Light up the Neighborhood!

I really wanted to make my service for Wayne special. I struggled to find the best service for him. I talked to Amy and Darcy for ideas.

Since Darcy isn't an official part of our service exchange, I decided to make her my deputy in serving her dad. While talking to her in early December, she mentioned that they had not yet gotten their Christmas tree because Wayne had been so busy with work and out of town.

A few days earlier, my next door neighbor, Sue, had mentioned how bummed she was that she hadn't had time to put Christmas lights on her house because she had been so busy with work and out of town. I realized that since I could not go help the Dittbrenners decorate for Christmas, I could help my neighbor.

Sue really loves having lights on the house especially for her young daughter, Sarah, who is a year older than Leland. Sue and Sarah have done many wonderful acts of service for our family, such as defending Leland from a bully on the bus or cooking dinner for us after Eddie's birth.

I decided I wanted to figure out a way to decorate their house as a surprise. I devised a plan with Sue's friend, Julie, that she would get me the Christmas lights and keep Sue away from the house in order for me to put the lights up. Julie brought over all the lights and let me know that at 2:00 p.m. that afternoon they had an appointment to get Christmas pictures taken.

The Hocks were visiting, so I enlisted their help, too. We also got Chuck to take the day off work. Lani watched the babies in the house while Hock and Chuck helped me get the lights up.

(Disclaimer: I had great pictures. Hock even took them. But my crazy new phone deleted them all and I can only find the one below. Bummer.)

At 1:55pm, her car was gone, so I thought we were good to start a few minutes early. But just as we got the ladders up on the side of the house, up rolls Sue! The surprise was ruined. She was coming home really quick to change before her pictures and she was running late. We quickly told her what we were doing and she was so grateful. She left for her pictures and we got to work. It was too bad the surprise didn't totally work out, but it was nice not to be rushed to finish in an hour.

We strung icicle lights along the front of the house and snowflake lights in one of her trees. We had some extra timers, so we set up her lights to an automatic timer so that she wouldn't have to remember to plug/unplug them each night.

While Chuck had the ladders out he decided to get up on the roof and clean out her rain gutters too. There was pine needles galore in the gutters, even though she cut down most of her pine trees a few years ago.

It was fun to help spread some Christmas joy. Sue was extremely grateful for our family service exchange.

Wayne, I know that your family is so grateful for how hard you work even if it takes you away from them for an extended time.

I had challenged Darcy to find a way to serve her dad. After they got their tree, she took on the responsibility of ensuring that it was decorated with lights and ornaments... All 17 feet of it! I am sure that was a HUGE task!

To Mom From Wayne

This Christmas Season has been a bit different for me.  I really enjoy the days leading up to the actual day of Christmas.  I really love my time at my home.  This year has been a bit different as I came and worked with Dad on and off since Thanksgiving. 

Mom this year my gift to you is my flight time to and from Southern Cal to help Dad.  We could tell that Dad was a bit stressed about his two jobs getting behind.  It may sound I feel a bit selfish because I did get paid, but as this is my favorite time of the year to be home, I was happy to come and help out.

I thought that I was really helping as I was told by a few subs that Eddie was in a better mood but
I don't know if I ended up relieving his stress because on my last day there he got out 2 bowls for cereal and poured OJ in one of them.

This is a photo of where the hit Dads head.  This is the 3rd time that he bloodied his head while I was there.  I can't be everywhere. 

I know it seems that I was helping Dad but I know that Mom is happy when Dad is able to come home at a decent time and enjoy an evening train game to one of your candlelight dinner. 

Merry Christmas Wayne from 2011: The Wayne Dittbrenner Football Camp

For my 2011 Christmas gift to Wayne, I gave him the gift of football immortality, by creating the Wayne Dittbrenner Football Camp.  As a follow up to last year's blog post I wanted to write about the experience we had hosting the 1st Wayne Dittbrenner Football Camp.

Overall the camp was a great success and all of the kids had a lot of fun. It was fun to see each of the kids and learn more about their personalities.  I was very pleased with how the cousins interacted and especially impressed with how encouraging Brighton was with the younger kids.  He really made an effort to be encouraging especially to Houston.  Connor is a natural born Quarterback.  He likes being in charge and calling the plays.  Cole demonstrated a lot of fight and a willingness to keep trying.  If he didn't catch the first pass, he didn't get discouraged, instead he kept trying until he caught one.  This makes sense when you look at the challenges he has faced in his life.  I think a kid with less fight would have thrown in the towel by now. But instead Cole keeps fighting through all the doctors appointments and health problems.  Tara is a natural athlete and was clearly conflicted with whether to keep playing football or to go play on the playground with her friends.  She was definitely having fun and playing well, but seemed to feel a little out of place as the only girl.  Houston had a great time, and is learning how to hold his own as the youngest of the bunch, and all of the other kids were great to include him.

Favorite shot here is the team huddle (bottom center).

It was also a lot of fun to see Bill out there on the field with the kids showing off his moves.  I learned that old Billy is more athletic than he lets on.

