SAM - 2006	Home	My Site Map

	JANUARY - Sam and Mommy had a very early New Year's Eve. About 9pm we put on our 2006 glasses and went outside to do sparklers. Then Sam took a bath and went to bed and Mommy was asleep by 10pm. Sam lost his lower right tooth (next to the middle two) this month after it was wobbly for nearly 2 months. We finally had a decent snowfall about midmonth but it was so powdery there was no hope for a snowman. Sam began both a Floor Hockey league at the YMCA (hopefully to get him acclimated to the game of hockey) and then Ice Hockey lessons at the CC Tigers Honnen Ice Rink. He loves both games and excels at each. Finally Sam had his first homework assignment in Kindergarten. He made a poster about himself to bring to class.
	FEBRUARY - February 3rd was the Chinese New Year's Festival hosted by the Chinese Culteral Institute based out of Colorado College. Sam went to see the many presentations, mainly the Lion Dance, which opened the show and he loved. Sam also had to use chop sticks to eat his lunch which ended up being a conundrum for him. Sam had a Valentine's party at both Skyway and Greenshades which Mommy and Grammy attended with him. He was the only boy dressed for the holiday with a shirt that said "Handsome Little Devil".
	MARCH - March was cold and dry. Sam attended his first field trip with his Kindergarten class at Skyway Elementary and Mommy chaperoned. They went to the Bear Creek Nature Center and had a puppet show and a nature walk as well as riding on the school bus. Sam also attended Allie and Millie's 4th Princess Birthday party at Mr Bigg's (our first time there). Disney on Ice came to town and we quietly attended the Princesses on Ice. I tried to convince Sam that there were princes in the show but no go. He was a good sport though and attended the show with me!!
	APRIL - April is as usual a very busy month for the Derrickson family. Three birthdays, usally Easter, now soccer and school!! Sam had a great time painting eggs and our first outdoor egg hunt (he was thrilled!! and the weather cooperated). Sam had a nice family dinner at the famous Giuseppe's Old Depot Restaurant in downtown Colorado Springs. This used to be the Denver and Rio Grande Depot for Colorado Springs and was converted to a restuarant so, the coal trains still run right next to the windows. Sam loves to watch the trains. We had a lot of trouble deciding what the theme of Sam's birthday should be; however, when he mentioned how much he loves King Kong I asked him if he would like a Primate birthday party at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo!! He loved the idea (what kid wouldn't!!). So, we invited about 12 6-year old's to join us. The zoo has a small cabin where they hold the party and then the kids are taken to one of the primate areas where a zoo keeper talks with them about the animal. We saw some Gibbons. We couldn't see the actual gorillas because Umande a new baby boy gorilla was born at the zoo about that time. Then we rode the merry-go-round, and thankfully the rain held off until we were back in the cabin. Sam hade a great time and thanked all of his guests for sharing this time with him.
	MAY - Sam had his very first piano recital at the Cheyenne Mountain Retirement Home. He played a nice simple song and was very good. I would not say he always loves to practice his piano but he certainly does like to succeed at playing it for an audience. For Mother's Day Sam invited Mom and Grammy to go for a little hike at the Paint Mines east of Colorado Springs near Calhoun. The hike was about 4 miles and Sam did GREAT!! Grandpa on the other hand had to spend the entire time taking a nap in the car because he had a migraine. Finally it was time for Kindergarten graduation at the end of the month. Sam's behavior was a little rough at the beginning of the year and right near the end, but overall he is learning great skills and seems very bright and willing. Next year he will be in full-day first grade but he will have to be seperated from his best friend Chris :(. Time for Summer Camp, swim lessons, field trips and having FUN!!
	JUNE - This month our family decided to have a great 2-week vacation. Sam started out with Grammy and Grampy and headed to the the Indiana lake cottage while Mommy spent about 5 days in Salt Lake City at the Family History Genealogy Library. It was a beautiful day when I landed; however a late spring snow storm moved in the next day and it was freezing cold snow and rain through the rest of the trip!! But that was o.k. since I spent most of it cooped up in the library!! Next, I flew to Denver and picked up my niece Haley and we boarded a plane for Indiana. The trip out was pretty horrible, and the trip back even worse (it took us about 5 hours to get into and out of Denver to get home) :(. But the time at the lake was fabulous. The weather was perfect, the kids LOVED riding the towable on the lake, and we even spent time a few days going to Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH. Sam had a great time fishing and even caught a small-mouthed Bass. We need to get him trained-up on taking the fish off of the hook!! He also lost 2 teeth while we were there so he was very excited about that.
	JULY - I am so heart-broken about my July pictures. My best friend Tina came to visit from AK after Fourth-of-July and about that time the hard-drive on my computer burnt-up and I lost all of my July pictures of her visit and our Fourth-of-July parade :(. I used some of the pictures we took during our June visit to the Lake where we had an evening of fireworks.
