2009 In Review...Finally

Dear Family and Friends,

Welcome to the 2009 Steinman family letter. No you did not receive a Christmas card. Yes, this is the letter that would have accompanied that card. Things are tight so we eliminated cards and Christmas mailings this year altogether. However, the tradition of an annual family letter must continue! And so here I am on January 1, 2010, looking back at 2009 (finally posting it on January 17) saying goodbye and good riddance! It was a rough year and although the lowlights outweighed the highlights, I will try to focus mainly on the highlights for the purposes of keeping this upbeat. So let’s begin the review of 2009 (and get comfy; it's a novel)!

JANUARY

We welcomed in 2009 in the way we usually do…birthday parties galore (four in the first four weekends to be exact). Of course one of those was Skyler’s third birthday party. She is at the point where she can really appreciate the party and the presents and the cake! It’s always fun to see having a good time surrounded by so many people that love her so much. Her third birthday also represented a new expense…Skyler’s first annual pass for Disneyland. At this point, all four of us had passes and Disney had us by the pocketbook.

However, we also saw Traci’s brother and his family move from Lake Arrowhead to Colorado, which meant seeing them less often and the kids spending less time with their cousins. It was said to say goodbye, but thank goodness for Skype!

FEBRUARY

February was as busy as usual with Traci’s birthday and Courtney’s fifth birthday. However, as if that isn’t enough in itself, along with a number of other family birthdays in the last week alone, our Sunday School class, which I was the facilitator for, decided to do an open house to let other young married couples in our church know about our class and come check it out. It went well as we probably had 30-40 people show up, compared to about 10 in class on a normal Sunday. It went pretty well and we had fun.

Two days before Courtney’s birthday, we welcomed a new (extended) family member! Our niece Bella was born on the 18^th. It was exciting to find out since this was my sister’s first baby.

Another highlight of this month was that Courtney had two auditions in a three-day period at the end of the month. (Remember, last year she signed with LA Models to be her agency for print, model, TV and film.) With those being in the heart of LA, it’s a decent time commitment for Traci and Courtney to make it to those, especially while I’m at work. She didn’t get either gig, but they are always good practice for the next one!

MARCH

Our church’s annual Serve Weekend was held in March this year. Since this was the first year that I didn’t lead a project, Traci and I worked together on the same project. We were photographers. We got to travel to about a dozen of the 119 service projects throughout the community, taking pictures and documenting the activities of the various project teams. It was a blessing to be able to see so much of what was going on and how so many in our community could be blessed by God’s servants. It was truly an amazing experience. We are looking forward to serving again this Spring!

March also represented a change for me at work as I earned my first promotion at Chevron. I went from being a Global Analyst to a Local Analyst, but that also involves formulating and managing a number of contracts (somewhere around 60 I think), the largest of which averages about $15,000,000 per year. It’s a nice change and has involved a lot of learning but has been enjoyable. I love the people I work with and I have a great boss. In these times, I cannot complain at all about my job. Good pay and benefits and the fact that I have a job at all in these times is great, let alone one of the best I’ve ever had. God has blessed me, and my family, with this job.

APRIL

April had one of the biggest highlights of the year. No it wasn’t my 33^rd birthday. No, it wasn’t the Dodger game we attended the following day. No it wasn’t attending an award ceremony for my mom’s union, at which she received a prestigious award (although that was pretty cool). It was Courtney’s first job! We were so excited when we got the call that she was on the short list/on call for a job. Then we were even more excited when we got the call that she was in! The excitement went to whole other level when we found out it was for O Magazine!! (That’s right, Oprah’s magazine!) The shoot took place on the beach in Santa Monica. She did really well and had a great time. She even got to take home the beachball from the photo shoot. If you haven’t seen it, it’s in the July 2009 issue of O Magazine on pages 110-111. (The photo takes up most of the two-page spread and Courtney is right in the middle facing the camera.)

Traci has continued to be involved in leadership for MOPS at our church and in April we hosted a MOPS fundraiser yard sale since we have a great front yard for it. Since Traci was in charge of fundraising, she organized the event and did a great job of it. However, since we were hosting it, that also meant our home was the drop-off, or Salvation Army/Goodwill/name your charity here, for the event. Therefore, we had stuff piled up for the yard sale everywhere. We had a path to the washing machine and dryer in the garage and a path to the kitchen from the living room. However, thanks to the great planning, the support of the MOPS group from our church, and the tons of donations from everyone, the yard sale made about $1,200! Way to go, Hon! I’m proud of you!

