Dear Santa,
I hope your 2024 has been better than ours. I'll count my blessings, but that doesn't mean that I have to ignore that it has been one heck of a year. How has your year been? Have you been able to keep the volume down on all the political drama that has been happening this election year in the United States? I sure hope so. I got really tired of everything that was being poured out on all of us from both sides of the spectrum. I was glad when it was all over.
Sorry to get distracted. How is the missus? You guys planning on a bit of a break after Christmas this year? I hear Fiji is really nice this time of year. Well, any time of year, actually. That and Bali. When you go on vacation, are you pretty incognito? Or do you get recognized frequently? If so, I assume that must be a bit annoying. I've never run into anyone famous on the street, but if I did, I'd most likely leave them alone. I can only imagine what having too much attention does to your day. You can tell I'm an introvert.
I guess to start off, I'll let you know about how we're all doing. We're starting off with Malcolm this year.
Camping snuggles with big sister
My "Little Cheese", as he like me to call him, is doing great. He is still the perfect caboose to our family. He turned five this year and is 100% boy. As of recently, after watching his brother play a lot on the Nintendo Wii U, he has decided to take up the persona of Link from the Legend of Zelda. Pretty much anytime he goes anywhere now, he decides to give a little "hup" as he jumps over the threshold to another room. It's adorable.
To a boy, any stick can be the mightiest sword
He knows his letters and has begun to read words out loud. He has also gravitated a lot lately toward numbers and how important they are for quantification. For example, every day he tells me he loves me "one million," which he doesn't know how to write, but knows it's pretty big.
Orienteering and navigation training for five year olds
He is getting to be too big to be the baby, but he'll always be my little buddy. There are so many things that he does all on his own now, and it's making me realize that I'm getting out of the tiny kids phase of life. It makes me feel older, but I'm still trying to keep a youthful mind. It helps that my son wants to spend so much time with me whenever he can.
Next up we have the firecracker of the family, Lucy.
An accurate representation of her personality
Lucy continues to amaze us in both good and bad ways, but mainly on the good side. She has such a good heart and always wants to do well in everything she does.
So chic
She is always one of the first to make friends with adults, and likes to talk with them sometimes more than children her own age. We're constantly trying to temper her desires to bake some cookies for neighbors or go visit every single adult neighbor to say hello.
Lucy's soulmate: a piece of petrified wood
She is so very creative and musically inclined. I am hoping that she is able to turn her abilities into a powerful force for good. She is usually so hard on herself when she's learning something new because she wants to get it perfect the first time around. I haven't been able to convince her that sometimes learning something new takes a while, but she hasn't quite been able to believe me yet.
Next up, we have the boy, Sean.
Trying our hands at Gulf Coast fishing. We were not successful.
Sean is going to turn twelve next year and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet. He has such a good heart, though, and I know he can do some amazing things if he puts his mind to it.
You leave them alone for one minute...
He still loves everything related to Nintendo and video games and will constantly remind you about it with his incessant discussions and questions regarding them. I suppose he was always destined to be this way. I mean, look at who his dad is. He has started picking up on new computer techniques and other things that I haven't looked into, which quite frankly frightens me. I've always prided myself on my technical aptitude, but when I'm getting passed up by an eleven year old, I start to feel old and suddenly have a lot of sympathy for my own father.
My little Dipper
He also continues to excel at his musical abilities. Lately he's been sitting down on the piano and trying to learn how to play a few songs. Granted, most of them are Zelda songs, but they are starting to sound fantastic. I certainly hope he keeps up the hard work. I know he'll do great things if he continues to practice and work on all his skills, musical or otherwise.
We finally come to the oldest child, Leah.
Pretty curls
I can't quite get used to being the father of a teenager, but I probably couldn't have picked a better one to be a dad of. Not that I really had a choice, but she really is a good one. While she's soft spoken, she has a caring heart and is such a responsible young woman.
Pigs in spaaaaaaaaccccceeee!
Leah has exceled in so many areas, but mostly in her abilities to do fiber arts. Her Grandma Reynolds would be proud of her increasing skillset in that area. She has taken up crocheting and macrame this past year and I don't think she can get enough of it. She always has some sort of creative endeavor to work on.
