SUNDAY NEWS
December 14, 2008
Welcome to the first edition of the Sunday News and to Lori
A Very Happy Birthday!!!
Vayden’s birthday gift to her mother this morning was to sleep through the night for the very first time. She went to bed on December 13th and did not wake up until 7:44 a.m. today. Yeah Vayden!
It was so great to have Thanksgiving this year in our home and share it with few of the family members we love so much. As the Christmas season gets into full swing we all think often of each other and our family loved ones. Busy schedules, distance and circumstances can sometimes leave us feeling a little disconnected and uninvolved in each other’s lives. The goal is to make this a weekly edition that will hopefully keep ya’all feeling a little more connected to our neck of the woods.
Christmas has arrived in Gilbert Arizona. Economic uncertainly has not seemed to damper the Christmas Spirit this year. This year there seems to be more competition in the neighborhood as to who can have the most spectacular Christmas lights display in their front yard. Instead of having just one of those blow up things, people are now putting out half a dozen in some yards. We ourselves stepped it up a notch and added a few additions. This came as a result of a comment made by our little 3 foot tall next door neighbor Cassandra. We were talking outside with her parents, who are friends of ours, and she looked across the street and observed that the house across the street looked like Zoo Lights and our two houses were as she put it, ”Uhhh . . not so much.” She was comparing the house across the street to the Phoenix Zoo that every year charges admission and sells hot chocolate after it gets dark to see a fantastic Christmas light display. We share a tree in common with our neighbors so we combined forces a bit and plan on doing it again next year. It looks a little better out there now.
It has been a busy week. We have had something or sometimes more than one thing going on every night this week. Christmas and all the activities that come with it can be a little exhausting sometimes, but it is all fun and what a great time of year.
Very Vayden
Vayden’s personality continues to emerge. She is quite a character. She likes ceiling fans, Christmas lights, sleeping with her mommy, talking to her dad, and being held by Christian. She doesn’t like cold air after baths, bottles, wet pants or sleeping consistently or for any great length of time. Little Vayden has been doing a lot of Christmas shopping with her mom, who likes the fact that everyone who meets her thinks she is so cute and full of personality.
Completely Christian
Christian is enjoying working on his bear rank in cub scouts. This week the cub scouts went to sing Christmas carols at a convalescent hospital. Christian seems to possess a certain type of luck. He was jazzed to meet Larry Fitzgerald this week at his school. Larry Fitzgerald is an Arizona Cardinal (NFC West Champions 2008! . . . by the way)and the best receiver in the NFL as far as we are concerned, and consistently ranked in the top 5 as far as everyone else is concerned.
Christian and Karl went to a birthday party for Karl’s friend Mark Andersen which was attended by our Mayor. Christian was star struck by the fact that he got to talk to the Mayor and so impressed the Mayor that the Mayor took the Mayoral lapel pin off his jacket and gave it to Christian. Christian couldn’t wait to go to school and show everyone.
Whether it is getting on an elevator with Howler (the Coyote’s mascot), standing in line next to the Diamondbacks announcer, or sitting next to John McCain at Chase Field, Christian seems be in the right place at the right time and have this special kind of luck.
Coming up later this month Christian was selected to be the Junior Field Captain for the home game season finale against the Seattle Seahawks. This involves meeting Coach Whisenhunt and some of the players and going out on the field for the coin toss. Not to mention some pretty awesome perks for his family members. Tune in your T.V.s on December 28th and you will see our Christian out there with the big boys.
Note from the Editors
We are asking the girls to share with us what is going on in their lives. Until they provide some content we may just have to tell funny or embarrassing stories about them.
Sooooo Shelby
Shelby is an amazing athlete. She scored more goals than anyone else on her soccer team when she was a Gateway Gator. What is even more amazing is that Shelby could accomplish this without ever breaking a sweat in the Arizona. Imagine playing soccer without ever running!
Did you know that Shelby would sometimes agree to doing 2 hours of yard work in order to get Karl to drive her about 150 yards to her friend’s house?
All Alyssa
Trivia from the life of Alyssa: Did you know that Alyssa prefers to watch movies from the side? Alyssa actually turns her head slightly so that her face is turned away from the T.V. and then turns her eyes towards the screen. Did you know that Alyssa puts peanut butter on her pancakes before pouring the maple syrup on them? This was taught to her by Karl’s brother, Mark.
Alyssa came to Arizona for Karl’s birthday and brought some Star Wars recipes. She made some delicious Wookie Cookies and some mean Yoda Soda.
Being Brittney
Here is a life of Brittney trivia question: What do Brittney and Roxy have in common? Here is a hint: They both _ _ _ _ in the backyard.
