Our two-week Christmas holiday ended this past weekend when I flew back to Alaska. School started for me on Monday. As has become our tradition, Stephanie and the boys have remained in Texas for another couple of weeks and Jamiee has gone to visit some of her family. While I am glad they are still soaking up some Texas sun, I also miss them all terribly. And so I enjoy getting messages like this one, which arrived in my inbox minutes ago.  

From: Stephanie
Subject: Your kiddos
Date: January 8, 2008 5:31:27 PM AKST
To: Brian

Hi Brian,
Here are a couple of shots to show you what your boys have been up to.  Jacob discovered that playdough can become whales - and blue teeth are in these days. Toby ate two ears of corn on Sunday night and pooped ALL DAY (8 or 9 times) on Monday - YIKES!!!  And then, tonight, Jacob discovered the joy of sitting on the pot... Oh my!  :-)  I thought that a short video would help him to go since he's been stinking up the house all day, but no action.
Enjoy!
Miss you.  Love you.
Steph