MAY

May was the first really rough month we had. However, there were some good events as well. We celebrated Mother’s Day at the park, as has become tradition in recent years. Both sides of our family get together and go potluck-style. The kids love to play, the adults love to talk; it’s great for everyone, especially with four generations involved!

However, the month quickly turned downhill after Mother’s Day. Our dear friend Monica, who was only three months younger than me, lost her 18-month battle with Cancer the day after Mother’s Day, leaving behind her husband, who we’re also good friends with, and their son who turned three the following month. She and her husband had been in our Sunday School class for quite a while so we had gotten to know them pretty well, especially Traci. I had the honor of speaking briefly at her service the next weekend, where it was estimated about 500 people attended, to give you an idea of what a great, Godly woman she was. While we mourned the loss, we can celebrate the fact that she is no longer suffering and is in Heaven. Her departure is only temporary for those of us who also have reservations in Heaven.

The day after the service, we had another highlight: watching Courtney’s church choir do their Spring musical. It is always fun to see Courtney perform and having fun while honoring The Lord. It really makes us proud.

JUNE

Ah, June…a month we have grown very fond of, but I’ll get to the reason in a minute in case you don’t remember why. June represented Courtney’s last day of preschool and her preschool “graduation” ceremony. It was very cute and although it was just for preschool, it really made me realize how quickly Courtney is growing up. How is it that she is ready for kindergarten already?!

The weekend after that was a great weekend at church as we held our ground breaking ceremony. Our church was breaking ground for construction on phase one (of two) of our campus expansion. Phase one represents nearly tripling our parking spaces in preparation for phase two, which will be construction of a new sanctuary. Some of the parking was completed in time for Christmas Eve services last week. It was a more emotional experience than I expected. I think it’s exciting that we have outgrown what we have now and need to expand so that we can bring more people to God on our campus. It was also emotional because at one point they had those that had become Christians at the church come fill a test tube with dirt from the ground breaking, and Courtney was one of those people. It literally brought tears to my eyes and the test tube is still on our kitchen counter just above the sink.

It was also around this time that Skyler began her swim lessons. She was in the Mommy and Me swim class with Traci. There was an obvious difference from last year in terms of her ability and enjoyment. It’s amazing to see how she grows over time and how she develops and her amazing athletic abilities. We’ll need to keep an eye on her!

The following weekend was Father’s Day, when we held our annual BBQ in our front yard. It was fun as always. However it was the following Friday that represented a pretty big milestone, at least in our eyes.

Friday, June 26, 2009, was me and Traci’s 10^th wedding anniversary! It’s hard to believe that it’s already been 10 years, but what a great and amazing 10 years it has been. God has blessed me with the best wife in the world and has blessed Courtney and Skyler with the best mom in the world! We are truly a lucky family with her as a part of it. A big milestone like this meant Traci and I needed some alone time! So we pawned off…I mean, we let the kids have a sleepover at Grandma Linda and Grandpa Dave’s house. We had a great time celebrating 10 years of wedded bliss and are looking forward to as many more as God will bless us with! I can only hope that we can make it as long Aunt Frieda and Uncle Dick (63 years now)!

JULY

We started off the month on a great note, traveling to Colorado to see all of the family we have out there. We were gone July 2-11, a good length for a driving trip, which the girls did very well on. We had a great time staying at Shawn (Traci’s brother) and Rani’s house, which allowed the girls to have some good cousin time. After that, we spent some great time at Susie (my sister) and Adam’s home and seeing our niece for the first time. We didn’t do a lot of sight seeing, but rather focused on spending time with family and just hanging out. It was nice to relax and get away for a while. All good things must come to an end, and so the trip did when we made it home safely.

However, I had no idea that my life would flip upside down beginning the following week. It was that following week that I began my battle with depression. I have never been through anything like it before and hope I never do again. Unfortunately, my battle had negative effects on the family, and so it was a very tough four months or so for everyone.

