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Christmas 2001
by Denny & Ranasha Chittick
Hello from AZ! December 31, 2001
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The Happy Couple |
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As we arrived back from our South American trip, we had loads
of holiday cards! I will once again try to highlight our year
in one letter. Now that I'm working on my second year of marriage,
I'm either smarter or better trained.
Jan was filled with doctor and PT appointments. Nasha was
going three times a week for four hours. We would also do
stretching nearly every night. In college she had done a paper
on torn ACL's now she was living it. We did get up to Idaho
for a week. I spent most of the time snowmobiling and playing
with my niece Ally-Coo. I took Sage to a ski resort and taught
him how to snowboard. He has incredible balance and coordination
and that typical fearlessness of little boys. Nasha video
taped the event and read her book, since she was a snow-bunny.
In February we started off by going down to Yuma so that
we could see Adri's basketball game, watch Bri cheer and tickle
Lauren at every available chance. Days are full of more PT
and doctor visits, Nasha was dedicated to recover and was
given accolades from the PT's about how hard she worked. We
went up to ID again, more snowmobiling and snowboarding. Sager
improves with every run. Ally-Coo just likes to give hugs,
in the middle of what ever she's doing she'll stand up and
announce "ugg ugg" and go around hug each person
in the room, then resume playing.
In March, my parents came down for a visit. We went to Suns
game, Norman Rockwell Exhibit, several baseball games, had
lots of dinners with their friends and the Howze's. They enjoyed
our weather and kept a busy schedule fitting in all the events.
We started the month of by heading to the Caribbean! We visited
the Bahamas, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands. We snorkeled,
scuba dived, swam with sting-rays, went on an submarine, walked
up the famous Ocho Rios Falls, rode horses on a plantation,
as well as numerous visits to other local attractions. On
our way back home, we stopped in Florida to see Gramma Emma,
Mr. P and Carol. We also met DD's family. I know now where
DD gets it all! When we got back to AZ, Dr. Carter decided
he wanted to do an additional surgery to clean out scare tissue.
We weren't too excited to hear the news, but the prospects
of better long-term benefits couldn't be ignored. I once again
begged the doctor to let me watch he again refused saying
something about being too bothersome and asking too many questions.
May was started out with bed ridden Nasha and houseboy Denny.
Since the doctor wouldn't let me in the surgery, he did let
me take out the drainage tube out of Nasha's leg! It was great,
we video taped it, if anyone wants to see it! He also let
me take the stitches out. We had a friend from CA visit us,
Margarette, we basically laughed for four days straight. We
headed up to ID for Ally-Coo's 2-year birthday party. Between
playing with Ally and all the kids at her party, then another
day of playing with Sage, Mr. Endless Energy, I was ready
for a vacation from our vacation.
In June we went to Washington DC to visit Nasha's God family,
the Conley's. Raymond was retiring after 30+ years in the
airforce. David was graduating from high school with more
honors than one person should be allowed to have and heading
to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. We also got
a chance to run around DC and see all the famous memorials
and landmarks. We also met Nico, Nasha's childhood friend
in Atlantic City. Since Nasha hadn't seen enough doctors,
she decided to have Lasik eye surgery. It went perfect, for
a person that had been wearing glasses since she was six,
seeing 20/20 unassisted was quite incredible. Dr. Carter also
told her she could start dancing again. No back flips! Which
was good since she had already been going to practice. The
Mercury season started, Nasha was back to practice and games
nearly every week.
For July 4th, I went up to upstate NY to spend the weekend
at Paul's family summer home. There was lots of family and
friends, food and fun. Nasha was very busy all month with
games, appearances and practices. This marriage life has led
me to find something to keep my busy. I started a company
called DenSco Investment Corporation - it's a real estate
finance company, which pays investors a fixed rate of return
while I lend money on real estate projects. Maybe this will
get me out of doing all the housework.
In August, DD and my parents came to visit. We enjoyed having
them here. My parents got to watch Nasha dance at a game for
the first time. Adding to Nasha's already full schedule, she
started to teach dance at a studio owned by a former Suns
Dancer. I think this brings Nasha's to three part-time jobs.
At the end of the month Mike and Sybil had their first child,
Reyla Blair. I have yet another kid to play with!
In September, the last of the Chittick girls got married.
For those of you that didn't make it or hadn't heard about
it, I think it's best summed up this way: Think of Woodstock,
KOA Campground, a dog run, flowers, tye-dye and oh ya a wedding,
all rolled in to one. It was a wonderful unique event, now
my parents are truly retired. With the Mercury season over,
the Suns are around the corner and Nasha is back dancing with
the Suns for her third year.
October is the busiest month for my
company Galapagos. My parents spent a month working (for
free!) and visiting friends in the area. Nasha and I flew
up to check on them. I even got a little work out of my wife.
Once we returned, Nasha didn't have enough to keep her busy,
so she started to do choreograph competition routines for
local high schools. I also flew up to ID to take Sager and
Ally trick o' treating. Sage was dressed in his favorite mid-evil
knight costume, while Ally refused to put on her Spongebobsquarepants
costume. She got away with it on her cuteness. Nasha stayed
in AZ taking Micaela out collecting candy, as well as a trip
to a haunted house. I think she's still having nightmares
from that!
November was filled with games, practices, dance classes,
privates and appearances. I got my business running at full
tilt. I enjoy learning about a new business and like the challenge
of mastering it. Every Monday we take Micaela to gymnastics.
She has been jumped up in classes, and is improving every
week. I think there is a little bit of our Aunt in her! We
spent Thanksgiving up in ID. This was the first time in several
years where we had all of us, including our spouses together.
Mike and Sybil and their daughter Reyla also joined us, they
are as good as family and it wouldn't be considered full attendance
with out them.
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On
the beach in Galapagos |
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After eight months of planning, the trip I had always wanted
to go on was finally here. In December, my Dad, his long time
friend Don, and Nurse Nancy joined Nasha and I on an incredible
trip. We started in Peru; we flew over the Nazca Lines near
Ica. Then flew to Cuzco and took a train up to Machu Picchu.
A truly magical place. Then we traveled up to Ecuador and
went white water rafting for five days on the Upano River.
This was Nasha's first experience. She was nervous and excited,
but enjoyed it immensely. Nasha was most proud of the fact
she didn't fall out of the boat. In fact, only the "viejos"
fell out, us younger ones stayed dry, well at least in the
boat. The last stop was in the Galapagos Islands. We were
on a 130-foot yacht for five days visiting six different islands.
We snorkeled with sea lions, saw all the incredible unique
animals and reptiles that live only in the islands.
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A
new friend from Galapagos |
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We had many memorable experiences, which would take pages
to tell. We got back to AZ in time to spend Christmas with
the Howze's. Micaela and her little kid joy made opening presents
a fun time for all of us.
This ended up being longer than I had planned. We are blessed
to have (returned) good health of ourselves and all of our
family. I hope your families find happiness and strength in
the coming New Year.
Best Wishes,
Denny & Ranasha
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