hard. (that is a rarity, as I think a good game of golf is if you come out at the end with more balls than you started with. i love the woods!)

So we came back the next day. My brother and I rode in one cart together and my dad and wes rode in the other one. Rune and I can STILL fight like nobody's business to this day. (that's why I think we would be fun to watch on the Amazing Race as we would make for good television.) I think Rune's counting leaves something to be desired and Rune finds that often I forget a stroke...he counts every single one! No matter how loud we got, we would always race each other back to the cart to see who would drive to the next hole. We are seriously 10 years old still! Well, he's 8 cuz I'm the oldest...and yes, I should know better. But we laugh every time we see each other slowly walk faster and faster until it becomes a sprint. All is fair game too...poor clubs don't like that part.

I had 2 very memorable shots. The first was from the woods and straight into my golf cart, off the inside of the windshield and out into the perfect spot on the fairway. The second was from a tough shot by a tree (is there a theme here?) and over a big water hazard, hitting the top of the wall that the inlet from the lake stops at and up onto the green! It was my 3rd favorite shot ever.



The final score? Well, my brother golfs a lot and my father golfs quite a bit too. Lets just say that I was leading after the 4th hole and leave it at that, shall we?

Oh, Rune called ahead and asked if it was OK that I wore jeans because I was from out of town and didn't bring any dress pants...and I would lose my pants if I wore any of the others' pants. So when we got to the first tee box the "ranger" said, "We have a dress code here, so you can either take off your pants or go back home and change." I began to jokingly unbuckle, but I think he was semi-serious. I hate golf rules. They are so uptight.

One more thing...The lake was down a lot as there has been a drought out here and there were about 10 balls that I found down in the rocks by the water hazard. So yes, it was a good game.

Wii Arm

For Christmas we got a Wii. We have been out shopping for games to add to the collection. Some games were returned in favor for more 4 player/family games. The sport one that it comes with is a big hit. We play a lot of tennis. The kids really like the boxing event. It wears them out, so we like it too. Haha.

Winter Sports is good too, but it takes a long time, so there is quite the commitment. I picked up Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz today. Normally $50. Now $30, plus $10 off before December 30. That was a good score. It has 50 quick crazy fun little games to play. They are over quick, so we can turn-style people through fast.

This is hurting my sleep ability though. It is 1:40AM as I am writing this now and I still have 1 more skeleton (luge) to go. I think I am in the lead!!!

I'll toss some other "reviews" later.

Here's a shot of my bro playing.


My sis playing winter sports.

Merry Christmas

Well, here we are. It is Christmas morning and we have only begun. We celebrate 2-3 times every year. The first round, which we just wrapped up was at the in-laws. I got a very cool dunder mifflin shirt. We broke tradition this year and decided between all four of us that we would get one gift to all of us from all of us. We got the Wii.

We figured the rest of the family would supply plenty of other gifts so our load would not be missed. We were right. I am really looking forward to busting it out and playing for hours and hours.

We next head down to my side of the family and do it all over again. The 3rd round this year will be at home. Santa left a note saying that we had asked if he could deliver the big gifts to our home so we didn't have to pack them on the way home. He is very easy to work with. So, when we get home, Kynzi will be opening a keyboard and Karston will be opening a drum kit. What is Santa thinking?! Does he not love us? :) (shhh...don't tell the kids. they don't know yet)

Last night we watched Christmas Vacation, which is a holiday tradition. I wet myself like I usually do. ;) The problem with movies like that is I know what is coming next so I laugh before it happens and when it happens. I tried to keep my pre-laughter to myself, thankfully Jeanne-Ann was laughing right along with me. I think that may be my favorite part...laughing really hard with Jeanne-Ann.

You know you're in the south...

I love the south. It's a great place to be. I am really enjoying my time down here for the holidays. We are gearing up for the Christmas festivities, including an acted out version of Luke 2 by the kids later today. I will post pics later.

Some of the fun stuff about the south is the crazy classic southern stuff you see on TV and the movies. All the southern stereotypes, etc. Here are a few pics I took that exemplify that.

This is classic "good ol boys" sittin at a gas station that we filled up at. It makes me think of a slower time filled with lots of nothing, fishing and free time.


