Merry Christmas

Rockin' Around!

A friend from church made this video for us. It takes a minute or two to load but it's pretty funny.

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/bPbPKY5UrhTHu7wf?cmpid=jj_url

Las Vegas

I went to a marketing conference in Las Vegas this week at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.  It was a fairly productive conference.  Las Vegas wouldn't be my first choice for a city to visit but I enjoyed the week.  It was nice to be near the mountains and fun to check out the strip.  Las Vegas Blvd is all about sensory overload. 

I walked the strip a few times to check things out.  I wanted to see the famous fountain show at the Bellagio.  It was worth the price of admission (free) and very neat to check out.  I also had some time to kill after the conference and before my plane left on Thursday so I went to see "the Lion King" musical.  That was also worth the price of admission, not free, but very very cool.

I got to go to lunch w/ Ethan, Josh and Dave when I got back to Indy!

Great news...I didn't lose any money gambling.

I ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, it was right next to my hotel.

View from my 14th floor window, 13 stories up!

The Bellagio, Ceasar's Palace and the Mirage.

Paris Hotel

Fountain show at the Bellagio

New York, New York

"The Lion King" musical at Mandalay Bay

lunch in Indy at Steak 'n Shake

Daddy/Daughter Date Night

I took Emma to Merrillville last night.  We went to a couple of her favorite stores in the mall and ate in the food court.  Emma got a purse.  Then we went to see the movie COURAGEOUS.  Great movie. 

We had a great time together chatting and hanging out together.  Emma's a lot of fun and a great daughter.

Louisville

Heather and I took a long weekend trip to Louisville this weekend. We had a great time shopping (well she had a great time shopping), walking around downtown, visting Highview Baptist Church and the Louisville Slugger museum.

It's always fun to get away to a new place and we hadn't ever been to Louisville. It sure doesn't seem like a big city. But it was nice to spend time alone and talk about things w/o distractions.

They are now adding "Phil Conrad - Oct. 2011" to the list.

Some guy trying to give me directions.

You can lead a horse to a diet coke and let him drink.

Me and Clark w/ differing opinions.

Louisville Slugger Museum

Third Day Concert

Heather and I took the POSSE (our student leadership team) to the Third Day concert down at Purdue last night.  Tenth Avenue North and Trevor Morgan also performed.  It was a great time.  We went to Applebee's before the show.  The music was great and so fun to watch a live show and listen to music performed live.  We had great seats in the first row of the first balcony. 

Amanda, Grace, Heather

Grace, Ben, Heather, Phil, Jake, Amanda, Andrew

Third Day

9/11 Ten Years Later

It's hard to believe 10 years have gone by.  9/11 was probably the worst tragedy that I have lived through.  I remember other tragedies like the Challenger and when Reagan got shot but I was pretty young when those happened.

Ten years ago, we were living up north in Plainfield, IL and I was working downtown Chicago for First Union on Lasalle St.  Lasalle street in Chicago is what Wall Street is in New York.  I was sitting at my desk listening to Moody Radio when the first plane hit.  I remember immediately going to CNN.com to check the news reports on it.

I has plans to meet a friend for breakfast at a nearby diner which we did and then watched the TV there in amazement as the events of that day unfolded.

My first reaction was thinking that some inexperience pilot flew a Cessna into the building by accident and that there would be minimal damage and loss of life.  I was astounded to learn that it was a commercial jet liner that flew into the building.

When I went back to the office, I gathered with others in our break room as we continued watching the news.

As the first plane hit, then the second plane hit, then the Pentagon was hit, the uncertainty and fear grew.  Precautions were taken in Chicago and, at about 10:30 that morning, we were asked to go home.  The Metra was running extra trains out of the city so it wasn't difficult to get home.

The fear we had was that perhaps there were more planes, still in the air, and that perhaps one was headed for Chicago to crash into the Sears Tower or the Hancock building.

I was thankful to make it home safe and spent the rest of the day with Heather and our 2 and a half year old son, Alex.  I remember going for a run as I was training for the Chicago Marathon.  It was helpful to get away from the TV for a while to process everything that was going on.

I can't imagine what it would have been like to have experienced that first hand.

Old Settlers and 40th Wedding Anniversary

Last weekend, we went to Cissna Park for Old Settlers, our town's annual festival. We watched the parade and the kids got to ride some of the rides after lunch. The kids had fun w/ their cousins.

We took my parents out to dinner at The Ribeye steakhouse in Champaign for their 40th anniversary. 40 years of marriage can only mean one thing...that their oldest child is herself getting clost to 40...he he. ;)

After dinner we went to Jarling's Custard for dessert. Jarling's is a popular spot with the college kids. Had good memories of that place from my days at U of I.

We walked back up town to Old Settlers after we got home and ran into my friend Eric. I hadn't seen him for a few years so it was great to see him again.

Dessert at Jarling's

My friend, Eric, and me.

First Day in the First Grade

Nolan headed off to 1st grade today.  He's growing up!

Bears v. Bills

Alex and I went with our Pastor and one of his sons to the Bears/Bills pre-season game in Chicago on Saturday, August 6.  We had never been to an NFL game before so this was a fun experience.  Although it was the first game of the pre-season so the starters didn't play much at all.  It was fun to be up at Soldier Field though and get a feel for the NFL experience.  For a preseason game, the place was pretty full.  I'd guess b/w 90-95% full.  The Bears won 10-3. 

Emma

Random pics of Emma.

A dress I bought Emma from Brazil

Gull Lake

The family went to Gull Lake while Phil was in Brazil.  A great week enjoyed under the teaching of Lloyd Shadrach.

Brazil - Rehab Center / Fortaleza

The last day, on Saturday, the guys spent time at a Drug Rehab clinic jumping in a well (check out the footage), playing soccer and swimming. 

We went to Fortaleza in the evening to watch the sunset, shop at the beach market and go out to dinner.

Phil and Bill Moore

On the beach at Fortaleza