The kids adore their Uncle Josh. When Art and Lew returned this morning from sledding with him Art told a long story about how they were sledding and they didn’t see it but before they could stop they hit a ramp and flew threw the air. He was so proud and described in great detail how Lewis wiped out but he didn’t and everyone was OK.

Today we had a gathering to celebrate Art’s birthday with his friends from pre-school and the neighborhood. It was a birthday dance party, complete with a disco ball, strobe light and fancy clothes. It was chaotic, loud, a little overwhelming, but really quite fun. We made some pizza and Bubbe made delicious brownies with ice cream.

Strobe light fun.

Babies were passed around. Here one is seen in Erin’s arms (Evva’s mom).

Blurry birthday cake.

Oscar and Netta.

Evva holds Bailey. I just love this photo!

Here are some photos I took for a story that ran in today’s paper. Read it if you have the time. It’s about a ‘wet house’ in St. Paul–a place where late stage alcoholics can basically drink freely until the die. It’s incredibly sad but also exactly what these guys need. A home, 3 square meals and no judgement. After spending time with them they really do seem beyond recovery. Part two comes out next Sunday.

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Ben and I are Harry Potter fans. So naturally we wanted to see the latest and penultimate installment of the Harry Potter series in the theaters! But who to watch our brood? So we asked my aunt Nance and uncle Brian if they could double team babysit for us. Standing nearby while I asked Nance was my other uncle Bob’s girlfriend, Jules. She suggested that she and Bob could come on over as well. And so it was that four adults babysat our four children. Had the boys been up we would have wanted each adult to be holding a child, but at least we have the actual babies and all four sitters represented here…

Thanks everybody!

(and we really liked the movie, too)

Here’s a message Lewis left me. The first 10 seconds are the most fun, then it’s just lots of silence until the end. I love how he says ‘hello papa.’ It’s ‘Hello Paahaa.’

[If you fast-forward to 1:05 you can also hear Lewis ask if anyone can hear him and if the listener is “out of batteries”]

(this embeded voicemail only shows up for me when I use google chrome for some reason).

Yesterday we had new headshots taken of the photo staff (better reflecting the current state of my baldness and gray in my beard).