Christmas 2009 Part 1 All I want is what Dresden got......I think......NO!!!!!

Wow! What a wonderful Christmas it was for our family. Every year there are suprises and heart felt moments with the kids. This year was no different. The suprise of the year for Collin and Sydney is how enthralled they are with the battery-powered toothbrushs they got for stocking stuffers. It is going to cost us a molar and a wisdom tooth, instead of an arm and a leg to keep the brushes full of batteries since they have brushed their teeth about once an hour.

Sydney also received a bathrobe from Mom and Dad. She has lined up baths for a week. She can't wait to get into the new robe. The other item Sydney wanted so badly was an umbrella. I think if we would have just stuck with those two items Sydney would have thought she had the best Christmas ever. Sydney also received French Coach DS game to help with her French, a digitial camera, and some cash. She may need to go out and buy shampoo and soap with as many baths as she has planned.

Collin, on the other hand, has been begging for a football for what seems like months. He finally got his Chicago Bears Nerf football. He also got some music downloads for his DS that Dad has not been able to figure out as of yet. Santa brought him Wii Resort Sports which Mom and Dad really like. He also got books and some cash for some game shopping.

The best part of Christmas for Collin started Christmas Eve. He handed a package from under the tree to his cousin, Dresden, that everyone expected would be the yearly PJ's from Nana and Papa. However, Collin handed him the package which was meant for Christmas morning. To everyone's disbelief including Nana's, Dresden received a Star Wars DS game instead of the PJ's. This game was very high on both Collin and Dresden's wish list. Collin coming to grips with the odds or the potential that he may or may not get this game depending on Nana's shopping habits was very perplexing to him.

Of course, Nana and Papa had planned to give Collin the same game, but they wanted to play a little Christmas/April fools trick on him first. They wrapped a bogus game (Baby's First Steps) and gave it to Collin when they came to our house Christmas morning. You can tell by Collin's reaction in the video that he was not happy with this development. Nana quickly told Collin it was a joke. Collin was relieved to find that Nana and Papa's shopping habits are consistant with the two oldest boys of the family. By the way Nana, he has only put the game down to brush his teeth today.

Pictures are to follow in Part II of Christmas 09.

Sydney and Logan, Christmas Eve 2009

These two know the real meaning of Christmas-getting stuff from Santa! Merry Christmas to our two blog followers.

The basketball season is officially underway. Collin and Sydney started their Junior Jazz careers tonight. Both of them had a lot of fun. Collin took about 7 shots but didn't make any. Sydney took one shot which went in and out. I think the parents had more fun than the kids, however. Both Collin and Sydney like their new teammates and COACH!

Collin and Sydney Start Basktball

Collin and Sydney started off with a victory tonight. The final score was 8-4 and there was plenty of fun for both teams and parents. I thought soccer was chaos. Collin shot about 8 times and Sydney had one good look at the basket but it didn't go in. They both had a lot of fun and they really like their new teammates.

Sydney Throws a Snowy Touchdown!!!!!

I know, it is hard to believe that the Rudel's have jumped into the 21st Century - actually putting video on the internet! WOW! We picked up a cheap flip camera on Amazon the other day. Other than observing the Sabbath (that is for you Donna) we were bored and decided to take the camera for a spin. Sydney ended up throwing a touchdown to Collin. The two of them make a pretty good team. They both start basketball on Wednesday night. That will be interesting? I bet Mike and Nikki are jealous of the beautiful weather we're having at 25 degrees (and yes, that's Farenheit). I feel for you guys were it's sunny and 65.

Collin and the cat

We have a cat who has never been officially named. She has been called all sorts of names, though nothing has really stuck. She is usually just referred to as "the cat" and she doesn't seem to mind.

I think of her as Collin's cat because he is always trying to make her a bed out of a box or something up in his bunk and she loves to sleep with him, at least for the first part of the night. (The rest of the night she is sleeping on my feet!)

This picture we took one night as Jay and I were getting ready to go to bed. Our cat doesn't usually cuddle with anyone. She will sit on your lap occasionally and let you pet her but nothing much more than that. Here she was letting Collin cuddle with her under the blankets. She was sleeping too until I went back out for the camera and woke her up. We thought this was so cute!

Halloween 2009

This year we managed to get a jump on the costume buying and had the costumes purchased more than a month in advance. We usually wait until the week of and have to settle for whatever is left on the racks. But this year the kids got to be exactly what they wanted: Sydney was a "bride" and Collin was Darth Vader again-though in a new costume because the old one didn't fit anymore. Funny the things they wanted to be. Of course none of MY suggestions interested them.