At the temple with mom and dad
She continues to make such good choices in her life and is taking her spirituality into her own hands. I constantly hope that I have given her enough tools and lessons in life to be a righteous young woman in the future.
She endured my Halloween costume design for her
She's still growing up too fast, and I'm not quite ready to go into the upper teenage years of a young girl. I've heard they can be rough. But, of course, I don't think I have any say in the matter whatsoever.
Next up, let's talk about Sarah.
Date night on the waterfront
This woman continues to amaze me with all the things she does. In addition to homeschooling the kids, she serves as a Beta Leadership Club sponsor for the kids, serves as a board member of a Christian homeschool support group, teaches as an online math tutor for Ensign Peak Academy, and teaches the youth for Sunday School. On top of all this, she finds time to bring dinner over to whomever has a new baby or has been sick. This lady is all about small, intimate service, and I love her for that.
Always up for snuggling a baby
She is so good with kids and I think God has led her along this path and blessed her with so many opportunities to learn and grow along the way. The kids look up to her example quite a bit (although maybe in thought, not action) and I know they're benefitting from seeing her example of service.
Most of the time, she can be found snuggling our little monkey man
We've been trying to work through some difficult trials this past year that have taken a toll on us (more on that later). I sure wish I had a magic wand to wave and make her life a bit easier, but in the meantime I try to stick by her side as we navigate this storm of life.
She painted this at a girls' night and I love how bright the colors are
She continues lately to express her creative side and I quite love to see the results of it all. She has been able to finally get back into soap making and quilting, along with trying a few new things here and there.
The central part of Sean's Zelda quilt that she is hoping to finish before he leaves for college
If you happen to have an extra 1000 square feet that you can slap on our house, as well as a long-arm quilting machine, I'm sure she could make some real good use of it. I think if we had our choice, we'd just all craft and create all day long.
Well, onto me, I suppose.
Wet weather camping
My family has been a really big part of this year for me. I continue to try and take the kids camping when I can. After a disastrous camping trip a few years ago where I wound up packing us out in the middle of a rainstorm at midnight, I'm much more gun-shy in my camping selections. However, we still try to go a few times when it gets cooler. The kids love to roast dinner on the fire and just be outdoors. Now all of them are old enough to go with me, so I can give their mom a break for a few days.
Can't get enough date nights with my love
This past year I had a few very significant changes in terms of mental health. Months after my mom's passing, I was still struggling with my daily emotions and struggling to find purpose in life. After enough months of misery, I decided to try transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy (TMS), which is the modern equivalent of what they were trying to accomplish doing electro-shock therapy. Essentially they use an electromagnet to stimulate the part of your brain that produces serotonin to try and get it to be active again. My regimen was every day after work for seven weeks where I'd sit and get my brain zapped. I would have been skeptical, except that I have other family members who had tried it and found it beneficial. After the therapy, it definitely mellowed out my mood issues and I found that I could handle stress (especially that related to parenting my children) much easier. On top of all that, I found a very good therapist who helped me work through some areas of my mom's passing, and helped me work through learning to accept the validation that other people were giving me. I was holding myself to a much higher standard than is actually possible and constantly beating myself up for not achieving perfection. Once I accepted that, I found it much easier to believe when my family told me that they loved me. It was a miraculous breakthrough for me, and one that I've struggled with since before I got married. It was finally nice to break free of that burden.
Solar specs for the eclipse this spring
I continue to work at NASA providing visualization services for various clients. It's still a fun job and I have settled into my role quite nicely. I also will be transitioning into doing more corporate level work at my company and supporting proposal development, as well as being the lead for AMA Studios. What that means, I have, as of yet, to totally define, but it should be a good evolution of my current job. Starting next year things should be an interesting switch for me, and I'm hoping for some exciting prospects.
Horizontal therapy
I continue to be reminded that I'm getting older, and not just because of my kids' ages. This past spring, during a long road trip with the kids, I wound up tweaking my back. It continually grew worse over the next few weeks until I had it completely seize up while I was on the toilet with my pants around my ankles. I managed to get back out to the bedroom with my dignity, but Sarah shortly found me afterwards balled up in the fetal position and in tears. She insisted I go to urgent care and I couldn't argue with that. About an hour or two later, I had some good muscle relaxants in me and a good regimen of medication to loosen me up. However, I spent the rest of the day, as much as I could, lying horizontal and trying to do work from home. I can feel a difference in my body now, in spite of everything I try to do to keep it running.