This is right down the road from my in-laws. It is filled with awesome nick-nacks and what-nots. It rocks!



We were driving down the mountain and we saw cows out and my mother-in-law said they often have cows on the road. I had never seen any in all the times I had been there. Around the corner, what do I see? A cow on the road! I got a short video of it as I chased after it. Hope it works.

Bumped?

We headed out to the East Coast last night. When we got to the airport we found out they cancelled us on the first flight to LA because there was a delay and we would not have made the connection. So we were to leave 2 hours later. We asked if they needed any volunteers. They needed 2. Karston and I would leave 1 1/2 hours later and arrive 3 hours later than JA and Kynzi. We had a layover and they were direct.

Last second they were talking about taking some guy off the plane and putting us both on becuase some guy didnt show up. I said I would go on my own. So I walked Karston on the plane and the lady in the row with Jeanne-Ann and Kynzi moved for us and Karston was able to go with them.

I flew 1st class to Atlanta and got $400 in Delta dollars! YES!!!

So we drove and took a minor detour through Taccoa Falls. We stopped by Taccoa Falls College (a C&MA school) and I walked the kids up to the falls where 39 people died in 1977 and 60 others were injured when the dam broke and water flooded out of nowhere the whole school area. I read the story to the kids and then we checked out the falls. It really is beautiful.

We made it to JA's fam and then we will hit my fam next.

I'll update u more...

Craigslist Vs. Ebay

I have been an avid fan of ebay for a number of years now. I have bought and sold quite a bit on there. More sold, than bought. I have tried to pay for Christmas stuff as much as possible through sales of black Friday purchases and hot items of the year. The upside...it is a bidding war and you can get more than what you hope for. The downside...having to ship it out and pay all the fees from ebay and paypal. I have also had to deal with people who claim they didn't bid and someone must've gotten on to their account. I had one guy do that last year and one guy last week.

This year I have gotten onto Craigslist. The upside...I set a price and there are no extra fees and no shipping. The downside...having to sort through a number of fakes (new revelation to me today) and driving out to meet someone I don't know. So far all my meetings have been good. Although one guy never showed up and didn't answer his phone. grrr. There is reason to be careful though. That is why I don't have anyone come to my house (unless it is a TV entertainment system...interested? $75). I also don't like haggling. Especially when I agree to meet with someone and then they offer me a lower price than what I asked for. That should be done before you meet, unless the person sees that it is not what they thought or says they just want to take a look at it first before they decide.

The biggest thing I really like is not having to pay fees and shipping.

It is a bit of a toss up for me. I am not sure where I land on which I like the best. I have been on ebay for so long. It's kind of like a relationship, ya know? I have 100% positive feedback, etc. I also don't have to worry about any shady characters.

I am careful when I meet people and meet in well lit and people filled areas.

So for now, I think I will craigslist things until Sunday. Then I will ebay the rest for 1 day auctions so I can ship stuff out before I leave for vacation. We will see what happens.

Reach. It is a way of life...

I realize it has been a bit over a week since I last "spoke" to you. Sorry for my silence. No excuses, just an apology.

This weekend the youth ministries at Salem Alliance did something different. It was a first actually. Middle School, high school and college ministries all got together for one 2 hour event. It was Sunday morning and it was called "Reach."

The design was to get students a glimpse of being missions minded. Outward focused if you will. Mark Lynch, from the national office doing candidate development, was there. A great friend of mine since we were kids. He works with people (specifically at Simpson University or those thinking of possibly going there) who are thinking about going into full time ministry.

Several students wrote monologues and recited them as if they were the actually missionaries who lived years ago. That was awesome. They shared "their" stories and how each person before them had influenced them into doing missions work. Their stories were amazing and inspiring.

John Stumbo, our senior pastor, did a great job sharing some stories of him being lost and getting help and incorporating that into how we need others to help us find the way, others to send us, others to go, etc. from John 10.

There were a ton of pieces that made the whole thing awesome!!!

Josh challenged students to make a decision and a whole bunch of students stood up saying that they sense God possibly calling them into some kind of ministry.

Living a life of going to where God calls us to go needs to be a life style. Not just a one time thing. That is what we are called to do.

Are you ready to serve?