I tried to get Sydney to tell everyone she was the "run-away bride" but she didn't like that. At least she wore the shoes I set out for her instead of the fake plastic dress-up ones she had planned on wearing.

Playing around.

Sydney as the bride of Darth Vader.

Ready with their bags to get as much candy as their little arms can carry.

Collin: Are you done taking pictures yet Mom!!!

Collin earns his purple belt

Collin tested for his purple belt back in Taekwondo in October. He also earned a trophy this time because he had all five of his stripes at the time of testing.

Last time he tested, we didn't know he had to have all his stripes to receive the trophy and he ended up being one short of getting it. Now we know better. The stripes he earns are based on reaching his character development goals (i.e. reading and completing book reports, treating self and family with respect, etc.) so we love that he has to work towards these goals. He was so proud to finally get the trophy this time!

I got to help hold the board this time. Breaking the board is such a small part of the whole testing thing. But to the kids, it is definitely the best part!

Getting ready...

Collin using his breaking technique and me squinting because I'm thinking he might actually kick me instead of the board... (Nice face, Nat)

Recieving the trophy, at last...

Master Kim and the other coaches and students.

Collin's Baptism

Yes, Collin was baptized back in September. Mom is so good about keeping her blog up to date so she has already beat me to posting the good pictures. We have been busy with school and, well, life I guess. Nothing really in particular. Updating the blog just always seems to be last on a really long "to do" list.

Collin turned 8 in August, started 2nd grade and was baptized in September. A very exciting time for the family. We were able to have Dad baptize him and most everyone was there, except California, Colorado and Arizona family, of course.

It is hard to believe Collin is growing up so fast. We are so proud of the person he is becoming. He loves school - especially his teacher, Mrs. Tanner and reading. He would read for hours at night if we would let him. He works hard at Taekwondo and is going to start basketball with Sydney soon. His teachers and his friend's parents always tell us how polite and helpful he is.

Cabo Aniversary #10 - OOOPSS #9, but who's counting?

***Warning: This blog entry is long on the pictures. (Grandma Jo may be the only person willing to actually look through them. But, hey! It was already hard to cut so many of them out and since this is our family photo album for the year...)

For our ninth anniversary (but what we actually thought was our tenth when we booked) Jay and I traveled to San Diego and took a 5-night cruise down to Cabo San Lucas. Neither of us had been there before and we especially liked that we would be spending two full days there.

The best part...Grandma Jo agreed to let Collin and Sydney come stay with her in Arizona for the week while we were gone and entertain them with the help of Grandpa Bob. This was NO minor undertaking we recognize and, while Jay and I had a great time, I think that Collin and Sydney enjoyed themselves even more with all the games and puzzles and movies and books...

This is Jay in front of the S.S. Midway which is now a museum. Jay has been wanting to visit it for a while now. Maybe next time. At least we got to see it from the ship.

San Diego skyline.

LAND'S END

When we arrived in Cabo you could immediately see Land's End and the arch.

These guys were everywhere and so cool to see up close. Just had to get a picture of him.

This wasn't Pelican Rock but it looked like it should be called that.

LOVER'S BEACH

A very crowded Lover's Beach which we didn't even set foot on because there were too many people there in the late afternoon.

THE ARCH

SCUBA

We thought we would like to learn to scuba while in Cabo. We took an intro course the first day there and the second day did a two tank dive. Here we are heading out the first day.

"Just hold on to your mask and regulator."

There she goes! I am not sure Natalie knew what she was getting herself into, but she had a great time!!!! Our dive operators were awesome! We highly recommend their company Aquatix, if you are ever in the area. They came from all parts of the world. We called it a DIVERSITY DIVE. The owner (Lars) was from Germany, the dive master (Jo) was from Japan, and our captain (Jonathon) was from Mexico, but grew up in Chicago. It's amazing that they all spoke great English in Mexico. This was Jonathan, our friend and captain. His girlfriend, by the way, was from Colorado and her parents live in Utah, and is a member of the LDS Chuch. Also, the couple that dived with us was from Dallas, and were members of the Reorganized LDS Church. Small world or large religion. After the second dive, Jonathon took us out to see the arch and Lover's Beach.

Jonathon looks so majestic piloting this 18 foot scuba boat. He was born to be a sailor and took his job very seriously.

