Thanksgiving in Atlanta

This past Thanksgiving, Sharon and I had the opportunity to spend the Holiday with her family in Atlanta courtesy of Delta Airlines Frequent Flyer miles. Although it was great to be able to fly on such a busy holiday time, the fact that we were using frequent flyer miles also meant that we had to have stopovers both ways and that we had to return the day after Thanksgiving. Since I had class the Monday before Thanksgiving, I was only able to spend three days in Georgia with Sharon's family, but Sharon was able to leave a few days early so that she had over a week with her family. It was a lot of fun for us to be able to see family especially since there is a decent chance we may be spending Christmas up in Boston because of difficulties with Sharon traveling so late in her pregnancy. We're not as concerned about Sharon giving birth three weeks early as we are that our insurance wouldn't cover the expenses in the rare case that Kürbis decided to make a dramatic appearance in Pennsylvania over Christmas.

The most memorable part of the Georgia trip for me was the Thanksgiving day touch football game that the family played shortly after the conclusion of the meal. I should have gotten a clue when I saw my brother-in-law John merely nibbling at the Thanksgiving feast, but I blindly continued to stuff myself until John proposed an after-dinner football game. Now I've heard of post-Thanksgiving meal football games, but I've always enjoyed them passively by watching on TV. Needless to say, the touch football game we played was a lot of fun, but also left me hurting the rest of the evening with some of the worst indigestion I've ever had (and that's saying a lot). For Sharon, the trip was a great time for her with her family where they could see Kürbis growing and feel him kicking about.

As far as Kürbis, everything is continuing to go well with him and both he and Sharon have been going through quite a growth spurt recently. The latest doctor's checkup this week was very encouraging and we are waiting to get his final opinion about the Christmas traveling possibility on our next visit on Dec. 12. Between now and Christmas, things are going to be crazy busy for me with tons of schoolwork, but I am looking forward to the chance to taking a break to go watch the Steelers upset the Patriots at Foxboro on December 9. We'll be among the many Steeler fans there that will have the opportunity to glory in the Steelers unlikely triumph.

On a sadder note, these past few weeks have been a little traumatic for Koerber possessions. First, our trusty toaster died. This was soon followed by the even more significant death of our car (that's two cars killed in 3 months in case you're counting) and capped off with the crashing of my laptop computer. Although the toaster and the car are in the process of being replaced, we're still trying to figure out what to do about my computer. This is especially a dilemma since I have a bunch of papers I need to be working on (although the hard drive was salvageable). Despite these minor setbacks, it is still comforting to remember that Kürbis is coming soon and these other problems are small in comparison to the excitement we're experiencing.

The Smith-Maynard family together at Thanksgiving

I've never been to Boston in the Fall...

Well...actually I have been to Boston in the Fall. And we've actually lived in Boston in the Fall. But I thought it was a fun way to start this post rather than merely apologizing profusely for my blogging negligence. Thankfully, I finally have some pictures to post, and I figure I have a whole lot of updating to do as well. This Fall, our last Fall in Boston, has been quite a blur as we feel like we've been a little more busy than we would have liked. In the month of October, Sharon had two separate trips to Vermont to go leaf-peeping, plus she still has that baby inside of her sucking all her energy. It has been really fun for me to actually be able to have pushing matches with Kürbis when he feels the need to stretch or kick his body in some fashion. Being able to feel him moving and pushing against my arm has been an great, albeit a little odd, way to feel connected to him (or her, for those of you who may read a little bit too much into my usage of pronouns).

Over the last weekend in October, two of our RA friends from BFA came to visit us and experience the wonders of Boston in the Fall. It was a great time to catch up with Heather and Jen and reminisce about our time at BFA. Both Sharon and I are excited to be able to stay connected with BFA through Sharon's job and we are still waiting to see if the Lord may have something else in store for us with Janz Team and BFA after graduation. Within the next few weeks, we hope to have a little better of an idea of what we may or may not be doing next, so you'll have to stay tuned. It was also great to have Heather and Jen visit because they did something that Sharon and I always forget to do: actually take pictures. Our digital camera is rather outdated (it is, like, so 2001) and unreliable. We're hoping that Santa (or Broozer or Pokey) brings us a new digital camera, and we'd be interested to hear if anybody has any suggestions. This Thursday, Sharon is heading down to Georgia (I'll be joining her there next Monday) to visit her family for Thanksgiving. This weekend, I'll be flying solo, so if anybody wants to call me and catch up, I'll be at home twiddling my thumbs (or more likely, setting all sorts of spider solitaire records).

Jen, Sharon, and Heather (l-r) at the Manchester-by-the-Sea Harbor

Heather, Mike, and Sharon at Singing Beach

I've got me a wife, she's as big as a whale...* (* full spousal consent was received prior to the posting of this caption)