In a word....Koebe

Koebe, Koebe, Koebe. Just a quick word about this kid. Koebe had a rough time getting started today. We were attempting to head out to his basketball game and he was determined to bring like 10 stuffed animals in the car. I told him he could bring two and by his reaction you would have thought I told him I was going to burn each of his stuffed animals at the stake. Major drama ensued and for 20 minutes (20 minutes too long) we had the back and forth of what he could bring and what he wasn't going to bring into the car. It finally came to a head and he informed me that he was going to write me a bad letter. He marched into our room, grabbed pencil and paper and proceeded to write me a letter, stuff it in an envelope and hand it to me. What did it say? See below.....

10 hours later as he was delaying going to bed by playing legos in his room, he came out when he heard us in the kitchen. He came out and saw that we were making cookies and got very excited. Aprille put him back in bed and proceeded to ask if I was making him and Kalee cookies to make them feel better. Aprille gave in and said yes (actually, they hadn't crossed our minds, we just really wanted cookies....wrong?) and he got so excited he wanted to write another letter to me. What did he write? See below....

In case you can't read the first one says "I hate you dad. Love Koebe". The second one reads, "Dear Dad I love because you make cookies. Love Koebe". Priceless.

Shout Outs

The past few weeks have been crazy and through all the craziness, there are some well deserved shout outs. So, here we go!

First, shout out to APRILLE. In case you have been in the dark for the last 3.5 years, I have been in school and all the while Ape has had my back. Well, the never ending MBA has finally come to an end. And to celebrate this momentous occasion, Aprille pulled off a surprise graduation party at Roy's with a few of our closest friends on December 20th. Countless hours coordinating, planning, and scheming all paid off as I was genuinely surprised and overwhelmed by all of it.

A shout out to Koebe and Kalee for being the biggest fans. They were troopers and came to my graduation (and thankfully it was short), but the best part of the day was all about them. I had just received my "diploma" and come down the steps when I was overwhelmed with screams of delight from MY children who were shouting at the top of their lungs "congratulations dad! You graduated!" There were some stanchions that Aprille was attempting to keep them behind, but they were so euphoric and excited to give me my real Hawaiian lei that they burst from Aprille's grasp and tackled me. It was priceless.

I'd also like to give a shout out to Chick-Fil-A, a company that quite possibly has created one of the finest seasonal treats this century. I am speaking of none other than the peppermint chocolate chip milkshake. Let's savor that for a moment. ........Ok. That was good. It is possible something so cold can make you feel so warm? Yum.

Shout out to GARTH and SALLY. Yes, my parents who abandoned their holidays at home to spend THEIR first Christmas away from home with me and my family. They pitched in, helped out, baked and cooked, cleaned and mopped, baby sat and played. It was a lot of fun and great to have family here during the holidays!

Another shout out goes to the WYNN hotel. I had to go to Vegas this past week, and if you have to go to Vegas, then there is no better hotel to stay in than the Wynn. It is luxurious and fabulous and they make it all about you. Room service where they set the table and bring fresh flowers? Check. Customized attentive service? Check. Great food? Double check. Four words. Warm chocolate chip cookies. Book a room at the Wynn, check in, order these delights from room service and savor them. Yes, that is the second time I've used savor in one post. They are worth every cent.

And lastly shout out to PONG. I got a ping pong table for my birthday (shout out to Ape again) and it has been great getting to play more often and to beat all who come before me. Well, most all who come before me (Curse Dave and my Dad)! So, my dad came out for Christmas and low and behold, he is Forest Gump when it comes to ping pong. Small problem. I had no idea he could play ping pong, let alone that he has been undefeated since he was in the Army! Hello?? Apparently my dad and I need to work on our communication because growing up, his freakishly good skills in pong never surfaced. Regardless, I definitely had this weird Luke Skywalker (me)/Darth Vader (my dad)-like experience where I was determined to beat him. I did. Three times. Did I mentioned we played like 20 times? Hey, at least I won once!