The end of July represented the first time the girls got to attend VBS at our church! They always seem to hold it the same time that we go to Shaver Lake for Traci’s family’s annual reunion/vacation. This year, they were different weeks, so it worked out really well. The girls had a really good time.

July also represented the last time I would lead our Sunday School class as I let them know I could no longer lead the class. It was just too much for me on top of everything else going on in life in general as well as the latest issues that were going on (although they didn’t know that yet).

AUGUST

August was busier than normal, but in a good way. We left for the aforementioned Shaver Lake trip on August 1. We returned two days later since that was the only day we wanted Courtney to miss of her swim lessons. She couldn’t wait for her swim class and did amazing once she was in the pool. I think she would live in the pool if she could. Not just because she could be like Ariel (the Little Mermaid), but because she loves to swim and show us how well she can do. She can also hold her breath for quite a while. She has learned that jumping off the diving board is quite the thrill also. No fear in this girl when it comes to swimming!

Just a couple of days after returning from Shaver Lake, Traci and I attended the Leadership Summit which is hosted by Willow Creek Community Church outside Chicago. Our church was a satellite host and it was a great experience. Great speakers, great topics, great time all around. Our church was one of three featured in a segment with an interview with Bono from U2. (The video is on our church’s website if anyone is interested.)

A couple of weeks later we headed to San Diego for Traci’s family’s annual San Diego family reunion. (Can you tell her family is pretty close? That’s a good thing!) We had fun as always and the girls did as well as they got to hang out with cousins. The weather is usually pretty good down there and there is never a shortage of food! However, if there ever is, Sea World is just down the road!

The day after San Diego was the highlight of the month for me, without a doubt. I went with a friend to Staples Center to see Summerslam (a WWE pay-per-view event) live! We had a great time. Three hours of gratuitous, choreographed violence, indoor pyrotechnics, one tag team that rode into the arena on a tank and a main event that involved tables, ladders and chairs. Ah, high quality entertainment, indeed!

Coming off of the high of that day, I was stunned when I was still struggling with depression the rest of the week. As a result, I started on three and a half weeks of disability that week. A disappointing option I was hoping to avoid.

However, the last day of August was a milestone. Skyler started preschool! She is attending the same preschool Courtney did: Whittier Christian, Maybrook Campus. She has enjoyed it so far and her teachers love her. We couldn’t be more pleased. She is always excited to show us what she has done, especially arts and crafts. We were worried she might be more hesitant to start school than Courtney because she is more reserved and shy, but she did great…no crying, no clinging, just a goodbye hug and kiss and she was good to go. She’s such a big girl!

SEPTEMBER

This month had a big milestone for Courtney. On the 2^nd, she had her first day of Kindergarten! Man, is it weird to be going back to my elementary school, but this time as a parent! I’m proud of Courtney as she has done extremely well so far in kindergarten. On her first report card (December), she was at or above level in all areas. I almost teared up when she said her favorite subject is math. That’s my girl!

I was cleared to go back to work on the 21^st of the month and so I did. It was a welcome change. However, it would not go quite as well as I had hoped. I made it through three days and could not work the fourth. (I work a 4/10 schedule and therefore have all Fridays off.) Turns out I wouldn’t work a full week for a while.

The last weekend of September, Traci was able to get away for the weekend to our church’s women’s retreat. It was a much needed break for her, especially after having to deal with me. It also allowed me to have some good time with the kids, which was also needed.

OCTOBER

With October comes the kickoff of the holiday season with Halloween and Harvest Festivals and the like. We made a trip to a big pumpkin patch with lots of slides, a petting zoo and a train, courtesy of Grandma and Papa (Traci’s parents). As always, the girls had a blast. We also had the joy of attending Harvest Festivals at each of the girls’ schools…on the same day! Fortunately, Courtney’s was in the morning and Skyler’s was at night. We were able to get a much needed break in between and therefore, were able to thoroughly enjoy both.

At the beginning of the month, the girls had their first sleepover at their friends’ house. They had a blast and we were grateful to our friends for being willing to put up with four girls between the ages of 2 and 5 for the night.

On the 25^th, our church did something different as part of their building project. It was a commitment service where we held just one service (versus the four we had each weekend at the time and five now) in the Biola University gym. With over 2,600 in attendance, those who could make financial commitments to help support the building project that is currently underway. Afterwards, we all just hung out and enjoyed talking, eating and good times. Traci sang in the choir for the service.