Jo snapped photos of us during our intro dive.

Natalie looks like she has done this a million times.

Schools of fish were everywhere.

This lobster was huge! Photo doesn't even begin to show the size of it and we saw a couple of them. They are about 3 feet long!!! Mmm.....tasty.... Jay had two lobsters tails at dinner, but they were not that big!

It sucks that something this much fun costs so much money. Both of us can't wait to get back under the water. Plus, the weather in Cabo was 100 degrees with 100% humidity!!!! The water was the best place to be.

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE SHOW
The night of our last dive and on the way back to San Diego we decided to go to the show at 10:30 p.m. We found our seats and started to settle in when Jay decided he needed to visit the little boy's room before the show started. On his way out of the theater, the lights suddenly went out and before the stair lights came on, Jay rammed his foot into a step splitting his big toe open. I guess he just silently hopped around on his good foot for a while holding his toe and nobody bothered to ask if he was alright. By the time he was able to come get me and let me know what happened his toe was gushing blood. We decided to head down to the infirmary (it was bleeding too hard to just stick a band-aid on it and besides, it was the only part of the ship that we hadn't seen yet). He ended up leaving a heavy blood trail all the way from the theater, through the hall, on the elevator and into the doctor's office that looked like someone had bled to death. Needless to say Jay has left his lasting mark on the Carnival Elation.

When the nurse looked at the toe, it was evident that he would need some stitches. Jay hates doctor's offices and hospitals and the nurses and doctors even more. (This dates all the way back to when he was seven and had to get stitches after ripping his knee open on sprinkler head. The doctor said "Don't worry it won't hurt," while he proceeded to clean the wound out with a toothbrush. It hurt like *&@#$&&**&$#@!#!!!) Despite his fear, Jay ended up loving the nurse from South Africa who coaxed him into getting a shot to deaden the pain and then gave him five stitches to close the wound. She even convinced him to get a tetanus shot (and he hates shots). The experience ended up being a surprisingly good one for him.

Jay's BOO-BOO up close

DINNER MATES

The first night at dinner, as we were all being seated, there was an awkward silence as everyone was looking at everyone else wondering if this seating arrangement was going to work out or not. We ended up having a blast getting to know everyone and most nights our table was the loudest one in the dining room! I'm sure, at least, we laughed the hardest and had the most fun at our table.

Four of us were teachers, another was a "GOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR" that didn't like working with his wife (ha, ha - inside joke). There was a web-page designer, an HR recruiter, a nurse, and a water treatment plant operator. It was fun to hear all of their stories. They were all celebrating anniversaries. Mike and Mary celebrated 31 years, Pam and Bob 30 years, Dew and Jerry combined there old marriages and came up with a number of 42 years, and David and Rosetta 22 years. Heck! We can't even remember how long we have been married and it has only been 9 - I mean 10 - I mean 9 years.

Clockwise from bottom:

Jay, Natalie, David, Rosetta, Jerry, Dew, Pam, Bob, Mary, Mike (Loved these people!)

Another highlight of dinner was our Maitre d' Kris from India. He told the funniest stories, one being about how he came to be married to a girl from Tennessee. He also knew our last Maitre d' Yussef from Turkey ("Show Time!"). He had our table laughing so hard one night about how he had to plan a 49 day cruise where the average passenger age was 75. He said they ran out of prunes the first three days half way between Miami and Cancun. Every stop they made they tried to buy more prunes but none of the South American ports had any. They also had to move up the dinning times to 4pm for early seating and 6 pm for late. After 7pm he said that boat was dead. I think he meant it figuratively, not literally. He also told us about the "NUDE CRUISE" where all the passengers belong to nudist colonies/groups and they charter a cruise liner for a week every year (and some 2.5 million dollars). He had us in stitches a couple of nights.

SUNSETS

Jay loves to take pictures of every sunset. Here are a couple of shots.

We got bored of everyone taking our pictures, so we decieded to take one on our own outside on the deck.

TOWEL ANIMALS

These pictures are mostly for the kids' sake.

The ships in port.

This ship came into the port for just an hour or so on its way south to Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. It happens to be the ship that we will be taking in January: The Splendor.

Thanks again to Grandma Jo and Grandpa Bob for taking care of the kids. They didn't want to leave Lake Havasu. They had a wonderful time with you. Thanks to Nana and Papa for taking care of the critters while we were gone. I know it wasn't easy with all you had going on last week. We really do appreciate it very much!!!!