GO PAK GO!!!!

Game time temp: -4 degrees with a windchill of -25 (or some ungodly number like that!)

Layers on bottom: 4

Layers on top: 5

Watching the Packers play football in Lambeau Field: PRICELESS


Yes, sportsfans, Richard and I made the journey to Mecca (according to Richard) last Sunday to watch the Packers play in the NFC Championship game. Except for the score and the fact that season is now over, we had a fabulous time! The weather could have been a bit warmer, but that didn't seem to deter the 72,200 fans inside the stadium (or the thousands outside who couldn't get tickets!) from standing and screaming the entire game (oh, except when the offense was on the field -- then, you could have heard a pin drop -- after all, "Quiet, please -- offense is at work!" -- or so the signs said -- might have been nice if the offense had actually shown up!)

A self-portrait. (Please note the cheesehead on Katie's head -- one of the rare occasions when she'll actually put one on!)

Lombardi Ave. -- almost to the stadium...

There it is!! Mecca...

The North End scoreboard -- don't know why it says Browns... 17:35 til kickoff!!

Here they come out of the tunnell!!!

The big "G" flag!!

Every other game we've watched, they've announced Brett's name out of the tunnel -- this game they didn't. Strange. So here's a shot of him "sneaking" out onto the field -- he's the lone Packer on the far right side.

Getting ready for the kick-off -- they had to do it twice because the wind kept knocking over the football. Finally, they had someone hold the ball. The crowd thought that was a bit of cheating and let them know it with several "Boos!"

Brett's first play of the game...

SNOW! SNOW! SNOW!

It actually snowed in Atlanta!! (Twice in one week!) Last weekend we got 2-3 inches of snow on the ground -- of course, it snowed on a Saturday, so there weren't any school closings (sorry, Savannah!!!). However, it was the "good" snow -- the kind perfect for making snowmen. Speaking on behalf of all the native Atlantans, I can't remember the last time we had a snowfall with this type of snow where we could make snowmen -- it's been a while! I remember having some pictures taken with a snowman when I was McCord's age, but that's about it... We had such a fun afternoon playing in the snow -- you'll notice the only person missing from the fun was Preston, who was taking his nap! :-(

Our snowman -- McCord named him Frosty -- how original!

Daddy and Savannah warming up to Frosty.

Daddy getting ready to throw a snowball -- notice the tracks behind him where we rolled the balls for the snowman.

McCord and his new friend, Frosty!
Look at all the snow!!
Really quite pretty!

Not having any "real" sleds, McCord and Hank are riding down the hill in the top to our recycling box -- it worked and made for a fun ride!

Sissy trying the sled...

...almost...

Kersplat! Good try, Sissy!

We did find a hill at our neighbor's house across the street and with the sled Hank's grandmother, SuSu, bought that afternoon, we had another hour of sleding fun!

Preston's First Haircut

Daddy finally put his foot over the Christmas holidays and said that Preston's curls had to come off. Procrastinating as long as possible, we went last week and had them cut. Not to worry, they're safely in an envelope marked "Preston's curls". :-)

Before....

Martina getting ready -- Preston's not sure what the big deal is!

...After

What a handsome guy (with a little food on his face!)

Christmas!!!!!

Santa finally arrived! After several weeks of waiting -- poor McCord, he really did the best he could waiting for the big day -- the morning was finally here! :-) Everyone had a great time busting ribbons and seeing what the big man brought. Preston's favorite thing to do was to walk in a circle around the room from one person's pile to the next seeing what was there. Once he had done that, he was content to sit down and play with some things he got.

"Deer in the headlight" look -- before the chaos

The coveted "talking Captain Jack"

Strange martian bouncy thingy


Looking up at the "flying saucer" that Santa brought everyone -- Preston did not like this toy (and still doesn't!)

Sissy's new camera...

A drum set for a 1 1/2 year old?!? You should see him jam!! :-)

Phil Mickelson pic -- to go along with our golfing collection in the office.

Still loving the Captain Jack...

Sissy wanted, and got, clothes, clothes, clothes... :-)

Richard hopes to improve his literary knowledge during all the upcoming volleyball tournaments with his newest book "Pillars of the Earth"

The marble tower -- a huge hit! :-)

A fun (and still exciting) toy -- the marshmallow shooter! Sissy even got one, but in this picture she must have put it somewhere else....

Captain Jack pjs :-)

Cool dude!

Almost Christmas...

The weeks before Christmas found us doing normal things like decorating the tree, attending McCord's Christmas program at school and searching every morning for our elf friend "Holiday" -- who came to live with us for the month of December. Each night he would fly to the North Pole and report to Santa on the behavior of all family members in the Grice house (believe me when I say that McCord made sure we knew that he was watching Mommy and Daddy, too!). Each morning he would be in a different spot around the house and we had to find him -- McCord really loved playing this game. :-) Amazing what the sentence "Remember that Holiday is watching..." will make a 4 year old do!!!!

Taking a break from putting ornaments on the tree.

Actually, McCord would put the ornaments on the tree and Preston would walk right behind him and take the ornaments off the tree. It was pretty funny to watch! :-)

They ended the concert with McCord's favorite song "We Fish you a Hairy Christmas" -- this is a picture of the "hairy" part.

A picnic on the floor in the pantry -- notice all the cereal on the floor! :-)