The last week of October brought on yet another personal challenge for me and my battle. On October 26, I began a 6-week stint on disability due to my depression. I could not make it to work more than a day or two at a time, which is not what I or my friends at work needed. So at home I was again. Not where I wanted to be, but where I needed to be. This did allow time to find the right “cocktail” (as the doctor put it) to help me.

Halloween was one of the busiest days of the month. Of course there was trick-or-treating, but before that, there were two birthday parties to attend! What a crazy day that was. Somehow we made it through and the girls managed to have a really good time that day. This year the costumes were…Courtney – Sleeping Beauty; Skyler – Butterfly. They were very cute, but would you expect anything less? (I know I wouldn’t!)

NOVEMBER

Personally, November started off rough and ended frustratingly. Now that I was home from work for the whole month, and generally feeling like crap, I just had to try to make the best of it. However, on the November 4, my Disneyland pass expired for the first time since I bought it after I first bought it in November of 1999 (a couple of months after I stopped working there). It was sad, but there was no way we could afford to renew it. Oh well, life goes on.

Fortunately, thanks to some family, we were given four free tickets to Legoland. None of us had been there before, so it was exciting for all four of us! We went with Traci’s cousin and his family, who have three kids and enjoy hanging out with ours (they are cousins, you know). By the end of the day we were all ready to head home and had a great time. I think it took Skyler about 30 seconds to fall asleep once we started driving.

I am so proud of Traci for what she accomplished in terms of weight loss this year. She participated in a challenge with some friends from church. This brought her total weight loss to 38 pounds. I am excited to see her succeed like this and get closer to reaching her goals. It makes me a proud husband!

Thanksgiving was extra special this year as Susie, Adam and Bella were flown down here for the weekend courtesy of my parents. It was great to see them and to be able to spend a lot of the weekend with them. Holidays are always better when you can spend them with family (especially if it’s family you love)!

The last day of November was very frustrating. It was the day I was supposed to return to work. So I did. A couple of hours after my arrival, I was told I needed to check in at the on-site medical clinic. At the clinic, I was told I had not been cleared to come back to work, and therefore needed to stay home until I was cleared. So home I went…again. This time feeling fine for once, though, while all the paperwork and miscommunication issues got worked out.

DECEMBER

Thank God for December!!!!!!!!!! Despite the carryover frustration from November, the month quickly turned around in a big way. On December 4^th, Skyler accepted Christ into her heart! It was so exciting as Traci lead her in the prayer at prayer time before bed. Skyler started the conversation by asking Traci how we get to Heaven. Traci jumped at the opportunity while I was putting Courtney to bed. We could not be happier now that we know all four of us have reservations with our Heavenly Father! If I fail at everything else, I can know that at least in some minute way, I did something right to help our girls want to become Christians.

Despite that being the highlight of the month (easily), Courtney’s school’s Christmas program was earlier that night at the middle school Traci and I attended, in the same gym where Traci and I first danced exactly 20 years ago! (We also have been dating this time around for 15 years as of this month! What a year of milestones for our relationship, huh?) She did great and we enjoyed watching her.

The following day, she did the first of four weekend Christmas performances at church: one Saturday and three on Sunday. Then as if that wasn’t enough for the weekend, Skyler’s preschool Christmas program was later Sunday afternoon. That was an awesome program. And although Skyler was fighting a cold, she still sang her little heart out and knew all the choreography! We didn’t expect her to do so well. We sure could not have been any prouder than we were. What a trooper and what a talent!

Continuing the positive news, I finally returned to work on December 8^th! Even better news…I have not missed a day since! I feel like the depression is gone, or at least well under control courtesy of three medications (and a fourth as needed). Praise God that I’m feeling fine, work is going well, the family is back to normal and life is good!!! Despite the many cutbacks that we’ve made this holiday season (no cards, mailings or gifts for anyone except our girls), we’ve been able to celebrate and have a great Christmas season. The Christmas Eve service at our church was amazing.

We were also privileged enough to participate in an amazing church-wide service project earlier this week (Dec. 30). It was our church’s project for this Christmas: meal preparation for the poor and starving in India. Traci, Courtney and I signed up for a 2-hour shift (9-11 am) to help pack the meals into packages. We would have taken Skyler, but kids needed to be at least 5 years old. Our goal was to raise $72,000 through our Christmas Eve offering to cover all costs including shipping to India and to pack 285,000 meals on the 30^th. (Update, we raised over $100,000!)

