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Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! 

I'm back now after a few weeks off. I needed some down time. Meliisa and I intentionally spend lots of time together over the holidays. It's a season to reconnect and remember that we're friends. We had a great time, saw family, ate a ton, watched movies and worked on our house. This time around in home ownership I seem to be enjoying  the experience more. We owned (and still do) a house in Modesto when we lived there 9 years ago (yes, it's been 9 years since we moved to EPA!) - but working on the house seemed much more a drudgery. I guess I'm older and slightly more patient.

We're looking forward to 2009 - and I'm certainly glad 2008 is over. However, in spite of the turmoil we personally and with NCUD had a prosperous and successful year. We bought a house, had a credit union grand opening and saw it grow and succeed, expanded and further developed our youth programs and watched Samuel continue to mature into a fine young man. Oh yea, we also adopted a slightly crusty and needy German Shepherd. NCUD continues to thrive in spite of the challenges, Melissa's job, New Creation Home is likewise thriving thanks to God's grace and Katie Fantin's leadership. We ended 2008 full of thankfulness and hopeful.

I also wanted to give a few reviews of the movies I watched over the break. Here are my suggestions:

Yes Man: Skip it. I was particularly offended by a rather graphic and somewhat degenerate sexual situation. It's kind of a shame - it has a good story and theme - the referenced scene is superfluous.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Good, but a little slow. I enjoyed the theme, acting, special effects. Great adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story. Worth seeing - might be a better rental.

Gran Torino: LOVED IT - Go see it now. Great story of redemption and restoration set in the backdrop of urban life in a Hmong community.

Frost / Nixon: Great movie. Admittedly I'm a sucker for anything historical, especially dealing with the Cold War or Nixon years. Great acting. I must admit. I'm a history buff - I totally enjoy the History Channel - so I can be a bad judge of how good these types of stories can be. Melissa, while loving history as much as I is a good judge of a story and how overly detailed and boring these things can be. She also loved it.

Here's some recent pictures: 








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