Will turned six months old this month so it was time for him to get his first taste of solid food. This is big brother Drew and Will all ready for the exciting moment.

One of Will's first bites of solid food. The process was sort of, put a spoonful in, spit some out, put some back in, spit it out and so on. After a while of back and forth, the amount in the bowl was less than what we started with so I guess more eventually went in than came out.

After being pretty much iced in for a week earlier this month, everyone was a little punch drunk but instead of typing "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" over and over, we sang a tribute to the Clementine oranges we were eating for dessert one night.

My firm attended this years OADC (Oklahoma Association of Defense Counsel) winter meeting tonight at the Gaillardia Country Club in Oklahoma City.

Dinner was really good for such a large crowd and included crab cake appetizers which Mary said were the best she'd ever had, Caesar's salad, beef and salmon fillets and cheesecake for dessert.

Afterward everyone got their groove on. Click on "continue reading" for a view of the party bus ride home.

We had so many people attending, about a dozen, that the firm provided a limo-bus for round trip between Tulsa and Oklahoma City. It was a great idea and really allowed everyone to relax, enjoy each other's company and forget about the recent bad weather.

NOTE: This post is about the January 2007 Tulsa Ice Storm. For posts about the December 2007 Tulsa Ice Storm see:
Tulsa Ice Storm and Power Outage
Tulsa Ice Storm - Pictures Update

An ice storm has hit the Midwest. It started yesterday here in Tulsa and is continuing today. The city is shut down with almost no one on the roads. Thousands are without power and it's all just supposed to get worse tomorrow. When I went out to get the mail, hats off the to Post Office for getting it delivered, there was no difference under my feet between the ice covered grass and the ice covered driveway/street. We're staying home all warm and well and hope you are too.

[Update:] All the schools in Tulsa were closed this week. A few main roads are pretty clear but most of the main roads in Tulsa are still packed with ice. And, the side streets all look like this:

This is in front of our house and is typical of neighborhood streets a week after the ice storm, still packed solid with ice from curb to curb. Actually, its all ice from door to door.

Will had his six month checkup today and he has shot up to the 90-95th percentile for height while maintaining his 75th percentile weight. He also got three shots. The first got his attention, the second he didn't like and the third made him whimper...but no crying.

After the doctor's office, it was time for everyone to take a well-deserved nap.

Last week we all attended the opening night of a co-worker's daughters exhibit at the Tulsa Artists' Coalition Gallery.

The event was very well attended and equally received. It was Will's first art exhibit. Drew was very impressed and liked the ceramic cricket cages the best.

My co-worker's daughter created all the ceramic pieces. She describes her work as focusing on the overlooked beauty of natural objects and the female form. She also paints which was more of the focus of a previous exhbit.

New Year's Eve 2006-2007

On New Year's Eve, for the second time ever in Drew's 3+ years he got sick. He'd previously had a slight fever for an afternoon, but this time he was sick for real, throwing up 9 times. By the end of the day, he was able to hold down some soup, but he was in no condition to ring in the new year. So, once everything settled down, I joined my friends for New Years while Mary, Drew and Will stayed home.

Harry and Beth really out did themselves this year with perfectly cooked fillets and huge Alaskan King Crab legs along with a number of homemade side dishes. Dessert was a chocolate fountain with everything you could ever think of for dipping. It was a huge success.

Morgan and Doug really enjoyed the chocolate! Doug's hamming it up...just like his dad.

On the left, our hosts, Beth and Harry. On the right, Jon was in from California. He's no longer working on the space shuttle's guidance system and is now working on a super-duper secret project he couldn't talk about, only that his work was still guidance related. I'm hoping it's some kind of massive treaty violating space weapon!

On the left, Henry, Sheila, Morgan and Doug. And, on the right, JR, Lisa and dog.

Over Christmas we got together with my college roommate, Jon Platt, and his family. He had the terrific idea of getting our families together at the Chicago Botanical Garden where they had on display the Wonderland Express miniature train exhibit.

