January 2026

I was off work the first 4 of the 5 days of the year. I had plenty of time on my hands so I started out the year getting some puzzles completed. I made a goal for myself this year to do 41 puzzles. Why 41? Well, that is how old Jennifer and I will be this year. The Lego set puzzle could only have 999 pieces done because Fawkes ate one of the pieces. 

The kids wanted Fawkes to help put in the last piece of the Wizard of Oz puzzle. 

Our last of the holiday visits spilled over into the new year. We went down to Granddaddy and Memom's for lunch. These boys played outside the entire time. They played basketball, jumped in leaves and ran all over the property. 

All the family that all got together to visit with Granddaddy and Memom. Everyone was excited about Memom's spaghetti and spending time together. It was so nice that we were able to be back in the house that was almost destroyed in the flood last year.

I challenged myself to read at least 20 books this year. This book was given to me by dad for Christmas. It was an easy, quick read but boy did it pull at my heart. I was in literal tears while I was reading the final couple of chapters. I returned the book to my parents so that they could read it too. 

Brinley went to the UK game with me. I might have to make her go to more games with me because she is undefeated at Rupp for the season. I believe she is starting to enjoy going to them a little more than she used to, but I don't think it is her favorite. 

I was on a roll and just felt like doing puzzles. Six more puzzles put me up to 10 on the year. Not too bad of a start to the year. The donut puzzle only took me and Brinley about 3 hours to do and it was a 1,000 piece puzzle. 

Landon harassed me for about a week to cut off all of his hair. He was tired of having to style it every morning before school. He kept saying he wanted a buzz cut, but I didn't know if he understood what he was asking for. 

Second book of the year done - Rhythms of Rest. I really need to find rest in my life after so many years of always having to feel the need to do more things. I am hopeful that I can learn to experience rest and we are going to try and do that in 2026 by practicing Sabbath as the way God intended it - to rest. God created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th - not because he had to, but because he wanted to give an example to us. So another goal of mine for 2026 is to rest on Sundays. It is going to be challenging, but I believe that God wants us to rest.

Well, I did it. Cut off about 4-5 inches worth of hair. Immediately Landon said "I forgot about the cowlicks". It is going to take a long time to grow back out again. 

Kentucky was losing big to Tennessee and I decided to head to the gym. Well, I got to watch a great comeback win. I couldn't scream and shout because I was out in public. It reminded me a little about how I used to watch late games after the kids had gone to bed. A lot of fist pumps, but no actual sounds. 

Apparently a man can't fall asleep on the couch without a dog climbing up on his shoulders. 

Landon and I at the UK game. We were winning by about 10 points with 4 minutes left in the game and Landon told me he had to go to the bathroom. We made our way down and found some seats in the lower arena to watch the final couple of minutes. They almost blew the lead, but held on for the victory. 

The school had an open house where the kids projects were on display. Brinley made a diorama of the cretaceous period and Landon did a project on Ghana.

Brinley's academic team finally got to participate in the district governor's cup competition after canceling due to bad weather over the weekend. Brinley took the Science written assessment and then was an alternate for the quick recall team. Here she is getting some time to play in the championship match.

Brinley's team won district quick recall with a 4-0 record and they came in first place overall. I am super proud of her and all her teammates. 

Date night with Jennifer before snowmageddon arrived in Lexington. I got to spend the morning with Jennifer and then we headed to Big Kahuna for lunch before heading home. 

I set a goal for 2026 to run a mile everyday. Well, that doesn't mean I could stop just because it was cold and snowing outside. I got my mile in and I didn't slip and fall which made it very successful. It wasn't fast, but I was safe. 

Brinley has been asking to paint her room for a while now. We finally went and got the paint to make it happen. She picked four leaf green and we began the process. 

With the kids having NTI days and I not having to go to work I knocked out five more puzzles. 

Cold days call for a snugglie that also holds your dog. 

School got cancelled for the last week of January and due to low volumes at work I was able to stay home for a few days too. We didn't get out of the house and go anywhere except for Jacobson Park to go sledding. Brinley wanted to take Fawkes sledding, but it didn't really like it all that much. It only went down one time and then we put her over the back fence to head back into the house. 

Landon went out sledding with me two days. Here he borrowed one of the neighbor's sleds because he had broken one of ours. 

