2008 Christmas Letter

Ho (in an effort to mitigate the potential damages resulting from the current economic situation we are attempting to eliminate unnecessary redundancies including repeated words and the use of periods and multiple parentheses

Well, it’s that time of year again folks - time for the Schrenks to ramble slightly coherently about their year while you sit back and prepare the garbage can for another 8.5x11 deposit. Not much to report this year – the only items that come to mind are the new dog, the new baby, another hurricane, and 12 months of laughs.

So where to begin?

We know new kids are cool but they just can’t compare with a new dog. In January we adopted Chloe. She’s a brindled great dane with a heart of gold and a brain of lead. Amy’s first comment after seeing her was “I LOVE her”. Amy’s first comment after seeing the dog’s head sweep across her kitchen counter was “What have I gotten myself into?”. Amy’s first comment after the dog laid her head on Amy’s shoulder while she was sitting at the table eating her lunch was “great, another big stupid animal that’s going to eat all my food, take the blankets when I try to sleep, and will forget that it promised take out the trash”. Amy has decided that one of the two family members that stand over 6 feet tall has to go, but she hasn’t yet decided which one.

Once we fell into a pretty successful two dog, one kid and Amy’s cat routine, we decided to mix it up with another kid. Jordan Mikayla Schrenk became a Bronco fan on May 14, 2008! She is even more proof that good things can happen to bad fathers. She is probably the happiest kid ever born. Her favorite foods include TV remotes and grandparent noses, and she absolutely adores her big sister. She, like her sister, has also promised Daddy not to date until she’s 35.

We thought leaving Mississippi meant a lower probability of hurricanes, but as they say in China…stupid Americans. In an effort to stay safe in the midst of Hurricane Ike, we ran away to San Antonio– it was either that or enter the Houston hurricane club with a loaded pistol in our pocket. In light of recent football player escapades, we think we made the right choice. We made reservations at the Refugee Camp de Grandparents Bean – it provides free childcare but there’s a pretty good chance the staff will try to steal your children. The storm left us with some minor damage but because the house was still inhabitable Amy continued to refuse Brandon’s requests to move back to Colorado.

Allison turned Tulowitzki this year – can you believe it? For you non-Rockies types, Tulowitzki wears the number 2. Brandon has been teaching her to say touchdown for two seasons and do you want to guess the first time she got it on her own? If you said “right after the Raiders intercepted the ball and ran it back for a touchdown” you’d be correct. Brandon feels he deserves at least honorable mention for father of the year after swallowing his pride, holding back his tears and hugging his daughter for the new found talent of which she was so proud. She started pre-school and, like her dad, is way smarter than every kid in class and not afraid to tell you that. The most prominent comment left by her teachers was “she REALLY likes macaroni and cheese”. She has been outstanding with her baby sister, loves to help shampoo Jordan’s hair, regularly gives her unsolicited tickles, hugs and kisses. Brandon credits Amy because despite being way smarter than all of his classmates (did he mention that yet?) he realizes that there is no way his kids would have a chance with him at the helm.

Amy still has the most rewarding job in the world taking care of the two greatest kids. To steal a great quote from a great friend, she lists her company as “A and J, Inc” and her industry as “services.” Brandon is still an engineer at that place that does something with air.

So as usual another quiet year for the Schrenks. We don’t expect to be adding any new kids, dogs, or hurricanes to the mix next year but you know us, we’ll keep you posted if we do!

Love,
Amy, Allison, Jordan, Hunter, Chloe, Brandon and Amy’s Cat (In that order)