Farewell Dear Uncle

Yesterday, my dear Uncle Tom passed away. It was very unexpected and sent shockwaves through my life. I can't conceive of a world where he doesn't exist.

All day I've been telling my sweet daughter memories of Uncle Tom... spending summer after summer at his beach in Laguna... the infamous "sparkler dance" and "Labor Day Swim"... the time he arranged for me to be a ball-girl for the now-defunct California Surf soccer team... the time we flew together in a little five-seater plane to Mammoth for a ski trip... the many Ram's games we attended with him, making ice-cream sunday's in the Coca-Cola box... the time he took me, upon graduation from college, to the venue "auditions" for World Cup '94 (and as a result helped get me a job with the Organizing Committee)... the many, many, many talks we had about life and all its wonderful opportunities... the time I wrote to him, asking him to be my grandfather after his dad passed away... the day he met Lee... the day he met Amelia May.

My list is endless. I am sustained by those memories and thank God I have so many to comfort me. He was a remarkable man. An example for me to follow on how to live a great life - one filled with humanity, compassion, productivity, faith, education, and most importantly, family and friends. As he saw it, everything is possible. He, just like my dad, would never let me think small. Life is too important and precious to be lived small.

Uncle Tom... I miss you terribly and love you with all my heart... I always will. Give Aunt Betty a kiss for me.

Road Trippin’ with the Easter Puppy!

Mom and Dad usually write these things, but I'm gonna take a shot at this one. There were three things that made this past weekend's Easter trip to the beach so great.

The first... no more backwards riding in the car for me! I'm a forward-facer now and it's soooooo cool. Who knew how many great things there are to look at on a road trip. Gus and I hung out in the back seat and saw all kinds of interesting things - like the baby alligator crawling around a parking lot. I wanted to get out and pet it, but dad said "no" in a tone of voice I hadn't heard before. I guess he doesn't like cute 'gators. He does like big tigers though and we saw three huge ones at the mall. Yes, at the mall. (In case you're wondering, I didn't get to pet those either.)

The next great thing about this road trip... being able to show off my new trick. I can walk! That's right, nothing can hold me back. I'm off and running. We walked everywhere. While dad, Uncle Scott, and Grandbuddy went to play golf, mom, GG and I window shopped at Barefoot Landing. We had a great time. I walked everywhere. People kept looking at me, so I'd yell "hello" at them and wave. They seemed to like it because most folks waved back. (In case you're wondering how golf ended up... Grandbuddy smoked daddy and Uncle Scott. From what I hear, he has a beautifully straight shot off the tee.)

The last thing that made the trip so great... I got to eat ice cream. I LOVE ice cream and Grandbuddy loves giving it to me! Vanilla is my favorite, although it's also the only flavor I've tried. Ice cream makes me happy and it makes Mom really happy too. She's always talking about going to get an ice cream "treat".

The beach is always so much fun, but this time was really special. The Easter Bunny found me and brought me a really beautiful outfit (it has pink tulle on it!); I got to go swimming in the pool (it was soooo cold!); my Uncle Scott came with us (we played together a lot!); and my Grandbuddy and GG spoiled me with love (I'm very lucky!).

I can't wait to go back!

Tootles,
Amelia

PS... you can see a few more photos from our Easter weekend by clicking here.

Houston, we have lift off!

Check it out... Amelia is a walker! She's been linking a few small steps together for weeks now, but today we made a giant leap. 35+ steps, but who's counting?! I've learned that as the photographer, you have to keep your excitement low-key, as to not distract the performer. Many times I thought I was on the verge of finally capturing the elusive "walking video" only to derail the new walker with my shouts of excitement. Duct tape across my mouth did the trick!

Howdy from the Birthday Girl!

For a party that wasn't officially a "party", Amelia's first birthday celebration was a real treat! I'm not sure who was more excited about the big day, Amelia (who was clueless to it being different than any other day) or me (who could hardly believe we had arrived at one year). Just the other day I was telling Lee that on the one hand I feel like I've known Amelia my whole life... but, on other hand, the past year has been a blink of the eye. It's been one of the most incredible years of my life, filled with so many new experiences. When folks say parenting is a "labor of love" they aren't kidding... it's the best "job" you could ever have, but, boy will you put in long hours!

