9 years ago today my fantasy football draft had to be postponed as Mason was brought into my life and couldn’t have been happier.  He continues to amaze us with his loving and caring of others approach to life and his ongoing thirst for knowledge.  Very proud to call him my son.

Two nights ago, after dinner, the boys each tackled their own ropes course.  First Cutler tackled one more suitable for his age about 1/2 story off the ground.

Then Mason, surprisingly, stepped up and tackled the one that is over three stories high.  Only a few obstacles in, on the first level, he was nearly in tears with frustration over his inability to slide the safety harness along with him.  I thought for sure he was ready to give up, but after a few words of encouragement and reminding him to relax and just have fun he pushed on.  By the time he got around the first level I was fully confident that despite tackling his frustration he was still going to be done.  Then Mason surprised me and pushed on to the second level.  I thought for sure there was no way he was going to the top, but as his resolve to ring the bell grew so did our pride.  No way in the world would I have tried this at his age and there were plenty of adults that night that didn’t go to the top and out on the narrow plank to ring the bell, but there was our strong willed and determined Mason.  So proud of him.

Tonight my instructional hockey team, see beer league, won the season championship game. Really enjoying playing and learning the game until we were awarded our trophies…lukewarm miller lite.

After Cutler’s birthday party I sat down to work on some of his Lego gifts and Mason came over and decided to work with us. Once I saw that he would work well with Cutler I stepped away and was amazed at how well the two worked together. While I had to stress patience a few times with Mason he started to go out of his way to teach Cutler how to read the directions and where to put the pieces. It was a pretty awesome site to watch how much Mason stepped up as the big brother and teacher. I love my boys. They make me crazy a lot with their typical brotherly arguments but then there are moments like these that make me proud.

We have one more day here in Dubai and both of us are really starting to miss the boys.  Fortunately, due to technology, we are able to see and talk to them every day which makes it somewhat easier although their drifting towards the tv while we talk can prove challenging.  Cutler has found it very entertaining to show us what he is eating when we talk.  Below are some of my favorite screen shots taken from our conversations while we have been out of the country.

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Wanted to wish a quick Happy Birthday to my younger sister Becky.  I wish we could be there to wish you in person, but the snow would probably keep us away anyway.  Hope it was a good one.

While watching football tonight with Mason, this is what he told me…”Dad, if you played football in the NFL, you would be one of the oldest players.” After thinking a bit further he continued, “maybe even the oldest.”

With all that the boys have gotten to do in regards to the Stars games, I am wondering when they will realize just how fortunate they are.  For New Year’s Eve we were fortunate enough to be invited to sit in a suite by our friend Jennifer Flahrety, along with a couple of other families from our awesome Hounds baseball team.  Thanks to our connections from Cutler’s stint as the stick kid, I was able to get all five boys on the Kid Zam for a ride on the ice during the second intermission.  Below are some photos from our fun.

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