Bradley's beautiful, bemused, bellicose, butchered birthday brisket
I continue to try and do some of my hobbies, but this year it has felt like hobbies have had to take a back seat to everything else. I finally managed to get the flooring back in my house, so when you visit, you'll have to do some admiring. (I also redid the fireplace, so beware of the lava rocks and glass when you slide down the chimney.) It took more time and swearing than I'd like to admit, and we still have a lot of painting left to do. However, we are back in livable conditions, which is nice. It was great to actually see the final result after several months of construction dust and late nights. I think the limit of my hobbies this past year have been in smoking meats, which I have done on occasion. Inflation, unfortunately, has hit my ability to smoke things regularly. Right now we're limited to special occasions.
Now, as I mentioned, this past year has been one expensive gut punch after another. In addition to remodeling our home, in January our sewer line broke and we had to have it completely replaced. A few months later we discovered that our heater has several large cracks in it and was leaking carbon monoxide, so we had to have the entire HVAC system replaced. A few months after that, we had a very expensive transmission repair on our van (more on that later). So, as you can tell, this year might be a bit on the meager side of gifts for Christmas on our side. However, I continue to count our blessings and acknowledge, that we haven't had to go without food or have gotten kicked out of our home. While our ambitions and desires may need to be tempered, we have our needs taken care of.
Doting on Mom Richardson
This past winter Sarah flew out for a few days to take care of her mom and dad while her mother had cataract surgery. I did my best to take care of the kids in her absence, but overall I am glad that we have the means to care for our parents, even if not on a regular basis.
Totality!
In April we spent a few days out near Austin with some friends in order to view the total eclipse that was to happen across America. It was cloudy for most of the day, but about twenty minutes before totality, the skies cleared for us. It was an incredible experience and one that I won't soon forget. It was really awe-inspiring to see the celestial dance of heavens on full display.
Watching the eggs hatch
In our increasing effort to educate our kids on the practicalities of life, a friend of ours let us hatch some of her chickens and care for them for a few weeks when they were chicks.
Goldie, one of the roosters. Also a bully.
Overall we had two hens and three roosters actually hatch. The kids thought it was a real hoot to take care of them and see them wander around their pen. Eventually they got big enough to jump out of the box we were keeping them in.
"Chick magnet"
One of the funniest moments of the saga was when our power failed after a large storm and everyone rushed to make sure that the chicks had enough heat since their heat lamp was out.
Mother hen and her chicks
We eventually returned them, but I was grateful that my kids got to see some agricultural processes close up. I think the further detached we are to them, the less we appreciate all the hard work and effort it takes to get us the modern conveniences that we take for granted.
Kerrville, TX
In May I took the kids by myself on a trip out to see one of their cousins and his family in New Mexico. It was a heck of a road trip and the kids were excited to know that they could look over from El Paso into Mexico. Lucy even asked if we could go over into Mexico, until I explained to her why people that looked like us would be very vulnerable if we drove into Juarez.
Sand sliding
While we were there, we took a day trip out to White Sands National Park and let the kids bask in the glory of the desert. I think they all agreed that we need our moisture that we enjoy on the Gulf Coast.
Hanging on the banks of the Rio Grande
Although we went to visit their cousin, he actually has kids of his own that are about the ages of some of my kids. They enjoyed spending time with their first cousins once removed and I'm always happy to see my kids making memories with family. I only had a few cousins, and most of them were off and having adventures of their own long before I started to be old enough to enjoy them.
Hanging with Alabama Reynolds cousins
This summer Sarah and the kids decided to try out visiting the National Beta Club Convention in Savannah, Georgia. Along the way, they stopped at their cousins' house in Alabama and has a great day visiting the NASA visitor's center there.
Checking the sea life at Tybee Island, Georgia
They made lots of memories there and saw lots of pretty sights. I think the entire convention was a bit overwhelming for them, so I'm not sure if we're going to do another one anytime soon. However, I'm glad they had the experience.
