Rinn Reflections

Well, we got back to Steamboat around noon today after leaving yesterday after lunch. Yesterday afternoon we traveled through horrid whiteout conditions over Rabbit Ears Pass (Continental Divide) and on to Silverthorne. When we got to Silverthorne, we found out that they had closed Rabbit Ears Pass only 10 minutes behind us. Traveling to Silverthorne is usually a 2 hour trip at the most, but it took us nearly 5 hours to get there. Our parents were praying for us, and we know that God protected us during our travel yesterday!

Once we finally got to Silverthorne, we found out that CDOT had closed I-70, the interstate that we take from Silverthorne to Denver. The town was absolutely packed, and of course all the hotels were full. We heard that the Red Cross had opened a shelter at the local rec center, but by the time we waited in traffic to get there, it was full. So, we joined many other stranded travelers and spent the night in the outlet parking lot in our vehicles! It honestly wasn't as bad as it sounds, thanks to the blanket & pillow that my mom insisted we bring when we left Texas & all the snacks that Dave's mom sent with us when we left Steamboat (for the first time) yesterday!

When we woke up around 6:30 this morning (sore and stiff!), the interstate was still closed, so we grabbed a quick breakfast at Burger King and then joined the long line of vehicles sitting on the shoulder waiting for the interstate to open. Thankfully, we had lots of books, sodoku, and books on tape to keep us occupied. I also walked to the closest gas station for awhile so I could charge my phone in an outlet. We sat there for 3 hours, until Dave's mom called with a very bad update. Apparently road crews were using explosives to try to bring down the snow in 10 different areas BEFORE the road is reopened. We decided to head back to Steamboat (thankfully all those roads were open!), and while road conditions weren't great, they were definitely better than yesterday! At this point, the interstate is still closed; but, we're hoping that it will be open by tomorrow morning so we can head back to Texas! This isn't quite how we planned on spending New Year's, but we're always glad for extra time with family! Please pray for our safety as we head home.

We received this little laugh from some friends in Lafayette, IN. This is a humble attempt to define/describe women from an engineer's point of view... all in good humor!






I (David) would like to point out that the woman never even enters the Gap store in order to complete the mission. The woman obviously attempts to avoid the man (possibly in the Gap store, but most likely lost in the mall) and thus risk returning anything she deems "cute" (everything).

...we wish you a truly wonderful Christmas! We're headed to Trophy Club today to spend Christmas Eve & Day with my family, and then we're driving up to Steamboat Springs to be with the Rinns! We'll be back in January!

Merry Christmas!

Last night, Dave surprised me with a wonderful evening out to ICE! at the Gaylord Texan! I knew he was planning a special date night, but no matter how I pleaded, begged, and connived, he wouldn't give me any clues! On the way there, he tried to trick me and said he had packed my swimsuit, which made me think that we were going to the brand-new Great Wolf Lodge right across the highway from the Gaylord Texan.

As it ended up, we saw an amazing ice exhibit made of 2 million pounds of ice at the Gaylord Texan, which is a gorgeous resort on Lake Grapevine. (It is also where we attended the Weekend to Remember conference last March.) Even though we had to wait in line for an hour, it was well worth it! They even give you very fashionable jackets to help you keep warm in the exhibit, which is reportedly 9 degrees. It might not have been the cutest parka I've ever worn, but its slippery material did help me slide very fast down the ice slide! Here are a few pictures from our very fun date night:


There was a stunning nativity scene completely sculpted of ice.
This is the best picture we have of Dave going down the ice slide! It was a ton of fun and made me want to go tubing when we're in Colorado next week!

Yesterday we had my family over for a Christmas lunch! We wanted them to be able to see all of our Christmas decorations. It is always fun for my grandma to come over to our house, plus Anna is here now, too! We're so glad to be able to spend this Christmas season with our families!

Last night was the Earth Builder's Christmas party at my aunt and uncle's house! (As most of you know, my dad and my uncle Kym are the owner's of Earth Builder's, where Dave works.) There is always great food and hilarious games at these parties, & last night was no exception!

