Monday, December 29, 2008
Family Letter
For those of you who are internet savvy and don't rely on snail mail for your updates from family, cheers to you- if we didn't send you a Christmas card, that's why- you don't need it. So herein I'll post that which you would have received- the 2008 Laurion Christmas letter:
Greetings Friends and Family!
Another year is behind us- it went so fast! If you haven't had a chance to visit us in Paradise, here's the Hawaii Laurions’ 2008 in review.
Samuel has been the source of most of our laughs this year. He's become a fearless climber,
explorer and the family daredevil- everywhere except the dinner table. He's learning new words everyday, still has his curly mop of hair, and is perfecting how to exploit his infinite cuteness for both fun and profit.
Nicholas started the next big phase in life with Kindergarten at Waikele Elementary this fall. He said goodbye to Miss Faith, his friends and the wonderful Pre-School that had been his home for over three years. It was a tough transition! After some rough days in the early going, he's
settled in to Kindergarten and is learning his letters, reading, and how to be a good classmate and student. He had his first Golf lessons this summer and made his first Bogey- all by himself. He's the tallest in his class and frequently is mistaken for a 7 or 8 year old!
Mommy also had a big change in her life as she transferred from full-time Marine to full-time civilian. She now enjoys working for Booz Allen Hamilton as an Intelligence Analyst for the Army, and she really enjoys expanding her wardrobe beyond green and brown camouflage. She is staying in the Marine reserves, and she is continuing to make progress toward her degree in Accounting at Hawaii Pacific University, and ran a bunch of 5K's, 10K's and even a Duathlon in September.
Daddy had a big '08 as well, he started the year off by losing about 20 pounds and having a great Triathlon season in which he finished in the top 3 in his age group 4 times and completed the grueling Ironman 70.3 in Kona. He finally graduated from 5 years of night and weekend classes with a Bachelor's in Business Administration from Hawaii Pacific University, with (most shocking for those who grew up with him) a 3.6 GPA.
The highlight of the year was our big trip home to Minnesota in July. The boys got to spend almost the entire month with friends and family in Minneapolis, got to do some camping, and got to experience real mosquitoes and a big thunderstorm. Daddy and Auntie Rachie ran the big Lifetime Fitness Triathlon, the boys went camping at lake Superior, and Sammy got to meet the extended Laurion family for the first time.
In 2009, we are hoping for the best year yet. It's starting off right, with Grandma Liane spending 3 straight weeks in Hawaii, spoiling the boys and providing unsolicited decorative advice (kidding-love you Mom!). Daddy has a big season of Triathlons and bike races in the first half of the year, and Nicholas is going to start learning to swim. Mommy is in the final classes of her college career as well, and hopes to finish in early 2010.
There are some potential tough times ahead as well. Daddy is considering taking a commission from either the Navy Reserve or the Hawaii Air National Guard, which could mean spending a few months away from home.
Finally, some really tough news- Samuel is going to have surgery to correct his Hip Dysplasia on the 19th of January. Our rambunctious cutie will be in an immobilizing cast and wheelchair for up to 6 weeks, but God willing, this will cure the issue once and for all.
Please keep Sammy and the rest of the Hawaii Laurions in your prayers in 2009!
Sammy, Nicholas, Rebekah and Jon
Greetings Friends and Family!
Another year is behind us- it went so fast! If you haven't had a chance to visit us in Paradise, here's the Hawaii Laurions’ 2008 in review.
Samuel has been the source of most of our laughs this year. He's become a fearless climber,
explorer and the family daredevil- everywhere except the dinner table. He's learning new words everyday, still has his curly mop of hair, and is perfecting how to exploit his infinite cuteness for both fun and profit.Nicholas started the next big phase in life with Kindergarten at Waikele Elementary this fall. He said goodbye to Miss Faith, his friends and the wonderful Pre-School that had been his home for over three years. It was a tough transition! After some rough days in the early going, he's
settled in to Kindergarten and is learning his letters, reading, and how to be a good classmate and student. He had his first Golf lessons this summer and made his first Bogey- all by himself. He's the tallest in his class and frequently is mistaken for a 7 or 8 year old!Mommy also had a big change in her life as she transferred from full-time Marine to full-time civilian. She now enjoys working for Booz Allen Hamilton as an Intelligence Analyst for the Army, and she really enjoys expanding her wardrobe beyond green and brown camouflage. She is staying in the Marine reserves, and she is continuing to make progress toward her degree in Accounting at Hawaii Pacific University, and ran a bunch of 5K's, 10K's and even a Duathlon in September.
