Day 59: Bowl Week - Live!

Posted by: Cris

I know many of you were wondering when I'd get back to covering sports. Well today is your lucky day.

In a brilliant stroke of genius, I brought up an idea that Ed had mentioned about a week ago...what about driving up to Detroit tonight to see Coral and Ed's alma mater - The University of Toledo play in their bowl game. As you all know, I live for Bowl Week so what could make it better than being able to catch one in person. After the extremely easy task of convincing grandma Stickley and Mammaw Nova to watch Juneau and Nova tonight and a quick ticket purchase online, Coral, Ed, Alex, Lyndsey, Brent, Grandpa and I headed up to Ford Field tonight for the game. Ford field was super cool and somehow we had awesome Club Level seats - I don't think I've ever gotten to sit in those seats where the guy at the bottom of the escalator leading to those seats makes you show your ticket to be able to get on the escalator.
There was lots of junk food to be eaten...
Pizza for the first half...
...and nachos for the second half.
If anyone watched the game, they know it was ridiculously exciting - Toledo scored a touchdown with 1:13 left in the game to pull within 1 then instead of kicking the extra point to tie it, went for 2 and got it to take the lead. FIU then came down the field, converted a 4th and 17 using a hook and lateral play and finally kicked a 34 yard field goal as time expired to win the game.

I still prefer what we've done in past years when we sit out in the 80 degree sunshine on Christmas eve at the Hawaii Bowl, but this one was still pretty awesome.

Since the game didn't kickoff until 8:30, the game didn't end until after midnight and we didn't even get out of the parking lot until almost 1:00 a.m. By the time I got home about 20 minutes ago, the girls had been asleep for hours and hardly stirred despite all the noise made from the tired football crew piling back into the house. Now if only they'd sleep until noon, maybe I wouldn't end up being tired all day tomorrow...but I'm not counting on it.

Day 58: Merry Christmas!

Posted by: Cris

Christmas 2010 is nearly in the books and Juneau and Nova had a wonderful day surrounded by Grandparents, Aunt, Uncles, Cousins and even a Great Grandma Nova.

Last night the Saccenti tree decorating was in full swing. All of the kids were totally into it - necessitating a lot of adult supervision. Each kid seemed to have a 1 square foot section of the tree scoped out for ornaments resulting in small high-density clumps of ornaments on the lower branches.

After working on her section of lower limbs for awhile, Nova was determined that daddy was going to hold her up and help her put an ornament clear on the top branch. Due to my towering 5'6" frame, that meant putting Nova on my shoulders, standing on the piano bench on my tiptoes, and reaching reaching reaching for the top all while praying I didn't tumble into the tree. Finally, I told Nova she had to settle for a branch about 8 inches from the top.

As the tallest of the family, Kyle was in charge of making sure there were ornaments more than 3 feet off the ground.

Finally, in order to get the Angel on top of the 10' tree, I ended up on Kyle's shoulders which eventually led to Juneau on my shoulders on Kyle's shoulders. We couldn't convince Kyle to hand Nova up to put her on Juneau's shoulders.

After reading the Christmas story (off an iPad from The Message version of the Bible - not sure if that's legal), the kids headed off to bed and the adults made all the preparations.

Christmas morning:

"Can we please start opening presents!!"

Drew brought back some authentic outfits from his trip to China this summer:

It seemed like there would be a problem when Nova just HAD to have the pink dress even though it was a size 3 while the blue dress was only a size 2. I tried to explain sizing to her but she was having none of it. So, we put the pink one on her thinking Juneau would never fit in the blue one - but those tiny little hips slid right in there, it fit perfectly, and she actually looked the most natural of the group in her outfit.

Secily was not too crazy about Juneau's enthusiastic "Cheezit!!!!"

Nova was beyond thrilled to get this "front pack" carrier for her baby doll. Maybe now she'll stop stuffing dolls down the front of her shirt.

Juneau was happy to just tear into package after package.

Nova's baby doll obsession is not likely to subside anytime soon when people keep buying her things like this high chair and changing table from the Alford family.

"Hey, you know what would make Nova even more obsessed with her baby dolls? - We could get her matching dresses for her and her baby doll - Okay, let's do that...The look on her daddy's face when he sees this will be awesome!"

When Juneau ran out of presents, she was more than happy to help everyone else.

