2011 Christmas Letter

Dear Family and Friends,



Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! Once again the year has flown by and it’s hard to believe it’s almost over. We hope you have as many things to be thankful for as we do.


2011 started out pretty sad for our family as we said goodbye to our dog, Jerry, on the 2nd of January. The kids handled it pretty well, but it was sure strange to come home without a friendly face wagging his tail. In April we added a new puppy to our family. Quincy, the mini-goldendoodle, has been a great addition. He is super sweet and best of all doesn’t shed! Quincy has made our house a home once again. He even joined us on our summer trip to WA.


Katie is 9 and in third grade. She continues to love the performing arts. Katie takes piano lessons, attends drama classes and sang in the Clark County Children’s Choir. This spring she received her first communion and was lucky enough that her Aunt Erin, who happens to be her godmother, was in town to share the special occasion with her. Katie attended a two week drama conservatory this summer that culminated with a play. She still attends Gilbert Magnet school (communication and fine arts). When not performing, Katie can usually be found with her nose in a book.


Alex turned 6 this summer while on our trip to WA. He got to celebrate his birthday at the Point Defiance Zoo with cousins, aunts, & a future uncle! Alex is in Kindergarten at the Kids’ Co-op. He loves school and loves to learn. He is always picking something new to research. Alex spent the year playing flag football and basketball. He also continues to attend music/singing classes. He loves to perform. Alex also had quite a few visits from the tooth fairy this fall!


When not shuttling the kids between activities, Kerry finds time to participate in a couple of book clubs and Bunco groups. She also enjoys working in Alex’s class at the Co-op.


Don has had a few changes at work and is now an operations supervisor. It’s a nice change with more responsibility. On Friday nights you can find Don at the bowling alley where he’s rekindled his bowling hobby.


We’ve spend some great family time together. January took us to Phoenix to visit Grandpa and take in a Monster Jam event. It was fun to ride the light rail into the city. We also visited a gold mine. The kids had the best time swimming in the pools at Grandpa’s community. March brought us the chance to go to another Monster Jam even, The World Finals right here in Las Vegas. We saw a couple of local plays and even took in The Lion King at Mandalay Bay. In November, Kerry & Katie took a quick trip to WA to visit Kerry’s sisters and do some special shopping. To end the year, we took the kids to see the Michael Jackson Immortal World Tour Cirque show. It was great!


This summer we took a two week road trip to WA. The kids and the dog were great travelers. We spent a great day exploring Seattle. We rode the monorail, played at the Pacific Science Center, found the famous gum wall, shopped at Pike’s Place Market and ate some seafood on the pier. We also got to visit The Point Defiance Zoo and spend a day at Wild Waves water and amusement park. The kids enjoyed seeing their cousins and having a sleepover at Aunt Erin’s house. We also joined a bunch of family members to celebrate Kerry’s uncle’s birthday. Next we had a great couple of days enjoying ourselves with the Wilsons at their cabin on Bumping Lake. We ended our trip in Quincy at Kerry’s dad’s house before the long drive back to Las Vegas.


We are looking forward to many more adventures in 2012. Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and blessed New Year. We hope if you are ever in our area you will give us a call.


With much love,


Don, Kerry, Katie & Alex Oppenheim

Top 11 of 2011

The Oppenheim Family


Our top 11 moments of 2011

11. Many visits from the tooth fairy for Katie & Alex

10. Kidshine & Matinee performances

9. Alex’s first reception in Flag Football and basket in Basketball!

8. Katie’s First Communion

7. Katie’s piano recital & Choir concert

6. Monster Jam World Finals, The Lion King, & Michael Jackson’s Immortal Cirque Show

5. Trip to Arizona

4. Quincy, our mini-goldendoodle puppy

3. Family Game Nights

2. Summer Vacation to Washington

 

1. Visits with Family and Friends!

25

25 facts that you might or might not know about me!

1. I do not have a belly button.
2. I  have never been stung by a bee.
3. My idea of a perfect day is spending it on the lake or river with my family.
4. I wish I was a better writer.
5. I've never dyed my hair.
6. My shoe size is 11!
7. I enjoy cooking.
8. I think I invented reality TV.  I had the idea as a kid of having a camera following me around to broadcast my oh so exciting life! LOL
9. I don't like any kind of melon.
10. I need a new hobby.
11. My thumbs look like big toes.
12. I wish I lived closer to my family.
13. My dream vacation is to go to Italy.
14. I've never lived alone.
15. I would like to learn to play the guitar.
16. I would like to take a pottery class.
17. I think I'm pretty witty.
18. My favorite color is green.
19. I can't touch my right shoulder with my right hand.
20. I've broken my collar bone and my wrist.
21. I don't like crowded places, especially shopping malls.
22. I'm not meeting my potential.
23. I went to Girl Scout camp every summer for a lot of summers.  It was the best!
24. I think instrumental music concerts are boring, and I played in band for 6 years and took piano lessons!
25. I love to play games, but have a tendency to help the other team or player if they are losing.

