Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Holidays to all our friends and family. We are enjoying our time together as a family today and thinking of all of you across the world. We are happy to report that Santa had a success rate of nearly 100% with the various gifts that he brought (i.e., the kids actually want AND play with them--he's usually somewhere in the 50-60% range).

We are blessed as a family and especially mindful of our Creator and our place in His plan. For us, we are humbled to celebrate the birth and atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ during this season, and wish each of you all the best wherever, whenever, and however you celebrate during this time.

Last night we held our Christmas Eve program, where we sang songs, recited Luke 2, recited 'Twas the Night Before Christmas,' set out a letter and treats for Santa, hung our stockings, and participated in the time-honored Kewish tradition of opening one present Christmas Eve (that is always pajamas). We even had Grandma and Grandpa Kewish on the horn from China for part of it, including a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday to Grandma. Here is a picture of the kiddies modeling the brand-new pajamas that they had just unwrapped.

Winter Festival

A few weeks ago the Stone Oak area that we live in had its annual Winter Festival. I think this is our area's way of trying to get everyone in the Christmas spirit, even though it is still in the high 70's to low 80's. We live in a great location for this because it is held at Charles' elementary school, which is within walking distance of our house. Most people have to park several blocks away and take a shuttle. They had snow for the kids to play in, carnival games, booths and Santa was even there. Charles and Joey enjoyed standing on the snow and slipping around until Joey got blasted in the head with a slushy snow ball thrown by an adult that doesn't have very good aim. I think she was aiming for her son and missed. Poor Joey was just wondering what he had done to deserve the attack. The boys and Tori even got to sit on Santa's lap after patiently waiting in line for a over half an hour. Well, the boys were patient. Tori, on the other hand, was not so patient.

They took turns looking at the camera so here are two shots. Notice the real beard on Santa--one of the best Santas I have seen in a while. Tori wanted to pull on it to make sure it was attached.

I had to add this picture. It started raining and these ladies were creative enough to use the give-away bags as hats. I love how she has it hooked on her ears so it doesn't blow away.

Do not try this at home...

One of the things Liz and I have spent our time on lately is replacing our floors. This was a much bigger job than we anticipated, but we are finally finished and can really appreciate the sense of accomplishment--even if we see all the flaws.

Here are some pictures:

Our original living room--prior to Liz turning momentarily crazy and ripping up the carpet while the boys and I were at the Air Show.

This is how we found the living room when we returned from the Air Show. Clearly, Liz had lost her mind--or maybe she just knew how to force my hand.

A few weeks later, drilling anchors into the concrete sub-floor in order to secure the plywood.
Starting to lay the laminate.

Now the laminate is completely laid, we just have to install the transitions and the quarter round.




And finally some pictures of the finished floor and the room back to normal.

Back in O.C.

A few weeks ago we went to Orange County for a wedding one of my closest childhood friends. Having grown up there, it is always nice to go back to O.C. (and by the way, it's never "The O.C." to us locals like the trashy show would suggest. In fact, that show wasn't even filmed in Newport!).

As has been the custom lately, Liz and Tori accompanied me. It was a quick trip, but well worth it to spend some fun time together, see old friends, and even sneak a quick visit in to the Cobbs in Oceanside.

Friday we flew into Ontario, grabbed a car, and made our way to a rehearsal dinner in Laguna Hills. Tori was a trooper, considering it was over 5 hours past her bedtime by the time she got to bed. She was the typical happy baby that she always is. We scored a room at the legendary Newporter (now the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach) on the Back Bay, where I dropped the girls off after the dinner and then went to meet up with friends at South Coast Plaza for some wedding eve shenanigans.

The next day we got up early, visited the Newport Beach LDS Temple, which was just around the corner from the hotel, went down to the beach for a while, hit the Trader Joe's in Newport, ran up to Anaheim to visit the old homestead, ran down to Oceanside to drop Tori off at the Cobbs, and worked our way back up to Laguna for the wedding.

The wedding was great and it was good to see Ryan and Julie and their families, along with so many friends at the dinner and reception at South Coast that evening. Some of them I hadn't seen since I graduated 17 years ago, but it seemed like we had all just graduated yesterday. I realized how great it was to be part of such a close-knit group, many of which had been together since they put us in the nerd class in third grade (perhaps we became so close for survival?).