Funniest moment of the day: Juneau and Nova both received Bitty Baby baby dolls from Grandma & Grandpa - you know, those ones whose eyes close when they lay down and open when you pick them up. In keeping with the "June Bug" theme, Juneau also got some plastic bugs/varmints in her stocking. While Nova was sweetly nurturing her baby with hugs, kisses and feeding it her bottle, Juneau was seen taking a plastic bat from her collection, flying it around into her baby dolls face and terrorizing her baby doll as it lay there: "Ahhhh, I'm a scary bat, open your eyes...OPEN YOUR EYES!!!" - Classic Juneau.

Best Gift of the Day: My mother-in-law bought my father-in-law this amazing replica Fishnetted Leg Lamp straight out of the classic "A Christmas Story". Kyle and I both agreed that there's NO WAY Becky or Emilie would allow one of these displayed in their house...maybe one day our wives will love US as much as Judy loves Tom.

So, the 3 of us had a wonderful few days with Emilie's family...Yet another reason I am so lucky that Emilie agreed to marry me...awesome in-laws.

But Christmas wasn't over yet!! We headed back to Toledo after lunch to meet up with my side of the family and indulge my daughters even more.

Though I may have fought it in the past, there is nothing more adorable than my little princess...her love of all things princess is only appropriate based on her amazingly sweet personality. I've even grown to enjoy her newest game: "Daddy, you're the prince and I'm the princess."

...and I even voluntarily bought her these little Disney princess dolls with changeable plastic clothes. This was the easiest picture to get all day because she just sat and played with them for a half an hour.

I will say that I was totally proud of both Juneau and Nova for being very excited when they unwrapped the real, bonafide tape measure (ie. straight out of the hardware section) I bought each of them. Now maybe I'll be able to find mine when they are out working in the garage with me.

Alex & Lyndsey playing ball in the house - luckily for them, their mom isn't Carol Brady.

From Juneau & Nova to the most awesome cousins in the world: a killer telescope. I can't wait to try it out.

Nova and Juneau loved sitting out in the 30 degree weather in a 100 degree hot tub tonight. But when Nova came in, she was ready to cuddle - and Grandpa had a lap and blanket ready to go:

A good cuddle, some ice cream, and Toy Story 3 on the TV - my girls' perfect evening.

Thanks to our wonderful families, Juneau & Nova had a great Christmas despite not having their mommy here to celebrate it with them. I was happy to at least be able to talk to Emilie a couple of different times today and was so happy to hear that under the circumstances, she had a pretty good Christmas as well. For me, it was a great day to think about how lucky we are to have such wonderful families and how much God has blessed me with my 3 wonderful girls. Despite the obvious sadness induced by not being able to spend the day with my beautiful wife, the only other thing keeping this Christmas from ranking as off the charts was the constant nagging question with each present Juneau and Nova opened: How am I going to get all this stuff back to Hawaii?

Day 57: Christmas Eve

Posted by : Cris

Day 56: A Day Without My Girls

Posted by: Cris

Today felt weird for me as I spent the day without Juneau & Nova...they were off having a super fun day with Grandma & Grandpa and Aunts and Uncle while I was went skiing with Drew and the Alford's.


First, a flashback to last night (I stole these pictures from Kyle's camera):

At portrait innovations getting ready to look adorable (Juneau and Nova, not Drew) Juneau loves playing with all of her cousins

Nova was thrilled to find this little playground (exactly identical to the one she used to have in her basement in Colorado) at the church

Nova & Daddy at Panera:

Though only 1.5 years old, Micah dunks like a beast:

The whole gang...well, almost - we miss you mommy!!

Today was the day that is the annual highlight of Kyle's trip to Ohio for Christmas: Skiing Day!!

Becky and Hope ready to hit the slopes:

Kaleb preparing to rob the snack stand in the ski lodge:

Hot chocolate break:

Highlights from the day included:

1. Becky made it the whole day without sacrificing anyone to the chairlift to save her own hide - although, I did ride up the lift with her twice and she will readily grab you while exiting the chairlift just in case she needs someone to "push off of".

2. Kyle made the bravest move of the day when he attempted to shoot an off trail path through the woods and nearly made through terrain deserving a triple diamond rating before he wiped-out magnificantly into a tree - but was totally unhurt.