For the big celebration, we talked about doing several things… the zoo (too cold in March!), the Raleigh children's museum (too far!), attending the ACC Tournament (are you kidding?!), and finally settled on the unknown – Kidzu, the new children's museum that just opened uptown.

Grandma Carolyn flew in from California especially to mark the grand occasion; Grandbuddy and GG arrived with their arms overflowing with gifts; and although we don't have official confirmation, we suspect Uncle Scott timed his arrival home from Afghanistan to coincide perfectly with Amelia’s “party”. What a great crowd! The only way the day could have been better was if Uncle Jon, Aunt Gina, Cousin Maddie, and Uncle Matt had been able to join us.

Kidzu proved to be the perfect place – not too big, not too small. We expected it to be crowded, since it was opening weekend, but thankfully, it wasn’t. After working our way through the great traveling exhibit “Where the Wild Things Are”, we found out way to the “infant area”.

Jackpot! It was an enclosed play area where Amelia could roam free, crawl over big soft blocks (and kids who got in her way), test out new toys, and delight her “audience” (grandparents, an uncle, and the proudest parents in Chapel Hill).

We had to pull our little one away kicking and screaming when it was time to go. Even dangling the “carrot” of lunch, cake, and presents wasn't tempting enough to distract her from all the fun. For days afterwards all we heard about was "Kidzu this" and "Kidzu that", "Kidzu is the coolest place ever, Mom!". OK, so that might be a bit of an exaggeration. Needless to say, Kidzu will become a regular stop on the weekly-Amelia-entertainment-train.

After a delicious lunch at Spanky’s, that seemed to take forever even though the restaurant was empty, we headed back to the homestead for the final festivities… cake and presents!

Amelia had her first cupcake, and boy, was she in love! Thanks to Uncle Scott, who acted as the human spoon, there wasn’t a happier birthday girl around. You would have thought it was Christmas if you had seen the pile of gifts waiting to be unwrapped. Our girl is dearly loved and that means so much to her parents.

Amelia spent her actual birthday (3/14) at our local Gymboree, trying out a new class. She had a ball climbing on all the equipment and playing with the other kids.

Shy she is not! We were the first ones to arrive and Amelia proceeded to greet each new classmate with an exuberant squeal. Mostly she got a “who is this girl?!?” look from the other kids and a few laughs from the other moms.
That didn’t stop her from marching over to many of the kids to give her famous poking-you-in-the-face hello. A greeting only a mother could love.

The class ended with a real treat… everyone singing “Happy Birthday Amelia” followed by a shower of bubbles. What could have been better?

All in all, it was the perfect first birthday. Year 1 will be pretty tough to beat, but we look forward to all the new adventures year 2 will bring!

For more birthday photos, click here. Be sure to check them out!

PS... Our girl is on the verge of walking; small steps have been taken! Stay tuned for video of this new talent.

Officially a one-year-old...

...and loving every minute of it! Although her "party" was on Saturday (photos to be posted soon!), today at 530p marked Amelia's grand entrance into the world. What a wonderful day we got to celebrate... and celebrate we did!

Check out Mom and Scott losing it while trying to get Amelia to giggle... just a small sample of our celebratory "games".

One of Amelia's "best friends", Lucy, was part of our celebration today, much to Amelia's delight!

If Amelia could, she'd sing "Happy Birthday" to herself... here's her attempt at making "music."


The photos from her party are still in the "editing room" and will hopefully be posted in the next day or so. Check back soon for pictures from our visit to the children's museum, blowing out the candles, eating cake, and opening presents. So much fun!

PS... Just when we thought March 14th couldn't get any more special... Sophia Rose Recupero was born today at 1207p, officially making my dear friend Stephanie a mom! Both Steph and her sweet bambina are doing well and we send them all our love.

