So, that said, we just want to wish you a very Merry Christmas. We’ve had a great year and want share some of the highlights with you.

Grace is a fourth-grader now. She had a big year with getting her braces on and switching from soccer and gymnastics to tennis. She went skiing for the first time in February and hasn’t met a critter she doesn’t like. Currently her collection includes two small red-eared slider turtles. Grace loves art, always making something in her room. She has been expanding her interest in art taking after school art classes and even participated in an art camp in the fall where she was able to show her work at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

Brett is now is seventh grade — his second year of middle school. Brett still loves video games, Lego, and building increasingly elaborate cities in the sandbox in the back yard. He’s really started to take some interest in technology making videos with his friends. He’s also become the iPod expert at his school helping his friends install the latest and greatest software. He also got to ski for the first time this year and joined the school Cross Country team in the fall. Brett stays busy but never misses a chance to relax in a hot bath or with a big blanket.

Jason has had a big year, too. Early in the year he accepted a new job that allows him to do what he loves and work from home. He works with an amazing team of people — it is truly a dream job. Jason continues to have way more interests than time and splits his focus among family, work, music, art, games, yard work, etc.

Holly is busier than all of us combined, it seems. She’s always got a project going wether it is building a deck in the back yard, landscaping, or remodeling the house. And that’s just at home. Many of her friends and neighbors have asked Holly to work on their projects, too. All this while keeping the rest of us in line and making sure everyone is fed, dressed and where they need to be when they need to be there. Whew.

It’s been a wild year and we can’t wait to see what is in store for 2010. We hope all of you are doing well and that you have a wonderful Christmas and New year.

Love,

The Zimdars
Jason, Holly, Brett & Grace

Please enjoy these pictures from the past year (click each one to see it larger).

The site made me think of one of my favorite photos of all time. This is a photo of my grandpa Zimdars looking every bit like a Chicago gangster posing with his car in Wisconsin. I don’t know the year, or what kind of car, or the occasion; but I’ve always thought that this photo just dripped cool.

Here’s a scan of the image:

Grandpa Zimdars, impossibly cool

Update: Michael Farley suggests the car is a 1931 Pontiac 6. Beautiful car.

Merry Christmas! I hope this letter finds you well. It has been an amazing year for the Zimdars family here in windy Oklahoma.

Grace is now in third grade. She plays on a local soccer team and continues to enjoy practicing gymnastics year-round. She’s a great student and really loves to read any time she can. When she’s not doing that you can be sure she is in her room making some kind of art.

Brett is half-way through his first year of middle school in the sixth grade. It’s been a great transition and he’s enjoyed the increased freedom of middle school— especially attending after-school activities like football games and dances. Brett also plays soccer and practices gymnastics. When he’s not playing video games or driving his go-cart you can usually find him in the back yard building some kind of track for his cars for fort to hide in.

Holly is the motor that keeps us all going— sometimes literally— as she spends a lot of time getting everyone where they need to be and making sure they have everything they need. Holly loves her puppies, including Tootsie, the new addition she “found” over the summer. Tootsie is a big dog — we like to joke that her breed is toy moose. When Holly isn’t doing something for someone else (which is almost never) she loves making photographs and playing with her puppies.

Jason continues to remake the internet one website at a time while working as creative director of a local website design company. Sometimes he works too much, which seriously cuts into his fun time. Being a serial hobbyist Jason always has a project to work on in between his interests in art, aquariums, critters, video games, robotics, photography, etc— whew! Jason never met a cookie he didn’t like.

We’ve had a great year and are looking forward to a wonderful 2009. We hope that you and yours can enjoy the company of family and friends this Christmas and have a safe and blessed New Year.

Love,

The Zimdars
Jason, Holly, Brett, & Grace

Please enjoy these pictures from the past year (click each one to see it larger).

Click each picture to see it close-up.

Front of card

Card inside detail 1

Card inside detail 2

Inside of card

Card back detail

Conventional wisdom tells us that artificial trees are the environmentally-friendly choice since they don’t remove a living tree from nature and they can be used over and over again. The truth is that the production and shipping of artificial trees (which are primarily made in China) is not at all friendly to the environment. The PVC plastic is made using petroleum products and lead; and the shipping of the raw materials to the factories, then the shipping overseas, and finally delivery by truck to your local store uses gasoline at every step. (See more Christmas tree facts here).

Live trees aren’t taken from protected forests but are instead grown on commercial farms. And all of the trees that are cut down are replaced each year with new ones. But even when you buy a live tree, be sure to consider your options. A live tree at your local discount retailer may have been harvested hundreds of miles from where you live (most certainly if you live here in Oklahoma) so not only isn’t it very fresh, but it has been trucked to your local store.

The Bottom Line

Buy a fresh-cut (or even a potted) tree from a local tree farm. A local tree isn’t shipped across the country, and is the freshest, longest-lasting tree you can get. Many tree farms will cut the tree right there while you wait, or even let you cut it down yourself. It supports your local economy and can actually be a lot of fun.

My family bought our first locally-grown tree last year. If you’re in the Oklahoma City area, I’d highly recommend Sorghum Mill Christmas Tree Farm. They have an absolutely huge selection of trees in many varieties both fresh cut, potted, and ready-to-be cut.

We choose to get a locally grown tree of a native species rather than the typical spruces and firs also offered. My wife, kids, and I roamed around the farm for a long time looking at all the trees so we could pick just the right one. When you find your tree you simply flag down a guy with a saw and a golf cart. He’ll cut it down or help you, then load it up and give everyone a ride back to the entrance to the farm. But the service doesn’t end there. At Sorghum Mill Tree Farm, the next step is to put every tree in some kind of shaking machine that violently shakes each tree to remove all of the loose needles. Then the trunk is shaped and the whole tree wrapped for the ride home. While you’re waiting they serve hot chocolate and hot apple cider if you’d like.

Our kids enjoyed the process and it became much more of a family outing than it would have been should we have simply grabbed a tree at Walmart. It was a great time and I highly recommend the experience to anyone this Christmas. The cost was approximately double what we would have spent at Walmart but we got a much larger, fresher, and more attractive tree — and had a great time doing it. You can find the Farm a bit north of Edmond off of I-35 and Sorghum Mill Road (That’s a few miles north of Danforth for those familiar with the area). It’s not too far from Pops which makes a pretty good lunch stop on the way home.

If you don’t live in Oklahoma City, the National Christmas Tree Association has a tool that will locate the nearest local tree farm in your area. They also have lots of great info about why to buy live and local and how to recycle your tree after Christmas.

“Hi, I’m a Mac.”

First up: my costume. I normally don’t dress up for Halloween, but after my coworker, Justin Boeckman told me what he was going to do I could not resist. Mostly because, if you know me you know this is not at all out of character. Justin totally carried this one, perfectly imitating John Hodgman’s PC character from the Apple commercials.

Costumes

Next up: pictures of the kids’ costumes. In the photos are Grace, Brett, Brett’s friend Brayson, and Grace’s friends Ashley, Allee, and Alyssa.

Puppies

And not to be left out, Holly dressed up the dogs and took them on the first leg of the evening.

Pumpkins

Finally, we have the pumpkins. Grace used a pretty cool set of Mr. Potato Head style pieces to decorate hers. No mess!. Brett went with traditional carving for his best Jack-o-lantern yet. And me, I tried a new technique I’ve been curious about. Instead of just cutting holes, I carved the meat of the pumpkin for a more sculptural feel. It didn’t come out quite as nicely as I might have wanted, but I learned a lot for next year, and it was good enough to win the pumpkin contest at work!

Enjoy the pics and have a great Halloween!

Today, Holly and I celebrate 13 years of marriage. It is hard to believe that we’ve been married so long. I feel like even now we’re still discovering things about each other and learning what makes the other tick. I hardly feel old enough to have a 13 year old marriage and a 11 year old son.

But what I have learned about marriage is how great life can be when you have a partner who is your biggest fan, your best friend, and your favorite person to spend time with. Even when “life” is winning she’s there to give me strength. Heck, she’s lived with me for 13 years — clearly she is a saint-like figure.

So Holly, thank you for being with me. I can’t wait to see what the next 13 years holds for us.

I found these great vintage Christmas cards in some things my dad sent me when he moved out of his house in Wisconsin.

They are in a neat decorative box, complete with envelopes. The set features a few different designs of wintry scenes in a watercolor style complete with a shiny gold stripe at the bottom. The message inside wishes the recipient an “old fashioned Merry Christmas…”. I think it’s cool that these were meant to look old fashioned years ago when they were made.

I’m going to try to convince Holly to let us sent some of these out next Christmas — I think they’re wonderful.

Brett was sick–throwing up and fever–all weekend. Grace went to bed with a fever last night. Both of them are home from school today.

And I’m just waiting for the symptoms to start. I keep thinking I feel a little nauseous.