Choir Practice!

Pastor Fred reserved our Saturday morning this week for a Christmas choir kick-off. Yes, I said Christmas. Very enjoyable stuff. No "O Holy Night" this year (I guess that would get old), but I think we have my second favorite Christmas song lined up.


Popsicle break!!


AAHHHH!

...more choir practice.








Clearly Josh...clearly.









Ditched choir a little early to help bro move something before his bedtime (he's 3rd shift). Pictured is my brother's friend, Cal. You may remember his big bro Josh Braun from Career class? Both tower at least a foot above me. It took two guys to get this table top out of the house. It takes one Cal.




Mr. Zach and the bro, fully recovered after piano moving on Monday.


And yes, "help" meant securing a truck and taking the pictures.











After several hours of intermission from social activity...we're back.




Best friend from high school, Mike, is back in town for about a week. He spent a little time in the hood, then moo time at the spotted cow.





Caleb, the newest addition to the Mike and Holly's fam, is cute, but definitely doesn't like me. This is a problem.






Yup, Nathan is still a stud.














Nope, didn't get it from his Dad.

It's been several years since I've just sat down and enjoyed the olympics for more than a few minutes. My family used to do that all the time. It's very relaxing to just enjoy rooting for your country, even if that one swimmer dude seems really cocky. Girls think he's cute, so personality isn't on the radar. Mike and Holly have been following the games pretty closely, so I got quite the scoop on all the olympians while we vegged at the in-laws house.

Happy Birthday Chris!

Friday was one of my last two roommate's birthday.

I was going to put up a picture of Jerelyn giving Chris a haircut...but it looked too weird. They gave me permission and everything! :-) Jerelyn and Chris fed and encouraged me on a cruddy day...as usual. We need to find a house nearby they can live in so that I can keep at least two of the roomies around.

By the way, here's an update on the weddings. August - Andrew, September - Jed, October - Chris, November - Kevin gets lonely and buys a dog...

My bro, Eric, let me tag along with him and some of his friends to see Hellboy 2. Yes, it was weirder and grosser than the first one, but still absent of sex and language, and was pretty funny. Any movie is worth it to get to see my bro who I never see even though he lives a block away.

Ya, that's about it. Next post will have plenty of pictures for you ADD folks like me.

Happy Birthday Eric!! (updated)

Had some family birthday time tonight at TGI Fridays and home for the bro (Eric) and Mom. However, Mom's birthday isn't until tomorrow, so you don't get your headline until then Mother!

Thanks for the (laughing) smile Mom. Eric was being a poop-head.





Having birthdays two days apart has saved alot of time for the Gustafson fam. In July, Dad and I are also two days apart.

Considering I'll be driving up to four people in my car for three hours Friday, in the rain, I decided my bald car tires needed to go. Actually, Mom and Dad decided that a long time ago, and reminded me of that many times. But I'm a patient (ahem lazy) man.

They convinced me to try out Peoria Plaza Tire down on Washington street. Not bad, except they don't know what a tire pressure monitoring system looks like apparently. I was releived to see that they finally put some clothes on Vanna, the big lady on the street corner. For many years, it was just this awkward bikini-clad woman.



Some of you might know that Andrew convinced Storm and me to run in the Peoria Steamboat Classic 4-mile race a week from this Saturday (14th). A race he backed out of shortly after Storm had already signed up. I haven't jogged in about a month, so it wasn't hard to accept Storm's offer to take a jog after work today in preparation for the race. Andrew came along, but he was not welcome.

Yes, I have a brother

His name is Eric, and he just moved into a house a block away from me!! We'll see if the punk ever actually visits me though. He's never going to speak to me again after this blog entry :-)

Definately not going to speak to me again.

This was the beginning of my love for dogs...and my brother. The black blob was our dog, Ginger. I'm sure I'll have a tribute to her one day as well.


I had forgotten how much Eric and I played together until I looked through these old pictures. I remember I was kind of a bully though. Sorry for trying to strangle you with a superman cape that one time man.


This is my all time favorite picture of my brother, and not because I'm in it. But that's cute too. Thank you for working so hard to find it Mom!


Here we are at a Christmas get together. That's our cousin Laurie in the middle, and our triplet cousins, Grant, Kira and Erin. Eric's great with kids (ladies...)


The only reason I included this picture was because it is probably the only picture in existence where he is smiling (technically) and I am not (no idea why). That sourpuss was always a grump when the camera came out. He's finally loosening up. :-) Merry Christmas Grandma!!


I love my brother. He, like the rest of my family, have stuck with me despite my constant pursuit of a busy yet often superficial social life since high school. Eric's going to move away eventually for yet more school, and I'm really going to regret not getting to spend more time with him. Which is why he has to come over more now that he lives a block away!! I'm really proud of how well he's doing in school. Neither of us got superstar grades in high school or college, but he's kicking butt (mine) now. Don't get me wrong though. Spend a few minutes talking with him about his typical day, and you'll find out why I'm proud to call him a fellow slacker.

Mom, feel free to add any comments about that son of yours. :-)