Happy (Belated) Birthday, Veronica!

Olivia tried to help Veronica cut the frozen cake from Freddy's. Yep, the calendar says it is Nov. 1.

Not Sept. 19.

Veronica says at this rate, we will be celebrating Julia's birthday on Dec. 8.

Yes, we just might.

It's not easy to pay for a $19.99 cake when you are having money difficulties. So I really appreciated Veronica's patience and upbeat attitude.

By the way, the cake was good. And the Styrofoam base that we cut out with the first piece was, well, funny.

And The Winner Is...

Julia helped tally the NCAA brackets (about two weeks after the title game).

It seemed a "dumpster fire" had broken out on everyone's NCAA Tournament brackets due to a host of first round upsets.

But, as you can see from our scoring system, it is the games near the end that really matter and help you pile up the points:

First round win: 1 point
Second round win: 2 points
Sweet 16 win: 4 points
Elite Eight win: 8 points
Final Four win: 16 points
Correctly picking the champion: 32 points

Julia helped tally up the points today and it was pretty close between Cole, Julia and me. In the end, I won with 165 points, with Julia in second (152), followed by Cole (140. Julia said I only won because, "Dad cheated. He copied off of me!"

Anyway, enjoy these final photos – and this year's "One Shining Moment" video.

Here's the final point totals from each round.

There were more brackets to tally this year.

The winning bracket.

Last Trip To Piccolo Pete's

We lunched at Piccolo Pete's a week before it was to close its doors.

Christmas Letter Time!

Veronica decided to "decorate" someone's face...

Things came together rather quickly when we got down to business on this year's Christmas letter. From Friday night to Saturday afternoon, we finished everyone's text portion, got the letters printed at CopyMax, addressed more than 140 envelopes and stuffed and mailed them off. Emily, Julia and Veronica were the biggest of helpers, with Olivia chipping in and Lauren ... well, being Lauren.

Thanks to a trip to the main post office, we expect the letters to start arriving in the Omaha area on Monday and faraway places after that. The only regret this year? That I did not have time to write a personal message on each one of them. Sorry!

Veronica (right) handled stamps and return address labels this year.

How Emily addressed envelopes while wearing my glasses is beyond me...

Princess Pictures

Not the best quality (with an iPhone set on small resolution), but pretty princesses nonetheless.

And a nice one with the girl who has gone off to college.

Twelve Hours At The Pool

We were the first people in the pool today ... and the last ones out.

A couple years back, when we first lived at these apartments, we once spent seven hours at the pool. It was quite legendary. But the girls – now older – decided we could do things up even better. How about staying at the pool from open to close, they asked.

So today, with temperatures in the upper 80s in the forecast, we set out to make it happen. Several of the girls were documenting things, hour-by-hour, on Snapchat:

We also took this fun photo of Veronica at the start of the day... and another at the end:

Emily was sure excited about something to do with Julia.

Tough girls after a long day at the pool.

Oops!

Veronica got a little surprise from the silly string.

Fortunately, it didn't get in her eyes.

Breakfast For Dinner

The girls proudly show off the dinner they made: scrambled eggs, hash browns and toast.

Paper Airplane Throwing Contest

Veronica shows off the three paper airplanes she made.

The weather was nice enough to enjoy some time outdoors today. Though not particularly warm, there was a nice north breeze blowing. And that made for perfect conditions for our first paper airplane throwing contest of the year.

See below for photos of all the respective aircraft that participated (Emily was at a friend's house), as well as a pair of videos that captured (nearly) all of the action. You'll have to ask Julia what "Sain Air" means. (Hint: It is a play off of Sean's first name.)

Veronica's plane – Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – went missing shortly after this photo was taken.

Lauren had a BMC Racing Team-themed aircraft.

This was Sean's second plane – and it stayed up in the air a long time.

Olivia had quite the needle-nosed craft (complete with Rudolph-themed tip).

Lauren's second plane was equally as artistic as the first – but not very "air-tastic."

Add Veronica's Malaysia Airlines Flights 371 and 373 to the list of planes that went missing.

We're not sure what "The Prison Airplane" is all about. You'll have to ask Lauren.

Julia made this amazing plane after watching a YouTube video. It flew nearly 50 feet.

Thanks, Olivia!

Olivia worked her magic tonight so we could have pasta and chicken.

Olivia is our "chicken cutting" expert.

As the story goes, Dad wasn't sure how to "fix" chicken so all the fat is gone. So he called up Grandma YD one time. As the girls listened in, she told him she wasn't quite sure how to do it because you first have to "take off all the feathers." Huh?

Anyway, Olivia volunteered to try her hand at cutting all the fat off and nasty parts off. And she did a wonderful job. So now she's our chicken cutting expert.

Thanks, Olivia!

Get Well Soon, Julia!

A fever kept Julia home from school today.

Frisbee On Christmas Day

The drive to Churchich Park, as seen on Emily's Snapchat account.

We enjoyed temperatures in the low 50s during our frisbee outing.

Opening Presents

Julia and one of the custom pillows from Santa.

I will let Olivia explain the "hand-on-the-nose" gesture happening here.

Veronica made this amazing poster for me.

Olivia was clearly happy with this present.

The opening of presents was clearly the highlight of the day.

Bob Cullinan sent a calendar featuring some of his amazing photos.

Christmas Morning

There would be no "White Christmas" this year.

Santa Claus delivered customized pillow cases this year.

Santa Claus also left some Reese's Peanut Butter trees. Our favorite!

We always enjoy Santa's notes.

This was a new one. And these "lumps of coal" tasted a lot like Oreo brownies.

Christmas Eve/Day Hotel

Julia made sure we knew all the important things about the hotel.

It has become a tradition for us to enjoy a hotel room on Christmas Eve. This year took us to the Springhill Suites in Council Bluffs. It was nearly vacant, with only five other vehicles in the parking lot. And that was just fine with us.

As usual, getting the girls to bed was a chore. Julia and Olivia insisted on being noisy and having a late night pillow fight, even as Santa was on final approach to our area. (We were tracking him via the NORAD website.) Overall, it was quite enjoyable and the breakfast was very good. Emily was not with us, as she was working the late shift at Aksarben Cinema.

We enjoyed a nice hotel room in Council Bluffs.

It wasn't long before it had that "lived in" look.

Veronica was clearly enjoying the bed.

Julia (left) and Olivia were a bit more crowded.

Lauren claimed the couch.

Breakfast was amazingly good.

Veronica (left) and Olivia enjoyed breakfast at the bar.

Julia made sure housekeeping knew we enjoyed the room.