So with that, I finally come to the end of the novel that is the 2009 year in review. I am very glad to have made it through 2009 and that my family made it through the tough times and enjoyed the good times. I have never been so happy to see a year end. I hope and pray that 2010 will bring our family many blessing and a much happier year than 2009. I also hope and pray that 2010 will bring you and yours many blessings and memories. Happy New Year!

HERE I COME!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, well, well. Look who's coming back to his blog. Things are going well right now and I'm not going to make this long, but just a heads up that I will attempt to begin blogging again on here soon. I won't give a date because, honestly, I don't know when it will be with all the Christmas activities going on. However I do have a little vacation time coming up just after Christmas. See you soon!

Great Song by Phil Stacey - "You're Not Shaken"

I love this song a lot because I can really relate to it right now. It's on my other blog, but I connect with it so much that I felt it should be here as well. It's by Phil Stacey. He was in the top 5 on American Idol a few years back (season 6?). It has helped me during this dark time of life. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Still Here

I haven't forgotten about this blog. I've been working on a new blog that is currently private and I'm using as a journal for what I'm currently dealing with. It may be a while before I resume this blog, so please be patient. I just wanted to let you know I'm still here.

Summerslam Review

On Sunday, August 23, my friend Don and I, went to the Staples Center to see WWE Summerslam live. We are both into wrestling and when I discovered back in March that this event was going to be held at Staples Center, I popped the idea of getting tickets. He liked it and so we did. We had a great time. So enjoy my little pictorial review of Summerslam.

Since we got there between 2:30 and 2:45 and it didn't start until 4:45, we walked around the Summerslam Axxess area outside Staples Center. It was separate admission and we didn't feel like paying more so we just walked around to see what was going on. We hung out near the ring that was setup outside. When we realized they were going to be having a match there, we stayed. It was pretty cool because we were maybe 50 feet away, which is how I was able to get the picture above. That is the Hurricane leaping off the top rope onto Paul Burchill. Pretty sweet if you ask me. Finally at about 3:15 we headed over to get in line to get inside. It was good timing as the line grew pretty quickly after that.


The beauty of seeing a pay-per-view (ppv) live is that they had a "bonus" match before they went on air. In this case, it happened to be a 15-diva battle royal. This just means that you get eliminated when you are thrown over the top rope and both feet hit the floor. You can see the chaos above after the opening bell rang. The best thing was that after the match Hornswoggle came in the ring and wound up dancing with a bunch of the divas. Honestly, I think they have the bonus match to test everything out from lighting to sound to the ring itself because after it was over, a bunch of guys, including the referees, were out there weaving rope through a new mat cover, which was actually underneath the mat they wrestled on here. That's another cool thing about seeing an event live is everything you don't see on tv.


I like this shot for a couple of reasons. This is during the match for the Unified Tag Team titles: Chris Jehrico and Big Show vs. Cryme Tyme. You can see the action in the ring where one member of Cryme Tyme is trying to escape from Chris Jehrico's submission move: the Walls of Jehrico. However, if you look outside, you see the other member of Cryme Tyme on the ground (between the camera guys). Meanwhile Big Show is totally just hanging out on the far right of the picture. He stayed there until he clocked the guy grabbing the bottom rope with a right hand, which ended the match and allowed Jehrico and Big Show to keep their titles. Not the outcome we were hoping for, but oh well.


This picture represents, by far, the coolest entrance of the night, which was by Degeneration X (DX), which is made up of Triple H and Shawn Michaels. (See the cool little glow sticks that some people are holding up in an "X"?) We had no idea what was going to happen, but when a bunch of stagehands start moving the massive ramp that the wrestlers walk down to enter, we had no idea what was about to happen. They rolled into the arena on a tank! How sweet was that?! This was also exciting because this was DX's first match in a couple of years and they were facing a tag team that pretty much everyone hates. It was great when DX won.


