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Hello once again from all of us here in Troutdale! We hope you had a spectacular 2007. If not, well, I guess there are still a few days left in the year to make up for it. In the meantime, our best wishes for your Christmas holidays! Things here have been busy as ever, and we’re looking forward to a Christmas at home, even though we aren’t quite prepared for it. We started putting up the Christmas lights a few weeks ago, for example, but some hurricane-force winds just about knocked us right off the roof and we only finished half the house. So if you happen to be passing through Troutdale and see a half-lit house where it looks like a couple of fuses have blown, please stop in and say hi. If you time it right, you might catch me and Lindy playing rock-paper-scissors over who has to take the kids to see Alvin and the Chipmunks on the first day of Christmas vacation. | |
| Diez Años. Our biggest milestone event this year was hitting our ten-year wedding anniversary. With a decade behind us, we renegotiated and opted to extend our contract for another term. As part of an anniversary present, Lindy made me a CD of songs that were on the radio back in 1997 – hard to believe how long ago that seems. And it’s a bit embarrassing, too…not so much the age factor, but more so because of the fact that we were married in the year of the Macarena and MMMbop… But we’re still happy and having fun together; our lives somehow seem to retain the “spice” that keeps things interesting and eventful for us both. Along those lines, look for our album, “Photoshizzle,” soon to be released on Adobe Records. |
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Wanderings. As far as travels, we took our first family plane ride as a six-pack and ventured off to Florida last spring. Our activities included a pirate ship ride and a pirate dinner show, and in the end, we had enough “aaarghs” to last us a piratey lifetime. We also did a whirlwind tour of the four Disney World resorts and tried to pack in some beach time, a visit to the Holy Land park (yes, you heard right, there is a Holy Land theme park in Florida), Gatorland, and a swamp boat ride. The kids did amazingly well with all the traveling, but we were pretty worn out by the time we got home. Another trip on a more somber note was to Utah for my Uncle Ken’s funeral. He is missed by all who knew him. We also took lots of local trips around the northwest to take in some camping and to take the kids back to their roots in Seattle. |
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Reunited. We had the entire Price crew, including all three of my concurrently pregnant sisters, out here with us in Oregon this summer. We got a cabin at Mount Hood and had a good time riding the alpine sled, hiking, and filling the evenings with Xbox karaoke, Dance Dance Revolution and other ways to make a complete fool of yourself. Later in the summer – after recovering from our other trips – we took a quick trip to California to attend Lindy’s uncle’s wedding. It was a nice wedding – the kids now have a fondness for wedding cake; Addie even took notes and planned her own wedding (she said she’d prefer Paris to Fresno for the wedding, with a honeymoon in Hawaii – guess it’s time to apply for a gun permit.) We were glad to give the kids the chance to form more memories and deeper relationships with their great-grandparents. As part of that trip we were also able to branch off to Berkeley to visit friends and see some of our own stomping grounds; we hit Wildlife Safari on the way home, and finally made it through Roseburg without a speeding ticket. That takes care of most of the family adventures; here’s some extra on everyone else: |
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| Berkeley. Berkeley is finally old enough to play dress-up with Addie. They love to cook together in the play kitchen in their room, and they keep bringing us all sorts of plastic foods for us to sample. From the looks of things so far, Berkeley’s a bit more tomboy than Addie. Her favorite toy is a T-Rex that growls like it’s going to eat you. The kids all just adore her. We tried and tried to keep her a baby and prevent her from making all the 1-year-old milestones such as walking and talking, but she did it in spite of us. She is the sweetest baby – very easy-going; we like to think she has all of our best qualities. |
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Addisen. Addie missed the cutoff for Kindergarten by 2 days, but really wanted to go to school, so we had to have her get specially tested before they’d let her in. We were a bit nervous but it turned out the deciding factor was that she draws eyebrows on her stick-figure people. Who knew? She absolutely loves her Kindergarten class, and despite all the bribing she gets from her mom to stay home, she still insists that her classmates need her more. She loves flowers – so much so, that every time I fire up the lawnmower, Addie runs around on the lawn as fast as she can to save all the weedy flowers before they get mowed. She talks non-stop; here are a few favorite quotes: “Can I get some ice cream out of the freezerator?” “Mommy put shampoo and air conditioner in my hair!” “How come Grandma’s pancakes aren’t black on one side like yours?” Addie got to have a Paris-themed party for her 5th birthday, supported by her brothers in costume and a full production of activities by Lindy. She also got to go on a special daddy date to see Disney Princesses on Ice, dressed as Jasmine (see photos). She rounded out the year with a couple of soccer, tap, and ballet classes. She is the princess of our family and adds a measure of royalty, pink and girliness into our family. | |
