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60 degrees and Snow? How does that work I hear you ask. It’s quite simple really when my work pays for us to go to Snow Mountain to play for a few hours.

On Saturday all employees of Amdocs in Atlanta got to spend a few hours playing in the snow in 60 degree heat. The snow is man made of course which gives it a different texture to the snow that falls from the sky, but still it was lots of fun. Stephanie enjoyed going down the little slide in a toboggan, while Daniel enjoyed flying down the steep slide in a tube.

Sunday was spent at church in the morning, having lunch with our friends Brian and Jen Smalley’s and their kids. In the afternoon I replaced the burner in our BBQ (resurrecting it for another year or so) and completely cleaning out our fish tank to get rid of the abundance of snails we had in the tank. Pen was good enough to get out and weed our front garden making it look nice for spring.

This week is the C3 Atlanta’s Women’s conference. Pen is really looking forward to attending this, every year she has a great time and gets something huge from the conference. .If you are a woman and in Atlanta this week you should be attending. It is a life changing experience.

Well my first week in LA is done. The people at work are nice and the new project is going to keep me really busy. My work put us up at Embassy Suites Glendale which was about 45min from LAX. It’s a very nice hotel with breakfast provided in the morning and a mangers reception provided at night (free drinks and food).

The hotel is close enough that my work mate Yan and I can walk to work each morning (It probably takes us 5-10 min). In doing so we have discovered that at least at the office we are working at, very few people in LA arrive at work at 8:00am. By 9:30am though everyone is there. It has been weird arriving at work and realizing that everyone on the East Coast are just about ready to go to lunch.

On Saturday I went to Universal Studio’s Hollywood. This was a great place to go when you’re by yourself. Lots of different shows to see, and things to do. I spent from about 10:30am to 5:30pm at Universal Studio’s. Beyond enjoying it for myself I also realised that the next time we do theme parks with the kids, we won’t do Universal. The theme park is really made for kids 8+, maybe even older.

On Sunday I went to the Glendale Galleria and The Americana at Brand in the morning and C3 Studio City at night. It was great to see what is happening at the C3 church plant in LA. If you are looking for a contemporary church in LA this is the place to go.

Tonight so Yan actually got to see some sites of LA, we went to Hollywood Blvd. Lots of stars on the ground and tourist shops. It was the one place that we didn’t stop at when Pen and I visited LA with my folks about 6 years ago.

Almost through my stay, looking forward to flying home and seeing the family again on Friday.

It snowed last Friday here in Atlanta. We received 3 inches of snow which is probably the most we have experienced since the first year we were here. It was great fun as you can see from the video below.

I’m off to LA in the morning for 2 weeks. Which is much better than the 4 weeks my work was initially proposing. Pen will do a fantastic job as Super Mum. Meanwhile while I’m over there, I will get a chance to check out the LA church plant C3 Studio City.

This weekend we had our friends Trevor and Amy Garrett come and visit from Toronto. Trevor and Amy pastor the Toronto C3 Church, they are fantastic people and we love to see them whenever they come into town. The kids love having Trevor and Amy come and visit too as they always bring them books by one of their favorite authors Robert Munsch. This time they received the books Stephanie’s Ponytail (Annikins) and The Fire Station (Classic Munsch).

In addition to this Daniel came down with a fever this weekend which put an immediate hold on our Super Bowl plans. Instead of catching up with a bunch of friends, we are now spending the night at home as a family, hoping that Daniel will be well enough to go to school tomorrow. So far so good!

Earlier this week there were layoffs at work. It was a real shame to see people who you have worked with over the past 9 years let go. At least they are being given a package of sorts. Still it’s not a great thing.

In other news it looks like I will be traveling for work again. I have been asked to be involved in a new project which requires Flex programming experience. I will be working in LA for a period of time. Not too sure on the dates or how long (that is still to be decided) but it will happen. I’m sure when it happens Pen will do a fantastic job as “Super Mom” again.