Maddie has a blog!

Why you ask? It's an easy answer... "From time to time there are a few things we would like to remember." My brother Jon has started a blog to track his family's journeys and we are all in for a treat!

Click over to their site and enjoy some wonderful photos. Don't miss viewing the great video of Maddie at the beach, learning gymnastics, and singing the sweetest songs you've ever heard.

Bookmark Klogger today!

(PHOTO: Maddie and her friend Ian having fun. Santa Monica, CA - 3/06 - JTK)

While the mice were at play...

...the cat was at work! During Julianna and Amelia's two week vacation to California, I spent those two weeks in Colorado, Winter X 11. At this point - post Olympics - everybody knows Shaun White, aka "The Flyin' Tomato", and Seth Wescott , USA's gold medal winning athletes in Torino. Well, two weeks prior to the Olympics, ESPN held their annual Winter X Games in Aspen, CO. Fourteen Olympic athletes were at this year's Winter X, including notables Shaun White, Seth Wescott, and Kelly Clark. Lindsay Jacobellis was also to compete at X, but dropped from the competition minutes before the start of Boarder X... much to the chagrin of ESPN.

My job at X is to make sure everything pertaining to scoring the event is in place and accurately executed. This includes setting up the judge equipment for the half-pipe and slope style events (Shaun White took Winter X gold in both events), to building the course for Snowboarder Cross (Torino gold medal winner Seth Wescott finished 7th, not even making it to the final bracket of X). I make sure that the folks watching TV, and the fans in attendance, understand what's going on in each competition by providing athlete data, stats, and scores. All in all there were fourteen medal categories at this year's games - my company was responsible for scoring the competition of each and every one.

My crew consisted of twenty hardworking guys (and 1 girl!) who worked from 5:30am to 10:00pm each day - twelve days in a row. We put in all the timing lines for the X Course (Snowboarder Cross and Skier Cross). This means digging seven, yes, SEVEN, 2-foot wide, 60-feet long trenches. Inside each trench we place detectors that tell us the order in which athletes pass as well as their race time. Think Olympic downhill courses with six skiers on it at the SAME time.

The kicker is that only FOUR timing lines were needed - ESPN couldn't decide where they wanted them to be located. Each time we'd finish one, they'd change their mind. AGH!

Winter X 11 went really well for me and I'm proud of the job my team did. It was a lot of hard work and I missed my girls a whole lot. Despite the long hours, cold days, and distance from loved ones, we were able to have some fun out in Aspen, while hitting a home run.

I'm now in the process of getting ready for the NCAA Basketball Tournament - my next big event. My company scores every game, in the tournament of 64 teams, for CBS - providing all the statistically info for the TV graphics. I personally will be scoring games during the 1st/2nd rounds (Greensboro, NC), the Regionals (Washington, DC) and the Final Four (Indianapolis, IN).
Look for my blog posts after each weekend - keeping you up-to-date on how the Tar Heels, no, I mean how I'm doing, working the tournament and traveling the country.

For more X Games pictures, click here.

Be Mine!

Will you be Amelia's Valentine? She's cute, cuddly, and will give you the sweetest little kisses ever... how can you resist?!

This Valentine's Day, Amelia is exactly 11 months old. Only one more month to go before the big one-year celebration! Is that possible?!

(PHOTO: Blowing Valentine kisses. Chapel Hill, NC - 2/14/06 - JKB)

Click here for more Valentine photos.

While the Cat's away...

...the mice will play - in California! Lee was off to spend thirteen days in Aspen for the X Games, so the the Brinson girls flew the coop to the west coast. Amelia and I wasted no time packing our bags (bringing way too much as usual!) and hopping a flight to warmer skies. We just got home from 2+ weeks visiting Grandpa "Mickey" and Grandma "Minnie" - Amelia's Southern California grandparents - and we had a ball!