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Cambren. Cam is our little judge. Everything has to be fair, and he’s always finding the loopholes in our family rules; unfortunately for us, 99% of the time he has a great point and leaves us with no rebuttal. He’s the first one up in the morning, with his coat on and ready to go while the rest of us are still snoozing the alarm clock. Cam tends to be a bit obsessive – for example, he somehow got a craving for bacon this year, and when he saw a billboard for the Wendy’s “Baconator” sandwich, he had to try it, or else. When we gave in, he could only finish a couple of bites, so his “Disposalator” dad had to finish it for him. For a boy who used to go round and round about doing his homework, he’s finally found his groove, and amazes us with how much that head of his can hold. He took a Mad Science class with Jaedin, continued his obsession with video games, and discovered the WB network on TV. Who ever heard of Chowder and Ben 10? |
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| Jaedin. Jaedin is growing up too fast – he’s already asking us which pedal is the brake and which is the gas and why we never get the needle on the dial all the way up to 120. His big milestone (at least in my eyes) was that he started mowing the lawn this year. Came out a bit crooked the first few times, but now I’m ready to hand over the reigns. He loves books – writing books in particular; he’s the budding author of the “Super Captain Bunny Adventure Series.” Jaedin won an essay contest and was published in the local newspaper; as a special prize he got to ride right up to the school’s front door in a Model T Ford with all the other students outside watching. He went to Cub Scout day camp this summer and can build anything out of Legos with ease. He gave a couple of speeches about Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Edison in school, complete with costumes and props. His imagination and all his interests amaze us, though the reams of paper he goes through are depleting the forests and draining our bank account. He noticed that he is getting winded a lot lately, but still doing well as far as his cardiologist is concerned. We are so blessed that he can live a very normal life despite a very serious heart condition. In some exciting news along those lines, he got a call from the Make-a-Wish foundation to set up an interview (see story). We checked with him before the interview to see what his biggest wish would be – he told us he’d like to go to the Portland Zoo. We told him (as convincingly as possible) he should probably dream a little bigger (and that mom needs some sun). He was really into the Titanic at the time, and he decided he wanted to go on a boat as big as the Titanic, but “one that doesn’t sink”. The most exciting part for Jaedin when he found out his wish was granted in the form of a cruise, was that he saw on the website that you can order food any time of day or night on the ship. He loves shrimp, and said he’ll be taking them up on the challenge by eating shrimp 24/7. As another bonus from Make-a-Wish, we got private front-row seats right at the center of a Blue Angels show (see photos), and the kids got to meet each of the pilots after the show. Quite an experience! |
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Lindy. Lindy continues to stay busy trying to keep up with the kids, while reconciling the fact that they are all growing up way too fast while we are slowing down. To keep our lives ever more interesting, she especially enjoys coming up with our own family traditions like soaking dad in shaving cream on Father’s Day, hiding Easter bunnies in the tallest trees, air-bands for birthday party lip-syncs, saran-wrapping my car for Valentine’s Day, etc. The traditions generally boil down to torturing me…in the most loving way of course; I’m still on repayment terms for breaking her leg so I try to take it like a man, if that’s even a possibility. With three kids in school, she and Berkeley have the run of the house during the day. A couple of times I’ve come home to find the power tools out of place or a wall missing that was there when I left. I suspect the next project is a doghouse, thought we don’t own a dog (yet). Lindy gets roped into doing lots of parties and announcements, and even though she tells me never to let her take on another one, she must get some kind of secret creative crafty surge out of it, or maybe she just enjoys getting me involved and all covered in glitter and double stick tape. More than once, I’ve been asked, “What’s with the glitter in your hair?” | |
| Krey. Not much new to report this year – same job, same house, same wife, same kids… but it’s been an exciting year nonetheless. One change is that after six years of clerking at church, I’m now coordinating the music. In addition to all of the highlights mentioned above, I took a couple of trips to Alaska and tacked on a few days each time to explore the state (see photos). In accordance with tradition, I’ll dive right into my list of embarrassing moments, which seems to get longer each year. In no particular order, this year’s top five are 1) melting power tools with live electric wiring (turned off the wrong breaker while taking out a wall), 2) puncturing my hand with a nail while showing off karate moves (same wall as in #1), 3) getting tricked into a massage by a mall salesbabe’s geography question…on our anniversary, and after losing my wife, no less (long story – remember the doghouse and no dog?), 4) delaying a holiday dinner for lack of a roast (“but honey, you only said to put it in the oven, not to turn on the oven”), and finally 5) asking a young guitar student how he liked his new guitar from Guitar Center (he turned to his mom and yelled, “Liar!!! You told me it came from Santa Claus!). So besides near-electrocution and destroying a few dreams, life is groovy! |
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Well that about does it for 2007! This year we’re especially thankful for Make-a-Wish, new nieces and nephews, libraries and bookstores, Berkeley, computer passwords and parental controls, the many shades of pink, mad scientists at Halloween, 0 trips to the ER, and a full year of forced family fun-time! Our best holiday wishes from all of us! Love, The Prices
Krey, Lindy, Jaedin, Cambren, Addisen, and Berkeley |
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| Click for more 2007 photos | Click for pdf newsletter | |