The 10,000 square foot exhibit featured 750,000 twinkling lights, 75 miniature Chicago landmarks handcrafted from all natural materials and 9 different model trains.

The landmarks included all the famous buildings Chicago is known for as well as hidden gems such as a tiny Mrs. O'Leary's cow, Sue the T-Rex and a Michael Jordan statue.

The trains ran over bridges, under trestles, past waterfalls and included a variety of passenger and freight trains with steam and diesel engines.

Click on "continue reading" for more pictures of the grounds, wildlife, sculptures and family.

Despite being the "off season" the gardens were very beautiful. The chilly weather also meant there were almost no other people which made the stroll through the gardens that much more peaceful and enjoyable.

This is a view of the very beautiful Japanese Garden.

I couldn't help but take a number of reflection shots. In the middle of the last one is the Memorial Bell Tower which features 40 bronze bells cast in Holland. It is one of very few hand-played carillons in the nation and very much reminded these University of Illinois grads of the Altgeld Hall Tower bells.

These are balls of Christmas lights which are quite spectacular lit up at night.

On the left is the top of the Guardian, by Simon Verity (English b. 1945), created in 1992 of Minnesota limestone, Arizona jasper, Arkansas quartz and Portuguese copper. On the right is the Composition in Stainless Steel #1 created in 1985 by Gidon Graetz (Israeli b. 1929).

This is the bronze sculpture of Carolus Linnaeus created in 1982 by Robert Berks (American b. 1922). Linnaeus (1707-1778) was a Swedish physician and father of modern taxonomy who established binomial nomenclature, the international system of naming plants and animals that is still in use today with modification.

There were plenty of ducks and geese taking advantage of the mild conditions.

Catherine and Drew called a truce to King-of-the-Hill atop a rock with the inscription: "May the peace of this garden bring you contentment."

Thanks to the ever prepared Eagle Scout Jon, we were able to travel in style in one of their double strollers. Unfortunately, I didn't get any good pictures of Charles and Harrison...they're fast!

The Danz's at the Chicago Botanical Garden.

The day after Christmas we visited Dan and Michelle Mosier and Mike and Tonia Timlin. We all attended the University of Illinois together...a long time ago. We hadn't seen each other in years and, yet, it seems like it was just yesterday. In addition to getting up to speed on current events, we swapped old memories of our college days. Some of the things that happened at U of I you just wouldn't believe if you weren't there.

From left to right, Alyssa "Aly," Darren, Mark, Drew, Nicole and Will. All of their kids were amazingly well behaved. Everyone played together really well and put up with each other's good-natured teasing like it was no big deal. They were all very nice to Drew who had such a great time, he wanted to spend the night and kept asking if we were going back the rest of the week.

Click "continue reading" to see family portraits.

The Mosiers: Dan, Michelle, Nicole and Alyssa "Aly."

The Timlins: Darren, Mike, Mark and Tonia.

I hope we don't wait so long to get together again.

Happy New Year!

We traveled to Chicago for Christmas with Ma Danz and Aunt Donelda. Pictures of friends, the Chicago Botanical Garden and from New Years will follow in a couple of days.

Drew holding Will at Aunt Donelda's after dropping off Christmas gifts. Drew was great and never asked to open his gifts before Christmas. Will just laughed and cooed at everything. Drew even understood that we were exchanging gifts in celebration of Jesus's birthday.

Drew put out milk and cookies for Santa and thoroughly investigated the scene Christmas morning. The chair was pushed way back...Santa must be a pretty big guy!

Everyone was dressed up Christmas eve in anticipation of what was to come. Click "continue reading" to see more family photos from Christmas day.

Mama, Drew and Will on Christmas day.

Grandma Danz and Aunt Donelda with the boys.

Daddy, Drew, Mama and Will on Christmas day.

The entire Danz family later in the week.