Top Left: Billy showing off his skills
Bottom Right: Connor taking charge in the huddle

I wish that I would have been able to host the camp on a day when all of the kids were out here so that more of the cousins could participate, but I think that the kids that were able to attend had a good time.

Merry Christmas Wayne.  The camp was a great success. The kids and I all thought of you and wished you were there.  Love Hock

To Dad, Love Wayne

To Dad Love Wayne…(written by Amy)

Wayne asked me to write this because the gift of service that Wayne gave to Dad was my idea.  Wayne also said he doesn’t feel that he is a great writer, but he wrote a couple of letters in the last couple of days that were wonderful.

At the beginning of the year we found out who we had.  He said he didn’t know what to do for Dad, I said, “Let me go to Africa, support me 100% and help me in any way you can.”  He did just that.  When I went to Africa in February, he was wonderful. He didn’t complain ever.  I spent a lot of time before the trip getting everything on the list for Mom and Dad.  He was great!  He took care of the kids and helped me with whatever I needed.

A little side note about Wayne:  When Wayne grew up with his family, Jack and Sandy never took a trip without the kids.  Jack or Sandy never went anywhere on their own.  He felt that going somewhere without everyone was just leaving others out.  After a few years of having our own children Wayne saw how important is was for him and me to get away, just with the 2 of us.  He is still learning the value of me or him going someplace without each other.  This helped a lot.

When I returned home, Wayne could tell what an awesome experience I had.  He could see the fire that was lit inside of me.  He was so cute and could tell what a great experience I had.  He started looking at the church website to see how much it would be for when we go on a mission in the future.

A few months later, I came to him with news that I had the opportunity to go again, this time to be able to take Darcy, Dixie and him too.  I could tell his first reaction was to say, “Are you kiddin’ me?” but he didn’t.  He said, “I will support you and the girls, I don’t think I can leave Dillon and Denim.”  

One entire trip to Africa later, not one word of frustration was ever uttered and with his wife gallivanting around the world without him, not one gripe about the extra responsibilities that fell on him.  He was amazing.  I know this may not seem like a huge thing to everyone, but it was enormous to me!

How this fits in to Dad?  He got to reap the benefits of me coming!  We love you Dad!

Merry Christmas Wayne

One of the things that Lani and I loved the most about living in Spokane was the opportunity we had to have regular visits from the Dittbrenners. My favorite visits took place while I was working as an intern with the Spokane Shock.

With the Shock one of my responsibilities was to help plan and organize all of the in-game entertainment that took place during breaks in the actual game. One of our most popular contests was the "Outback Pass, Punt, Kick Challenge". For this contest contestants have to throw a pass from the goal line through the uprights, then make a punt from the 10 yard line through the uprights, and then for the final phase they have to make a field goal from the 20 yard line. For those of you that don't know the uprights on an arena football field are half the width of regular uprights so making the field goal is very difficult.

One day my boss and I were having a meeting to discuss whether either of us knew someone who had experience kicking (we were hoping to find someone who could make the field goal because we wanted to make the event more exciting). I suggested that we use my brother-in-law, who had kicked in college at Dixie State.

I called Wayne and we figured out a way for him to fly up to Spokane so that he could show off is kicking skills. We had a lot of fun and Wayne put on a great show in front of over 10,000 fans including his wife and four kids. It was really fun to watch him go through the kicking routine. Check out this video to see him in action (sorry, after 3 tries and sucking up everyone's bandwidth trying to post- we will try again later- it is worth coming back for!).

After the game Wayne and I had a really good talk. We talked about my goals and discussed one of the goals I had made on my mission, which was to win a championship ring. As fate would have it, the Shock ended up advancing all the way to Arena Bowl XXIII (which is the Arena Football League's equivalent to the Super Bowl).

I called Wayne to invite him to the game. In talking with him, it was evident that he had a few things going on, but he dropped everything to come up to Spokane and support me.

The game was a lot of fun, and the Shock ended up winning the AFL Championship. I found out after the game that I would be one of the few interns that would receive a Championship Ring. I was so excited and Wayne was so excited for me.

After the game Lani, Wayne and I all went to the different after parties that the team was throwing to celebrate the win. It was awesome to have Wayne there to take part in an exciting time in my life. I think Wayne had a good time, but what really stood out was how proud he was of me for accomplishing one of my goals. I felt really special that Wayne had made the effort to come up and be there for it.

The time Lani and I had in Washington was awesome and we really loved living by Wayne, Amy, and the kids. During my time up there I really grew to love Wayne and developed a brotherly bond with him. Unfortunately, I had quite a struggle figuring out the best way to honor him this Christmas.

Initially, I decided that to honor Wayne I would volunteer to help with setting up at the Kids Are Music shows and ride on the Kids Are Music float in the Town of Cary Christmas Parade. I knew Wayne and Amy had done Kids Are Music for awhile and thought that helping with those things would be a good way to grow closer to Wayne. However, after doing the set up at a few shows and riding on the float, I concluded that those activities were really more fatherly responsibilities than a service to Wayne. After this realization I felt a bit distraught knowing that I still hadn't really done something that would be a cool service in honor of Wayne.


