Christmas ’07: Family Fun Time

Up here in the Boulder foothills, we rocked our first Blended Family Christmas Extravaganza. Highlights:

Four hours of Rock Band on the X-Box. That game is awesome! Ian on drums, The Wife on vocals, The Kate on guitar and me on bass. I haven’t played video games in a decade, but I’m here to tell you: Get an X-Box 360. Get Rock Band and a spare guitar. Let the Family Fun ensue.

BTW: Playing Iron Maiden’s Aces High on Medium difficulty, the notes coming faster than I could think about them, just feeling the groove and letting the fingers do their thing, felt a lot like ripping my trusty Enduro on a new trail. At least from a flowing, releasing control standpoint. Hey, it’s all practice, right?

Filet mignon on the Weber. It all starts at Whole Foods. The Wife never shows me the receipt; I don’t need that info. Baked potatoes, grilled veggies and briquet-seared filet. The Best Christmas Ever!

Sledding. Kate is 18 and visiting from college. Ian is 15 and enjoying a break from school and basketball. Both kids are cooler than I ever was. When I picked up a couple Flexible Flyer snow saucers, I wasn’t sure whether the kids would be down — but they were in a big way.

Our neighborhood is a gym and a playground. Having gained sufficient potential energy, The Kids prepare to let fly.

Whee!!!!!

There’s nothing like the pure, childlike joy of crashing.

The Kate. This force of nature gets a definite article, capitalized. She takes after The Wife.

Next year’s Christmas card.

Ian’s old friend Taylor flew all the way from New Orleans to … drum roll please … sit on this couch.

It’s Christmas in Colorado. Snowflakes float from boughs, and sunlight warms cheeks. Yeah great … what’s on TV?

Meanwhile in NorCal, my little nephew Michael celebrated his first Christmas.

Next year Uncle Lee is getting this dude a Skuut.

My mom, now a Bubbie, and her little grandson

Michael is named after my Dad, the most honorable man I’ve ever known.

This message has been brought to you by Microsoft, MTV Games, EA, Iron Maiden, Specialized, Whole Paycheck, Weber, the Flyer company, Fisher Price, Skuut and my Dad. Hey guys, I accept Paypal.

Merry Happy,

— Lee