Christmas 2006

Dearest Family and Friends,

It's that time of year to give our report,
But you're busy... so your time we won't waste!
A lot has happened in 2006,
But don't worry, we'll give only a taste!

Mike and KaLisi have been working out,
Mike has even lost a ton of weight!
KaLisi ran in her first 8K race,
Needless to say, our pants fit really great!

Josh loves going to pre-school,
He's bummed that homework is a must.
But he's looking forward to next year,
When he can ride the big yellow school bus!

Caleb turned one in August,
And we all cater to his demands.
He's pretty busy and gets into everything,
We call him "the boy with a million hands!"

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Love, Mike, KaLisi, Josh and Caleb

I have to say, Christmas with kids is so much more fun because it's like I'm living the fantasies all over again! We were so excited to have such a full house this year!!! Josh and cousin Taylor were SOOO excited about Santa and all the presents! But we were surprised how humble they were about the whole thing. Josh was concerned what Caleb would get from Santa, and if Mom's stocking would get filled too! Caleb wasn't too sure about the whole Santa thing... in fact he jumped out of his lap! But he was very fond of the Christmas bulbs... even after eating one! The sound of crunching glass in little teeth is a horrible sound I wouldn't wish on anyone!

Make like a tree and "leave"!

Here are some pictures from playing in the leaves! This fall we had MASSIVE amounts of leaves in our yard!!! I had the blisters to prove it!!! The bad thing about Virginia, is we could be raking until spring because the leaves keep falling!!! In fact, the winter has been so mild that my tulips are coming up and it's only January! It's great now, but when the bugs come out in full force due to lack of a good freeze, I'll be taking cover inside all summer! ugggg!

Runnin' Fools!!!

BEFORE...



AFTER...


WE DID IT!!! After just 6 weeks of training we finished our first 8k race, which is 4.965 miles... but we like to say it was 5 miles! When we signed up for this, we were supposed to put our estimated time... and not knowing how long it would take us, we guessed about an hour and a half! Little did we know that the estimated time would be used to put us into groups for a staggered start! We ended up in the last group, which didn't seem too bad until we realized that the numbers on our bibs reflected how fast we intended to finsh! 12630 doesn't look that impressive next to 6570! But all that aside, we started out pretty good! The weather was great... 70 degrees and sunny with a nice occasional breeze!!! Although after the first mile, I started feeling a little tired! NaDene on the other hand was going strong! It didn't help things when I had the urge to go to the bathroom, and almost wet my pants 3 different times before we reached the port-a-potties!

The course was pretty flat and went through downtown Richmond. While I was focusing on the pain in my hips, NaDene was enjoying the scenery! The only thing that kept me going was NaDene... and the promise of live bands playing music at mile 2 and 4 and a HUGE surpirse along the way! We were both very disappointed to find no bands playing music to pump us up... and the huge surprised turned out to be two girls juggling and eating fire. May sound impressive to some, but after 4 miles of running, I expected a lot more! But, we maintained our pace til the end, despite a steady hill in mile 4. And we eventually got to a wonderful downhill slope all the way to the finish! Picking up our pace, NaDene said, "Do you want to push it to the end?" Little did she know I was pushing my hardest already!!! Aaaahhhh!!!

My official time was 59 minutes 15 seconds... and NaDene's official time was 59 minutes 16 seconds. I like to say that I beat her because I turned out to be the faster runner... NaDene says it's because she had to push me through the finish line! Either way, we both did great because we finished under an hour! So, taking into account our 3-minute potty break, we averaged about 11:30 per mile, compared to our 13:40 minute mile in training! HOORAY!!! And I have to say, that I wouldn't have finished that fast if it wasn't for NaDene being right beside me!

Now, 2 days later, I'm still slathering on the BenGay and hobbling around, while NaDene confesses to having a sore toe from her shoe! GO FIGURE!!!

Where's Peter Pan??

We've got the pirates... we've got Tinker Bell... I wonder who is Peter Pan!!! Pursuant to Mike's request, I decided to leave his costume all to your imagination, rather then document it via photograph!

We trick or treated through a couple streets in our neighborhood ... and Josh and Taylor had fun taking turns ringing the doorbell. We knew it was time to call it quits when they were just going through the motions and not really getting excited anymore! I guess walking for miles at the park that very day proved to be a good choice, because they could only take so much trick or treating!

Halloween Day

For playgroup we went to Maymont Park on Halloween Day! The weather was wonderful... in the 70's... and the kids had a blast!! We walked probably 2 miles through the park checkin' out all the animals... turkeys, fox, hawks, bulls, buffalos, goats, and NaDene's personal favorite, the vulture!

The highlight was probably feeding the goats... Josh liked it, but I think he liked it better when the goat would eat directly out of the bowl! Caleb liked to admire them from afar and say "oh oh oh!" But as soon as I put some grain in his hand and tried to get him to feed them, he freaked out! But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get him to let go of the grain! He had a death grip on it... probably out of fear!!

A pirate says "Arrrrgggg!"

This year, Halloween was the never-ending holiday! We kicked it off with a little Halloween Party at our house! We played games, made a craft, ate lots of junk food and even went Trick-or-Treating through the house! Josh and taylor had a great time with their friends... and Caleb and Cole were hilarious strutting around in their little pirate costumes, that were just a tad too tight! At one point, we played with some glowsticks in the dark and the little kids had just as much fun as the big kids! Mike is being a good sport and playing "Make a Mummy out of your Daddy"!
After the Halloween festivities were over, we sent the kids upstairs to watch a movie and the adults played a friendly, non-gambling game of Texas Hold 'Em!