Childhood memory

4.  What is your happiest childhood memory?  What makes it so special?

This is a hard question to answer.  I had a happy childhood all around. I have to choose an event that occurred more than once.

 My happiest memories are boating with my entire family. There is just something so fun about packing up a lunch and spending the day at the river. I loved every part of it.  I loved tubing behind the boat. I loved swimming in the water.  I loved building in the sand.  I loved riding in the boat. When I think back to all the time we spent on the boat, I'm always happy.  Everybody was always having a good time.  There was lots of laughter and fun. It was a time when we all came together to get things done. We all helped load and unload, pack and unpack, and we all worked together. 

I can still close my eyes and feel the warmth of the sun, smell the exhaust from the boat, taste the sunchips, and hear the fun and laughter. I can remember the happy, tired feeling driving in the car on the way home. If I could recreate one event with my family, it would have to be a day on the boat.  

What’s the most sensible thing you’ve ever heard someone say?

3.  What’s the most sensible thing you’ve ever heard someone say?

Good question!

Whatever we do for our children, they will never learn to do for themselves.

I am sure there are many other things I could choose, but at this point in my life, I'm choosing this one.  It's true.  How are kids supposed to learn other than by doing? I once had a student in 5th grade who could not tie his shoes, button buttons, zip zippers, etc.  There really wasn't any physical reason he couldn't do these things, but his mother always did it for him and never encouraged him to learn how to do it.  Can you imagine?  He came to school in elastic waisted pants or shorts and velcro shoes. I sometimes wonder what has happened to that student.  What was his mother thinking??

I try and always let my children do things for themselves.  Of course I will help and guide them when they need it.  Giving them opportunities to succeed  gives them confidence.  Sometimes they fail, but they usually try again and figure out how to succeed.  I also love that they are interested in doing things themselves.  Katie has decided she really wants to be able to cook a meal for the family.  I'm glad she feels confident enough to do it. She's made a few simple things on her own such as corn bread and pancakes, but soon I will let her plan and cook the meal.  Of course, I will be right there to guide her along.

What about you?  What is the most sensible thing you've heard someone say?

Who do you sometimes compare yourself to?

2.  Who do you sometimes compare yourself to?

There are a ton of people I compare myself to for different reasons. 

First, I compare my self to my mom. I often wonder how she was able to be so calm with us kids all of the time.  What did she do when she was a stay at home mom? Am I showing my own children the same kind of love that she showed us? I compare myself to her is good ways too.  I tend to notice the differences between our lives and things how things are done.  For example, I prepare meals in a completely different way than she did, but still serve a few of the same dishes that she did. She didn't have nearly as many outside the home activities as I do.  Was she satisfied?  There are so many times I wish I could talk to her about her life when she was my age. I guess I find it intersting to think about how we are alike and how we are different.

I often find myself comparing my accomplishments with newsmakers.  I'm always impressed when someone my age or younger has made great contributions to the world or has become very successful in their career. It's not that it makes me feel bad about myself, I just find myself taking some time to contemplate my own successes.  I usually end up thinking about my greatest successes, Katie & Alex. Although it does make me wonder what I could accomplish if I put my mind to it!

I also compare myself to my friends.  I have thought about how our families are different, our life styles, and interests, accomplishments and marriages.  I have learned so many things from the people in my life and been inspired to change in little ways.

Food for thought!

Trying something new!

Really?  It's been since November that I've shared any thoughts?  I love reading everybody else's blogs, but I have a hard time motivating myself to write about anything. I guess it's because there aren't any really exciting things to post about. 

So, I found a great sight that lists all kinds of thought provoking questions.  I also found a list of 356 thought provoking questions. http://thoughtquestions.com/  I think that's a good place to start. I need to be more contemplative in my life.  Feel free to join along with me as I attempt to answer a question a day (or let's be honest, maybe a question a week!)

1. When was the last time you tried something new?

Hmm..   In the past few years of adulthood, I've tried quite a few new things.  I've tried a ton of new foods and found quite a few new favorites. I've tried new genres of books and found some books I really liked that I would not have chosen on my own. I can't think of any new experience that I've tried recently, other than new recipes which I try very often.  I guess the newest thing to me was trying Indian Food at an Indian Restaurant.  Thanks, bookclub!

Who has a suggestion for something new I can try? I'd love to hear your thoughts.  What have you tried lately?