We actually ended the day of sledding when we broke both of our sleds. We had those sleds for multiple years and had gotten many good trips down hills in them. Now we are on the hunt for some new sleds. 

Third book of the year -  When God doesn't make sense. This title made me a little reserved about reading it in public, but maybe that would help open up discussion with anyone who saw me reading it. The book was very interesting. It shared lots of stories of people who have endured very difficult times and why some survived and others did not. It was trying to make sense of why God sometimes answers prayers and other times does not. In the end it concluded that we will never know here on earth why things happen. We have to know that God can see a much broader view that we are not able to understand. 

The first time I got out of the house to drive after the winter storm was to go donate blood. The Big Blue Slam is a competition between Florida and Kentucky to see who can have the most blood donors. This year we were getting stomped because of the storm. Regardless, I was able to get out and help save a life. I have been to the Kentucky Blood Center 74 times all together. 

After a five day break I finally had to go back into work. Well the 17 minute walk into work gets extremely cold. Thankfully I bundle up and wear my neck-a-nater that my cousin Rossy made for me to keep me warm. 

The last book of January that I finished was King James - which is the story of Lebron James. I have had this book for a few years and never read it. It was interesting to read about his early childhood and a lot about his high school career. Lebron is about 4 months older than me and I didn't know too much about his high school career because I was also going through it around the same time. His record with his high school team was 101-6, with three state championships, and 3 Ohio player of the year awards. 

I finished puzzle number 16 in the month of January bright and early on a Saturday morning. I have gotten up two mornings in a row to work on a puzzle. Puzzles are my quiet time where my mind just focuses on trying to just find the next piece. 

Well, I finished number 17 while listening to the UK and Arkansas game. Only 24 more puzzles for the year to hit my goal of 41 puzzles in 2026.

December 2025

Finished another book to start the month of December. This was about a group of people who have made it their mission to share the gospel, specifically with people in college. It talked about how to slowly walk through the process so that you won't scare people away. 

Our financial advisor has a Christmas event downtown at the Kentucky Theatre every year. This year we watched The Polar Express. This was the first time I ever stayed awake for it, it is a really good movie. Afterwards we stood out in the frigid conditions to watch the Christmas parade. All of the local meteorologists and the mayor pointed at er54me and couldn't believe that I was wearing my shorts and sandals. Landon signaled to the big diesel truck to honk his horn and the guy asked Landon if he wanted to honk it - that's why Landon is standing up in that truck. Pretty funny. The kids were freezing, and I even went out to the car to get them blankets. 

After the Christmas parade we stopped by McDonald's to try out the Grinch meal and I also tried the McRib for the first time ever. Both things were just ok in my opinion, but I don't like pickle flavored things. Now the McRib had my amount of BBQ sauce, but it is nothing that I would actually order again. 

The Christmas season officially begins for me when we do our annual Christmas puzzle. This year we obliterated the previous years' time and completed the 400-piece puzzle in just 24 minutes and 17 seconds. We cut four and a half minutes off from the previous year. This is one of my favorite holiday traditions and it is the one thing I can get everyone to participate in. 

Walked into work during the first snow of the winter season. It was really cold, but beautiful. 

Jennifer and I went to watch the Cats play. It has been a very difficult season thus far. They have lost against every big team that they have played. We have only beaten all the mid-major teams we have played. At least I got to spend the evening with this beautiful lady. 

The SEC Network special that I participated in finally aired. I was surprised how much they used of me and what I had to say. Pretty neat moment seeing myself on TV and actually being the person they are talking to and not just in the background. 

This was the first time we ever signed up to work the event Christmas Joy. This event helps give families gifts for the children and a meal for the holidays. We signed up to help pack and distribute the holiday meal. There were about 150 meals that the kids helped pack up. It contained everything for a Christmas feast. I am so glad that the kids have a heart to serve. Sometimes, even though they are sleep deprived they still show up. We picked Landon up from a friend's house so that he could attend the event. I am sure they stayed up later than they should have. 

This year's gingerbread house. I believe that Brinley did the best work this year. Landon was more interested in what candies he could eat.

One of my patients gave me this little gift and it was the sweetest little poem. 

McKinley and Taylor asked if we could babysit so that they could go out to dinner. Nora kept the kids entertained and Jennifer handled Theo for the most part. The kids are both still a little terrified of holding Theo. 

Cousin crew

Opening gifts and playing with some of the new toys. 

