One thing that was really fun for Xander and I was going to a park in Fountain Hills, Arizona. The park was set up for the celebration of Chinese New Year. We walked all around as Pamela and Jane went shopping. As we were exploring Xander made several dozen attempts at going swimming, but I wouldn't let him. The signs around the beautiful pond explained that it was reclaimed water.
This is my favorite picture from that trip. "Uh, Daddy, not that I don't trust you, but um, why am I the one next to the carnivore?" Here are some other photos from our Daddy Son Hike.
My wrestling season went out with a bang, I took 8 of my 16 wrestlers to the NAIC competition and 8 of them placed in the tournament. A great way to end a great season.
My coaching ended just in time, Pamela got sick with the flu and had to go to the hospital. They decided to let her go when she started having contractions. The next morning they again decided to let her go when the baby's heart rate started doing something funny. So they decided to keep her until Feb 10 when they would take the baby. Pamela's cheerleaders performed for the final time while she was still in the hospital.
On February 10 our Curtis arrived.
Curtis and Xander have so many things in common and are such different little boys in so many ways. Looking at them you can tell that they are brothers but you can also see such vast differences. Curtis grew fast and by the end of 2014 he had almost caught up to Xander in size and weight.
One of the really great things with this birth was that my parents planned on coming out and being with us in Flagstaff. Along with my parents my wife's dear friend Emma also came to visit. Since Curtis had come early it turned into a mini vacation with my family. We did many things with my parents including watch the Winter Olympics, play games, hold the new baby, play with the brand new big brother, go on walks, take Xander to playgrounds, and more. Jane and I were able to take Xander on a nice long walk at a nature park in Flagstaff.
Xander has had to make some big adjustments this year from being an only child to a big brother. Some days he is so sweet to Curtis that it makes us very proud like when he feeds his brother and helps take care of him. And many days we are find ourselves scolding Xander, "You can't play with him that way, you'll hurt him."
Pamela and I had several big moments in our professional lives after the arrival of baby Curtis. I was given the opportunity to teach several classes in the then upcoming school year. To juggle so many subjects was going to be a huge challenge and so I started planning very early on despite the criticisms of some of my peers. I also spearheaded an ultimately successful effort to get the school district to adopt new textbooks for World History.
Pamela made a significant contribution to our school as the Academic Advisor by helping several students graduate. Her efforts were highly appreciated by students who often thanked her privately. Her hard work and professionalism earned her yet another promotion, Dean of Students at the Middle School. During it all Pamela had been in school with Capella University earning her Masters in Psychology. Now as a graduate of a Masters Program Pamela started to prepare for a Doctorate.
Graduation was a very special event for Pamela and I. We started working in Pinon when the 2014 class was a freshman class. We had worked with some of these students for all four years of their stay at Pinon High School. It was a very emotional experience to be thanked by these students.
We had a fantastic summer this year! We were able to see a lot of family! We were able to spend a day in Knoxville with Pamela's Grandfather and then we were able to go to South Carolina to visit with my parents and my sister. We were also able to take Grandpa back to Pinon with us and show him the beautiful Canyon de Chelly. Unfortunately we all got sick after we arrived at home and that took a lot out of us.
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Well, that gets us about half way with the year. Hope you've enjoyed this first installment of our big family moments of 2014. Until next time...