Our ward didn't do anything this year (ba-hum-bug), so we found another party to go to.... at the YMCA! They had a magic show, a giant bouncy slide thing, cake walk, and they even got their hair colored, which didn't wash out of Josh's hair for 3 days.....a lovely look for church the next day... and even fake tattoos!

Pick a Peck of Pumpkins

For playgroup we took a trip to Ashland Berry Farm for a hay ridin'-pumpkin pickin'-good time!!! The kids got to trudge through the dirt of the field, find the "perfect" pumpkin and pick it straight off the vine and haul it back through the fields... a real "country" experience... the real fun came when the kids got tired of carrying the GIANT pumpkin they always wanted, and so the moms had to drag the pumpkins, kids and cameras back to the wagon!!! Thank goodness fall only comes once a year!

But, despite the October Heat, we had a great time. There was even a little "Hay Maze" with a wobbly bridge and zip line that the kids LOVED!

Running in the sprinkler in October... WHO DOES THAT???

One October Day, it was blazin' hot... so despite the fact that it was 'supposed' to be fall we let the kiddos run through the sprinkler!!! They had a blast and we got to get a sun tan!

Stop, Drop and Roll!

We went to a "FIRE PREVENTION DAY" where the kids got a chance to check out a police car, ambulance and even do a mock fire drill, complete with fake smoke in a miniature house! (way cute!)

Visit from the Greats!!!

Grandma and Grandpa Grover made a trip down to Richmond before heading back to Alaska... and we had a really fun visit with them!!! We did a few fun things during their visit.... Josh and Taylor loved showing them around the neighborhood during a morning walk to the park. Grandpa taught them how to make a slingshot (or a flipper, as Grandpa called it) out of stuff they found along the trail. Then he showed them how to shoot acorns... watch out, Grandpa has good aim! They took us out to lunch to our favorite restaraunt, Chic-Fil-A. But before they had to get back, we played some checkers, Sleeping Queens, and topped it off with Grandpa's reinactment of "Little Lost Sid"!

Most of all, it was fun to spend a little time with them before they left the east coast for good! We loved having them here, even if we didn't get to see them as often as we would have liked! (we're to blame for not making the trip more often) But just knowing they were in driving distance was a huge comfort to us!!! We will miss them.... but are excited for them to be back "home in Alaska" with everyone else!

"Park It"

This was our latest venture to the little park that is a quick walk from our house! Josh is still trying to get the hang of the monkey bars... he can usually go two rungs before his lil' hands give out! Caleb loves the thrill of the slide, as well as Dad's "rocket launch" into the air!

All of this, we did with NaDene, Taylor and Cole!!! They are living with us for awhile, and we love the company and excitement that has come from almost doubling our family! We love them to death and are so glad they are here!!!

Caleb turned 1

This is Caleb here, writing just to let you know that I'm 1 year old today... and it's been a great day! I got to take a long nap, play with my toys, tell everybody else what to do... I even got someone to change my diaper!

For dinner, everyone had taco salad, but I had chicken soup! Mom, Dad and Josh sang Happy Birthday (just a little out of tune), and then I just looked at the candle until Josh helped me blow it out. When it was time for cake, I wasn't so sure about the frosting... and didn't want to eat it! And everyone kept saying to "get messy", but that's just gross! But after everybody put on a frosting mustache, I started getting into it too! Man, that was good cake!

Here are a couple pictures of my party!
Love, Caleb

Trip to the Beach!

Last week we went on a little vacation to Hilton Head Island in SC for a week with Mike's family! After an 8-hour drive down, in which the boys did FABULOUS in the car, there was a lot to do! We rode bikes to the beach, played at the pool, rode bikes some more, and played at the beach! It was very relaxing, and we all had a wonderful time!

We saw dolphins right off the shore, climbed 114 steps to the top of a lighthouse, and visited the ever famous "Salty Dog Cafe"!

Josh's favorite thing to do was run and splash in the waves, dig holes in the sand, look for shells, and ride bikes as much as our tired bodies could handle! Josh rode on a tandem bike with Mike and loved going as fast as he could, which meant leaving me and Caleb in the dust! He also loved jumping off the edge into the pool... then getting out... jumping in again and getting out... and jumping in again! He's even getting better at the swimming part too!

Caleb was a little unsure of the sand at first, but by the end, he was crawling and toddling all over the beach! And give him a shovel and a bucket and he would sit there forever! He also loved the ocean, and would walk straight into the waves without giving a thought to the possibility of getting swept out to sea! And he even got brave and man-handled a jellyfish that washed up on shore... lucky for him it didn't sting, so we didn't have to pee on his hand!

The highlight for Mike was not answering his cel phone!!! (that was the highlight of MY week too!) And of course, getting to spend some extra time with Joan and Terry (Mike's parents), and Shanna and Jason (Mike's sister and husband)!

Climbing the Lighthouse!

We had to climb 114 steps with no air conditioning in 100 degree weather! Whoo! So, by the time we got to the top, it was great to feel that ocean breeze!
Grandma and Grandpa Trentadue (Joan and Terry) are trying to help Josh see the parasailers!