Little 'bout us

We’ve had an awesome year as a family. Indulge me for a moment while I partake in a bit of shameless family promotion – instead of the traditional shameless self-promotion you're all used to reading.

      Ryan (1) – our little man – is getting bigger and bigger every day.  His new-found hobby is climbing.  He pretty much climbs anything in the house.  I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that he’ll probably be doing most of the things I did as a kid.  For instance, he likes to plug “stuff” into electrical outlets.  His favorite thing to plug in is the Christmas tree.  The other day he noticed that we had covered the outlet, so he grabbed the lights and proceeded to walk into the front entryway where another outlet was located.  It took some quick thinking on Jodie’s part to keep the tree from meeting its early demise.  Let's hope that Ryan doesn't figure out that knives fit easily into outlets.  I don't want to find out if he's as lucky as his old man.

      Megan (3) – our Megaroo – is learning her ABC’s better and better every day.  She’s becoming quite the resident expert on the letters and their sounds.  She is the sweetest little girl a dad could ask for.  She’s at the stage in her life where sleeping on a hard floor next to mom and dad is better than a soft, warm, cozy bed.  She just started Sunbeams and is pretty excited – but all the excitement is stirring up the emotions.  Change is always rough.  Megan loves to color and do crafts with her older sister. 

      Kalli (16 or 4 – take your pick) – our Kallibug – is turning into quite the young woman.  I swear I heard her ask me for the car keys the other day.  I think she even said something about brining it home with a full tank.  Kalli is very independent.  She isn’t a fan of taking any sort of direction.  Not sure where she got THAT from.  She loves pre-school up at Hannah Holbrook Elementary.  I think it’s the independent side of her that loves just getting out of the house and onto doing stuff at the big-kid school; although she’s still at the stage where she loves to have mom come and volunteer at class.  That should end soon J.  Before we know it we’ll be dropping her off a block away from the door just so we don’t cramp her style.  Kalli is reading – yes, reading.  And no, it isn’t anything I’ve done, nor is it my amazing edumacational skills contained somewhere in my DNA.  She just has that gift, and it’s a load of fun to watch her teach Megan the sounds of all the letters as she reads to her at night. 

      Jodie (??) – Mommo! – is completely awesome in every way.  Somehow she manages to manage all of our kids, and me.  Jodie loves to run and even competed in her first 10K this past summer!  She did awesome!   It was pretty neat stuff to see her after the race and take pictures at the end.  She does such an amazing job with the young women in our ward as the Beehive advisor.  They love her.  Jodie thinks that she’ll get released soon.  I say that 2 years is just enough time to get warmed up!   

      Mike (??) – Daddo! – is working hard to finish up his MBA.  He’s been whittling away at that thing for about 2 years now and will be all finished in February.  Woo Hoo!  When he’s finished with his formal education, he’ll actually have to think about what he wants to do with his life; but before that, he’s going to Disneyland!  Why not?  Isn’t that what all people do after they do stuff?  We would write about Mike’s hobbies, but he doesn’t have any.  Why? re-read this letter, starting at “Mike (??)….” and the answer will come.  Stay tuned for next years letter when you get to see what he decided to do with his career. Should be exciting! 

Stay tuned for more shameless self promotion and mindless dribble in the coming weeks ahead!