Christmas Catch-Up

Just returned from South Texas this evening and saw many of you out there have already posted a few things since Christmas--I'm already behind!! My excuse is that we packed three Christmases and a trip to Texas into less than a week's time, and I have the pictures to prove it.

After several Christmases together, I finally enlisted the kids' help in convincing their father that Christmas Eve is the best time to open presents at home, since Santa brings the most anticipated gifts overnight for the next day. Bryan hid a couple of my presents right before my eyes on the tree--they were there for several days in plain view, but it still took me a long time to find them. The boys got what they wanted from Santa--anything Batman-related was a winner this year, and then we were off to Bryan's parents' house for the Wrenn Family Christmas. They love to entertain and Christmastime is always magical at their house--they begin decorating just after Halloween and usually have around 3-4 decorated trees in their house! After hours of eating, unwrapping gifts, drinking, unwrapping more gifts, eating some more, and unwrapping some more, we turned in to catch a 6AM flight to Houston.

The flight went surprisingly well with the kids, and my parents met us at the airport. On our way to my sister's house in Lake Jackson, we stopped at the Houston Museum of Natural Science to see the dinosaur exhibit and Gunther von Hagens' Body World exhibit. Bryan and I have both seen Discovery specials on the body exhibit, so we were very happy to see it in person. And of course the kids loved learning about the dinosaurs. We just wished we had more time to look at everything--the museum is fantastic. We also made it down to Galveston to tour Moody Gardens and see what hurricane damage remained. I was shocked to see sailboats still sitting next to the road on 61st street. Given how big the storm was, I was pleased to see so much of the island up and running again but still saddened at the big mark it made. We ate at Willie G's on the ship channel because Fisherman's Wharf next door was gutted. The Strand was a ghost town.

Most of our time was spent at my sister Melissa's house, where she and her husband Mike installed a huge playset for their son ("Baby Ty"). Mike was at sea (well, mostly at anchorage off Galveston) and managed to catch a launch into town for a short evening dinner with the family. We had a party one afternoon--Melissa & Mike have 2 kegs on tap at all times and plenty of room to sprawl out. One of my college friends brought his family down from Katy and we had a great time catching up and referee-ing the kids.

So we had a very busy Christmas week without much down-time. Still, I was very happy to make it back to Texas even though the trip was short and I think everyone had a good time.

Christmas Letter 2008

Happy Holidays 2008! Another year has flown by here in Gloucester, Virginia. We finally sold the “Northern Estate”, and our new neighborhood has tripled in size—from 6 houses to about 20! The second builder has not sold any homes, so fortunately we all still have empty lots between each house.

We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg earlier this year when Jen’s parents and sister came to town. The older boys slept in bunk beds for the first time, and Nick stayed in a big boy bed. We don’t know who had more fun at the water park—the kids, or the parents. And in keeping with the water theme, we decided to be pirates for Halloween!

Brandon graduated from Kindergarten, much to the relief of his teacher. He has moved on to a stricter environment in 1st Grade. He still loves school and does great academically, and is working hard on controlling his behavior. He participated in T-Ball and soccer this year, and gets lots of kicking & throwing practice at home with his brothers. He found out that he is tall enough to ride most of the roller coasters at King’s Dominion, and it looks like he’s a thrill ride junkie just like his mom.

Tyler is trying as hard as he can to catch up with his older brother. He started pre-school this year, but still does not share his brother’s enthusiasm for school. His latest excuse for staying home is because he needs to go to the doctor--his “feelings hurt”. He also played soccer and whiffle-ball, and participates in screaming matches with his little brother at home.

Nick is growing up fast. He has started talking and being a little helper around the house (at his convenience, of course). He is the family bully and participates in various kicking, throwing and boxing sports around the house. He talks about the potty, sits on the potty, parties on the potty, and just very recently finally pottied on the potty!! There is a light at the end of the diaper-changing tunnel!

Bryan is still working at Northrop Grumman’s shipyard in Newport News. He qualified as a nuclear Shift Test Engineer, and went from working on the newest to the oldest nuclear aircraft carrier—the USS Enterprise. He is still rocking the house with his guitar, and made the annual trip to worship Rush. He bought a Playstation 3, and it’s so smart that we think it’s becoming self-aware. Of course, no Playstation is complete without GTA (that’s Grand Theft Auto for those of you fortunate enough not to have a PS3 in your home).

Jennifer completed several more classes toward her Master’s degree from George Washington University, and only has 1 semester remaining! She also still works at the Newport News shipyard, and was briefly sent to San Diego to help with fire damage repairs on the USS George Washington. Her major job responsibilities are still split between the East & West Coasts, but she has avoided another trip to Japan.

Loki and Maggie are still around. We thought we’d lost Loki mid-year to cancer, but it turns out it’s still just arthritis. He lounges around until it’s time to eat, then lounges around some more—picking his head up to bark at the neighbors, mailman, and trash truck. Maggie has worn doggie paths into Bryan’s beautiful grass. She closely monitors the yard perimeter, always keeping a sharp watch on the neighbor’s cats and waiting for any unsuspecting creature to dare enter her yard.

We hope your year has also been good, and wish all the best through the holidays into the new year!

Look us up on Facebook! Bryan, Jen, Brandon, Tyler & Nick