Gymnastics

Emery has really gotten into gymnastics this past year. So I decided to take her to a college gymnastics meet for her special daddy time.

First, we stopped at McDonalds for a Happy meal on the way. She still loves the Happy Meal with Chicken McNuggets. She's starting to outgrow the toy though.

We got to see Stanford, UC Davis, San Jose State and Utah State at Davis. They competed in the vault, uneven bars, beam and floor. Stanford blew away the competition, and Emery was thoroughly impressed. Her favorite event was the vault, and the whole day was just plain "AWESOME!"

Happy Birthday Matt!

Our little Matt turned 9 last Friday. It turned out to be a birthday weekend celebration rather than just one day.

It started out with a party at Chuck E. Cheese with some buds. I am so thankful that God has blessed him with some new friends from church right away.

It ended today with what we call special daddy time. He got his free birthday cone - Chocolate Fudge - and is wearing his new Golden State Warriors hat. He's been praying for that for months, along with his Captain America Shield which he got too.  We went out and got a model airplane and built it together this afternoon. Matt really enjoys airplanes and is thinking about being a pilot someday - USAF Academy here we come!

Matt also wanted a new red tie to go with his suit! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Andrew 2013 Part 2

In reviewing Andrew's last year, I forgot to add a couple of other notable firsts.

His first IV was very notable. In fact, it was more dramatic than his first surgery. It was also coupled with his first ambulance ride which was quite pleasant for him...and expensive for me.

We also had our first father son overnight. We did Family Life's Passport to Purity "weekend" and I thought it was a great time together and very appropriate purity discussion. Andrew mostly liked it for the food - Long John Silver's. But I think he benefited from the experience too. Hopefully, it will be the first of many annual father son overnights.

As the boys and girl can attest, I'm usually a pretty serious dad. But Andrew can occasionally bring out my goofy side.

Andrew in 2013

This was quite the year for Andrew. If it could be official, he changed from a boy into a young man this year.

He got some new glasses and a new haircut this year. He looks like a teenager even though he's still 11! I've been giving him the same haircut for 11 years, but now, he wants to grow it out and style it.

He's always been tall for his age, but he shot up and is truly the BIG brother. He grew about 5-6 inches this year. He's right around 5' 2" and is just a little shorter than Sandy. His shoe size is 9 and his feet are almost as big as mine.

He had a great year athletically and showed some skill in basketball. Whether or not he has a future of any kind in basketball, he can always look back on this year as one where he really excelled, especially defensively. The coach of one club team said that his defensive skills were superb. He can't beat me yet, but that time is coming. I told him that his goal should be to beat by the time he's 15, hopefully sooner.

I've always wondered what Andrew's future occupation(s) will be. If he ends up in programming, we can look at this year as a turning point. He tried it out for the first time at Robot Camp and liked it. He programmed a robot to do all sorts of fun things.

Academically, he's made some real strides this year too. The decision to home school him has been so beneficial to him both spiritually and academically. His previous school environment was less than ideal so it was good for him to develop academically in a more rigorous environment in preparation for middle school. High school is only a few grades away! He's also taken his voracious reading to a new level. Not only is he reading 400-500 page (easier fun reads like Harry Potter) books at the pace of about one every day or two, but he's also reading adult biographies and histories at about one a week. We have to go to the library every week sometimes twice a week and get him 5-6 books every time!

Andrew's also become a ton more helpful around the house. He does a lot. He takes out the trash, washes the dishes, helps set the table, vacuums, unloads the dishwasher, folds his clothes and cleans the bathroom too. And he's now big enough to help me move heavy things around the house too!

There were a lot of firsts for Andrew - his voice changed for the first time; he had surgery for the first time; he learned programming for the first time; he stayed up til midnight for New Year's for the first time. But I am most proud of Andrew for reading through the entire Bible for the first time last year. More important than physical or developmental milestones is this spiritual milestone. I bought him his first MacArthur Study Bible in honor of the achievement. Great year Andrew!