Monday, February 2, 2009

2008 Christmas Letter....Blog Version

2008 McPherson Family Christmas Letter (Edited Version)





We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year (and a Happy Valentine‘s day etc…). The end. I know this is a little shorter Christmas letter than most you receive, but what is there to tell to all of you that is different. My lovely family is all doing well, I couldn’t hold down a job and had to move them again, and it’s snowing. Actually it’s raining now…and there is NO snow on the ground which is slightly different from the previous ten years or so which is…nice…I don’t miss it at all!! Life in a nutshell. If you want any further information about us, too bad as we are in the witness protection program still. And you really thought I wanted to move all these times? Right. Let me give you a very slight insight into our familial situation, starting at the top and moving to the bottom, and if I hear one wisecrack about how much bigger the bottom is than the top, you will be removed from our mailing list for all time. (The bottom is actually getting smaller now too since we’re almost through January and have had a month to work on those “resolutions”.
Macy the Muffinhead-continues to grow rapidly in her decent towards womanhood and at five feels she has almost gotten there already. She prances and dances and does her makeup in front of the mirror while twirling around. If these are five year old hormones, someone turn off the spigot please. She started kindergarten this year and is doing better with this than mom is. She is enrolled in gymnastics at the YMCA and is a natural. She also thinks she is cute and has me wrapped around her finger (much to his dismay I might add!). As if that will happen.
Cayden: aka Calvin- continues to amaze us with his ability to concentrate in school and never make a peep, and then turn into a perpetual motion machine at home. He is in first grade and scored a touchdown in football the first time he got to run with the ball. He’s a fast little sucker when he wants to be. He continues to do well in school in an all boys classroom and is just wacko and off the wall most of the time. Takes after mom. Hmmm…all I can say about Cayden is we REALLY should have gone with the family name of Calvin…seriously! We went to Chuck E. Cheese for his birthday last weekend and the hostess asked him how old he was…he said 8. I said, “how old are you?” He adamantly said, “EIGHT!” so I then I said, “Cayden, you are only 7.” OHHH….and then there was the incident with the short sleeved pants…you’ll have to check out my blog for more info on that and other fine stories!
Ethan the Elder: hence named due to the fact that, as a 10 year old fourth grader, asks questions most 40 year olds wouldn’t think about. Wants to know real answers as well and questions any that don’t sound right. He is once again enrolled in the gifted and talented program at school, but how he got in is a story I won’t tell. (NO, he didn’t sneak in like I would have had to) He played all-star baseball, was the leader on his football team and is now enjoying basketball as the new point guard. We love watching him play as he exhibits knowledge of situations that is way beyond the norm. All very true information here. The only thing I can add is that he has a very sweet spirit and cares about other people…unless it is his older brother whom he can’t seem to get along with. Macy and Cayden just think he IS THE MAN! He is also at a stage where he thinks fair and equal are the same thing….unfortunately they are not!
Garrett the Gargantuan Hunter: continues to be a duck slayer in his spare time. I can’t tell you what I would say to his mother every time he took a handoff in football and made everyone miss on his way to another touchdown. He continues to amaze with his athletic abilities, and he has come a long way as a student who is now 12 and in sixth grade. Well, last week was parent teacher conferences and I had a shock…GMan is a VERY intelligent young man but is struggling a bit with his lack of organizational skills and the new responsibilities that come along with his foray into middle school. A new plan of attack is in order and we are working hard to overcome! He too has a gentle spirit and is VERY laid back…almost too much so. The competitor in me just wants him to figure out HOW good he could do in school and sports if he fired it up a bit…he’ll be alright! We don’t love him because of those things anyway!! Garrett played baseball on the all-star team as well and is now involved in basketball.
We are waiting for the inevitable growth spurt (he’s seriously like a pre-pubescent time bomb just waiting to EXPLODE!) when he will catch his mom in height and be able to rest his elbow on her head as I once thought of doing with mine. (of course I would never really do that)
Melissa the Magnificent: As has been the case for the past 15 years, (my gosh, she has actually put up with me for that long? I know…sainthood awaits…and it‘s actually been almost 20 years since we first met…) Melissa is the bondo (crazy glue is probably a more likely choice! I really do go a little crazy every time we move. I think it‘s just an adjustment period but this was the hardest for me. I left my best friend, coaching job I loved, my dog, my horse, “family”, on and on…but God has blessed us here and I think I’m almost back to “normal” whatever that is!! ) that keeps our family a cohesive unit. Few people actually know that we had to move because Melissa went ballistic and had me fire all of her co-workers in coaching. It was a messy ordeal, but needed to be done. Now she is busy overseeing the family, keeping me in line, yelling at construction workers (actually I was over playing black jack with them the other day during their lunch break…uno mas…no mas!) , and working at the YMCA. She seems to have boundless energy and insists I am the cause of her newly found grey hairs (It‘s really not fair because gray is SO distinguished looking on men…thanks dad…and apparently I have some sort of allergy to things like shampoo and hair color so it‘s either gray or nothing…hmmm) . I keep trying to tell her that gray hares are really good to eat, but she calls me an oxymoron and we go on our way. I guess this is better than the “fatty acid” she used to call me. So much for science jokes.
Me: I got laid off as basketball coach (still one of the BEST basketball coaches ever in my humble opinon and it never ceases to amaze me how life just goes on without you…) and AD because I worked too much and now am enjoying life in the sun as an administrator in a large school in the Boise area. I deal with problem kids all day long and can use love and logic with the best of them. Sometimes I forget and use an illogical boot instead, but I haven’t been fired yet. I am so happy to be out of coaching and teaching that I actually looked forward to returning after Christmas break.
It was a tough year for our pets. With the move came the giving away of two family members. Q, our Chessie, went to a family that hunts ducks and geese a lot, but he only had a few months with them before he got run over. Dylan. Our 15 year old black lab, died a couple of weeks after moving over here. He had a great life though. We had him cremated and took his remains down to Ashton and buried him with his buddy Jake by the river at Bev’s. Melissa’s dog Bailey also went in the move, but we will get a part of her back when she has pups later this year. Assuming she ever HAS pups!! We only have one dog left, and he is even growing on Melissa, like a fungus. I finally had to come to the conclusion that Dreck is NOT Jake and it’s really NOT his fault and the fact that my husband spends so much time with him shouldn’t really make me jealous and it wasn’t REALLY his fault I had to leave Bailey and Q in Ashton and so on…We are in the process of building a house as we couldn’t find one that fit our needs and Melissa’s lack of knees. She has a blog page going that will keep all of you informed as to the progress of that adventure, but we should be moving in and accepting visitors around the end of February. Please forward the $400 nightly deposit to us by a week before your arrival. This will guarantee clean sheets and witty humor. Depends on who you ask about the humor…Hahanah!
I can’t think of any other news, so I will forward this to my wife and she can finish up. Please bother us at any time. Bye. Editorial closing remarks….I deeply miss some things from Ashton (and LOVE things here like swimming close by, recycling, garage door openers…sunshine!) but KNOW that God is with this recent move and after going through the initial move depression have settled into a bit of routine. We are very blessed and hope that 2009 finds you all the same…Merry Christ-mas (wishing you all more of Christ this year!) I do have our blog page at http://www.idahaomcphersonfamily.blogspot.com and have made contact with TONS of old friends via face book (an addictive time sucking internet option you should all join if you haven’t yet!!).
Our NEW new address is the return address on these letters and if you need to reach us before then or are just getting the internet version email me and I’ll fill you in! My email address is moeslish@yahoo.com and Mac can be reached at cmcpherson@vallivue.org Have a Blessed 2009...