Merry Christmas 2013 and Happy New Year 2014

Wow, we left this blog without an update for an entire year! Blame Facebook. We regularly update friends & family there. If you still haven’t joined Facebook, well, resistance is futile.
In March, Kyle had surgery on his right eye for the condition he inherited from dear ol’ dad. He liked him some of that sedative, but he was none to happy when he came out of general anesthesia. The surgery worked, thankfully.
In October we took a weekend trip to San Diego to see some family in from out of town, and went to Legoland for the first time.

Bright and early November 1, we were privileged to be invited guests at the dedication of a window on Main Street, USA at Disneyland, honoring our friend Tony who retired from Walt Disney Imagineering earlier this year after a distinguished career. You can read more about that at my Kenversations™ blog, including the fun day we had at Disneyland after the ceremony, being escorted around like celebrities.
Here’s Kori with Richard Sherman, who along with his brother Robert, wrote songs I guarantee you know for movies, theme parks, Annette Funicello, and others (“Mary Poppins”, “it’s a small world”, the Carousel of Progress, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”, “Charlotte’s Web”, “The Parent Trap”) They are major characters in the movie “Saving Mr. Banks”, which is out now and I highly recommend.

And here we are with Tony and a replica of his window…

I had attended attended Tony’s induction as a Disney Legend a few months before at the D23 convention, which was held in our city. Every few months or so, we join a group or friends for dinner and movie viewing hosted by Tony.
“Hi Minnie!”

Here’s Kyle defeating Darth Vader.

And here’s Keelie defeating Darth Maul.

Keelie has this to say about visiting Disneyland:
“We visited Disneyland with the Lawrence family. We got to watch the fireworks, and we also got to be snowed on. All the people that hadn’t visited Disneyland before, but had been visiting Walt Disney World (which is kind of like Disneyland): Guess what we have in Disneyland that you don’t have at Walt Disney World? Instead of Expedition Everest, we have something called the Matterhorn Bobsleds. It’s really fun. We don’t have water parks like you do. But we do have something in Disneyland that is like a water park. It’s at A Bug’s Land, which is in California Adventure, which I know you don’t have. So you might might not have A Bug’s Land. There are little fountains that little kids can play in. But they need to wear their bathing suits.
“As you saw up at the top, we visited Mickey when he was wearing the Mickey’s Magical Map outfit that he wore in the show!
“We got to go on Space Mountain. It was fun for me, but I’m sure it was not fun for my best friend Audrey. I might be wrong.”

Kori and the kids recently got to enjoy the annual tradition of Teddy Bear Tea with my mother.

Mother & daughter…

Kori continues to visit doctors to have her electronic pulse generator adjusted in an effort to find the best setting for deep brain stimulation. In that regard, it has been a rough year.
Kori also continues to homeschool Keelie, who can get through her coursework quickly… when she wants to.
Keelie is continuing with dance (tap and ballet). Kyle started learning martial arts in September, specifically Moo Yea Do. We have often talked with the Grand Master Tiger Yang himself. This is NOT Grand Master Yang…

The kids really love swimming, especially Keelie, who never wants to leave a pool. I really need to make an effort to find them a place to swim in the colder months.
The kids love their time in Sunday school, and Kori takes them to various field trips and activities with some of the local moms and kids, and they make it up to Pasadena almost once a week to spend time with my mother, sisters, nephews, etc. Thankfully, Kori’s parents also live in Anaheim so we can see them regularly, too.
I became a sort of co-host on The Sweep Spot podcast. So if you want to hear me rattle on about Disneyland, you can do so by listening to the episodes on which I’ve appeared.
Other than what you see above, 2013 was mostly another boring year, which is good. Keelie turned 6, Kyle turned 4. We didn’t lose our house, I didn't lose my job, no major crimes were committed against us (that we know about), we didn't have to file a lawsuit against anyone, and the dog didn’t die.

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Since this officially serves as our Christmas card & letter to all…

~Merry Christmas~

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – The Gospel According to Saint John the Apostle, Chapter 1, Verse 14, New International Version
May your 2014 be one of happiness, peace, health, and prosperity.

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Thanks for stopping by and checking out this latest update. Please keep in touch and let us know how you are doing. You can leave a comment here or contact us a KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com or find Ken on Facebook or Kori on Facebook.

–Ken, for the Pellmans of Anaheim  
December 2013
KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com

[This was originally published on Christmas Eve 2013, but due to a technical issue was printed under a previous entry's URL.]

Merry Christmas 2012 and Happy New Year 2013

[NOTE: This was originally published Friday, December 21, 2012, but due to a technical issue, it was replaced at its original location with the 2013/2014 update.]

My, my, where does the time go? We last did a general update here in July.

There’s Keelie with her young cousin on her mother’s side, Aubrey.

