Merry Christmas!

It's December 25th. Sleep in. Get up. Open presents. Watch tee vee. Amid all the holiday happiness, remember that this was the day marking the birth of the Christ child. The one sent for us from God.

Yesterday, I was embroiled in an online discussion, in which I was pummeled for my views of child rearing. But, you know what? I don't particularly care any more. I have my beliefs, my wife has hers and we will, with God's help, raise our baby to the best of our abilities. We will not surrender to the relaxed morals of today's society, where parents expect that their children will be engaging in high risk behavior, just because "They're gonna do it anyway, so give 'em protection." If that makes us "prudes," then so be it. We will prepare our child for those pressures, for sure. And we will then trust that he or she will make the best decision for themselves at that time.

May you and yours have the most blessed of holiday seasons. God's blessings on you, from The Meissner's. John, Kim, Baby, Snoopy and Smoke.

20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Matthew 1:20-23

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Luke 1:32-33

NHL Network to televise World Junior Tournament games

The NHL Network in the U.S. will televise live the two quarterfinal games, two semifinal contests and the bronze and gold-medal games. In addition, a live audiocast of all Team USA games will be available at usahockey.com with Jack Swanson and Jeff Sauer calling the action. Finally, live stats are available for all games in the event at worldjuniors2008.com.

Here’s wishing you a great holiday season – one filled with family, friends and the great sport of hockey!

2008 IIHF World Junior Championship Schedule
Dec. 26-Jan. 5 • Liberec & Pardubice, Czech Republic

DATE OPPONENT VENUE TIME (local/EST)
Dec. 26 Kazakhstan* Tipsport Arena 4:00 p.m./10:00 a.m.
Dec. 28 Switzerland* Tipsport Arena 6:00 p.m./12:00 p.m.
Dec. 29 Russia* Tipsport Arena 8:00 p.m./2:00 p.m.
Dec. 31 Finland* Tipsport Arena 6:00 p.m./12:00 p.m.
Jan. 2 Quarterfinals+^ CEZ Arena TBD
Jan. 4 Semifinals+^ CEZ Arena TBD
Jan. 5 Gold/Bronze+^ CEZ Arena TBD
Medal Games
* - Live audiocast at usahockey.com
+ - Live audiocast at usahockey.com if Team USA is involved
^ - Live television of both games in U.S. on NHL Network

Baby update

We saw the OB/GYN doctor Thursday. It was pretty neat that his assistant was Kim's regular doctor. That was pretty cool.

The exam went very well and everything looks great so far. I was hoping to hear the baby's heartbeat, but I wasn't disapointed that I didn't, because we actually got to SEE the heart working like a well-oiled machine. That brought tears of joy to our eyes! Baby looks really good. Still don't know if it's a boy or a girl, but we did see the little one moving it's arms. If it's a boy, his name will be James(So he'll have the same initials as me...JHM) Harper(My former boss's last name) Meissner. If it's a girl, her name will be Mary(Kim's Mom) Barbara(My Mom) Meissner.

We got lots of stuff to read and a diaper changing pad. We are SOOOOOOOO excited!

OHHHHHHHH (Soon-To-Be) BABY!!!!