Oooo... Me first! Me first!

Hi Ericksons! I am really excited about this idea Claudine, thanks again for sharing your brilliance! :) I haven't made it to the past several reunions so I am looking forward to learning what everyone is up to. Here is a brief rundown on the Nixes.

The big happening in our life has been Hurricane Ike. We live in NW Houston, probably about 90 minutes from the coast. We were hit with hurricane force winds and lost power like the majority of the area. We have roof damage to repair and a fence to erect, but we are lucky. Our power was restored quickly and we suffered no flood or water leaking damage. We also had a good emergency plan set up with plenty of food and water. It was very scary to live through and we are grateful to come out relatively unscathed.

Dave is doing well at work, he is now a supervisor for the Employee Assistance group at KBR. He still travels somewhat regularly but It is mostly stateside. His last trip to Iraq was quite exciting because he had the thrill of riding in a helicopter over the red zone. (Yes that is a machine gun next to him. Wonder why he didn't tell me about it until it was over??) On the side Dave is very active with sports. He is a high school football referee and plays goalie for an indoor soccer league.

Our boys are such a blast. Evan just turned three years old and we celebrated at the local fire station. What a great party! We toured the station, climbed all over fire trucks, turned on the sirens and lights, and even put out a 'fire' with a real fire hose! Evan lives for any and every kind of motor vehicle, "heperdopters", and pretty much any sport you can think of. Soccer does seem to be the favorite lately. He NEVER stops moving.

Jared turned one year old in June and he is changing quite fast. He is a very good walker now, is using baby signs to communicate, and loves to talk on the phone. He has even started clasping his hands on his own when we say prayers. It looks like he will share Evan's love for cars and balls. He also seems to be fascinated with books, and he is definitely my daredevil.

As for me, I am busy being a domestic goddess and chasing after ALL my boys. :) When I find spare time I usually try to read or scrapbook. I really enjoy having family visit and taking vacations. One of the highlights for me this year was a Caribbean cruise with Dave's family. I rode horses in the ocean, kissed a stingray, and hiked to a waterfall in the rain forest where we took a quick swim. It was fantastic! (Thanks again to Grandma Duke for watching the boys!)

So that is the update on our family. I post pics on my blog (www.tamontherocks.blogspot.com) frequently for grandparents so feel free to drop by there any time. I can't wait to hear from more of you!

Much love,

Tamara

ERICKSON FAMILY CHRONICLES

Hi Family,

It started innocently enough. A family dinner. Four sisters, chatting long after dinner was done, reminiscing about our childhood. We've done it many times, and I love to hear about the early family - we are so spread out in age - only this time I heard stories about The Erickson's that I'd never heard before.

I thought, "Someone should be writing this stuff down!" I'm usually one leaf short of connecting to the family "grapevine". We are definitely out of the loop out here in Orange County!

We tried, more than once, to get the family news out in a newsletter. Apparently there was no news. Before that we tried a 'round robin' type of letter. Read everyone's letter, write one of your own, and send them on to the next person. They'd get stuck somewhere and never make it all the way around.

Reunions are great and I'm glad we get together once a year. But the brief once around the circle family "news" report leaves me craving more. I have so many talented nieces and nephews and many of them have families of their own and stories I haven't heard. It would be amazing to hear your version of our family story.

So, this blog is for you - mi familia - and I am inviting you to contribute with memories, anecdotes, photos, recipes, events, stories of our past, and current news. Write as often as you want - link to your own blog if you have one. This is our family site.
I'm inviting you to join the Erickson Family Chronicles. Write this stuff down!

Oh, and forward this to your family, because I probably don't have their email addresses.
Leave a comment with your email so I can update our list.

Love,

Claudine

Sign in, sign on, and tell us what you are doing. Send photos. Reminisce. Brag. Crab.
(I have a limited number of family email addresses, so please forward to all of your family members and please comment by clicking on comments at the end of this posting, leaving your family email addresses in the comments.)