The Price's Newsletter 2002

Greetings from the soggy Northwest! Since Jaedin and Cam have been learning their numbers, we thought we'd start with something a little different this year:

1. The number of mechanics within a 50-mile radius of Hanksville, Utah, where we broke down in my parents' RV last summer with cranky kids, 8-month pregnant wife, 110 degrees in the shade...

2. The number of scars on Cam's forehead caused by swinging doors. Cam is now 36" tall, which happens to also be the standard height for a doorknob.

3. The number of times we had to go out looking for our trash can after the famous Troutdale windstorms sent it sailing. We're trying to come up with some sort of conveyor system where we can get the mail and take out the trash from inside the house. Until then, the old cinderblock method will have to do.

4. The number of truck tires (rims and all) that got launched off a passing vehicle and bounced into my parents' RV as we sat broken down on the side of the road last summer (see #1).

5. The number of years of marriage we celebrated on our anniversary this year, wrapping up our first five-year contract. Talks between labor and management regarding the next five-year contract have broken down due to disputes over who is labor and who is management. We expect to reach an agreement soon, but Lindy claims to have found a clause somewhere that says going through labor automatically makes you management...

6. The number of baths it took to get Cam clean again after our delivery of dirt (fertilizer & all) for our back yard landscaping project.

7. The number of steps Jaedin and Cam rolled down together during a little fistfight last summer. Now Jaedin knows not to push Cam when Cam is holding onto his collar. Jaedin loves to recall the experience every time he can get an audience to listen.

8. Jaedin and Cam's record combined single-Sunday total for getting marched out to the hall for fighting during church.

9. Addie's record number of smiles during the daily "silly-time" routine with Jaedin and Cam.

10. The number of gummi bears Jaedin and Cam put on their sandwiches one day last summer after deciding to make their own lunch.

OK, some of those may need some further explanation, but enough numbers for now. 2002 was an exciting year for us - most importantly, our baby girl Addisen joined our family in September! Her birth announcement and some photos are on her website at www.addisen.com. She's been sleeping through the night since Day 3, so we can't complain there. See the next page for more about Addie.

Our travelogue was a bit less ambitious than usual this year, but we did eventually get the RV running and ended up making it down to the Grand Canyon and Lake Powell with the boys last summer. Here are some of the remaining details for the year:

Lindy. Lindy is enjoying being a full-time mom (blah blah blah... seems the term "full-time mom" is a misnomer and ought to be replaced by the term "overtime mom.") Lindy was out shopping with all three kids in tow a few weeks ago, and on the way into the store, the door swung closed and w10hacked Cam in the head. Jaedin went to console him, and the door, swinging back the other way, whacked him from behind. So on top of it all with both boys bleeding and crying, Addie suddenly decided she was hungry and pitched in with her screams, too. For the first time for Lindy, it really sank in that we've got three kids! All she could do was laugh, but it was one of those days where I didn't know what I was in for when I came home and asked, "and how was your day, honey?" Jaedin and Cam took full advantage of their bed-ridden mom toward the end of the pregnancy this summer. One day I came home to find they had made a trail of corn flakes and lemonade powder all the way around the kitchen, living room, and dining room. Turns out crushed corn flakes on linoleum make for a fun little slick-track. I bought a lock for the pantry the next day. Not sure if she was still suffering from the side effects of the epidural a few months back, but Lindy offered to host Thanksgiving at our house this year. We had always gone somewhere else for Thanksgiving, so this was the first time we had actually had the meal at home. We had just about everyone from both of our families there. All went well, though, and we were able to get everyone fed just fine (28 people in all!) Lindy has also been getting lots of good feedback on her "bebetent," a carseat and baby carrier cover she designed to keep kids covered up during the flu season.

Krey after completing the Adobe fitness program

Krey. I cut, bathed, and got friendly with my first Thanksgiving turkey this year, marking the beginning of "old dad" status. You can see from the photos, though, that our new insta-bod fitness program (sponsored by Adobe) is keeping us both looking young. At work, I'm doing a few local jobs in addition to a large project along the Missouri River in Nebraska. I went back to Michigan for a friend's wedding last summer. It was fun to relive old memories with some friends who hadn't touched base in quite a while, but as a result, all of our wives unanimously agreed that they're glad they didn't know us in high school. Other things keeping me busy include clerking duties at church and the websites I've been trying to maintain for family history and congenital heart disease. Sometimes the responses from the sites can be overwhelming, and I've been a bit neglectful in keeping them current. Well, every year comes with an embarrassing moment. This one came on the train, which I ride into work each day. As I was about to get off the train one morning, I was surprised (and maybe a little flattered) to receive a note from a woman who had been sitting next to me. But when I read the note as the train pulled away, it gave me an indication of just how alert I am in the mornings lately. It read: "I don't mean to embarrass you, sir, but your shirt is on inside-out..."

Jaedin (4). We were a bit anxious this fall as Jaedin finished his antibiotic treatment for the infection he developed during his Summer 2001 surgery. We'll be preparing for an angioplasty in a few months, where they'll measure some of the pressures in his heart and lungs using a catheter in order to make some long-term treatment decisions. So far, we've been relieved that he has shown no signs of a recurring infection. His medications have dropped from six down to two, which makes life a lot easier. Jaedin just adores his new little sister. He's found lots of new interests this year, and he wants very badly to be bigger. He's been asking about a big-boy bike for months now, and it looks like he'll finally have his chance to learn how to ride one after Christmas. Jaedin and I finished up a swimming class this summer, and he learned all sorts of new tricks in the water. He loves to make music with anything he can find, and he's turned into quite the little comedian. The other night when Jaedin was sick with a cold, he came into our room in the middle of the night, whimpering, "Daddy, I'm sick, I need some cookies."

Cambren (2). Cam loves his little sister, too, but he's not quite sure how he likes competing with Jaedin for her attention. He's been talking up a storm since getting ear tubes put back in last fall to take care of the chronic ear infections he was having. His favorite words are DVD, Taco Bell, and Buzz Lightyear, and he somehow manages to incorporate those words into most of the sentences he says. He loves bike rides and can spend hours exploring the back yard. We're thinking about implementing a once-a-month "Cam-day-dinner", where we all eat with our hands and then wipe them in our hair as a tribute to Cam's quirky eating habits. The other day we inadvertently left a DVD in the player, and Cam ended up coming down and watching the repeating Spiderman intro for three hours. Now he gets really excited every time he sees any Spiderman paraphernalia in the stores (great...)

Addisen (3 mo.) Addie spends most of her time looking around, observing the world. She laughs quite a lot now, but she can really squawk out the baby cusses when she's misunderstood. She's getting bigger every day (working on her third chin). She acts like she really wants to be bigger so she can run around with her brothers. Her first real laugh came a few weeks ago when I stripped a screw with my power drill while hanging drywall in our basement. Not sure why that was so funny to her, but I guess she really thought the noise was hilarious. She's a happy baby, but when it comes down to it, she's definitely still a Momma's girl.

Overall, we've been very blessed. This year we're especially thankful for Doernbecher Childrens Hospital, antibiotics, Buzz Lightyear, Rolie Polie Olie, baby sisters who sleep through the night, those bouncy things for babies that hang in doorways, Happy Meals, PhotoShop, DVD's, cinderblocks, chainsaws, chocolate chip cookies, and grandparents who will babysit your kids again and again, even after their "little angel" act has worn off...