We went to church with the Cobbs on Sunday and made our way back to Ontario for our flight home. It was a quick but worthwhile trip that we really enjoyed. Here are some pictures.

My girls at the Newport Beach Temple.

The girls again, a little closer.

And one more of the girls at the front of the Temple. Aren't they both just gorgeous?

Tori and I on the steps. Good to see she is contributing to the shot.

Liz and Tori at the Dory Fleet. One of my favorite places to visit as a kid.

Me and Tori on the Newport Pier. Tori is laughing because she is trying to dive over the side of the pier into the ocean and I am holding her with a death grip. She thinks it is a game, but I'm not even playin'

Of course, I HAD to get this shot for my brother James of Angel Stadium (or as Jon used to call it, "Angel Stadimun").

Home Sweet Home (never mind the current occupants or state of the property). This is where the majority of us seven kids spent the majority of our formative years. 815 S. Chantilly.

Me with three co-troublemakers from the 80's in East Anaheim. Brad Wilkinson, Ryan Farnes, and Paul Cho. Who would have known we would become such upstanding citizens?

The whole grade school gang: Ryan Farnes, me, Sarah (nee) Phan, Ryan Berryman, Brad Wilkinson, Janet (nee) Thuc, Patrick Grosso, Paul Cho, and Derek Kelaita.

Tagged

Yes, I too was tagged. All I know is that you're supposed to post six things about you, so here goes:

1. I once ate 22 tacos from Jack In The Box in one sitting. Not because I'm a pig, but because, at a church activity when I was in high school, we were challenged by the girls to eat double the amount of tacos they did. I picked the skinniest girl so I could obliterate her mark, but she ended up eating 11 tacos. Then they all puked up their tacos and immediately challenged us to a track meet. Nice. This might be related to the time I ate six Tommy's Burgers--except that time it was because I was a pig, and people kept buying them for me to see if I could eat them. I retired from competitive eating at a very young age.

2. While I was backpacking alone through southern Europe I was asked to accompany four girls I had met (two Australians and two Swedes) to Turkey for protection. When we got to the Greek/Turkish border, a smelly, sloppy man jumped on the train and demanded our passports (the only English word he spoke--"PASSPORT!!!"). They all handed theirs over immediately but, since he looked extremely shady, I wouldn't do it. I just showed him mine but wouldn't hand it over. He got very irritated and yelled "TWENTY DOLLAR!!!" (apparently the two other English words he spoke). When I said no, he pulled me off the train and put me in a holding cell in a tiny little building. As he was leaving me in the room, I said, "okay okay okay, here's 20 dollars!" and handed him a bill. A few hours later, as I wondered if I would ever see freedom again, he burst in and threw my passport at me and motioned for me to go. To my amazement, our train was still there (well, the car was still there, with the four girls, but the engine had unhooked and driven back into Greece). I got on and looked at my passport, and there was a beautiful, official Turkish Passport stamped into the page--cost, $20. It would have been nice of them to have their border agents wear uniforms, or speak a few words of English (or French, or Spanish, or Swedish--we tried all of them), or shower, for that matter. After another hour or so, a WWII-era engine came out of Turkey, hooked us up, and pulled us to Istanbul.

3. I almost always over-tip while eating out. I believe the good karma will come back to me. It doesn't always, but last night was one of those rare payoffs at a decent Latin place that has excellent ceviche.

4. I have completed more school than most people should be required to complete--except maybe doctors. I did this voluntarily--maybe I was just looking for ideas?

5. I have a bald head. This item was the result of the following conversation:

Me: Charles (my 5-year-old), what should I put about myself?
Charles: (blank stare)
Me: Charles, if you had to tell someone about your dad, what would you tell them?
Charles: (blank stare, looks at my head)
Me: Charles, if someone said, "tell me one thing about your dad," what would you tell them?
Charles: (pause) you have a bald head

(Thanks a lot son. Just remember, you have my genes. Also, bad things happen to kids who make fun of bald men--just read 2 Kings 2:23-24)

6. I agree with my wife that peanut butter and chocolate is the best combination in the world. However, I refuse to ruin it by putting it in cheesecake flavored ice cream, like she always does.