This picture shows John Cena and Randy Orton beginning their match for the WWE title. It was a bizarre match to say the least. First Orton got disqualified (which meant he kept his title). Then Vince McMahon orders the match to be restarted and if Orton get dq'd again, he loses the title. Next Orton gets counted out (which also means he keeps his title). Then Vince McMahon orders the match to restart again and if Orton gets counted out again, he will lose his title. Then Orton pins Cena by using the ropes as leverage. Another ref comes running out from the back and tells the match's ref what happened so the ref restarts the match. Then what looks like a fan from the crowd goes running into the ring to pull the ref out of the ring as Cena locked in his submission hold on Orton. (Turns out it was someone affiliated with Orton, which was revealed on Monday Night Raw the following night.) Finally, after the distractions ended, Orton won fair and square. By far, this was the most disappointing outcome of the night. But again, oh well.


This is during Jeff Hardy's entrance for his World Heavyweight title defense against CM Punk in a TLC (tables, ladders and chairs) match. It also shows how cool fireworks can be inside an arena. This was the best match of the night, which is probably why it was the last one. It's also why I posted the most picture from this match to give you an idea of what this match is like.


Here you can see that Jeff hardy is climbing the ladder and CM Punk is trying to kick the ladder down to prevent Hardy from reaching the title belt which is hanging above the ring. That's how you win the match, you have to climb a ladder to reach and grab the belt. Once you have it, you win and are the champion.


Here is a picture of Jeff Hardy slamming CM Punk from about half way up the ladder. Pretty painful to watch, but a pretty good action shot.

This has got to be the craziest moment of the night. You can see the referees holding the ladder. Figure they are about 6 feet tall. Therefore, you are looking at about a 20-foot ladder. If you look next to the top of the ladder, you will see a blur of Jeff Hardy as he leaps off the top of the ladder onto CM Punk, who is lying on the announcers table below. No matter how fake wrestling can be, this had to hurt both of them. Obviously the table collapsed when he landed squarely on Punk. Somehow, though, the match continued on with CM Punk eventually winning we grabbed the title belt after knocking Hardy off the top of the ladder they had both climbed.

However, the most exciting moment of the night, and the moment when I lost my voice, was after the match. As Punk was standing over Hardy, the lights went out in Staples Center and you heard the bell of the Undertaker, who hadn't been seen since Wrestlemania in April. When the lights came back on, he was laying where Hardy has been when the lights went out. He grabbed Punk by the throat and chokeslammed him sending a message that he is back and after Punk's new title. Both Don and I lost our voices as soon as the lights went out and the bell sounded.

So that was my experience at my second ever WWE live event. The last one was about 20 years ago when my friend Mike and I went with three of the jr high staff at church, and things have changed a lot in the last 20 years. I definitely hope to do this again sometime. It was awesome!

Song

This song really hits home right now. Enough said.

Hmmm...

I haven't posted in a while and have a feeling I won't post very often in the near future. The reason is I'm dealing with some personal stuff and I think I'm just afraid that writing on here will cause me to reveal more than I am confortable with or mre than I want people to know. If there is something I want to write, I will, but I'm not making this a high priority in my life right now. I've got other crap to deal with. So if you happen to follow this little blog of mine, don't be surprised if there are big gaps between postings.

However, today was the conclusion of the Leadership Summit, which is hosted by Willow Creek Community Church annually. This year, our church (WACC) was a satellite campus/host. This is kind of cool (to me) for a couple of reasons. Of the 14 new satellites nationwide, we had the largest attendance/enrollment at just over 500 people. It was also cool because a number of other churches attended the event at our church. Like our pastor pointed pointed out, it is great to see churches coming together for events like this. After all, we're all here for the same reason (or at least we should be). It was also cool because our church was featured in the session that included a follow up interview with Bono (of U2) because of our Malawi Miracle a few Christmases ago (2005?) that resulted from an idea of our church's leadership atendance at the Leadership Summit that year. While I wish I was at a different place personally to get more out of it, I am still glad Traci and I went this year and we both want to go again next year. (Our church has already said they are going to be a satellite site for next year's Summit...August 5 and 6.)

And now, back to life.

Colorado 2009

We made it to Colorado for our 2009 trip and had a great time. We were gone for 10 days (July 2-11), 4 of which were driving. It was a lot of fun and we took lots of pictures (over 300) as can be expected on a vacation. I'm not posting any pictures here, they are on Facebook. It would be hard to pick just a few to put on here. So here are some of the highlights.

