Holiday Greetings - December, 2001

Happy Holidays! Katie’s 5, Jessie’s 3, and Nick’s 20 months. (I.e. we’re busy as can be!) Love, Tom, Karen, Katie, Jessie & Nick Aney. The end.

Ok, ok, I know I can’t get off that easy but I tried. However, if you don’t want to read ‘kid’ updates, you can move to the next Christmas letter now. (Karen and I are doing great but you’ll have to call or visit to find out any more than that!)

Nick (A.k.a “Rookie” or “Mr. Big Boy”) has taught us many things about children. Most notably - the difference in boys and girls is NOT environmental. He has distinctly passed up any association with dolls and tea parties, instead, choosing to focus on vehicles and, much to Tom’s delight, hockey. He has developed a pretty wicked slapshot. Also, although he SPEAKS only a handful of words, he likes looking through hockey magazines and can separately identify skates, sticks, helmets, jerseys, goalies, referees, and nets. All the hockey players (except goalies) are given the general label of “Da-da”. Dad especially likes it when Nick sees a picture of Mario Lemieux and says “Da-da”…

Besides his few words, Nick has several ‘signs’ that he uses to communicate. The most endearing is his ‘nod’. He understands that “yes” can be communicated by moving your head up and down. However, he doesn’t realize that this simple gesture can be accomplished by using your neck. Instead, he uses his knees to generate the up-and-down “nodding action”.

Katie started kindergarten this fall and loves it. She makes it clear that anything that might interfere with her school attendance (including Saturdays) is unwelcome. Also, she and Tom have jumped squarely onto the Harry Potter bandwagon. They have read the first three books and Katie is hoping Santa will bring her Book 4 for Christmas. She and Tom recently attended the movie - after a 180-day countdown to the November 16th release date! Needless to say, both were mesmerized!

Jessie gives us the blessing of seeing the world through the eyes of a three-year old. It’s a wonderful perspective that can make you laugh and cry. The following is a sample of quotes from Jessie this year:

 

Jessie, telling dad he can't play: "Only 1-yr olds and 3-yr olds can play, not big-yrs olds."  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Mom: "Jessie, do you want to try on your new swimsuit?" Jessie: "No, I'll put it on when I go swimming" [good common sense - Ed.] ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Jessie: "When she turns 5, will she still be Katie"? [So much for common sense - Ed.] ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Mom: "Jessie, we're taking an airplane to Florida" Jessie: "How are we going to get on the plane?" Mom: "Um..through the door…" Jessie: "How are we gonna get UP to the door?" ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ On Sept 11: "Maybe the plane didn't have any windows and they couldn't see the building....Our plane to Florida will have windows, right?" ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Mom: "Jessie, that's a lizard" Jessie: "Harry Potter is a lizard" [Actually, Jess, he is a Wizard - Ed.]

Mom: "Jessie, you are my valentine" Jessie: "NO! I am not a heart" ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Mom: "Jessie, what is that rash on your stomach?" Jessie: "Oh…that's just part of me" ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ After dad ran his first ever race...a 1/2 Marathon: "When is Dad gonna run the rest of the Marathon?" ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Dad: "Jessie, why are you so silly??" Jessie: "Because that's how God MADE me!!" ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ In a crowded lobby while waiting to get a flu shot: "Hey! this is same place I got my peepee area test!" [Urinary tract infection test – Ed.] ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Jessie on first snow of season: "Maybe it's winter now!" ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Katie, singing: "Are you happy? H-A-P-P-Y...." Jessie, tattling: "Daddy! Katie said peepee!"

Recent world events have certainly reminded us what is truly important in life and we thank God for our wonderful family and friends and our great nation.  We wish you a wonderful Holiday Season and a great 2002.

-Tom, Karen, Katie, Jessie, and Nick