(PHOTO: Everything but the kitchen sink. RDU Airport, NC - 1/20/06 - JKB)

It was my first time flying solo with Amelia. All in all, she did a great job, especially on the trip back to NC. The outbound flight from Dallas to Orange County was the only challenge... imagine a three-hour wrestling match with a squirrel. Upon arriving in Irvine, I told Lee that if he ever wanted to see us again, he'd have to fly to CA. I wasn't looking forward to duet-flying again anytime soon. All I can say is thank goodness for the generous ticket agent at John Wayne who blocked seats for Amelia on BOTH flights home... and for the inspired 2005 Mother's Day gift from mom and dad... a DVD player... magic in the air!

Soon after we arrived, Gina and Maddie came down to spend the day with us at Fashion Island. The girls - little and big - had a ball!

Maddie and Amelia test drove a sporty convertible...
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(PHOTO: Maddie and Amelia ready to cruise PCH. Newport Beach, CA - 1/25/06 - JKB)

...happily rode the carousel over and over again...
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(PHOTO: Maddie loves the carousel. Newport Beach, CA - 1/25/06 - JKB)

...and made a special trip to build a bear where Maddie met Mabel the Cow and made a friend for life. Amelia wanted Maddie to "Build-a-Bear" or a cow as in this case, just like she had built Mookie the Monkey back home in North Carolina. Maddie took a liking to the bath station, and undoubtedly, has the cleanest cow in the pasture.

(PHOTO: Maddie gives Mabel another bath. Newport Beach, CA - 1/25/06 - JKB)

Amelia and Lucy rekindled their love for each other... and it didn't take long!. Soon they were playing fetch, cashing each other around the house, enjoying naps together, and sharing treats. Amelia is still dropping food from her highchair looking for Lucy. Gus is not so interested in leftover Cheerios or pasta. Where's Lucy when you need her?!

(PHOTO: Sharing snacks with Lucy. Irvine, CA - 1/29/06 - JKB)

It was a fabulous, fun-filled visit with Grandma and Grandpa Kemp. We shopped, napped, played at the park, took in a few movies, learned how to blow kisses and climb stairs... and ate our way through Southern California - dining at all of my favorite places. Mexican food never tasted so good!

In addition to spending special time with Jon, Gina, and Maddie (it's never enough!), we...

- joined Mom at her Monday beading classes and met her talented classmates, admiring the incredible jewelry they were making

- had a delightful lunch with our personal librarian, and dear friend, Anna Marie Zietleman, who is single-handedly stocking Amelia's book collection with the most treasured stories

- visited with Uncle Tom and got all caught up on Kemp family happenings... I can hardly believe Emily is about to graduate from college and will possibly serve with the Peace Corps.

- had a wonderful "introduction" dinner in LA with Aunt Georgia and Cousin Kristina... it was the first time Amelia got to meet her dear May family. Amelia made an instant connection and can't stop talking about the great time she had sharing cheesecake with her Great Aunt and cousin.

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(PHOTO: Feels like First-Class! Somewhere west of the Mississippi -2/5/06 - JKB)

We hated to leave - our California visits are never long enough! Luckily, we had Lee to come home to, as well as the rest of our Brinson family. Amelia and I were greeted with great news upon arriving in Chapel Hill... Uncle Scott will be home from Afghanistan around March 1... we can't wait!

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(PHOTO: Who is this guy with the beard? RDU Airport, NC - 2/5/06 - JKB)

Click here for more photos of our trip - for easier viewing, click on "view slideshow" (upper right-hand corner).

Stay tuned for an X Games report from the "Cat"... it's coming soon!

Maraca Mambo

Check out Amelia rockin' the maraca. We're sure she has a future in music! Inspired by her cousin Maddie's love of the instrument, Amelia recently took up the challenging musicianship of maraca shaking. She's so committed to learning her new craft that she hardly goes anywhere without one or two maracas. As you can tell from this video, clothing, nor a clean diaper, gets in the way of her passion... MARACAS!


Push the play button above... or view on Vimeo

(VIDEO: Amelia's making music. 1/4/06 - Chapel Hill, NC - JKB)