The Raybuck Family 2008

Wow 2008 is coming to a close and all the boys continue to get bigger. This year we have been blessed with good health and happiness within the Raybuck clan.
Kyle and Connor have been very busy this year with t-ball and soccer. The spring, summer and fall were busy sports seasons for us. Kyle played t-ball all three seasons and each season continued to improve his game. We owe a lot of that to our friend and his coach, Toby. He really helped Kyle to enjoy the game and gave him confidence at practices. Connor started to play soccer in the summer. At the first meeting his team didn't have a coach. Todd wasn't there to object so I volunteered him to be the coach. The other parents were relieved because they were all first time parents into the sport of soccer. Todd has marveled in his role as coach and truly enjoys the kids and the game. He enjoyed it so much he decided to coach again for Connor's fall season of soccer. The parents were so excited that he would coach again so they all stayed another season with us and even brought a few more kids to the team. It was pretty busy running to different practices for both boys during the week and then having both games on Saturday. Many Saturday mornings we had to take two vehicles because the games overlapped and I had to leave before Connor's game was over to get Kyle to his t-ball game. Todd and Connor would then meet up with us at Kyle's game. But it was all worth it and the boys really enjoyed being outside and playing sports and meeting new friends.
Connor turned 3 in April and Kyle had his 5th birthday in June. I still continue to make the boy's birthday cakes and decorate them myself. I fully enjoy it and I love their faces when they get the cake that they 'wished' for. This year Connor requested a cake of 'Patrick Star' from the "Spongebob Squarepants" cartoon for his birthday. We celebrated with friends and family at the Peter Piper Pizza restaurant. The kids enjoyed playing all over the place. Kyle's birthday theme was 'Batman' so of course he got his Batman cake to go with it. We had a pool party at the house for Kyle. Both boys love the pool and Kyle has become a great swimmer without floaties.
In August, the little boys started a new school, Lake Mead Christian Academy. Kyle is in kindergarten and he has already learned to write his letters in cursive and is writing all of his words in cursive. He is reading 20 words per minute and reads and writes his numbers to 100. Kyle's class had a "Great American Day" and they had to give a 3-5 minute speech on their Great American in the first person. Kyle was Thomas Edison and he dressed the part, including the white hair. He presented Thomas Edison's life from memory to his class, which was full of classmates and parents. He did an awesome job and wasn't even nervous at all.
Connor is in PreK-3 and he knows all of his alphabet, their sounds and counts to 30. Connor loves to talk (like his Daddy) about his day, his friends and his teachers. After the first day of school Connor said to me "Mommy, I love my new school". We were very happy to hear that, considering he went to school not knowing any of the kids.
This summer we bought a vacation home with another couple in New Harmony, Utah which is right outside Zion National Park and close to Cedar City, Utah. We enjoy taking the 2 1/2 hour drive to the Utah house on the weekends. Todd bought an ATV on steroids, the 4 seat Joyner Trooper. We enjoy packing up for the day and taking the Trooper for a ride all over the mountains and trails. There is so much beauty to see that we really miss out on when we are in our busy city lives.
The boys love it up in Utah so much they always want to go up. They have such a blast playing in the dirt and on the Rhino and Trooper. The boys love catching all the lizards and carrying them around in their bug boxes until the lizards "have to go home for dinner and see their mommy." We had a real treat near fall and had Tarantulas all over the yard. The boys weren't frightened and enjoyed carrying them around in the bug box too. We have 700 feet of creek on the property so it attracts a lot of wildlife. We have about 10 wild turkey's that roam around the yard, jackrabbits the size of small dogs, and even deer. Kyle saw a doe "bounce" past the window and yelled out that he saw a kangaroo. We looked out the window and an 8 point buck was standing 10 feet from the door looking in the windows at us until he ran up the hill to join the doe. A lot of my family live very close with my Aunt & Uncle the next exit up the highway and my Mom, Step-Dad and Grandma about 20 minutes away. This gives the boys a lot of time to spend with our family while were up there too.
In September, we represented the Joyner dealer in the Parowan, Utah Labor Day Parade. Todd, the boys and I drove the Trooper down Main Street waving American flags to the large crowds. It was a lot of fun and the boys enjoyed practicing their waving to the crowd.