	AUGUST - Well, the first thing Sam managed to do (on August 3rd at about 5pm) was break his left wrist. He was attempting to jump from the platform to the third bar of the monkey bars at Daycare and he slipped (it had just rained) and landed on his hand (boy those wood chips sure look softer). I was just walking out to my car to pick him up when my phone rang. I answered the phone and the teacher asked if I was on my way over. I told them I was and they said good because Sam had broken his arm. I yelled, "WHAT!!, Is he in pain?" They said yes and to hurry. I drove like a maniac over to the daycare and because they had his wrist wrapped in a towel I couldn't see it. Because Sam was not crying very much when I got to the Daycare I thought maybe he had just spained his wrist and said so to the Daycare workers. They looked at me like I'd lost my mind!!. Not until we got to the hospital did I finally see his arm and the break was very evident then, his wrist was shaped like a V. So, needless to say the next day was quite an event getting his wrist set and a red-colored cast. Sam was uncustomarily quiet and solemn for about 2 days but by Sunday he was completely back to normal. He will wear the cast for about 6 weeks. The worst part was that Sam and I were scheduled to leave for our big vacation to Mt Rushmore in South Dakota. But the doctor said no problem and we embarked on 12 August through Wyoming to South Dakota. We stayed at the Mt Rushmore KOA which was AWESOME!!. We managed to get the tent set up and eating supper by about 6 pm. By Sunday evening Sam had already made friends with Daniel, the little boy with the family in the next tent over. Here was the action packed week we had: Day 1 - Mt Rushmore and Jewel Cave Day 2 - Crazy Horse and the Hot Springs Mammoth Dig Day 3 - Cowboy Breakfast Ride, The Prarie Homestead, the Badlands, and Wall's Drug Store. Sam's horse's name was Major and mine was Casey. He absolutely loved this trail ride. I think we'll do many more of these!! Day 4 - Spearfish Canyon, D.C. Booth National Fish Hatchery Devil's Tower. In the evening I began getting the flu so we decided to have a nice slow day on Friday. Day 5 - Thunderhead Falls, The Journey Museum, Bear Country USA, Chapel in the Hills, and a quick ride on the Mt Rushmore Tram Finally, on Saturday we drove home through Nebraska and Eastern Colorado. The weather was beautiful while we were in South Dakota and Sam I did fantastic on our second big tenting trip!! Next year I think we are going to try Yellowstone. Finally, if that weren't enough in one month, first grade began at Skyway Elementary on 21 August where we met Sam's new teacher Mrs. Reed. The kids call her the "fun" teacher. Sam also began soccer practice the same week. His team has moved up into the Youth 7 so they are having 2 practices a week to prepare.
	SEPTEMBER - Sam and I spent most of the month of September getting used to school again, getting used to all our sports again, getting used to piano lessons again, etc. All the things we don't do over the summer. Venetucci Farms finally opened up again this year after being closed for three years following Nick and Bambi Venetucci's death. It was purchased by a nonprofit organization and now serves as a type of living museum, if you will, for life on a Colorado farm. We went there in late September to pick out our Halloween pumpkins.
	OCTOBER - October has been the beginning of Tiger Cubs for Sam. He joined the Ute Pack #1 out of Skyway and Canon schools. There are about 7 boys in our den and so far we've had a great time participating in hiking and a community project. Sam also had his second piano recital. He dressed up as Darth Vader and played the Solumn Event. He had a little trouble playing the song but that's o.k., there are more recitals to come. We carved pumpkins this year and Sam wanted a Dracula, Mommy got a pirate skull, and Grandpa had a funny face. Colorado also experienced the Blizzard of Oct '06. Our house got about 6-8 inches of snow and there was upwards of 5 feet up in the mountains. This should be a heck of a skiing season. Sam went to his first Skyway Fall Carnival which was great. There was a cake walk (Sam won twice!!), a haunted house (he went through the first time and was terrified because there were actual people in there and not animatronics like at Disney), games for the kids, and lots of baked goods. We had a great time!! Finally, Halloween came and Sam, dressed as Zorro, cruised the Tejon-strip for what ended up to be three big jars of candy. The weather was cold but not windy, so it was certainly o.k. once we bundled up.
	NOVEMBER - Another Thanksgiving has come and gone at the Derrickson residence. Grammy hosted the feast at her house and Sam ate and ate. Sam also participated in basketball this month and participated in a Cub Scout outing to the Police Operations Center in Colorado Springs that handles all of the 911 calls for the city. The boys had a great time and they told us there is also a crime lab tour we can take!! Cool!! Finally, there was more snow. Enough snow to go sledding. Sam was again tentative the first few runs, but by the end, was trying to see how far he could slide down the hill. After we got home we had some big cups of steaming hot chocolate.
	DECEMBER - Sam had a great December. There were several more snowfalls. Some of them pretty monumental. A big blizzard hit the state on 20 December and closed down much of the state for about 2 days. And then another one hit on 27 December and we received drifts nearly 3 feet at our house. Both times the governor had to declare a state of emergency for Colorado and all roads in and out were shut down. Sam and I were A-o.k. snuggly at home. Sam finished up Cub Scouts for the season with a visit to the Genealogy library and caroling at a nursing home. We also visited Sam's cousins at Casa Bonita in Denver. Finally Sam said he had "The best Christmas ever!!", a sure sign he got everything he wanted from Santa and more!! Until 2007!!
More miscellaneous pictures of Sam in 2006: Sam 2006

Top |  My Self  |  My Family  |  My House  |  My Genealogy  |  My Travels  |  My Scrapbooks  |  My Job

www.pcisys.net/~derrica   v.2001-2003