It’s time for the Super Bowl so I will sign off now. Here’s hoping the Saints win this one.

So my work travel is done. Two weeks away from the family is enough I think, especially when your weekend flies. Getting home on Friday night and leaving by 5:00pm on Sunday afternoon does that. Still it was a good experience with everything seemingly going as well as you could expect.

While in Orlando and Miami I met some nice people in the office, and was even able to catch up with our friends Dale and Bob Woodbridge while I was in Miami. It was great to see them again and to hear what had been going on in their lives.

The strange part about the travel was that I spent my birthday in Orlando. So I celebrated my birthday in my hotel room, by myself. Penni and the kids did send me a video though wishing me a happy birthday which made it all better.

In other news it turns out that that this weekend is going to make the 11th weekend in a row that Atlanta has had either a wet or cold weekend. I’m glad I got a bit of warmth by going to Miami. Here’s hoping that Atlanta’s groundhog General Beau Lee doesn’t see his shadow and our winter is soon coming to an end.

It’s also strange this year because we don’t really have any vacations planned yet. Last year we basically had the whole year planned out before it had even started. My Parents were coming in April, so we were going to go to Disney with them. Then in September we were all heading off to Australia for a couple of weeks. This year beyond a vague Penni and I are going somewhere to celebrate 10 years of marriage (probably Paris) we don’t have a clue. Any suggestions? Disney again? The beach?????

For the next two weeks I will be working in Florida. Finally after a couple of years the old BellSouth Data is being merged into the AT&T database and systems. Subsequently I am traveling to Orlando FL this week and Miami FL next week to hold the users hands as they get used to using a new system. I get to come home and see everyone for the weekend but fly out on the Sunday night.

Meanwhile back on the ranch Pen will be “Super Mom” looking after the two kids by herself. So far things look good as our neighbors Jason and Julie have invited Pen and the kids over for dinner tonight, and Pen’s friend Annie will be dropping by tomorrow night.

Last night Pen and I went out for dinner with our friends Brian and Jessica for my birthday. We went to Outback Steakhouse, where you can buy real Australian beer. James Boags Premium larger was my favorite beer in Australia and it is offered at Outback Steakhouse. We had a fantastic time hanging out with Brian and Jessica and wish we could do it more often. A big thanks to Annie who came over to babysit the kids.

Christmas was lots of fun with Santa delivering a Wii, Maxus Bakugan’s, Baby Dolls, books, DVD’s and electronic photo albums. A delicious Lamb Roast for lunch followed by a day of just hanging out and playing, made it a perfect day.

To add to the Christmas fun, Pen and I both took the week after Christmas off to be with the kids.

On the Monday we took the kids to the Georgia Aquarium. As you can see from Stephie’s expression, it was a day of amazement for her. As for Daniel, you can see it was a day of map reading.

Tuesday was quite simple, we asked the kids what they wanted to do, and they requested McDonalds for lunch. So that was it. Pen also took Daniel to see Alvin and the Chipmunks at the cinema.

Wednesday we headed off to Ink which is not as some people have suggested a Tattoo parlor, but instead an “Interactive Neighborhood for kids”. We followed this up with Pizza for lunch. Another big hit with the kids.

Thursday morning we took the kids to Monkey Joes where they got to play with their friends Caden and Caelan McMullen. It was awesome to see Daniel and Caden running around together and Stephanie and Caelan playing together. Stephanie was addicted to speed (not the drug) as she kept climbing the biggest jumping castle and zooming down the slide as fast as she could go.

Friday looks to be a play date day, with either us visiting or people coming to visit us. Either way it will be good and the kids will have a blast. Daniel can’t wait to show anyone who comes through the door how to play the Wii.

With the year 2009 coming to an end and 2010 approaching fast, I just want to take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year, and pray abundance and blessing upon you in 2010.

Happy New Year everyone!