Daddy had a big '08 as well, he started the year off by losing about 20 pounds and having a great Triathlon season in which he finished in the top 3 in his age group 4 times and completed the grueling Ironman 70.3 in Kona. He finally graduated from 5 years of night and weekend classes with a Bachelor's in Business Administration from Hawaii Pacific University, with (most shocking for those who grew up with him) a 3.6 GPA.
The highlight of the year was our big trip home to Minnesota in July. The boys got to spend almost the entire month with friends and family in Minneapolis, got to do some camping, and got to experience real mosquitoes and a big thunderstorm. Daddy and Auntie Rachie ran the big Lifetime Fitness Triathlon, the boys went camping at lake Superior, and Sammy got to meet the extended Laurion family for the first time.
In 2009, we are hoping for the best year yet. It's starting off right, with Grandma Liane spending 3 straight weeks in Hawaii, spoiling the boys and providing unsolicited decorative advice (kidding-love you Mom!). Daddy has a big season of Triathlons and bike races in the first half of the year, and Nicholas is going to start learning to swim. Mommy is in the final classes of her college career as well, and hopes to finish in early 2010.
There are some potential tough times ahead as well. Daddy is considering taking a commission from either the Navy Reserve or the Hawaii Air National Guard, which could mean spending a few months away from home.
Finally, some really tough news- Samuel is going to have surgery to correct his Hip Dysplasia on the 19th of January. Our rambunctious cutie will be in an immobilizing cast and wheelchair for up to 6 weeks, but God willing, this will cure the issue once and for all.
Please keep Sammy and the rest of the Hawaii Laurions in your prayers in 2009!
Sammy, Nicholas, Rebekah and Jon
Through the eyes of a child...
Sam got a camera for Christmas, a durable, rugged, kid-proof digital camera. He absolutely loves it, and I uploaded the first 180 shots or so today... here are the highlights from a long Christmas weekend, through the eyes and aperture of Samuel J. Laurion
your photagrapher...
Uncle Jimmy
Candidly captured Mommy..
Brother in front of the decorated tree
the men, talking
Uncle Jimmy raiding the fridge
Daddy's christmas present- a new bike stand! holding his bike
Uncle Chris thinking up a retort to whatever Daddy just said...
the Fishies
Kate and Nicholas putting together the hot wheels
Mommy dressed nice
Triumphant Daddy
Cheese faced brother
and the photographer himself, wanting his camera back.
your photagrapher...
Uncle Jimmy
Candidly captured Mommy..
Brother in front of the decorated tree
the men, talking
Uncle Jimmy raiding the fridge
Daddy's christmas present- a new bike stand! holding his bike
Uncle Chris thinking up a retort to whatever Daddy just said...
the Fishies
Kate and Nicholas putting together the hot wheels
Mommy dressed nice
Triumphant Daddy
Cheese faced brother
and the photographer himself, wanting his camera back.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Beverly Sexy
On my laptop I have skype on pretty much all the time. This evening Beverly wanted to chat with me again, usually I don't answer these, but I was in a jackasstic mood. Click to embiggen and enjoy.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Power Outage
Last night, just as we were settling into an evening of nothing much in particular, the power went out. This was my fault because I had just got done chatting with Steve about how every time we get thunder/lightning here it's a 50-50 chance that we're going to have a power outage... and I failed to knock on wood. So, 10 minutes later, out go the lights.
Nicholas and Sam were watching a movie in their room, I hear Sam scream "Don'TurnaOFF!!" Nichloas goes "I DIDN'T DO IT", and a general scuffle ensues. Bekah and I got a kick out of it...
I surprised the mini-mag lite equipped boys with some flash photography...
It was a pretty spectacular outage, pretty much the entire island went dark, to include the portion occupied by the president-elect.
Fortunately, we Laurions were prepared. The boys had gotten their own mini-mag lites in their stockings the day prior, and I had just gotten a new bike light with a gazillion candlepower LED prism dealie- uberbright. So we figured, heck, let's go see a movie in Kapolei, where there is power, and we'll go now while everyone else is confused and disoriented.
This wasn't such a great idea, because we had to drive through several stop lights that were now out. I hate to (publicly) generalize and to say negative things about people of a given background... but seriously people, if the light is out play it like it's a 4-way stop. This is like driving 101. It was a free-for all in Waipahu. People lose their minds when the lights go out- "the light's out... so I guess the smartest thing to do is barrel through every crowded intersection I find"... maybe because this is a rare occurrence here and something a Minnesotan is used to...
We made it to the theater and the box office is packed... with people trying to get refunds because they're shutting the theater down because the power is a bit flickery. Frustrating.