I tag everyone, but I'm not holding my breath...

My new number one?

I was delighted to find this little gem. Seriously, what did we do before YouTube?

Word is that this is from a beauty pageant in Arizona. I don't know what kills me the most, her outfit, her dramatic moves, the fact that a beauty contestant thought playing a trumpet was a good talent, the fact that she is way off key, or her little dance interlude. It's probably the last one.

Anyway, this has the real potential of knocking off my all-time favorite YouTube clip of the little Indian guy. I'm not prepared to decide yet. What do you think? Which clip is the best?

Enjoy:

Joey turns 4

Yes, we're a little delayed on the blog posts--chalk it up to busy days at work, a trip to California (we'll blog on this soon), and all of us taking turns puking our guts out for the past week or so.

But, before all of that happened, Joseph turned four years old on November 8th. We had a small family party and he got a few gifts that he really enjoys. He got a bowling set that he and Charles like to play with, but it has quickly become a game of "set up the pins and hurry and roll the ball before the monster (Tori) speed-crawls over to the pins to knock them down."

He also loves his new DVD's about fighter pilots and aircraft carriers. He is convinced that he is going to be a pilot when he is older because, as he told me confidently one night, "Daddys know how to fly fighter jets." He was delighted to get some more jets from Grandma and Grandpa Martineau and Uncle James. Every morning he lines up all of his planes for an air show and flies them around the house.

Liz began to ask him what kind of cake he wanted a week or so before his birthday. The first time she asked, he thought about it for a second and then said, "I want a bumblebee cake with a stinger." She asked him a few more times in the days leading up to his birthday and every time he would answer, "I want a bumblebee cake with a stinger." So, being the good mom she is, Liz made him a bumblebee cake with a stinger, even if it was totally random and off-the-wall (she's just happy she got out of making him a fighter jet cake).

Here are some pictures:

Very proud of his bumblebee cake with a stinger. Liz must have gotten it right.
Carefully opening a present. Predictably, he started with the largest one.

Tagged - Part II

My name is Tori Kewish and I was tagged by my Aunt Ashley.

Rules:* Each player lists 5 + 1 Facts or habits about themselves.* At the end of the post you list 6 people that you will tag. Leave a message on their Blog in their most recent post in the comments.


1. I often cross my fingers for no reason at all. This might be because my Dad often crosses his toes for no reason at all and it drives my Mom crazy.


2. I love to play with my brothers. In fact, if any of them (or anyone for that matter) makes the mistake of lying on the ground I turbo-crawl over to them making a horrible sound that sounds like a Pterodactyl, pull up their shirt, and smack their stomach with my hand (we call it a "tummy pop" in our family).


3. I eat really well and love people food as well as baby food. Even if I'm full, I will eat as many bites of Daddy's dinner as he will give me. However, in the rare circumstance that I don't like what I'm given, I will cover my eyes with the back of my hand because I think it makes me invisible.


4. Even at a young age I am very aware of what is good and what is bad. Usually when I pick up something I know I'm not supposed to, I will do it very slowly, keeping an eye on my parents. Then, if either of them see me and say anything, I will fling it across the room as fast as I can and hide my hand behind my back.


5. I puked three times last Sunday, which mark the first three times in my life I have puked. I puked all over my Mommy and Daddy at the Cobb's church in Vista, all over my Mommy in TJ Maxx when Daddy was buying a bigger suitcase to carry home all the stuff we bought at Trader Joe's in Newport Beach, and all over myself in the car on the way to Oceanside Harbor. So instead of going to Oceanside Harbor, we went to the Target parking lot and Daddy bought $40 worth of wipes, sanitizer, new clothes for me, bags, and other supplies to clean us up and prepare us for our 3-hour flight back to Texas. Throwing up is overrated.


6. I absolutely adore my "Lullaby Gloworm" baby (their spelling) and will constantly hug it to see its face light up and hear its music play. Then I'll say "aawwwwwwwwwwwww" for a long time. It's really cute when I do this.