3. Thanks to a second year of tips from Drew, after a couple hours, I was able to master the front side stop on my snow board so the rest of the day we were able to do some serious snowboarding that included shooting through the woods and mini (and I mean VERY mini) jumps off of some snow mounds. A total and complete blast!!

I don't know how many runs we made down the slopes today but Drew and I literally were on the very last chair up the mountain tonight as we were all still having a blast as the place was completely closing down for the night.

Meanwhile, Juneau and Nova spent the day with Grandpa & Grandma, Aunt Becky and Aunt Sonya and Uncle Tommy and cousins Micah and Secily. There was lots of playing, a bath (no picture this time of all the cousins in the bathtub) and a movie with 2 boxes of popcorn consumed. By the time I got home, the girls were tucked into (or crammed into) the toddler bed and fast asleep.

A super special thanks to everyone for a great day - especially the crew who kept my beautiful girls happy all day so I could go out and play with the big kids...it was, without a doubt, the most relaxing and stress-free day I've been able to enjoy since Emilie left for Afghanistan.

Day 55: Grandma & Grandpa Saccenti's!

Posted by: Cris

Today we made the move from Aunt Coral's to Grandma & Grandpa Saccenti's house for a few days. Juneau was SUPER excited to see everyone. She jumped right in and acted like she's lived here her whole life. The "rocking elephant" was a huge hit for her: Then it was off to Portrait Innovations for pictures of all the grandkids with Grandma & Grandpa. Of course, as soon as they saw all of the adorable pictures, the plan to only buy the $9.95 coupon deal went out the window. Portrait Innovations must stay in business by coercing grandparents into buying more pictures than they intended when they came through the front door when they see the pictures of their grandbabies with those sweet smiles.

After a quick bite at Panera, it was off to church for family communion.

When we entered the sanctuary, I very directly told Juneau (who was being carried by Aunt Becky) that there was to be no talking while in there for communion. As things got started, the pastor spent a few minutes catching up with the family and as everyone, including Grandma and me, answered his inquiries, Juneau could be heard in her little whisper voice: "Grandma, daddy said no talking...daddy, you aren't supposed to be talking." Becky did pretty good at not totally cracking up.

At home tonight, the agenda including reliving the mini-epic involved in getting the Christmas tree and making the plan for skiing tomorrow - Kyle is ready to go!

Juneau and Nova insisted on both sleeping in this tiny toddler bed. All of that wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been for the fact that Grandma has pre-loaded the bed with about 5 baby dolls. Of course, as soon as Nova saw them, she just HAD to sleep with all of them. So, by the time Juneau, Nova, 2 blue blankets, 2 mommy dolls, the Ariel and Belle dolls Aunt Coral bought them and 5 additional dolls get into the bed, it was a little crowded. But, they still fell asleep amongst the entire cramped mess.

Tomorrow we find out if I remember how to snowboard at least a little after a year. Hopefully tomorrow's blog will not include any tales of broken bones though if it is anything like last year, there will be a story of Emilie's sister Becky sacrificing her firstborn by pushing him off of (and under) the chairlift to avoid getting knocked over by it herself. Stay tuned.

Day 54: My Snow Dogs

Posted by: Cris

It was awesome to be able to spend some time out in the snow with Sherpa and Denali today. Denali has more energy than he knows what to do with so he needed some play time. My dad has him spoiled so that despite being a 50+ lb dog he thinks he can be held like a baby:

Even Summit came out to join in the fun.
The top dog of the pack:


Denali
My "brown eyed girl", Sherpa:


They are going to miss the snow in Hawaii but our jungle of a back yard will provide loads of exploring fun.
After lunch, we pulled out from Grandma and Grandpa Stickley's and headed back to Toledo. After a nap in the car, the girls were ready to watch Alex & Lyndsey play basketball. Nova promptly wiped her face with the back of the hand where they'd put her re-entry stamp and transferred a load of blue ink onto her face:
Lyndsey bringing the ball up the floor:
Alex breaking the press:
When you are up by 40 points in the 4th quarter, the starters all sit:
After briefly trailing 2-0, Lake came back to win a close one: 59-16.

Following the basketball game, it was directly to Brent's Christmas musical performance - I can say without a doubt that it was the best 3rd grade Christmas musical I've seen since 1981.