The Lazy Mans Christmas Family Newsletter

It has been an amazing year. No I didn't send out Christmas cards and no I won't be sending any late presents or e-cards. If you are reading this then it is because I love you and want to wish you a Merry Christmas and recap the year for you.

Youngest to Oldest:

Ali: Turned 4 on November 9th. She is the sweetest, smartest, most loving, bossiest, most stubborn child I have. She reminds me of my baby sister Andi without quite as much mean in her. She has had a fun year. She started pre-school two days a week and loves it. She had her adenoid removed in November and didn't love that. She had spent 4 straight months of non stop stuffed and runny nose with colors that can only make you think of the grinch. After the surgery she could breath normally for about two days and now she's back to the runny nose so the Alergist is next. Probably her favorite thing to do is to have sleepovers at Grampa's house (Kimberlee's Dad) because he takes her for walks and doesn't try to do other things when he is with her. That means she doesn't have to say "No, look at my eyes when I'm talking Daddy".

Kyle: Or should I just call him Kool. 4th Grade and 10 years old. Everything is about skateboarding, skateparks, looking like a skater, hanging with the big kids. Everything is a contest, who finished first, who jumped the highest, who did anything better. He is also the first one in our family to want to help someone else. To give money to someone who needs it or to offer to help with chores himself. Very strange.

Aaron: 7th grade and 12 years old last May 12th. He thought this would be a good year to find out why the things he's told not to do are actually not good things to do. He decided, against the direct instructions of his parents, to ride his skateboard down the infamous Bombing Range hill. Fortunately he was wearing a helmet, that cracked along with his elbow, forearm and wrist on the right side. His head was okay. So we discovered the joys of spending the summer swimming with casts that have goretex linings. He says he's going to listen a little closer from now on. He also played football and love being able to hit people. He is also into skateboarding and has discovered that it is good to look good and smell good, girls actually like that.

Kelsey: She got to spend three weeks in Europe this summer. Her expensive reward for being invited to join People to People. She got good grades, always willing to help, very involved at school and committed to fund raise for this trip. Turns out fundraising is hard so pretty much Mom and Dad each wrote fat checks so Kelsey could have the experience of a lifetime.

Austin, Ann and Emma: What a crew. Emma is my grandbaby and is about 9 months old now. She is beautiful and looks just like Austin. She is just as ornery. She doesn't like to sleep when she travels, she prefers to keep her Mom and Dad awake. Austin changed dealerships this year to sell Toyotas and is still at the top of the sales board. Great Success!(borat) Ann is taking classes to get into the Nursing program in Lewiston. I am very proud of all of them.

Kimberlee: My Cutie has now finished her Junior year at Washington State University in the Nursing program. One more year to go to financial freedom. She always gets A's and never thinks that she is going to. She manages to still put up with me and take care of our house and feed our whole crew while in a very intense program at school. I'm gonna keep her.

Moi!! Still fat and happy. Love my job and manage to do it pretty well. I now am responsible for 45 Sprint dealers in Eastern Washington and Northeast Oregon. We managed to remodel the house we bought in May of 2006 and sell it in September of 2007. We made enough to move into literally twice the house and it is perfect for us with 5 bedrooms and 3 baths. I am still addicted to snowboarding and have been 4 times this year so far and will probably go 3-4 times a month through April.

My Baby Had Surgery

4 years old and cute as can be. Ali had her adnoids removed on Monday. Isn't she cute. She's fine now and no more green snot coming out of her nose for 4 months solid.

By the way it was 60 degrees here today but last week it was a little different.

Damn I'm Old

45 years young. The good news is that everyone knew I was going to go middle aged crazy so Kimberlee and the kids got together and bought me a Harley. A fitting gift for a middle aged snowboarding grampa and father of 5. Why has my head gotten so big? Why does it keep getting rounder? There seems to be a symbiotic relationship between the size of my head and the size of my belly. Why does hair grow in my ears and not on my head? Why has God given me a virtual sweater vest of hair on my chest and back? Why do I look like a silver back gorilla except my silver is on my chest? Why do I refuse to walk into the garage and use the $600 worth of weights and cardio equipment? Why do I have no problem walking into the garage to get another beer? Just a few questions I am asking myself in my old age. Much Love!

My Favorite Childhood Bedtime Story

My father used to tell me this story when I was a child. It really made me feel nostalgic to hear it retold the same way Dad did. Click on the title or this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIRna9Q4l_g

Life's struggles and answers in 5 minutes

This is an incredibly powerful video that dramatizes lifes struggles and the answers to those struggles. 3 weeks ago this video had been viewed about 1,400,000 times. As I post this today it has been viewed almost 2,000,000 times. Just click on the title of this post and it will take you to the link or click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA