Things have been going well for us. The kids are great, there's lots of fresh snow everywhere, our cars start without complaint, even the house has been completely flood-free. Life has been good. Too good, perhaps. So it shouldn't have come as a shock when Stephanie came home today to find we'd been robbed. And apparently, we're not alone.Some brief background: we live in a quiet neighborhood. Take away the occasional snow machine or raven and it would be nearly silent around here. We wave hi to our neighbors, the kids walking home from school, the postman, but mostly we hang out as a family on our property, or out in the cul-de-sac, which seems like it's ours since we're the only house on it. It's easy to forget there are other people out there. Our home is modest, but at the same time idyllic. Sometimes it feels like we're the only ones around.
And because the door we most often use to come and go has a lousy latch that we haven't been able to fix, we leave it unlocked when we go out. We know, we know. Remember, silent, idyllic, only ones around. We got careless; it was bound to happen sooner or later.
Luckily, no one was hurt, we didn't encounter anyone and nothing of great value was stolen. As far as we can tell, they only took the kids' Nintendo Wii and games, and all of Steph and Brandon's DVDs. Several hundred dollars, to be sure, but it could have been so much worse. A State Trooper came by to assess things, and isn't worried it will turn into anything more serious. And in the mean time, Brandon will be changing out the locks. :)
In happier news, Chloe had her first dance recital. She was beyond beautiful. We couldn't get any photos during her routine because of our distance from the stage, but if you've ever seen a troupe of 4 year-olds do just about anything in synchronicity, you get the general idea. We gave her pink carnations when her number was finished, and she had the most radiant smile.
Malcolm is finishing up his Mad Science classes for the winter. He's turning into such a terrific science geek, we love it. He really gets excited about astronomy, robotics, rocketry, anything futuristic. Of course, we help encourage him however we can. His reading has also taken off, and we're now sitting down with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets each night before bed.
Calvin has come into his own these past couple of months. He has a very happy, funny personality, much like his siblings. His gorgeous blue eyes are as bright as ever. He's not crawling yet, but he sits up and plays and "talks", and has started his first bites of Cheerios.
Stephanie and Brandon are great, and exhausted, and happy. The weather is warming up again after hitting a cold spell. The other night Wasilla saw -25° with the wind chill. A heavy blanket of fresh snow had fallen the day or two before, and there was a brilliant glow at night, where you could literally read a book by the bright white moon. We've never seen such stark moonshadows as there are in Alaska on a cold clear night.
After having half of our house cave in last year, a little thing like some stolen electronics aren't going to stop us from having a good Christmas. One of Brandon's friends from work is coming over for Christmas dinner, and we still have our tree and our presents and each other. In fact, one of our tree ornaments is a cutting from the first burst copper pipe to be replaced last year. It's a good reminder, and it helps us keep our senses of humor.
We wish you all a very healthy and happy holiday!
♥, The Tuckers
UPDATE (12/16/2008): Remember when we mentioned perhaps things have been "too good"? Yeah. Turns out we should've checked the tool shed, too. They made off with our chainsaw, some gas, and a collection of tools. Worst of all, they took our summer tires (for both vehicles). For those Outside, just imagine having two sets of tires - studs for winter and standards for summer. Once you make the investment in your extra tires, it's only about $50 twice a year to have them changed over. Now, however, we'll be looking at replacing both sets of summer tires; about $1,000 combined. Throw in a new chainsaw, tools, and the electronics we initially noticed missing, and our losses are easily over $2,000. Great.
And for those wondering, no, we won't be filing an insurance claim. You may recall what happened last year. Even though our $2,000 deductible is less than our losses, the probable fallout from filing another claim (i.e., getting dumped by our provider - again) would be far more damaging in the end. We'll just be thankful it wasn't worse. We're safe, we have our home, our Christmas presents, and three beautiful reasons to simply enjoy being together for the holidays. Besides, Brandon replaced that lousy door lock, so none of this should happen again. :)