When Brittney was still on her permit learning to drive, Karl was riding shotgun with her (Lori would turn into a nervous wreck when she tried) and Brittney came up to a red light at a major intersection. Cross traffic was heavy and frequent. Brittney stopped the Sequoia and then started to make a left turn. Karl shouted “Whooooaaah!! Stop!!” When Karl asked her why she did that, Brittney explained that she had learned that you can turn left at a red light after
you stop. Karl then explained that you can turn RIGHT at a red light after stopping IF there are no cars coming. Brittney shrugged her shoulders and said “Oh, I always get those mixed up.”
Really Roxy
Here is a life of Roxy trivia question: What do Roxy and Brittney have in common? Here is a hint: They both _ _ _ _ in the backyard.
Roxy is experiencing her first winter sleeping outside this year. Roxy is adjusting to a little less attention with Vayden stealing some of the lime light. Roxy likes Vayden and acts as a second baby monitor when we have forgotten to bring the electronic one downstairs. Roxy can obviously hear much better than us humans and knows that when the baby is crying it is time to go get her. So you can see Roxy getting anxious when she hears the baby and no one else does yet. Roxy is funny. When Vayden is really worked up and crying loudly, poor Roxy can’t take it and she just goes downstairs and puts herself outside.
Family Stories
The Dark Days of Lori’s Alter Ego
Lori is normally a very friendly, sweet and approachable person. But a few years ago she did go through a period where a much more sinister Lori emerged. While at the salon to get her hair done, Lori gets talked into darkening her eyebrows. She comes home and looks a little like Groucho Marks. Christian who is six years old at the time stares at his mother intently for about minute or so but can’t figure out what is so different about his mom. Then he finally asks “Mom, Why are you so angry?”
The Night of the Pink Robe
So Shelby is repeatedly told that it is time to come inside for the night. She is outside talking to a couple skater boys that she likes. So Karl messes up his hair, takes his pants and shirt off and puts on Lori’s big pink fluffy bath robe and a pair of flip flops and goes out front to tell a horrified Shelby that she better get her butt inside.
Shock & Awe
The pink robe incident was purposeful; however Lori in similar scenario once came outside furious under the influence of 6 months of pregnancy hormones with crazy hair in a peach colored tank top and no bra. It was a ‘shock and awe’ campaign that those boys will not soon forget.
Perspective
When Alyssa was about 3 years old, she used to love to go to this restaurant called Yoshinoya. Yoshinoya is a Japanese fast food chain that is pretty popular in California. Alyssa loved to use chop sticks for some reason. So Karl and Alyssa go to Yoshinoya and order two beef bowls. The employee behind the counter is an older Japanese gentleman with a pretty pronounced accent. After we are seated little Alyssa asks, “Daddy, why does dat man talk funny?” Karl explains to her that he grew up speaking a different language and because of that it is hard for him to pronounce certain words in English. Alyssa chews on that for a minute and then proclaims, “He is Chinese huh? Karl is curious as to how she learned that, and asks her how she knows that. Alyssa shrugs her shoulders and says, “I dow know.” Karl then points to a Hispanic man and his sons, who are also eating at the restaurant and asks Alyssa, “Are they Chinese?” Alyssa turns her head and with one quick glance confidently turns back and answers, “Nope, dare Mexican.” Karl is shocked and can’t figure out where she could have learned these distinctions. Karl then asks, “What are we?” Alyssa looks stumped. She stops eating completely, furloughs her eyebrows in deep thought for quite awhile and then this look of extreme disappointment crosses her face as she looks up and answers in a very sad voice, “Daddy, I tink we are just plain.”
BEE Ready Out There!
This past fall Christian and his baseball team the Dodgers started out their season by losing about the first ten games. Their coach was attempting his first season coaching and things looked pretty bleak. We didn’t know if the Dodgers were ever going to win a game. Then they tied a game, and their confidence soared. To the credit of their coach they worked hard and had frequent practices. They went on to win every regular season game from then on. It was an amazing transformation. When they won the semi-final game sending them to the championships, their coach looked like he was in complete shock. When he sat the team down to talk to them after the game, He was actually shaking his head and told them, “I can’t believe we are in the championships.” He then realized that the parents were watching and listening, caught himself and said, “I mean, I mean . . . I CAN believe it.” In the championship, Christian and his Dodgers ended with second place medals for the season, but there is one story we want to share. During a game Christian is out in left field. There is a batter at the plate and all of a sudden Christian runs off the field waving his arms. The coach calls time to figure out what the heck he is doing. The answer: Christian saw a bee.
Note from the Editors
We have lots of family stories we wish to document and share. We just wanted to start out with a few.
Another Note from the Editors
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