The good part about all of it was the boys fell asleep by 7:30 in all that driving and we just plopped them into bed and had a nice relaxing snooze.
Most of the lights and several TV's suddenly came on at about 2:45 AM- daddy got to take care of that.
Nicholas and Sam were watching a movie in their room, I hear Sam scream "Don'TurnaOFF!!" Nichloas goes "I DIDN'T DO IT", and a general scuffle ensues. Bekah and I got a kick out of it...
I surprised the mini-mag lite equipped boys with some flash photography...
It was a pretty spectacular outage, pretty much the entire island went dark, to include the portion occupied by the president-elect.
Fortunately, we Laurions were prepared. The boys had gotten their own mini-mag lites in their stockings the day prior, and I had just gotten a new bike light with a gazillion candlepower LED prism dealie- uberbright. So we figured, heck, let's go see a movie in Kapolei, where there is power, and we'll go now while everyone else is confused and disoriented.
This wasn't such a great idea, because we had to drive through several stop lights that were now out. I hate to (publicly) generalize and to say negative things about people of a given background... but seriously people, if the light is out play it like it's a 4-way stop. This is like driving 101. It was a free-for all in Waipahu. People lose their minds when the lights go out- "the light's out... so I guess the smartest thing to do is barrel through every crowded intersection I find"... maybe because this is a rare occurrence here and something a Minnesotan is used to...
We made it to the theater and the box office is packed... with people trying to get refunds because they're shutting the theater down because the power is a bit flickery. Frustrating.
The good part about all of it was the boys fell asleep by 7:30 in all that driving and we just plopped them into bed and had a nice relaxing snooze.
Most of the lights and several TV's suddenly came on at about 2:45 AM- daddy got to take care of that.
Positional Follow-up
After the earlier post on aero position, I've been working on mine. HACCer Joe was out with us on a Tuesday a couple of weeks ago taking pictures for the website, and I asked him to take one or two of me in position...
getting flatter, smaller, aero-er.... I think. Time (Or more specifically, Time Trials) will tell...
getting flatter, smaller, aero-er.... I think. Time (Or more specifically, Time Trials) will tell...
Friday, December 26, 2008
Muderrific Mountain Biking
Took the M.T.B. out for some trail riding with John, Steve and his daughter Heather, Corey and Jim... Strap chickened out for fear of rain... for the record, there was none. Some mud, though!
Fun stuff.
Took a flat about an hour and a half into it- changing a flat on monster mud caked tires is far more interesting than doing it on a nice clean curbside on a nice clean road. I have no idea how much mud got inside this tire as I was changing it but probably a fair amount as it already has a slow leak again.
There are some great views and some great trails to explore in the hills above Waimanalo and Kailua, I'll be back soon!
Fun stuff.Took a flat about an hour and a half into it- changing a flat on monster mud caked tires is far more interesting than doing it on a nice clean curbside on a nice clean road. I have no idea how much mud got inside this tire as I was changing it but probably a fair amount as it already has a slow leak again.
There are some great views and some great trails to explore in the hills above Waimanalo and Kailua, I'll be back soon!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
First gift victories...
Laurion family tradition dictates that one present should be opened on christmas eve...
so Sam got his WonderPets...
Nicholas thinks his Sonic Leapster Game rocks...
Momma got new dishes! Wow!
And Daddy got a board game... WIN.
so Sam got his WonderPets...
Nicholas thinks his Sonic Leapster Game rocks...
Momma got new dishes! Wow!
And Daddy got a board game... WIN.
classic
so we recreated an internet classic...
also, see this legendary posture nicholas assumed while throwing a recent fit...
also, see this legendary posture nicholas assumed while throwing a recent fit...
On the Facebook
I was worried that I might have extra time over the holidays, so I decided to commit to wasting a good portion on facebook. I am now, on the facebook. Had to, you see, cause I need to impress the white people.
Smooches, and Merry Christmas!
Smooches, and Merry Christmas!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Adventurous Tuesday
A suprisingly blogworthy tuesday.
Got in to work late-ish, although like Gandalf I never really am late, I arrive precisely when I mean to. Today i arrived precisely three minutes before a meeting I forgot about that was 10 minutes away, but I made it.
Then, I find out that that fellow HACCer Bronston Marshall, who rode his bike across the entire United States, was riding this morning on base, a couple of miles from where I was sitting, and got schmeered by a unseeing motorist, breaking his pelvis, bruising a hip, and turning his bike into several separate pieces of carbon scrap. So how's that, the guy crosses the entire continent safely and then gets nailed by some dude on a road he's ridden 300 times.
