Out of the Box

Melissa and I are on a short vacation, visiting friends in Wisconsin and spending some quality time in Chicago. You can read the Bells' account here. More coming soon.

Mattern Family Christmas

Warm house.
Sugar-filled girls.
Great meal.
Non-stop action.
Needed more boys.
Coming soon.

More from the Schulz Christmas

A good shot of Ella with Reese.

Melissa has brought a fun tradition to our little family. Press (spritz) cookies. A little difficult to understand the concept at first, but the result is quite tasty. Ella was able to help this year, although her contribution was grabbing the dough and shoving it in her face.

Schulz Christmas: The Great Rabbit Hunt

Beginning last year, the traditional rabbit hunt went down again without a hitch. After a few days at the Schulz farm, the Schulz/Jordan boys put on their boots, find some guns, and try to shoot some rabbits (and not each other). We're two-for-two.

Schulz Family Christmas

Bitter cold.

Lots of coffee.
Every Schulz (/Jordan).
Kids getting into everything.
More so next year.

Merry Christmas

From the four of us.

Larae Pearl

Born to Phillip and Erin Ramsey from our small group.

Baby Boom 2.0 is complete. BB 3.0 begins in April.

Trouble at the Portrait Studio

Baby Boom 2.0

Today we went to Mercy Hospital to meet the Tjernagel's daughter, Anja Jayne. She's a cutie-pie, much like her father.

Anja is the sixth baby born to a member of our church connection group. We found out later tonight that another couple in our group had their daughter tonight, too. We can't wait to meet her, too.

Let All Mortal Flesh

Mark (Metropuritan) has posted his favorite lines from Christmas songs and wants your feedback. One of my new favorites is "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence." Here's my comment at Mark's blog,

One more ... I've been listening daily to a song called "Let All Mortal Flesh Be Silence." Two versions ... one by Fernando Ortega and another by Red Mountain Church (love these guys). It's a somber song in a minor chord ... a nice balance for the more cheerful and joyful songs of the season. This song won't inspire you to roast chestnuts or build a snowman, but ironically, this song moves me to joyfulness.

Head over to Mark's blog and leave your favorite lines, or hit the links below to get them both (or navigate the Amazon music store to get the entire albums - both are very good). Best 99 and 89 cents you'll spend all day.

Let All Mortal Flesh
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent

One Year Ago

We started the bottle.

Letters

Our letters are finished and should go out on Friday. I'll also be posting an interactive version of it on the blog next week. That should be even more enjoyable than the paper version, though not as easy to put on your fridge.

Christmas Albums

Hot on the heels of my last post regarding the Amazon mp3 store, here are some great Christmas albums for your consideration.

Joy to the World (Faith Hill)


A Christmas Together (John Denver & the Muppets)

A Charlie Brown Christmas

A Christmas Album (Amy Grant)

Noel (Josh Groban)


What A Night! A Christmas Album (Harry Connick, Jr.)


Anything by Mannheim Steamroller
Get Steamrolled

So get busy downloading, fill your iPod, and enjoy your road trip home for the holidays.

Amazon's mp3 Store

I wanted to put this out there for my fellow music lovers. If you've bought music online or through the iTunes store, I think you'll love the Amazon mp3 Store. Here's why:

1. No DRM (Digital Rights Managment) restrictions - this means you can play the songs on any computer or mp3 player and burn them to disc with ease. Genius.
2. Cost - Amazon sells their music for less than most other services. Most tracks cost $0.79 to $0.99 each, but when you find a special offer or buy an entire album, they are ridiculously cheap. Eighteen Ella gems for $2? I'm listening to them right now, and I'm feeling guilty for not paying more.
3. 256 kbps - The Amazon tracks are of great quality (vs iTunes at 128kbps)
4. Massive library (and growing daily) - if you can't find it on Amazon, you probably don't need it.
5. Preview music - listen to a portion of a song before you buy it.
6. Easy to set up and download - Just download the Amazon mp3 Downloader and get started. Click on the "Getting Started" link on the store's home page for more information.
7. Ella goes to college - By clicking to the Amazon store through our blog, we make money. Nothing significant ... a few pennies per song. So I guess Ella can go to a community college. For a year. Part-time. Thanks!
   

Ready to explore the store? Click the link below.

Amazon mp3 Store

Best Photos of 2008

The Big Picture posts some of their best photos from 2008. Here are a few of them:

Go here to see more. WARNING: Some shots are graphic.

Us

Photography: Nicole Reynolds

Ella Walks

Last Saturday, while babysitting at the Sheriff house, Ella and I worked on her walking skills. She made lots of progress.

Ella's Swinging Christmas

We love to hear Ella sing. No, not our Ella. The one and only Ella Fitzgerald. Amazon is offering her Christmas CD (18 songs) for $1.99. That's around 11 cents per song. Get it below.

Trevin's Big Giveaway

At the risk of diluting my chances to win, I thought I should pass this out. Trevin Wax is giving away his 10 favorite books from 2008 (including an ESV Study Bible, worth $260 total). Go here for details. 

25 Days of Free

Amazon's mp3 store is offering free Christmas music (one song per day) every day until Christmas. You can still download songs from previous days. Hit the link below to get them.

Free Christmas Songs

G & G Clause

Received this photo of Grandma & Grandpa Schulz Santa & Mrs. Clause today. I must say, it's kind of creepy ... in a jolly sort of way.

Pregnancy #2: 21 Weeks

Ella's 1-Year Stats

Weight 23 pounds (75th percentile)
Height: 29 inches (50th percentile)
Head circumference: 17.5" (25th percentile)

Bottom line: After one year, our kid is a normal-height, small-headed, chubby girl.

Photo Shoot

Our friend, Nicole, came over and took some photos for our Christmas letter. Here are some photos that didn't make the cut.

Ella's behavior was good for about three minutes ...

... then she struggled to get her shoe off ...

... she got it!

Pixar Deal

Word has it that Amazon is offering a steep discount on a Disney/Pixar box set. Deal starts at 4pm CST and lasts until they run out. Click below to learn more or purchase.

Scrambled Eggs

No need to explain this post...

Meeting Santa

On Saturday, Melissa and Ella met Sheryl, Marcia, Amber and Anna at Santa's Village. Ella enjoyed riding the train with the girls and sitting on Santa's lap.

Bed Head

Ella's hair has grown quite a bit in the last few weeks. Because of this, she often wakes up looking hilarious. Here's a photo of a classic comb-over that I like to call "the Trump."

The longer the nap, the crazier the hair. These shots were after a three-hour siesta:

There's a pretty good chance she will look like this someday.