The biggest event for us this year happened in July. It was when Kori had two quarter-sized holes drilled into her skull and two electrodes inserted deep into her brain.

Yup, you read that right.

Oh, they patched up the holes. They left the electrodes in, and the wires for the electrodes run under her skin from the top of her head, down her neck, to her chest. A week after she got the electrodes inserted into her brain, the wires at the other end were attached to an electronic pulse generator that was inserted into her chest. Kori has a remote on/off switch. When the device is on, it sends electrical pulses deep into her brain, but not HBO. The device has a range of settings, and it is up to neurological experts to find the right setting to maximize the benefits, and that usually takes much trial & error, testing & adjusting.

Why?

Well, I can’t be the easiest person to live with, so It was only a matter of time before one of us had brain surgery. And since I wasn’t going for it, Kori did. But seriously… it is called Deep Brain Stimulation and it is a treatment for dystonia.

Also in July, this happened…

Every square inch of our plate-glass sliding door shattered instantly (and noisily) while I was sitting a few feet away. Why? We don’t know. We had the glass and door removed, and the opening boarded up that day. Then, people would come take a look and then NOT get back to us with an estimate. So it was months before we finally shelled out the $$$$ to completely replace the whole thing, as well as the windows in that room. So far, the new door has not shattered.

In August, I (Ken) very much enjoyed an UNOFFICIAL Disneyland Custodial reunion, for, oddly enough, former and current members of the World Famous Disneyland Custodial team. One of my contemporaries got the ball rolling and organized it after attending some funerals for fellow Janii who died too young, and wanting us to get together under more enjoyable circumstances. It was a very big success and I hope it is an annual thing.

Notice how clean that park is!

All aboard the Dinosaur Train at the Natural History Museum!

Kyle is so excited that he’s… he’s… napping. My mother is doing stellar grandmother work pushing him around in his stroller.

Brain surgery wasn’t enough stress for Kori, so she started officially homeschooling Keelie as summer drifted away. Keelie is a tad on the strong-willed side, so there is much fun to be had during this process.

Why homeschool? Heh… how much time to listen to me rant do you have? You don’t really want to hear me list the reasons. But if you want, we can hit you up for fundraisers anyway.

Kyle and his cousin Lainey, Aubrey’s older sister, had a joint Third Birthday Party at a local indoor child-party place.

Keelie and Kyle adore both of their maternal cousins.

In October, Kori flew out of state to a Secret Undisclosed Location to finally have a meet-up weekend with her MommySisters. They are not to be confused  with Sister Wives. No, MommySisters are pen pals who’ve been keeping in touch since they were all expecting children due in July 2007. We’ve had a couple come through Anaheim, but this was finally a group of them getting together… at least a few who were able to fit it in to their busy schedules.

In November, I wrapped up my bid to be elected President of the United States of America on the Imaginary Party ticket. I lost.

Earlier this  month, Keelie and Kyle attended what has become an annual tradition for Kori and the kids…

Teddy Bear Tea! Both of their paternal aunts were there. That’s Kim there with Kyle…

Keelie is still taking dance (tap and ballet). Since Kyle loves dancing at home and seems very musical, we signed him up for the class Keelie is in and their cousin Lainey joined, which is officially for boys as well as gi rls. However, Kyle refused to join the practice session, surveying the instructors and the other students, all female, and stating, “I’m a boy.” Showing him Fred Astaire did not sway him. So I took him for cigars and beer at a local sports bar. No, not really.

The kids love their time in Sunday school, and Kori takes them to various field trips and activities with some of the local moms and kids, and they make it up to Pasadena about once a week to spend time with my mother, sisters, nephews, etc.

I continued appearing as a guest from time to time on The Sweep Spot podcast. So if you want to hear me rattle on about Disneyland, you can do so by listening to the episodes on which I’ve appeared.

Other than what you see above, 2012 was mostly another boring year, which is good. Keelie turned 5, Kyle turned 3. We didn’t lose our house, I didn't lose my job, no major crimes were committed against us (that we know about), we didn't have to file a lawsuit against anyone, and the dog didn’t die. (But… we did have Kori’s handy father create a new dog door in the wall to replace the one that went away with the sliding door replacement. The fact that the dog, who was used to going to the backyard at will, had few accidents when we were without a dog door, is one reason the dog is still alive.)

*** *** ***

Since this officially serves as our Christmas card & letter to all…

~Merry Christmas~

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – The Gospel According to Saint John the Apostle, Chapter 1, Verse 14, New International Version

May your 2013 be one of happiness, peace, health, and prosperity.

*** *** ***

Thanks for stopping by and checking out this latest update. Please keep in touch and let us know how you are doing. You can leave a comment here or contact us a KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com

–Ken, for the Pellmans of Anaheim  
December 2012
KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com