Q. What’s the best possible gift for Christmas? A. Getting the Notorious M.O.M. back with us!
We’re so happy to report that we were able to spring Margot from the hoosegow on Tuesday, and we’ve all been chilling this week, thanks especially to pals bringing us all manner of delicious chow. The plan is to keep laying low, and honestly the human boys are relieved to skip a post-Christmas road trip for once.
Here’s a little gallery showing all six of us enjoying presents around the tree. As always, here’s to gratitude, and to a healthy & happy 2026 and beyond!
Sharing Notre Dame-related experiences with the boys & my folks has made this fall truly one of a kind.
In the last few years I’ve been pleased to drop by an ND MBA class held in Silicon Valley, sharing some hard-won & hopefully entertaining insights I’ve picked up over the years. This year I was surprised & delighted to receive an invite to return to campus on a football weekend (which somehow I hadn’t done since graduating!) and once again address the class, and to speak with a large group of faculty & staff who are wrestling with AI and its implications for education.
The boys joined me for a redeye flight to Chicago (sorry for slumping over on your tray table, Hen!), where we met up with my folks, then drove down to South Bend.
Our whirlwind four days included:
The boys touring campus
Running into my old roommate Ed and his son, doing the same!
Dropping by my old friend & boss Kevin’s house for pizza
Hen getting to walk through the stadium tunnel
Finn squeezing in an early-morning SAT (which he nailed)
Touring the Studebaker museum
Seeing the football team & band walk right past us (hi, Coach!)
Beating the pants off of Boise State (whose fans are very nice!)
Quite predictably, Hen & I took such a debilitating number of photos (!) that it’s only now that I’m getting around to sharing them. Without further ado:
We headed back west on Sunday, stopping off at cousin Liz’s house in Chicago for a great Lou-Malnati’s-infused gathering; see pics here.
The rest of our trip was thankfully uneventful, and a few weeks passed before the Irish flew west for their season finale at nearby Stanford Stadium. The lads and I got to enjoy the ND tailgater, where Hen got to meet the famous Leprechaun!
Afterwards, as we still had some time & it was pretty darn cold (at least by our Cali standards), we quietly snuck into a Stanford tailgater—where we met none other than the famous Andrew Luck (former star quarterback at Stanford & in the NFL); hence “Luck with the Irish.” He graciously came over and shook Finn’s hand, despite our copious ND paraphernalia!
Once the game finally started, we enjoyed watching the team again beat the brakes off their opponents. You can check out our views in this gallery.
“I’m just the kind of guy who looks real good in a suit!” — Henry, quoting Uncle Ted at the same age 🙂
Our handsome gents recently escorted the lovely Brianna & Mandy to Bellarmine’s winter formal, as you can see in the photos below & in this little gallery.
We weren’t able to get a photo of the boys together, so being the geek-dad I am, I couldn’t resist asking AI to imagine them in a winter wonderland. Not bad, I (and perhaps only I ;-)) think!
“Gratitude is alchemy,” they say: it’s a transformative practice which, much like traditional alchemy sought to turn lead into gold, helps us see the extraordinary in the everyday.
Pulling together a year-end photo gallery for Margot to use when selecting Christmas card pics, I was struck by just how many cool (literally & figuratively) experiences we’ve gotten to share with our dudes this year. Among them:
…and that’s just the experiences for which we have pics! 😀
Man, we couldn’t be happier with the chaps or more grateful for the times we’ve gotten to spend together. Here’s to more adventures in 2026 and beyond.
Man, could we possibly have lucked out more in getting our friend Mr. Seamus, aka Smilin’ Jim, the fancy gentleman & employee of the month? Absurd question: of course not! 😀
Our buddy remains a genial delight, gamely accompanying us on adventures near and far, and now putting up with his perpetually nippy (if well meaning) new little brother. Check out this gallery showing some of our favorite moments with him in 2025.
Every day with this chap—from our first meeting to today—remains a gift. Here’s to many more, curly pal!