I got in a good ride of myself at lunchtime, stateriffic statitudes here. Windy and hilly, but a good ride and a good way to spend an hour and a half when you've got some major calorie consumption coming up.
This evening, I was getting the boys in the bed, and Bekah yells up that she needs the ant spray... ants are a pretty much accepted nuisance around here. They are really hard to control- we've tried everything and they still find a way. With a 2 and 5 year old, there always seems to be a crumb or scrap or half-eaten piece of squirreled away candy somewhere. I've documented my struggles with ants before (see here and here).
So her calling up for the ant spray was no biggie, but I heard her kind of yelp after a minute and went to investigate. She had followed the trail from the garbage can to the wall under the edge of the rug, leading right to the christmas tree. when she moved the presents and lifted the tree skirt it was like the floor was moving. THOUSANDS of them. MILLIONS probably. Blech. So she sprayed them all down, like a jillion of them died at once, several light years away a little ant Obi Wan had to suddenly sit down, and we started mopping them up. As we worked our way around the tree we moved it a bit to get around the tree stand and TIMBERRRRR!!! the tree falls directly. on. to. my. wife.
I hop up and pull it off of her and I'm all worried that at worst she's hurt and at best she's pissed, but she really just said she's fine. The real casualties were two red ball ornaments and the chili pepper one that my mom gave me in my salsa making days. :( She was fine though, had a good sense of humor about it and actually considered it a christmas adventure. Pretty cool chick!
We figured out that the ants were going nuts for the water that had dripped out of the little screw holes in the tree stand. It must have had some sap in it- a little sugar or something because they were going bonkers on it. We've never seen that many anywhere in the house, and hopefully we never will.
(EDIT: THIS ALL HAPPENED ON A MONDAY. MY BRAIN IS NOT WORK SO GOOD THIS DAY)
Got in to work late-ish, although like Gandalf I never really am late, I arrive precisely when I mean to. Today i arrived precisely three minutes before a meeting I forgot about that was 10 minutes away, but I made it.
Then, I find out that that fellow HACCer Bronston Marshall, who rode his bike across the entire United States, was riding this morning on base, a couple of miles from where I was sitting, and got schmeered by a unseeing motorist, breaking his pelvis, bruising a hip, and turning his bike into several separate pieces of carbon scrap. So how's that, the guy crosses the entire continent safely and then gets nailed by some dude on a road he's ridden 300 times.
I got in a good ride of myself at lunchtime, stateriffic statitudes here. Windy and hilly, but a good ride and a good way to spend an hour and a half when you've got some major calorie consumption coming up.
This evening, I was getting the boys in the bed, and Bekah yells up that she needs the ant spray... ants are a pretty much accepted nuisance around here. They are really hard to control- we've tried everything and they still find a way. With a 2 and 5 year old, there always seems to be a crumb or scrap or half-eaten piece of squirreled away candy somewhere. I've documented my struggles with ants before (see here and here).
So her calling up for the ant spray was no biggie, but I heard her kind of yelp after a minute and went to investigate. She had followed the trail from the garbage can to the wall under the edge of the rug, leading right to the christmas tree. when she moved the presents and lifted the tree skirt it was like the floor was moving. THOUSANDS of them. MILLIONS probably. Blech. So she sprayed them all down, like a jillion of them died at once, several light years away a little ant Obi Wan had to suddenly sit down, and we started mopping them up. As we worked our way around the tree we moved it a bit to get around the tree stand and TIMBERRRRR!!! the tree falls directly. on. to. my. wife.
I hop up and pull it off of her and I'm all worried that at worst she's hurt and at best she's pissed, but she really just said she's fine. The real casualties were two red ball ornaments and the chili pepper one that my mom gave me in my salsa making days. :( She was fine though, had a good sense of humor about it and actually considered it a christmas adventure. Pretty cool chick!
We figured out that the ants were going nuts for the water that had dripped out of the little screw holes in the tree stand. It must have had some sap in it- a little sugar or something because they were going bonkers on it. We've never seen that many anywhere in the house, and hopefully we never will.
(EDIT: THIS ALL HAPPENED ON A MONDAY. MY BRAIN IS NOT WORK SO GOOD THIS DAY)
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Christmas Photos
Ah, our favorite time of year. Great time to take pictures!
(Click to embiggen)
I love my camera.
(Click to embiggen)
I love my camera.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Big Birthday Weekend
Good weekend to follow a good week.
Friday we went to Nicholas's after-school YMCA program dance show thing. it was cute.
