The Updike's

Big day for one of my dad!  After 42 years with American First Credit Union he finally decided to retire.  Who retires with 4 months worth of PTO?  This guy does.  He rarely took vacation or sick days.  He is such a hard worker and I am so proud of him! We surprised him with pizza and cake for his office. And then the ultimate surprise came when we all gathered at his office at 6pm (closing time).  Balloons, pop streamers . . . etc.  It was the best way to end his career. Running through his retirement banner! To top it all off - we put in a reservation for our entire family (minus Michael's family  - we missed them) at Mi Ranchito.  One of his favorite restaurants.     We sure love you dad!  Thanks for being an amazing example of hard work!

 Presley: I found out Santa is not real it all started when my 2nd grade teacher said the Leprechaun is not real my Mom kept saying "she doesn`t know what she is talking about" so she kept saying that until she thought I said "my teacher is a big fat liar!" and she didn`t want me to think that so I was like do you believe he`s real and she just sat there doing her mischievous smile so I knew he wasn`t real then I was like well at least Santa is real cause you don`t lie to me then she did her mischievous smile again so I knew he wasn`t real so then I found out that the whole family was hiding Elfie so I found  out a lot that day.  I felt like I got punched in the stomach. it was a very sad day in the Updike home.

(Garrett writing this post...) Can't believe that we are already celebrating Christmas 2023!  We had a great time this year.  First of all, it felt like it took a while to get into the "real" Christmas spirit.  One of the things that helped (and has become a tradition over the last couple of years) was participating in Austin's live nativity.  He had live animals and even a camel.  The boys again had the opportunity to be shepherds.  They each had a donkey that they escorted around the yard.  And Austin asked Christina and me to be Mary and Joseph.  Yes, we may have been about 30 years too old, but it was a sweet experience and truly did bring the spirit of Christmas.  While some people didn't pay much attention to our little manger setting, there were several that took a few minutes and clearly had a special moment pondering on the magnificence of that special night.  Thankfully, Austin had built a couple walls that protected us from th...