Family room! 

From this morning's news:

Chiefs Demoted in Pentagon Succession Line

Yeah, the secretary of the army. What does he/she know? Better to have a Rumsfeld crony at the top of the list. Another question: If your Iraq scapegoat is the intelligence services and intelligence-gathering apparatus, then why promote those people in the hierarchy?

Here's a little scorecard for the involved individuals:

Bush/Cheney intelligence guys said:

• There is WMD in Iraq.
• Everyone in Iraq will welcome us with open arms.
• Just a couple hundred thousand troops should do the trick.
• Pay no attention to any intelligence that contradicts any of the first three!

Secretaries of the armed forces said:

• Sure we can take it, but we can't hold it. Our troops are trained to kill, not police.
• We need to prepare (body armor, Jeep Kevlar) better before we invade.
• A couple hundred thousand? You're nuts. (See Colin Powell -- gone and John Shalikashvili --gone)
• The no-fly zones are working.

So...we'll go ahead and promote the first group, and demote the second. What do they know?

TVoR

An addition to Bill and Pat's pad!

A fondue set was a wonderful surprise!

A little bigger shot of the family at 3800 Christmas morning. A wonderful time was had by all!

Is she a cutie or what?? 

Christmas on Pleasant Chapel Road! 

Tonight, Pat and I sat on the living room couch with fragrant candles glowing, the Christmas tree lit and soft Christmas music playing in the background as we poured through several scrap book albums of pictures from past family trips. We enjoyed reflecting on what a wonderful family we have and how much we cherrish being together....with the family....and with each other. It's been a very rich life and we love each of you kids and your families.

The family tradition continues with the Millers. Some shots of Santa's visit and those awaiting to see if they made Santa's good little....(well...maybe not all "little") girls and boy list.

From the closing yesterday:

I prepared a little contract for the girls to sign, and the realtor gave it to them after we were done signing. It looked official, and it said "I will..."

Enjoy my new house!
Take care of my new house.
Follow mom & dad’s rules for the new house.

Adele said "Sure!" and signed it. She was only concerned about whether or not it had to be in cursive.

Zoe gave us what I only need describe as..."The Zoe look," a one-eyebrow-raised, mouth- scrunched look that reflected equal parts skepticism, mischief and knowingness. I think when she signed she had her fingers crossed.

TVoR

This just in!

Adele will now be referred to as "OLGA."

That is all.

TVOR

The deal is closed!
TVoR, Mrs. TVoR and the little Vs of R have a new address. As they say, "Movin' on up!" to the Northeastern reaches of Madison Township. (I can't yet say Hanov...Han...Nope, can't do it.)
Here's something funny...I was looking on MS Streets and Trips, my map software, to see if I was any closer to work at the new address. From Pleasant Chapel? 20.1 miles. From 40 Hilltop? 20.1 miles. Right down to the 1/10 of a mile! Oh, well. I'm hoping its slightly faster. Cheryl's about 10 minutes further from work, though.
Anyway, Willy will be holding down the fort here at Pleasant Chapel. If anybody needs a great little house in a fine neighborhood, this is one for you. For a mere $112,000, it's yours.
TVoR

Claudia and the girls at Clifton Mill!
 

Welcome Alyssa Jean Hofacker!