I won't tag anyone because everyone I know has already been tagged. I need to make more friends, but all the babies my age are idiots.

Tagged

I was tagged by my sister Laurel.

Rules:
* Each player lists 5 + 1 Facts or habits about themselves.
* At the end of the post you list 6 people that you will tag. Leave a message on their Blog in their most recent post in the comments.

1. I think I have man hands, in fact they are larger than Joe's hands.

2. I love to travel and go on trips (without kids). With kids is fine for now but I dream of the day when Joe and I can go out and explore the world together.

3. My two least favorite chores are cleaning the bathroom and ironing. I should be doing both of them right now but there is always tomorrow.

4. I think that peanut butter and chocolate is the best combination ever.

5. I wish I had a babysitter that was willing to come to my house at 5am on Black Friday so I could shop the great deals with Joe. Any Takers?

6. Why does it say 5+1 facts or habits? Why not just 6 or maybe leave it at 5?

These are the people I tag

Joe Kewish
Mom Kewish
Dad Kewish
Jon Kewish
Ashley Kewish
Sammy Kewish

Air Show

This past weekend was the annual air show here in San Antonio--this time at Randolph Air Force Base. The boys were very excited to go and enjoyed it very much. Not so much when the F-15 did a full afterburner takeoff right in front of us, but they enjoyed everything else. That was really the only super-loud thing this time around. I reminded me of last year when we were treated to several afterburner passes that shook our insides and Charles turned to me and said, "when is that plane that keeps tricking us going to LAND?!?!" This one was a lot more relaxed (read: boring). It's been about 55 hours since we left the base and Joseph hasn't stopped talking about it and flying his little fighter jets around the house.

Here are some pictures:

Here are the boys enjoying the show. Notice our killer spot right on the flight line.



It gave us a good chance to see the planes up close and personal (a little too close for their liking, at times). But cool to see the Air Force heritage flight come by close.

And to see the F-15 rolling by right in front of us. (Notice the guys--I call them Air Show Nerds--that insist on wedging themselves between little kids and the fence so they can take pictures with their gigantic lenses to upload to their nerdy message boards and discuss the air show with other nerds. Yes, that is an approximately 60-year-old man waving to the pilot.)
The flight displays were pretty good at the air show, but the boys enjoyed the static displays even more (maybe because their engines weren't on?).

Hanging out the door of a C-17 Globemaster III.
On the tarmac with a B-52 Stratofortress behind them.
We really had to back up for this plane--and I still cut off the tail and the wing! The C-5 Galaxy.
Sitting in the rear portion of a Huey.
And piloting the Huey.
Posing in front of an F-16 Fighting Falcon with a curious paint scheme.
Inside one of the more rare statics, a CV-22 Osprey
Another shot on the tarmac, this time in front of the C-17 Globemaster and the RC-135 Rivet Joint.
About 20 yards behind where we sat for the entire show, the F-22 Raptor.
In front of the B-17 Flying Fortress.
And finally, taking a picture with the pilot of a T-38 Talon.

Happy Halloween

Well, another Halloween is in the books in the Kewish home.

The boys went as Captain Hook and Peter Pan and Tori went as Tinkerbell. All Charles wanted to do was stay home and pass out candy and all Joey wanted to do was run to as many houses as possible to "get more candy." After only about 30 minutes of trick-or-treating, Charles was asking to go home and Joey was arguing that they hadn't gotten enough candy yet.

However, when Charles *did* trick-or-treat, he did very well. Last year I was disappointed at the number of suckers they grabbed from bowls full of chocolate, so I told Charles tonight to make sure he looked for peanut M&M's (my favorite). He took me so seriously that when the people would answer the door and grab some candy to put in his bucket, he would hold it back and say, "um, let me pick the candy." Then as he walked down the driveway he would yell, "Dad! I got some more M&M's for you!"

I kept telling the boys "remember, no suckers!" In fact, when one woman tossed a sucker into Charles' bucket before he could stop her, he spun around and urgently yelled to me "Dad!! She put a sucker in my bucket!" I let that one slide, but I did tell the boys that I would probably throw away any suckers they got. Does that make me a bad parent? Maybe. . . but it's worth it.

Here are some pictures: