2008 in Review: Summer

We enjoyed some visitors over the summer and a trip to Hatteras for a Moriarty family reunion.


It can be dangerous to ask for a haircut from Uncle Jim. Jim's look-alike nephew, Pat is brave!

The hair cutting turned into a group experience and they rinsed the loose hairs off in the ocean. Around here we call it a "Jack Johnson cut." A life thrill for all of us was being backstage when he came to town. Only Reid has proof!

Another nephew, Will, came out for some surf lessons and to visit out local haunts. Allie's heard this speech before!








It was Andrea's brother, David's birthday while they were here.

2008 in Review: Reid's Spring

Reid is in a band called The Kingsmen with 3 other guys his age. They performed at Borders bookstore to an audience of many of his teachers, friends, and intrigued shoppers. The manager invited them back for their in-store Holiday Party so, we considered it a success! Reid's at the keyboard. (above)

Another song at the same Borders gig. Very apparent that night was Reid's leadership skill. He likes to start the guys off and is pretty adept at working the crowd too.

Last Easter morning, Reid asked our Pastor Josh to baptize him (as he had seen Allie do the previous October). Soon after, we gathered for a glorious Saturday morning at the beach to witness his public profession of faith including a song he'd written with his piano teacher.

Not a bad family portrait--no balloons, just watermelon which is safe for seals.

This is Reid's favorite shot of what he saw when he emerged from the water--everyone cheering! He often sleeps with it and carries it to school.

The House of Blues Gospel Brunch for Father's Day was memorable. Jim joined all the dads on stage to rock out with these ladies. Reid caught them afterwards for a photo!


In June, we had to say goodbye to Carla. She spent the year back here in San Diego getting another Master's degree. She is home with Sean now, having their first baby and waiting for God to open a door for them to return together to the States.

2008 in Review: Allie's Spring

Allie went to Washington DC with her 8th grade class from Santa Fe Christian Middle School. Here she is with her best pals. She is the one in the navy pea coat. Friends are what she misses most about the school.
























Allie loves her flute, plays it morning, noon and night. Guffaw! Well, this morning she did anyway. Her 8th Grade Graduation was more ceremonial than either Jim or I remembered from our public schools. A meaningful conclusion to her 3 years at SFC.


A graduation party followed afterwards. She is in the red v-neck. There was a good boy/girl ratio at this school, for the boys!



Almost the day after graduation, Allie left on a backpacking trip to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons led by two of her teachers. She is on the far right. These girls are bonded for life after their experiences and some inclement weather!

The Gift of Song

Someone, who shall remain nameless, made us a priceless gift one year of a spiral bound book titled, Celebrate With Song. In it, were 50+ pages of Christmas carol lyrics. She spent hours poring over lyrics online to create a book of favorites for us. Each season, the kids initiate a session of singing through that book, a capella usually. It was a very thoughtful, useful and touching handmade gift that has kept on giving.

My favorite Christmas songs are the ones that tell the story of the first Christmas and are obscure enough to not have been overplayed and become cliche. I was able to find a few, like Ding Dong Merrily on High, and I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In, to put on the green cassette in the sidebar. Have you figured out how to turn that on? (Click the > icon. You can advance it >> and pause it too, as you wish.)

Other favorites are The Little Drummer Boy and The Friendly Beasts for the same reason. They not only bring the nativity story to my mind but also dramatize it for children. I never tire of watching this version of The Little Drummer Boy video, which would explain why our VHS literally wore out.




Music is the language of our souls. With it we express things that won't come out any other way. "It is not necessary that you understand," as the magi tells heartbroken little Aaron.

Another New York City memory indelibly marked on my mind is the Messiah Sing-In we attended at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center. I have looked and looked for one in every city since to no avail. An usher handed us the entire score of Handel's music as we took our seats. Then, with the utmost respect and expectation of excellence, the conductor directed the audience of paying patrons to sing that magnum opus with a full orchestra and professional soloists. It was incredible and remains one of the ways I picture heaven: unceasing praise and worship with choirs of angels.

God inhabits the praises of His people. If you want to feel His presence, praise Him and He'll take up residence.

Book Recommendation for when school's out

The best Christmas book I've ever read is The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. If you take your coffee black, you'll love the brutal honesty of this hilarious recounting of a church nativity pageant. No cream in this one, nor sugar or sweetener. The church ladies are aghast but, nonetheless blessed, when the Herdman children are cast in lead roles as Mary an Joseph. Not because they're the best actors! They show up for the free donuts and weasel their way into the auditions by intimidating the likely picks from trying out!

It is an irreligious hoot to read aloud. I guarantee you will recognize some people from your own church community in the fictional characterizations. (Don't settle for the movie which doesn't compare.) Check your library used book nook; they are sure to have a copy for under $1. I consider it doctrinally sound humor!

Keep it real! Let's not pretend any of us are anything but a mess! Who do we think we are fooling? Jesus, fully God and fully human, was born to die for our very real sins. It's in dying to ourselves that we live in Him.

2008 in Review: Winter

Last year we left the day after Christmas to redeem my mom's gift to us: a ski week in Deer Valley. It was a great time in the snow with cousins made bittersweet by the fact that Jim could not ski so soon after his broken bones. He and Reid (who has just about had it with all the clothing and gear) had a lot of bonding time taxiing to the base lodge and picking up groceries.

Group shot just before the first cousins got picked up for the airport. Allie's in light blue. Reid was elsewhere. (above) Below, Reid and Allie flank my mom on the left.


How many family members can you fit in a hot tub was the question. Who could get there first was the competition that ensued. It was right on the balcony of our bedroom so Andrea was a frequent winner. Did Allie forget to pack her suit? Not sure why she's wearing a shirt in there.

She Told Me So...

When she first met Jim, my mom was amused. His kid-next-door familiarity was entertaining. As we got more serious, she became concerned. Jim seemed a bit unconventional. He first arrived at my traditional family home wearing peg leg seersucker pants and "monkey socks." My mom, never afraid to speak her mind, and always diplomatic (however thinly veiled), inquired, "So...Jim....tell me about those pants. Are they something new I should know about?" He unabashedly told her how it was a skateboard fashion and he had pegged them himself on his mom's sewing machine. To which she replied, "Uhuhah...so you sew, do you?"

When we decided to marry, my mom articulated her concern to me with a visual,"I am just worried that one day you'll live in a nice neighborhood and Jim will want to paint the picket fence purple or something, just to be different." At the time, I thought that would be cool and proceeded undaunted. We obviously married and Jim has aged nicely, like a fine wine gaining complexity and a smooth finish.

Jim hasn't lost his creativity or willingness to take risks. Several summers ago, we gave ourselves an ocean friendly facelift by re-landscaping the front yard with native, drought tolerant plants. It is now a dense jungle of succulents and grasses. We love it all year, with the possible exception at Christmas, because it is virtually impossible to hang outdoor lights on lavender and flax. Turns out the yard saves on water and our electric bill! No problem (see photo at right). Always the innovator, it didn't occur to Jim to put them on the house--already been done! I am just praying he is home when the police knock at the door to remind us the street sign is public property. Once a skateboarder always a skateboarder.

Twenty five years have passed, my mom and Jim have grown to appreciate each other for their uniqueness. What they do have in common is a certain boldness! This Christmas, I guess I will have to admit though, "she was right."

Umm...Jesus is the light of the world. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine? This is holy ground, a burning bush? Help me out here, how many days are left in December?

photo credit: www.toystoreinc.com