Hoping for better news about the van
On the way back from Georgia, our van started making some not so great noises and movements. To make a long story short, we wound up needing to get our transmission repaired, which put off the Sarah and the kids' summer trip out to Utah by about a week. When we finally did get the van back and they started on their trip, they wound up breaking down a few hours outside of Houston while I was sitting in the airport waiting to fly out to meet them. Thankfully, they were able to be rescued by a good friend and rented another vehicle while the van went back to the transmission shop for a warranty-repair. After a grueling two-day journey, an exhausted Sarah and the kids made it to our family cabin at Fish Lake, Utah. I couldn't have been happier to see them and to make sure they were okay through all of it.
Happy to be out of the car
While the start to our summer plans didn't work out that well, we were able to at least de-stress for about a week in the mountains of Southern Utah. Fish Lake will always be my refuge and a symbol of the peace that I hope for in my family.
Cruising the lake with Grandpa
My kids aren't patient enough for regular trout fishing yet, so my dad and I took them fishing for perch. We found a good hole and managed to get about 40 or so each day we went fishing. The good news is that you can keep about a hundred perch or so per day. The bad news is that they take forever to clean and you don't get much meat for each fish. However, we fried them up and the kids thought they were fantastic. Malcolm still talks about how fishing is his favorite memory at the cabin.
Geocaching
One of the things that Sarah introduced the kids to was geocaching. Now everywhere we go, they want to see if there are any geocaches they can look into. Thankfully, Fish Lake has a few that we could go check out.
I learned from the best
I was grateful to spend some one-on-one time with my dad. He really has been such a shining beacon for me in my life and has helped me out of some really bad pickles. He has been adjusting to his new life as a widower and has good days and bad days. I certainly hope I can have more good days in the future with him, but I completely understand the sentiment that he misses the love of his life.
Finally getting to see it in person
While we were in the area, I decided to take the kids down to Monroe, Utah to see where their Grandma Reynolds grew up. While we were there, we visited my mom's grave and I finally got to see the headstone in person. This was a significant event because my dad asked me to design it for him, which was a huge honor. It has a lot of personal symbolism on it, which means a lot to all of our family. I was grateful that I had the honor of putting my creative talents to use in memory of two of the best people in my life.
Visiting the red hill in Monroe, Utah
I took the kids all around the town and even let them visit the hot springs in the hills. They thought that was pretty cool and wanted to come swim in it the next year we come. I also got to show them the house my mother grew up in and demonstrate that our family comes from very humble beginnings.
Three wiggly boys trying very hard to hold still to attract chipmunks
While we were at Fish Lake, we were lucky to have Sarah's brother and his family from Saudi Arabia come and join us for a few days. The kids were happy to get cousin time and enjoy the beauty of Fish Lake. It was good to see them and we were very happy that our paths were able to cross on this trip. Or, at least we though they would only cross once on this trip...
Going to miss such a good man
As we left Fish Lake to go up to Idaho, Sarah got a call from her brother telling her that her dad, who had been in a rehab center for more than a year, would not make it through the night. We sped as fast as we could up to see him and say our final earthly goodbyes. It was a hard moment to go through less than nine months after losing my mother, and I know my kids had a hard time enduring it. Later that night, as Sarah and her mom slept at the foot of his bed, he slipped beyond this earthly veil.
Almost everyone was able to attend
Our plans were completely derailed and we spent the rest of the time doing funeral plans and preparation. We could only marvel at the timing, however, as we remarked that pretty much everyone aside from two grandchildren, would be able to gather to pay tribute to such a great man. There were plenty of tears shed, but a lot of renewed relationships. I was humbled to step in and help out in the place of Sarah's brother Sean who had passed away on his mission. It really has been so humbling to me that these men have taken me in as one of their brothers. This family has too much energy for me at times, but I'm so grateful that I am a part of it.
Road tripping back with Grandma
With so many things up in the air, Sarah's mom came back with her after the funeral. I was grateful because it meant someone else to be with Sarah on the drive, as well as someone to be with her mom after such a life-changing event. We enjoyed a few days with her here in Texas, but admittedly I think she slept most of the time she was here. She had spent several years caring for Sarah's father as his health declined and she was very weary from it all.
SIGGRAPH at a very high altitude
I had an interesting experience for work this year where I was able to go to Denver for SIGGRAPH, the international computer graphics conference. My head felt like it was going to explode after learning so much, but it was an invaluable experience. I learned so much about what the cutting edge of computer graphics was going to entail. Most of it this year was focused on AI technologies and how that is going to enhance our workflows in the future. It's exciting and terrifying at the same time.
A couple of billionaires telling us how they think the world should be run
While I was there, I got to sit in on a keynote from Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg. It was interesting to see how they thought things would shape up in the future, and it all had to do with AI. All I could see is just how much they seem to want us to retreat back into our own digital echo chambers so they could sell our personal information for money. But what do I know?
State Beta Club convention
Later in the fall the three oldest had the chance to go to Louisiana for a Beta Club leadership convention. This was much less demanding of their time and efforts, and I think they had a better time. They all did a great job presenting their ideas for service projects and I hope they learned a lot.
More Grandma time
We were grateful to get some more Grandma time in the late fall when she came and surprised a few guests that were visiting us. We had an old German exchange student that had lived with Sarah's family back in the 80s come and visit us in Texas. As such, Sarah's mom decided it would be fun to come out and visit at the same time to surprise them. We had a great time with lots of good food and a fun trip out to Great Wolf Lodge for a few days. The time seemed to go too fast.
The new ride
Because of the unfortunate developments with the van this past summer, we decided that it wouldn't be safe to try and drive it out to Utah and Idaho again in the future. So we set about to hunt for a new vehicle that would keep us going for another 10 years or so. While we were hoping to find a used one, there were none to be found with reasonable mileage or pricing. So we rolled the dice and paid a deposit at a dealership to find us a new vehicle. We wound up getting a new Toyota Sienna and it really feels much too fancy for me, even though it's the cheapest of the cheapest trim. It feels like driving a computer and all my NASA brain can think about is how many potential points of failure exist in this vehicle. However, I am grateful that we were finally able to put the saga of the old van behind us. At least now I'll worry less about my family getting stuck in the middle of nowhere while I'm on a plane.
The reason for the season
So, Santa, as you can see, it's been an anomaly of a year. I don't think I've had that many things in my household break at once while losing two of my most important family members. I'll admit, it's been enough to make me very, very timid in my choices. I've been much less cavalier in my purchases, and have been much less willing to take any chances on anything. I've been at my limit all year long, and I have to admit that I don't know if I can take another year like this last one.
Because of everything that has happened, we decided to put our Christmas decorations up at the beginning of November this year. In part, this was to make up for last year's feeble attempt at festivities, but also because I think we all needed an extra month of Christmas cheer. You see, as I've lost parents, I've also better appreciated the real reason why people celebrate Christmas. Before the coming of Christ, there were plenty of people who doubted that they'd ever see their loved ones again. There was no assurances, really, and people likely lived in a state of doubtful hope. Then along comes the one who is foretold that can change all of that. Along comes the one who has the key to unlock the gates of death. Along comes the one who can come and wipe away the tears of sorrow and loss that have plagued mankind for millennia. Along comes Christ.
I get why people celebrate now. The presents and celebrations are fun, but I really do appreciate the real reason for celebrating. There are so many days where I miss calling my mom, but I am grateful to know that I won't miss her forever. This Christmas, that's what I'll be thinking about. That is what I want to celebrate.
So, bring some fun stuff for my kids. They deserve it, although they really don't need more stuff. I just hope we can make some great memories together this next year. That's all I'll be taking with me when I leave this life. I can live with that... and maybe some more shop tools. And maybe some time to do some more fun projects.
All in all, Santa, have a safe journey and don't be like FEMA and skip houses due to their political persuasion. Everyone deserves to have a good Christmas this year. We'll try to leave some good treats out for you when you come. We might be dog-sitting at the time as well, so please mind the pooch.
See you on Christmas Eve!
Sincerely,
-Brad Reynolds
P.S. Got anything in your sack of stuff that will slow the passage of time? Maybe a TARDIS?
P.P.S. I'm still waiting for that Jaeger fighting robot I've been asking for.
P.P.P.S. Really, I just want some good weather at the end of January so I can have a good hunting trip with my dad and brothers. So if you can muster that up, I'd be grateful.
