December 2008 Report

December is always such a crazy busy month.

• Work goes absolutely berserk with year end close, customers year end close issues, staff evaluations, "Holiday" [not Christmas] parties


• Christmas preparations


• Christmas parties


• School


• Sports

In spite of all that we had a very nice Christmas this year. Once all the craziness of Christmas prep and year end was done we had several very relaxing days to enjoy each others company and to play with our gifts from Santa.
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The month started off with news that Brandon had made the RHS Freshman Basketball team. We are all proud of that accomplishment. No small feat given that there is only one team and lots of kids try-out.
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Rob was asked to coach the ward YM basketball team again this year. Games will begin in January, so stay tuned for the results of that.Chayce's Basketball will start in January, stay tuned for a report on that.
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Brandon and Rob went to the RHS Football Banquet. Things have sure become more extravagant since Rob was a kid playing football. If memory serves we had a BBQ out behind the school to celebrate the end of the season.

Brandon's was at the Meadow Wood Manor a new reception center here in Randolph. I'll admit it is a nice facility with good food and it made it a special event, but it cost a lot more then a hamburger and a soda! The focus was more on the varsity and the seniors so Brandon's team was just there for the food and to hang out with their friends. It was scheduled to go from 12-5, but thankfully it finished at 4. I could easily listen to 5 hours of people talking about my kids, but listening to them talk about other peoples kids gets a little old after 4 hours.


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So just as Brandon's basketball got started I received a call from Kim informing me that she was on the way to the ER with Brandon to get ex rays on his nose. The story from him and the school is that he was playing volleyball in gym class and he took a spike to the nose. Brandon has a history of voluminous bloody noses, so I think he freaked the school out a bit when it appeared he was bleeding out in the nurses office.

The ER sent him to an ENT who recommended surgery to repair the damage. The good news was that the surgery didn't require any cutting, they knocked him out and then using a hammer and players they moved all the cartilage back into place. [See previous post for pictures of his nose cast] He looks all pretty again, so the girls can rest easy.

He did miss some basketball waiting for his nose repair job, but he is back playing again.
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Like much of the rest of the country we had a substantial snow and ice storm the week before Christmas. It made final holiday prep a little nuts, but we also had a nice layer of snow on the ground so we had a "white Christmas"! It wasn't so bad for us because our towns better prepared to deal with ice and snow. While the roads do get bad during the peak of the storm, the road crews are pretty good at getting things cleared up shortly after the snow stops falling. Not to mention that they spread about 10 million lbs of salt on the roads so ice doesn't stand a chance.

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The boys had no school from Christmas Eve to Jan 5th and Rob was able take most of the time off work as well. It was nice for us to just hang out and relax. Santa took good care of us this year and the boys have been playing with their new electronics ever since.

Brandon either can't wake up, or he didn't like his coal, I'm not sure which.

One of Kim's presents from Santa was a digital picture frame. As part of the present Rob has been scanning in literally thousands of pictures taken from 1991-2001 in a pre-digital camera era so they can be enjoyed (and protected) more easily in a digital world. While it has and continues to be a major effort to get the job done, it has been so fun to relive memories one picture at a time. Here are a couple for you to enjoy, I'll share more in future blogs.







Thanksgiving in Park City, UT 1995 at Grandpa & Grandma's Condo

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The day after Christmas Jessica and Reese stopped in NYC on their way to Italy. We met them in the City and spent the day goofing around with them. We dropped them off at Grand Central Station so they could catch their shuttle back to JFK and wouldn't you know it the traffic was horrendous and they missed their flight. I went and picked them up and we had the pleasure of there company for an extra day.

Chayce and Brandon at Battery Park with the Seagulls

We had a concert in the basement with "Rock Band" once we got Jesse and Reese back to the house after their missed flight. Brandon on lead vocals, Chayce on guitar, Reese on bass guitar and Jessica on drums.

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Have a great January