Calendars done!

I finished the calendars and placed the order last night, so they should be here and ready on New Year's Day. I managed to bide my time (read: procrastinate) until there was a sale, so the calendars ended up being $16 each (including tax and shipping), payable sometime between now and January 1. Thanks for all the pictures -- there were some really good ones this year (as you'll see). Click the picture above to embiggen the cover for a preview.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

In case you're interested and around town, Liam and Max will be performing in their school's Christmas concert at 6:30 on Thursday, December 4 at the Wesleyan Church on the south side of town. Everyone is welcome to attend. See you there!

Book Exchange Update -- Now with Music and Movies!

Response at Thanksgiving was overwhelming in favor of doing a book exchange. Plus, Gram had the great idea to expand it to include more media. So bring your used books, CDs, and DVDs (none that you want back, please!) to Gram and Grandpa's house at New Year's, then you can pick out some interesting titles that are new to you. At the end of the day, I'll take any unclaimed items and haul them away for donation. (So again, if you think you'll want something back, don't bring it!)

Christmas Book Exchange?

Chris came up with a great idea. Who's up for a book exchange when we all get together at New Year's? I think there are a lot of readers in the family, and a wide variety of interests to keep it fun. You would just bring any books that you want to contribute, and then go home with something new and exciting to read...that you didn't have to pay for! What could be better than that? I'll ask people at Thanksgiving, but I'll post a poll to the right here as well, so we can get a better idea of the level of interest. Chris thought we could do kids/young adult books as well as adult titles. (Oh, and for you interested parties out there, she even mentioned bringing The Audacity of Hope as one of her contributions!) So cast your vote in the poll, or drop a comment in this post, and if this thing's a go, more details will follow.

Steve's Scholarship

Thought I would post this useful information about how to donate to Steve's scholarship fund. Gram mentioned it this weekend, and said how wonderful it is to see the family names when they publish the list of donors.

If you do want to contribute to Steve's scholarship, write a check to "Marshall County Community Foundation" and write "Stephen P. Jeffirs Memorial" on the memo line. You can send the check to the MCCF at P.O. Box 716, Plymouth IN 46563. If you send it in separately, your name will be listed separately on the donor list (from what I understand from Gram). If not, you can always give the check to Gram and she will give them all to the fund after New Year's.

New Gymnastics Schedule

Klaudia has moved to a new Gym!
Here is her new competition schedule:
Nov. 8 Gymnastics Michiana (Mishawaka) begins at 5ish
Nov. 22/23 Dream Catcher Plainfield, IN
Jan. 17/18 Indy School Zionsville
Jan. 31/Feb.1 Interactive Academy
Feb. 7/8 Elkhart YMCA
Feb. 14/15 Tulip, Holland, MI
Feb. 28/Mar.1 Gym Michiana (Mishawaka)
Apr. 4/5 Level 7 State, Connersville
April 18/19 Joys, South Bend
May 2/3 Horizon, Valpo
May 16/17 Joys, South Bend
June 24/25 Nationals, Downingtownm, PA

Hooper News

Amelia and Todd closed on their house as scheduled on Friday. With the energy of youth, they've already torn up all of the carpeting and are working on getting new flooring in. They plan to do a lot of painting and move in by the end of the month.

Amelia also reports that Taylor will be baptized in January at Elkhart's Trinity Lutheran Church. More details will follow, but keep that in mind as you make your plans for the new year.

Congrats again to Amelia and Todd for taking the big homeownership plunge!

Calendar Reminder

Please email photos for the calendar to me. Not just of your immediate family, but whatever pictures you have of anyone in the extended family. I'd like to have all photos by December 1, if possible, so I can get started creating the pages and get them ordered and printed in time. Remember, if you want a calendar, the cost is $15. If you're a member of the Mark Jeffirs family and you're reading this, please pass this info along to Mark and Carol since they don't have email.

Thanks!

Brady and Cole in Action

Max and I went out to see Brady and Cole's last football game of the season on Saturday. Their team won, trouncing John Glenn by a score of 24-6. It was a cold and windy day -- perfect football weather. Congrats to Brady and Cole for ending the season on such a high! Take a look at some pictures of the boys in action:

Max was initially suspicious of Janis

Must have been a rousing pep talk

In the thick of things

Cole, Number 47

Brady, Number 29

Sharks Update

Matt is doing a book signing for Sharks on December 7 in Decatur, GA. If you happen to be planning to be in that area, drop him a line for more details. I got my copy of the book the other day, and it's very impressive. I particularly like the beady (literally, it's a big bead) black eye of the shark on the cover.

Amelia and Todd found a house!

Amelia and Todd are happy to report that their long house hunt has come to an end. They should be closing on their new Goshen home on Halloween (spooky!) or possibly even sooner. More pictures and information about the house can be found here. In related news, Amelia starts back to work on Friday (gotta make those mortgage payments). Congratulations to Amelia, Todd, and Taylor -- it's been a pretty action-packed year for them!

Also, Amelia wants you all to know that you can get your fix of Taylor pics here, at her Facebook page. I'm not sure if that link will work if you're not her friend or whatever (many things about Facebook still elude me, though I do have a page), so I'll post a couple of shots below.

Coming Soon: Matt's Book, Sharks

Sharks (now available for pre-order through Amazon) is an interactive book designed and illustrated by our very own Matt. This isn't just your average book about sharks, which tells you that they have pointy teeth and sharp fins; thanks to Matt's illustrations, we get to be up close and personal with them to see just how sharp and pointy those bits are. There are plenty of fun elements to get the kids involved, including flaps to lift and a suitably scary great white pop-up. Click on the illustrations below to get larger versions.

Matt tells me that the 11x11 pop-up version will be available in November at fine major retailers everywhere, and that an 8x8 version without pop-ups (but with stickers!) will come out next spring. I hope Matt will have his autographin' Sharpie ready on New Year's Day, because I plan to get a few copies of this myself (one that the boys can read now, and a couple more to save for them for when they get older and aren't so rough on books).

Congratulations, Matt!

Cole and Brady's Football Schedule

10/4 12:00 p.m. @ Triton
10/11 12:30 @ home
10/18 12:00 @ Wawasee
10/25 12:30 @ home

If you need more information, shoot Janis an email.

Marathon Bill

Check out this article about Bill's mini-marathon. Way to go, Bill!

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