The festivities began with an intense scavenger hunt around the house. For example, did you know that Kym and Bernie's house has 51 doorknobs and 36 steps? This style of game is definitely not my forte! :) After dinner we had a traditional white-elephant gift exchange, followed with a competition of my favorite game, Spoons! It is always customary to have 3 "semi-final" games of spoons, and then 2 people from each semi-final game head to the "championship game." Here are Dave and Bernie in their intense semi-final game: Of course, Dave was one of the winners from his table....but he was very surprised to see ME at the championship round. (This was my first time getting to the championship; of course, Dave has been in it every year he's worked for EBI.) Dave was even more shocked at my mad spoon skills as, round by round, the other 4 players were eliminated, and it was just he and I left to compete for title of winner!Although I tried my best, Dave was dealing (which gave him an advantage), and he won (in about 15 seconds)! Even though Dave wins every game, no matter what it is, it all ended well!
As always, we had a great time at the party; until next December, we'll be playing a lot of Spoons at our house to sharpen our skills!

It's hard to believe it's already December 21! The last few weeks have been so busy! My 4th grade honor choir sang 7 concerts last week, and then this Tuesday my third graders performed their holiday program! Whew! My students did fantastic, but I am very relieved that I don't have another program to put on until February!

My Grandma Dolores is here visiting from Minnesota, and, as many of you know, she is slightly hard of hearing. I explained to my students that my somewhat-deaf grandma was coming to the concert (all the way from Minnesota--this really impressed them!) and that, if she was going to hear anything at their performance, they were each going to have to sing very strongly. (Don't worry, all my sweet vocal major friends---I don't teach them to sing "loud"--just "strong.") Well, my story apparently made quite an impression on them, because they did sing very well...but, yesterday I got an e-mail from a mother of one of my students who asked if the whole "deaf Grandma from Minnesota" story was real, because her daughter told her in all seriousness that "Mrs. Rinn said we had to sing loud enough so that her grandma could hear the concert!" I laughed so hard, especially when the mom asked if it was true or just a tactic I use to get my students to sing well! Ha! It was truly special for me to have both of my grandmothers at my Christmas concert!

We also sold our Camry tonight. We had half-heartedly been trying to sell it via the newspaper since we bought the Tahoe in September. But, my parent's good friends Kenn & Kath bought it and are going to give it to a family as a gift! We had a lot of great memories in our car (many, many long trips to Colorado and Minnesota!), but we are very happy that our car is going to someone who is receiving it as a gift through our friends! God really does work all things out--even the details of selling a car! Here are a few good-bye pictures of us with the Camry!

Mac's is our favorite place to eat after church on Sunday, and today Grandpa and Grandma Bergstrom treated us all to another delicious lunch there! (Sadly, Dave isn't in any of the pictures since he was taking them all, and Mom is in Minnesota until tomorrow!)

Our annual Christmas progressive dinner was a blast last night! We started the evening at our house with appetizers and carol singing!
Then we headed to Kimi & Rob's for the main course (served on Kimi's beautiful Christmas china!). Kimi and Rob just recently moved into their new house, so they were very brave to have 16 people over so soon after moving! Our evening ended with dessert and an hilarious white elephant gift exchange at Brian and Tiffany's. We somehow ended up with a Kenny Rogers DVD compilation and a "Dance Like a Superstar" DVD, which we immediately gave to Jenny, who truly wanted it! ;) We feel so blessed to be able to celebrate Christmas with such wonderful friends!

These precious girls have been an amazing encouragement to me this fall as we have studied Hannah's Hope together!
(back) me, Terri, Kimi, Jenny (front) Tiffany, Courtney

Last night we celebrated Dad's 55th birthday along with Nate's 21st birthday! We brought a bakery red velvet cake--both Dad and Nate's favorite--that everyone loved. (If you know my family at all, you know that we all LOVE good bakery cake!! My dad was even successful in sneaking extra pieces when my mom wasn't noticing!)
My grandma crocheted Nate an afghan in his UNT school colors, and Nate also got some useful presents for living on his own in his new apartment.
Dad had a LOT of fun opening his presents--an adorable photo book and poem by my mom about their cruise to Alaska, a fridge stocked with steaks (because all my parents eat is chicken!), a new Mannheim Steamroller CD (his favorite, and he always plays it on maximum volume), and a new game from us, Ticket to Ride. We all were having so much fun with Ticket to Ride that we played until 11:30 last night! I think it might be our new favorite, second only to Settlers of Catan!