First Christmas event of the year was the Heflin Christmas party. We played some holiday themed games and even had a Majong tournament that was won by Andrea. McKinley won the reindeer pickup. Taylor won the ornament cup game. 

Andrea and I with our new nephew, Theo. 

Family photos.

Brinley got the game Awkward Guests for Christmas from McKinley and Taylor. The kids decided to break it out and play a round. 

Monday of Christmas week and Brinley was not feeling well. She laid on this spot of the couch for two days straight. We finally got her to the doctor to make sure she was ok and didn't need to start on any medications. She tested positive for flu A. Apparently, Fawkes thought she needed Landon's shoe to make her feel better. 

Our men's group got together for dinner and fellowship at Drake's one night. This is a great group of guys, and I am glad to have them a part of my life. 

Landon and I went to watch the Cats play right before Christmas against Bellarmine. We met up with my college friend Ginny and talked at halftime. Then we sat down in the lower level next to a guy who comes in my door at church during the second half. It wasn't pretty, but the Cats won. I guess we will have to take that for this year.

Brinley was sick the week of Christmas and didn't get to attend our Christmas service at church. Last year we went to Crossroads for their candlelight Christmas Eve service, so we did it again this year. Brinley still didn't feel well, but it was good to have the whole family together. Afterwards we were going to have dinner, and the kids didn't want to go. So, Jennifer and I enjoyed a wonderful meal at our new favorite restaurant, Carsons. 

I was off work for a couple of days and when I returned to work, I had a couple of patient's families who had given me some gifts. I never expect or want anything from families, but the messages and notes mean so much to me. 

Landon was the first one up and chomping at the bit to open gifts. We waited until Brinley and Jennifer woke up to open gifts. Brinley got sick on Monday and felt horrible. She was diagnosed with Flu A and started on Tamiflu. She laid on the couch for a few days and looked miserable. Thankfully she felt better on Christmas morning. 

Brinley was excited to work some Lego sets. A friend of mine gave me some Hogwarts sets for her. She really enjoyed putting them together. Landon got virtual reality goggles. He had been asking for these for two years. I had been messing with him leading up to Christmas and asking him if he had a second option if we couldn't get his first choice. When he opened it and he immediately said you lied to me dad. I didn't lie - I used my words wisely to make him thank we couldn't get it. It wouldn't have been exciting if he knew all of his gifts. I had to get some element of surprise. 

Our new ornaments for the year. Jennifer got an art one for all the stones she has painted this year. Brinley with the dog ornament since this was Fawkes first year with us. I got the podcast ornament because I was on two different podcasts this year as well as the SEC Network. Landon with his year of injuries got a broken arm gingerbread. 

Fawkes also had a little pile of gifts for Christmas too!

Landon found the pickle on the Christmas tree. The competitive pickle hunts, were a huge part of my childhood.

We went on Christmas afternoon to watch the new movie, David. It was almost 2 hours, which we thought was a long movie for being animated. 

This tin has brought me a lot of joy over the years. I always look forward to seeing it. This tin just magically appears  every year with some delicious peanut brittle in it.  

The weekend after Christmas we headed down to Scottsville to celebrate with MiMi and PapPap. Brinley was feeling better, but she enjoyed a nap with Fawkes on the road trip down.

We had a good time at MiMi's house. We ate, watched football, played some party games, and even played a game of football in the backyard. Brinley even helped Miles put together his Lego set. 

The drive allowed me time to finish my 16th book for 2025. I had a goal of 10 books and crushed that. Set a goal for 2026 to read 20 new books. 

A friend of mine gave us some passes to Southern Lights at the Horse Park. Since Brinley was sick before Christmas we waited until she felt better. It might have been the coldest night of the year, but we got out and did all the things. 

That popcorn bag is so big! Almost half the size of Landon. It was delicious though. 

Came out of work on New Year's Eve to a flat tire. I got the car all jacked up and then it started to roll down the hill that I was on and I am so thankful that I hadn't pulled the tire out yet. I ended up having to call the roadside service to help me finish changing the tire. It was a pretty quick job because I already had all the lug nuts off when he got there. 

I got home from work on NYE and was exhausted. I fell asleep on the couch at 10:30. Jennifer and the kids woke me up right before the ball dropped. I gave Jennifer a kiss, hugged Brinley and Landon and went to bed.