Our first stop in Colorado was at Traci's brother's (and family) house in Longmont, CO. It was good to see them again since they moved at the end of last year. My allergies really kicked up with the animals there: two cats and one dog. Allergy medicine helped I think, but it was still more than my body was used to. The girls enjoyed dressing up and playing with their (3) cousins there. Since we were there for 4th of July, we did some fireworks. The kids, except for Autumn who is 2 (and the youngest) enjoyed them. The people in the surrounding neighborhoods go all out. We're talking the cannon-shot fireworks. Pretty cool. We spent the first part of the day at a family friend's house swimming and playing games.

Sunday night brought the roughest thunderstorm I have ever experienced. It only lasted like 15-20 minutes, but it looked just like what you see on the news when the crazies are reporting from in a hurricane...horizontal sheets of rain slamming the house, trees looking like they were going to snap and blow over. I have to admit it was pretty cool.

After staying at their house for a few days (Fri-Mon) we moved on to my sister's house in Henderson, CO. This was the highlight of the trip as we got to meet our new niece (or cousin from the girls' perspective), Bella. She was just born back in February. It was fun to hold and play with her and see how the girls reacted to her. Courtney loved her and Skyler seemed fairly indifferent. We also went to my cousin's place in Superior for dinner one night and drove down to Colorado Springs for a day to see my Great Uncle and Great Aunt. I always love seeing them. They are just so fun and hospitable. And the girls love them too.

While at my sister's house, we were introduced to a new game we have known of for a long time, but hadn't ever played: Cities and Knights. It's part of the Settlers of Catan series of games. Really long, but really fun. I think our game lasted about 2 hours with the three of us playing (Adam was at work).

Being the nerd that I am, I really enjoyed seeing the cloud formation that formed off in the distance on Monday night. There are a few great pictures of this on Facebook. It started off with the clouds that "bump" down, indicating the potential for tornado formation. Then it became part of a much larger formation that I hadn't ever seen before. I'm sure it was pretty nasty for those who were actually under it.

If I took the time to hit on everything we did on the trip, this would be a novel of an entry. It was a great trip and I look forward to the next time we go out there, whenever it is.

10 Amazing Years

As I start to write this, Traci and I are just 18 minutes from celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe that it's already been 10 years, but what a great 10 years it has been! If I were to try to write about all the memories we have in our 10 years of marriage, I would be writing until our next anniversary.

I am really looking forward to tomorrow! After breakfast we will be dropping the kids off at my parents house for a sleepover they have been looking forward to for some time. Then it's off to celebrate the bid day, just the two of us. We'll begin by seeing "The Proposal". After that it's home to feed the fish and then off to lunch and Disneyland, where I imagine we'll be the rest of the day and will hopefully stick around to see to the new and improved Fantasmic and fireworks. I'm really looking forward to spending the day with Traci.

I have spent a lot of today trying to remember exactly what we were doing 10 years ago today. I remember the rehearsal and dinner. At this minute (11:47) I was asleep. It was just me and my friend Micah in the apartment. I remember all the fun we had that day making final preparations for the wedding. I remember the prank my father-in-law pulled in getting the pastor (Don Perini) to try to get me to denounce the Dodgers while practicing saying the vows. (He was unsuccessful at getting me to do so.) I remember almost being late to the rehearsal because I was picking up my cousin Christina and her son, our ring bearer, Sam from the Murrieta area. I remember the fun of the dinner and having so many good, close friends involved in our big day and seeing everyone sign the matting around our engagement picture, which is still hanging in our living room.

I love thinking back to those memories and all the happy feelings they bring. The more I think about marriage, the more I realize what a big commitment it really is. In looking back, I almost wonder why I wasn't really scared about it. Then I think of Traci and remember exactly why I was never scared. With her by my side for the rest of our lives, what is there to be scared about? God brought her into my life for a reason, and I am so thankful that he did. I have no idea who I would be or what I would be doing if she was not in my life.

It is almost midnight now and it feels a little bit like New Years Eve. I think I need to go and get ready to kiss her at the stroke of midnight. Happy anniversary, my love! Here's to 100 more!!!!!!!!

DCA

I think this picture sums up our day yesterday...tons of fun, but very tiring.