Christmas Letter 2010

The Perry Family Review of 2010!

It's Christmas time again! And whether we like it or not we are going to enjoy it or I swear I am going to turn this year around and we can all go through it again. With the close of the year I get to sit myself in front of a computer to come up with a way to waste the lives of several trees and hand over a few more cents to the Ink barons. May these trees live on to become part of a package that says, “Made from recycled materials”.

As I sit and reflect on the year behind us I can't help but think, “Where did all the time go? What of note really happened? And, What can I say that won't make me feel like a lout and make others feel like I am better then them?” And although I know that I may not be able to answer all of these questions with much accuracy, and I will make up the parts that I think are lacking.

I for one this year am more proud of the things I didn't get done then the things I did do. I didn't take over the world or build a Death Ray. I didn't contribute to the national debt or did I cause anyone to lose a job. I didn't actively participate in strip-mining and I reduced my carbon footprint by throwing out all my carbon soled shoes. I didn't get fired or laid-off... yet. Oh, and my in-laws are still in town... This time there are more of them...

My wife thought that the homeschooling English I was giving her wasn't doing the trick so she decided to enroll in the ESL classes at UVU. She also graduated with a nice little certificate that will be filed, or framed, or something. Personally I think the best part was that we got a free dinner out of it. This little honor has been a long time coming since my wife has been taking her grandparents to the hospital for their checkups and translating better then the hospital translators. She has been spending lots of time with her family...

DJ is now in second grade, and if you couldn't guess, she also graduated from first grade. She also decided that she has come to that age where she will allow someone at the mall to hold a very gun-looking apparatus up to her head and jam a needle in her ear. She can't wait until she can wear the gaudy, dangling earring that are going to drive her Dad nuts. She is also practicing her morning bathroom time extensions and is currently up to 40 minutes doing who-knows-what. She continues to let her parents push her into learning French, English and Spanish at the same time, and loves to remind her Dad that she is smarter then him because she speaks French and he doesn't.

Big Dis becoming his own little man and learned that there is one quick way to win a fight with his Dad. One quick punch at his shoulder level will always bring Dad to his knees. I have taken to wearing a cup when I know that my little boy will be wanting to roughhouse. He has successfully joined in the ranks of kids whose parents can't wait to get them out of the house before they are even old enough to go to school, ie preschool, and is learning all those little things things that kids learn in preschool. For example, they have started to undo all the damage that Dad has done by trying to teach him his colors (Thanks color-blindness!). He has also learned all sorts of new things to ask God in his prayers, for example, “Dear Heavenly Father, please bless that Mom and Dad are nice and aren't mean to me because I've been good and they haven't been. And DJ has been mean. Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.”

We still have two dogs, Pimienta (Alias, 'la negra') and Comino (Alias, 'el gringo') and are a lot smarter then are previous dogs, since they are still alive.

As the end of the page creeps upwards and as my ability to recall the past year wanes. I will say that we wish you a Merry Christmas and that if your only present from us is that you don't have to hear from us more then once a year we will happily provide.

Merry Christmas!