Also in September, I decided to do something really crazy. My girlfriend and I went sky diving in Boulder City. Todd, Connie and the boys came to watch me get into a plane, fly 3 miles up and jump out. I have such a fear of heights but am so glad that I did it. It was such a rush and so exciting to be able to say that I had that experience. Free falling was an amazing experience and when my tandem diver told me to look around me it was awesome to look at all the beautiful mountains, Lake Mead and just to be able to see so far across our state, while I'm falling down toward it, haha. The experience was awesome, but I've been there, done that and waiting to see what my next adventure will be. The boys, Todd and Connie were waiting for me at my landing site and the boys were so excited they ran into my arms and told me how neat it was to see Mommy jump from a plane and come down in a parachute. I'm glad they got to share it with me. They asked Daddy to go next, we'll see :-)
This Fall and Halloween were fun times for the boys as well. Their school had a Harvest Festival and the boys enjoyed decorating cookies, jumping in the bounce house, playing games, going down the large inflatable slides and the pony rides. They each invited a friend and they had a blast.
For Halloween they were 'Cops and Robbers'. Kyle dressed up in tan pants, my Police shirt with a badge sticker, my Police hat and even my old nylon Police belt. Connor was the Robber in the prison outfit, completed with a cap, ball and chain and handcuffs. Half way through their trick or treating fun we went back and they switched outfits so they each got to be the Cop and the Robber. They got a lot of compliments from neighbors on their outfits.
Todd worked on Thanksgiving so the boys and I went to Utah. It was cold but they enjoyed being outside and even riding the ATV's with Papa and his friend Mr. Mike. I don't think they cared that it was 50 degrees outside.
The Monday after Thanksgiving we took the boys back to Williams, Arizona for our annual Polar Express train ride. Our friends, Jim and Alyson and their 2 year old son Kalen came with us. The boys love trains and love Santa so a trip to see Santa on a train was number one in their book. They also enjoyed sharing the experience with Kalen, it was his first visit.
Before coming back to Vegas we decided to visit the Deer Farm in Arizona and it was just as awesome as we were told it was. There were about 50 deer all around us, wanting to be fed. They were not afraid of us and luckily the boys weren't afraid of them either. The deer mostly wanted the food we bought but it was neat to be able to pet them and see them so close.
In December we continued our tradition of a 'Santa Christmas Party' for the boys and their friends. We had a party and invited Santa Claus to visit us and our friends. Santa came to our house and visited with each child and handed them all a gift. The kids enjoyed seeing Santa and especially getting a gift from the jolly ole' guy. Kyle and Connor showed Santa their pictures they made for him and gave him some hot cocoa and gingerbread cookies they made for him at Grandma & Grandpa's house earlier.
Just about this time last year Todd was promoted to Sergeant and he still enjoys it. He is working out of the newest Police substation that handles situations and calls only on the Las Vegas Strip (Las Vegas Blvd). He drives in a patrol car, rides a bicycle, and soon will also be riding an Enduro motorcycle at work. Todd works the graveyard shift (8pm to 6am) and it's a pretty crazy sleeping schedule but for now it's working.
Todd also finished his book that he's been working on for the past few years. It's even published and has made him a few bucks so far. The book is entitled Involved - The Parent Connection to Drug Prevention. Keep your fingers crossed that when Todd sends a copy to Oprah she will have him back on the show and she can help him sell millions of copies.
I still work in the Patrol Services Unit doing Major Events Planning and I am the coordinator for the "Every 15 Minutes" DUI program that LVMPD hosts in the local high schools. Currently the big project on our plate is New Year's Eve. Our unit does the planning for the entire Police Department for the events on the Las Vegas Strip, where 350,000 people come to visit for New Year's Eve. It's pretty hectic but I still enjoy the job and working dayshift with weekends off. I will keep my shift and position stable for a while to allow Todd the opportunity to work on book sales, go back to college and his police promotion. He's thinking maybe in 3-4 years he will test for Lieutenant?
Cody and Matthew are now 17 and 15 years old. Cody has a girlfriend of 8 months and he has his head up in the clouds over her. He is very interested in becoming a firefighter and he is going to be volunteering at a station near the house. Matthew isn't interested in girlfriend's and keeps his head in his computer playing video games and working on homemade claymation movies. This year Todd took him to see the bands Rush and AC/DC.
We are blessed to have had a healthy 2008 and memories of many wonderful experiences and trips with our family and friends. We hope our newsletter finds you all in good health and we pray for 2009 to be a happy, healthy and exciting year for each and every one of you.
Lots of Love - the Raybuck's
Todd, Kelly, Cody, Matthew, Kyle and Connor