Jonathan On Ice

This is a video my nephew Jonathan sent me.  This is what he was doing during a recent snow day from school.  At least he was in a vacant parking lot and not out on the street somewhere.

Mizzou Basketball

Thanks to the University of Missouri donating some tickets to Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Jamel and I were able to go see a basketball game last night in Mizzou Arena.  We had a great time.  Mizzou beat Centenary 80-52. Jamel and I enjoyed the game and we got a chance to become a little better acquainted.  

Our next activity is scheduled for New Year's Day (tomorrow).  We will join some folks at Karis in serving dinner at the Loaves & Fishes soup kitchen in downtown Columbia.  This is an on-going project for one of our Community Groups at Karis as they try to meet the needs of some of Columbia's homeless residents.  Jamel seems to be excited about serving with us tomorrow.  He asked me the question last night, "Why are we doing that?"  I got to explain to him that helping people who need it is a really good thing to do.  I'm hoping that over the next year I can show Jamel how important it is to serve others.

By the way, he told me last night that his mother and brothers really enjoyed the sugar cookies that we made last week.

Airbus A320

Janice and I flew home from Florida this morning.  We had an early morning flight from Tampa to Memphis on an Airbus A320 with Northwest Airlines.  I've only flown on an Airbus a couple of times, and me being the aviation enthusiast that I am, I asked the captain for a cockpit tour once we arrived in Memphis.  He was very accommodating and even offered me a seat in the first officer's chair.  I was able to grill him pretty hard on Airbus A320 details.  He told me it has been his favorite airplane to fly by far.  He said he has flown just about every Boeing airliner there is, and he said nothing Boeing has can beat the fly-by-wire system that Airbus has.  He said he also never wants to go back to a yoke after using the side joystick that Airbus uses.

I was very impressed with the quietness and roominess of the Airbus. It seemed the aisle was wider than any other plane I've been on, and there was also a lot of overhead room, even under the overhead compartments.  We got lucky on this flight also by getting to sit in an exit row, so we had plenty of legroom.

We also flew in and out of Columbia for the first time.  Northwest recently started service from Columbia to Memphis with Saab 340 turboprop aircraft.  These are 34 passenger planes and they are also a pretty comfortable ride.  Our flights both coming and going were pretty full, and with Northwest offering competitive pricing, it sure beats driving 2 hours to St. Louis or Kansas City.  

Busch Gardens

Today Janice and I got to go to Busch Gardens in Tampa for a few hours with Bonnie, Eliana and Mikayla.  We had a great time, and the most fun was just being with the kids and watching their reactions to the different experiences they had. This picture is Janice and Mikayla visiting with the dragons that walk around the park.  These were people on stilts with these long dragon necks and heads that they could bend down with to get at the level of the kids.  They were a little scary for the kids. 

Bonnie and I got to ride the roller coaster Montu, which was a lot of fun.  It was a floor-less coaster with 7 different loops.  Top speed was 65 miles per hour and up to 3.85 g's.  What a rush.  

The weather down here was perfect for visiting an amusement park.  As you can imagine, being the Saturday after Christmas, it was very busy.

Our time down here is almost over.  We have one more full day left before we head back to Columbia.  I will post some photos later from the trip.

Christmas In Florida

Janice and I are in Florida for the Christmas holiday.  We're staying with Janice's sister Bonnie and her family which includes two of the coolest niece's (as I do have other cool niece's) in the whole world, Eliana and Mikayla. Eliana is 4 and Mikayla is 2, and for some reason they love their Uncle Tom.  Yesterday I got to show Eliana how to act like a monkey which was something that was enjoyed by all.  I'm working hard at not showing them anything that will get them in trouble, which for those of you that know me, is kind of hard to do.  

We're here until Monday which is when we have a VERY early flight out of Tampa.  I think we have to leave for the airport at 4 am!  

I hope everyone is having a great Christmas holiday.  Hopefully everyone is remembering why we celebrate Christmas.  It's a great time to visit family, give and receive gifts, and eat lots of good food, but Christ is really why we're able to celebrate.  Have a great weekend and I will write more later.

Karis Community Church

Someone was reading the blog and asked me about Karis.  So, in case you are wondering about it, take a look for yourself.

Merry Christmas!

Chili and Sugar Cookies

Jamel came over Monday for dinner and we enjoyed some great Chili that Janice prepared. We then made some Christmas sugar cookies that Jamel took home to give to his mom.  Great fun was had by all!  We also worked on mastering a motocross computer game, which we still need work on.  

We will be attending the Mizzou basketball game on the 30th.  Big Brothers/Big Sisters secured some tickets from the Mizzou athletic department for this game and we will get to sit in the student section. There will probably not be many people there as most students are home on Christmas break, and we're playing Centenary, whoever that is.  But, it will still be fun.

Then, on January 1st, Jamel and I will be serving dinner at the Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen in downtown Columbia along with others from Karis Community Church.  Keep checking back for more updates!