Nicholas and the other Kindergartners learned a dance routine from their class leaders (who apparently are the actual people that "you got served" and "take it 2 da streets" are modeled after).. Mostly it was loosely choreographed jumping. But very cute. It's fun to see nicholas with his buddies- he's about 6 inches taller than everyone... also one of 2 or 3 white kids in his class, which probably helps the height thing.
Then, Saturday, we celebrated the 29th anniversary of the day when a great and glorious light shone down upon the little town of St. Paul, Minnesota, and the world was then blessed with one J.D. Laurion, monstrous head and all. Truly a great day. Just think of all that has improved. Just months after being born, a great president was elected, the economy began about 20 consecutive years of double-digit growth, bikinis got smaller every year and someone invented triathlons. You're welcome, planet earth.
But back in reality my darling wife made me a monster breakfast with super tasty egg scramble, hash browns, sausages, fresh O.J., English muffins and Cinnamon Rolls with 29 candles in them.
Got a good haul present-wise as well!
Sammy got me a Rip-Stik, which I can ride well downhill but have no idea how to propel- can't get the shimmy movement thing- I'll figure it out.
Nicholas got me a super awesome toy helicopter that we flew around all day, crashed into sammy's head and had to spend some time removing hair from the tail rotor, but played with some more (seriously, if you have little-or big- boys on your christmas list this thing is a blast and not too 'spensive)
Then Mommy gave me some handy stuff- a laptop pad that I'm using right now in bed,
handy bracket to install my ipod touchie in the car,
and a new iPod shuffle, blue, with "Run, fast boy, Run!" engraved on the back... how sweet. And she thinks I'm fast! I could use the encouragement right now.
We made presents for Grandma that afternoon and then in the evening the Bride and I went to her company's Christmas Ball. Free good food and drinks. BIRTHDAY WIN.
Today we got a lot done, I did yardwork and the boys scooted/tricycled
Later Sam helped me take apart my old mountain bike for fun.
I was really digging into it. The only thing I didn't take apart was one of the wheel hubs. When I took the bolt out and four or five ball bearings dropped out, I figured I was doing more harm than good. But it's a fun learning experience and helps me understand the creaks and clinks on my good bikes.
Man hands:
Sammy approves of this bloggy posting.
Friday we went to Nicholas's after-school YMCA program dance show thing. it was cute.
Nicholas and the other Kindergartners learned a dance routine from their class leaders (who apparently are the actual people that "you got served" and "take it 2 da streets" are modeled after).. Mostly it was loosely choreographed jumping. But very cute. It's fun to see nicholas with his buddies- he's about 6 inches taller than everyone... also one of 2 or 3 white kids in his class, which probably helps the height thing.Then, Saturday, we celebrated the 29th anniversary of the day when a great and glorious light shone down upon the little town of St. Paul, Minnesota, and the world was then blessed with one J.D. Laurion, monstrous head and all. Truly a great day. Just think of all that has improved. Just months after being born, a great president was elected, the economy began about 20 consecutive years of double-digit growth, bikinis got smaller every year and someone invented triathlons. You're welcome, planet earth.
But back in reality my darling wife made me a monster breakfast with super tasty egg scramble, hash browns, sausages, fresh O.J., English muffins and Cinnamon Rolls with 29 candles in them.
Got a good haul present-wise as well!
Sammy got me a Rip-Stik, which I can ride well downhill but have no idea how to propel- can't get the shimmy movement thing- I'll figure it out.
Nicholas got me a super awesome toy helicopter that we flew around all day, crashed into sammy's head and had to spend some time removing hair from the tail rotor, but played with some more (seriously, if you have little-or big- boys on your christmas list this thing is a blast and not too 'spensive)
Then Mommy gave me some handy stuff- a laptop pad that I'm using right now in bed,
handy bracket to install my ipod touchie in the car,and a new iPod shuffle, blue, with "Run, fast boy, Run!" engraved on the back... how sweet. And she thinks I'm fast! I could use the encouragement right now.
We made presents for Grandma that afternoon and then in the evening the Bride and I went to her company's Christmas Ball. Free good food and drinks. BIRTHDAY WIN.
Today we got a lot done, I did yardwork and the boys scooted/tricycled
Later Sam helped me take apart my old mountain bike for fun.
I was really digging into it. The only thing I didn't take apart was one of the wheel hubs. When I took the bolt out and four or five ball bearings dropped out, I figured I was doing more harm than good. But it's a fun learning experience and helps me understand the creaks and clinks on my good bikes.
Man hands:
Sammy approves of this bloggy posting.
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