Merry Christmas - Online Newsletter 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

Congratulations! You have found our first (annual?) online Christmas Newsletter.


If this is your first visit to our family blog, let me apologize upfront for making you type that long blog title into your web browser. At the time I picked it out, I thought it was a clever play on words - "Breakfast at Tiffany's" - now it just seems like a long, difficult website address.

When 2008 began, we were in the heart of Intermediate School basketball season with weekly trips to the gym to watch Austin play basketball. We don't know what switch was flipped the summer of 2007, but when school started that fall, he went out for football even though he had never (I'm using the word NEVER) played organized football before. He made the team, but was not a big fan of playing defense, where he got positioned. We went from football to basketball (hadn't played since he was 6 or 7 years old) and did so well the head coach of the PE department named him "most improved" by the end of the season. After basketball, Austin made the golf team (an intermediate school with a golf team - is that sweet!) and got to hit golf balls and play Par-3 golf courses all week after school. He loved the comraderie of being on a basketball team, but probably liked the game of golf the most of all three sports.

In early spring, Braden began playing on his first baseball team (coach pitch), having outgrown t-ball. He got to be on a team with the twin boys from next door who are his best buddies, which made it a great experience. He is quite a slugger - one of the few kids who hit the coach's pitches every game without having to use a tee (after getting 5 pitches to get a hit). Defense was less appealing to him, as it was too slow paced, too structured and not violent enough. He has a wonderful coach who looks like he will be staying with this same group for a number of years.

In March, Shelley made a long-anticipated return to the workplace securing a part-time job as Administrative Assistant, Writer, Photographer and Bill Collector, plus other duties as assigned. She works for a magazine called Bay Area Houston and is enjoying it greatly. She has learned lots of useful information about the local community - where to buy fresh seafood, great restaurants, fun activities - and regularly gets tickets to attend fun events on behalf of the magazine. In the picture on the right, she is with the boys for a special backstage look at the "Sharks" exhibit at Moody Gardens. They got to get up close to sharks and other cool ocean animals. One of the favorite parts of her job is driving over the Clear Lake Channel every morning, looking out at the Gulf of Mexico shortly after sunrise. The beach and ocean have always made her feel peaceful, which is a good thing! We've also gotten to see a big-time magic show, an antique car and boat show, with more to come.

In March a great tradition was renewed with a "Sib Campout". Brad's siblings returned to the wild - though this time with seven kids under 12 years old - for two nights and two days of hiking, fishing, cooking out and freezing our butts off. The weather was so cold that we all would have qualified for our Eskimo Merit Badge, had it been a sanctioned Cub Scouts of America event. The camp was at Dinosaur State Park just outside of Granbury, TX and everyone had a fantastic time. 2009 will certainly see a return to the woods for a big campout with aunts, uncles and cousins!

As much as the boys love camping, there is no activity indoors or outdoors that makes our boys happier than being at the beach. We have been blessed in our move to League City two years ago to have access to Galveston Beach within a 30-minute car ride. That not only makes it easy to sneak down there for a quick weekend trip, or to see the annual sandcastle tournament, but it also makes it an imperative to visit the beach whenever we have visitors from "up north". This summer we had visits from Brad's parents, who enjoyed a windy day at the beach watching the boys. Shelley's niece visited with her parents, (Shelley's sister Jamie and her husband Jeff), and the weather was perfect. The boys played football, bodysurfed and entertained their 20-month old cousin, who looked absolutely fabulous in her white and red bikini!
Cousins Jefferson and Jacob visited with their mom (Brad's sister Julie) and they, too, got to go to the beach. The ride on the Bolivar ferry resulted in multiple porpoise sitings, and the weather was great. Four boys ran amok on the beach that day, my friends, while Uncle Brad took a little nap in his beach chair. (Thanks, Sis!) The only regular visitors we did not get to entertain this year were the Blair and Andrea Horst family, which has been a Labor Day tradition. Weather and circumstances prevented that visit, but we hope to get them all sandy in 2009.

Austin became a teenager this summer, and the whole neighborhood found out about it thanks to a banner we placed on the garage door. He was mortified about the banner, which made it all the more satisfying for his parents. He has good friends, makes straight "A's" in all advanced-placement classes, is helpful around the house and a great big brother. As teenagers go, we got very lucky with this one.

The end of summer and the return of the school year marked a major milestone for Braden, who started kindergarten and full days of school for the first time. He was very excited and proud on the first day of school, and is pictured here with his brother looking very big. Braden loves his teacher and has made friends with several boys - and girls - in his class. He likes PE and music the best for his electives, and ran in a 1K run as part of his fall festival (below).
Austin started 8th grade - his last year of intermediate school - and was excited to return to campus as part of the "upperclassmen". He opted out of football this year, deciding to put all his focus on basketball and golf. He is taking Spanish for the first time and enjoyed debating presidential politics with his social studies teacher.

The end of summer also meant that Shelley returned to her spot as a Vice President - Membership on the PTA board at Austin's school for one last year. She also started back in her Community Bible Study, which she absolutely loved in Cypress. Last year the Clear Lake CBS was doing the study from "Acts" that the Cypress CBS did in 2006-2007, so Shelley was happy to start back this year on a new study - major and minor prophets. She loves the homework and the weekly meetings with a new set of friends, and she is becoming very wise in God's Word. Brad was asked this year to volunteer on the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership "Education and Workforce Development" committee. (We just call it BAHEP.) We finally found a church home and are feeling more "at home" in League City than we have felt anywhere in a long time.

Which made Hurricane Ike all that more frightening. Shelley and the boys evacuated well before the storm threatend, but Brad stayed behind to work at the hospital. (Brad posted updates during the storm here.) We were blessed to avoid any serious damage to our home, but know lots of folks who were not spared. The one trip Shelley has made back to Galveston since the storm was bracing, as the island was still a mess a month after landfall, with debris and trash everywhere, homes destroyed, businesses closed and familiar landmarks from visits to the island just gone. We don't know if the island will ever return to the way it was during our lifetimes.

Braden played soccer this fall (again with the twins from next door - plus their older brother) and volunteered to play goalie everytime he could. As much as he liked running around, he thought being the last line of defense for his team was the best.

Mom and Dad were busting at the seams with pride the night Austin was officially made a part of the National Junior Honor Society. Here he is with his official certificate, dying inside because we insisted on taking his picture in front of his peers. He goes to monthly meetings before school and has community service projects he has to do to maintain his eligibility, in addition to maintaining his grades. Basketball season has started up again, and he is playing better this year than last. Hard to believe he will be in high school next year!

Which brings us up to the Christmas season. We decided it was time to take Braden to his first "Nutcracker Ballet", so we got tickets and planned a whole evening downtown. Dinner was at a nice restaurant, followed by a short walk to the theater for the performance. We visited the Nutcracker Market in the lobby before taking our seats. Braden was very impressed with the performance, literally on the edge of his seat for the first 15 to 20 minutes. Austin was more "cool" than that, but still enjoyed himself. We were all getting a little sleepy by the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy", but everyone had a great time. Can I confess that the Amarillo Ballet company had a better production - though not better dancers - than the Houston Ballet? It's true...

We hope you have had a good 2008 and enjoy family and friends at Christmas. Bookmark our blog and check back in from time to time. We'll try to post pics and little updates throughout the year.