Life with London: Hello, Oreo!

We got a new hamster today. Shhh... it's a secret. Don't tell.

Our movie-star hamster, Cookie, died a month ago (so sad... she was a really cool hamster) and we had decided to be a pet-free house for a while. But the film maker in me came out the other day while thinking about the upcoming Holiday Program at school. Every year, Pern and I record the HP and then sell copies of the DVD to the parents at school. We include a highlights montage, interview questions with the children ("How does Santa get back up the chimney?" Is one of my favorites), and a hamster movie. Little Bob was the first hamster-movie star ("Little Bob's Big Night Out"), and then came Cookie, who starred in "Cookie's Christmas Caper," "Cookie's Big Vacation," "Cookie's 12 Days of Christmas," and "Cookie's Mountain Adventure." So we were hamsterless and wondering what we were going to do about the Holiday Program DVD. We thought about putting a "best of" compilation together, but then inspiration struck.

So this year, we're taking a new approach. The kids don't know I'm getting a new hamster. We're going to film the movie in the next couple of weeks (might wait until after Christmas) and she will be "unveiled" on the Holiday Program DVD in her very own hamster-flick. It promises to be very cute. Can't give away any details, however... that's strictly under wraps. You know how it is in the movie industry... hush, hush.

Other things a happenin'... we've been working on the photography. Here is the link to a wedding we did a couple of weeks ago. We were hired as videographers, but took the still cameras along to practice. I think they came out pretty good. We still have a lot to learn, but we're getting there.

Dan and Mary's Slideshow

Here are some Christmas tree shots. We put the tree up way early this year. Went to Indiana to see Pern's parents for Thanksgiving and didn't want to put it up a week later than normal, so it went up a week early. And since Thanksgiving was already a week early, we basically put the tree up sometime around Labor Day. At least, that's what it feels like.