The next Saturday, a Christmas miracle occurred. When I received word from Mitzi that she had hurt her foot while hanging Christmas lights. I thought "this is perfect!!!" In honor of Wayne (who hurt his foot a few years ago while hanging Christmas decorations), I will do some service for Mitzi."

That night, with the help of Houston, I baked Mitzi some cookies and took them over to her. Unfortunately, the service for Mitzi idea never really got off the ground, because her foot healed much faster than I anticipated. I was more or less 0 for 2 in performing a cool service idea for Wayne. In reflecting on my time with him I came up with the perfect idea.

I decided to host the first ever "Wayne Dittbrenner Football Day Camp" in which I will teach my nephews (and any nieces who are interested) the basics of Wayne's favorite game. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate with my plans and it rained everyday this week. However, I believe that will work out well because now we can schedule the camp for a day when Dillon can come out to North Carolina and participate. We will even provide a room for him at the Hock Football Training Facility here in lovely Cary, NC.

During this exciting one day camp participants will learn the fundamentals of throwing, route running, catching, and maybe even kicking (though Wayne is much more qualified to teach that skill than me). Campers will also be treated to lunch and game film (Wayne's highlight video of kicking for the Shock).

Merry Christmas Wayne. I'm really glad that we had the opportunity to bond while we were both living in Washington. Thanks for being a great older brother and friend.

Hock

PS. When are you coming out here to visit? We miss you.

To Lani From Wayne

A couple in our new ward has a 3 year old, a one year old and just had twins girls 4 months old named the Reynolds. This past month, the Dads father passed away suddenly. We had already bonded with the Reynolds by having them over for dinner and a Halloween FHE. See Darcy's blog for more info about her service to them. During the time that he was in Utah for While they were away for the funeral we had a storm where trees fell down power was out large and small branches were everywhere, pine needles blanketed the ground. Brother Reynolds hadn't cleaned the pine needles because of the craziness with having twins and two other kids. The drive way had over 2 inches of pine needles on the steep driveway. I waited for an opportunity for the weather to break but it never came. Finally, the night before they came home I gave up waiting and went over in the rain. I cleaned the yard, driveway, and porch in the rain Dillon helped with the lights to help me see where to go and what to clean. Sorry the is no pictures but with the darkness and rain you wouldn't be able to see it anyway. I love you, Merry Christmas Lani!

To Chuck From Wayne....

As I contemplated what I would give Chuck as a service project, I recalled that he was in to saving our environment, I thought of that old commercial where the Indian is crying while he looks over the land of pollution and thought of Chuck crying right along the side of the old Indian.

I wanted to make a difference and took upon cleaning up our water systems and saving my nieces Leland, Lucy and Charlotte from playing with “not meant for kids” balloons.

Here I am cleaning up America, one condom at a time.

I cleaned up the water duct from Yale to Jamboree just north of Irvine High. There was a lot more trash than what the photo looks like. I picked up almost 2 bags by the time I got to Culver. I enjoyed doing the project because it gave me time to think about Chuck for a couple of hours and I don’t normally think about him for hours at a time. Love you Brother! PS – Throw your “not meant for kids” balloons in the trash and not our water systems.

Merry Missionary Christmas to Wayne!

Merry Christmas Wayne-ers! When I found out that I got Wayne I was a little scared, but then excited. Ryan and I have had Amy and Wayne a few years ago to give a gift for and we gave Wayne a big, beautiful gift basket filled with nuts and things that he loved. I was excited to have him so I could bring that same joy to him again. So, with that, Wayne… Merry Christmas to you! I’m so glad that you are in our family and that you decided to marry my sister so long ago. You are such an inspiration to me with your faith and love of the gospel. I love you big brother!

On Saturday, December 12^th, I had the missionaries over for dinner. I know some of you might think this wasn’t a huge service, but it isn’t something I was planning on doing anytime in the near future. When we moved in with my In-laws, my first Sunday in our new ward they passed around the sign-up calendar for the missionary dinners. I saw it and just passed it along and said to myself, “Oh that’s a plus living with my in-laws… I don’t ever have to feed the missionaries for dinner because my mother in law will do that. Score!” But I was SO wrong! When Wayne had the suggestion to have the missionaries over for dinner I knew that was the one for me because of those thoughts I had had. And I am so grateful that I did!

On Sunday, December 6^th, I saw the missionary calendar being passed around. The family had just sent the email about doing our service by Christmas and so I was hoping that there was an available spot before then. Then I looked at the calendar… there was a PERFECT opening for THAT Saturday! I thought, “I’ll take it!” We had grilled pork chops, twice baked potatoes, salad, rolls, and jello. Ryan helped me out a little with the grilling of the pork chops. Thanks, babe, for helping out! We had great conversations over dinner with the 2 sweet Elders, and then they gave us a wonderful Christmas message. It was such an added spirit to our home that we have been missing and I am so grateful that we had the chance to have them over.