2010

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free… Come all ye surfers, dancers, RV’ers, runners and athletes who are sore and trashed. Come hither ye who have been rushed to the ER, surgically repaired, rehab tormented, and sick with oink flu. We have room…. for you losers” These immortal, yet slightly altered, words of Emma Lazarus have never been truer for the Cliffords. For example, 4 of us had stitches or major injury. We had the croup, strep, and colds, colds, colds. Had our ups, had downs…  It was a little black and blue, but 2010 was quite memorable. Take a look.

Chad – This year I was viciously dog piled by pain and misery. First came misery in the form of swine flu. Almost died… well it felt like it. Fresh off my bout with oink flu, came the pain. I took my varsity scouts up to Big Bear ski resort on a perfect day of fresh powder. On my last run of the day, I snapped my ACL jumping off a rock. Ouch! Stupid is as stupid does. Had surgery. Knee looked like hamburger. Totally gross. Going through rehab. Lots of pain. Life stunk and I cried daily. However, I decided to turn my frown upside down and get my “fun” on.  I took those same varsity scouts for a week long “surf fest”, high adventure, in our RV, stopping at all of the famous southern California surf breaks. Malibu, San Onofre, Pismo Beach, etc. Scouts sleep outside, leaders inside. YPG. Oh yea, we are RVers. It’s the best investment in family. Tons of fun! I can’t wait to explore all of CA. For those who know me, I’m a closet rocker, G & R, AC/DC, Red Jumpsuit, etc.  So for Halloween, I dressed up as Bret Michaels. All women ogled me, all dudes respected me. Pictures upon request. 2010 also allowed me and my lovely wife to take a 15^th year anniversary cruise. Best trip ever!

Michele – Still relief society president and temple worker at the San Diego temple. How does she do it? Superhero? Yes and she is amazing! Let me explain. She ran the Ragnar race with friends in April, a 24 hour race that covers roughly 200 miles. 200 miles people.  Ouch! She also ran the Mud run at Camp Pendleton. Quite the athlete. Settle your kettle, there’s more. 


Michele and her lady friends went on a girls’ cruise (notice the cruise theme) and they went crazy. How so? Michele was partying like it was 1999 on the dance floor and dislocated her pinky toe. The exact details are fuzzy, but the result was a pinky toe at a 90-degree angle. That’s dedication to fun. For 2010, Michele stepped up her soccer mom status to the elite level. She had all 3 kids in soccer… all on separate teams and games every weekend. And, she volunteered to be team mom.

Kate – 12 and officially a young woman, middle school (along with a budding teenage attitude), cross-country animal, soccer star and honor roll student. Impressed? You should be. Kate is now playing two instruments, piano and clarinet. She also danced hip-hop, sang in the choir and leaps tall buildings in a single bound. Is that it? Hardly. Kate is also quite the athlete. She learned to surf and did a cheerleading camp with Emily. Kate really had a good year in soccer, despite the team’s lack of victories. She made the all-star team and is gearing up for next month’s games. She ran cross-country at school. We didn’t even know she liked to run. She must take after her mom. I only run if chased… bad knee and all. We loved going to her meets and watching her run. She also discovered Magic Mountain – the home of the big thrill rides. While I peed my pants just looking at Goliath, there was no thrill too big, no ride too fast for Kate. As the big sister, she is such a wonderful example to her siblings. We couldn’t ask for a better oldest daughter.

Emily – 9 and fine with a healthy mix of diva and star athlete. She played soccer and made $5 per goal. Bled me dry. Emily is now surfing, ripping the waves. She made honor roll in school. Emily is a real self-starter and entrepreneur. One day she came home with a Spanish book and pronounced that she was learning Spanish… in her free time. She now raps Spanish with her mom and grandpa. Hola! Emily also decided she needed some spending money, a little weekend cash sort of thing. Did she ask us for money? No Señor. Next thing we know, she is on the corner of our street shaking down all the neighbors for dollar shots of lemonade. She picked a few perfect days and ended up making a boatload of Dinero. She’s now the official breadwinner of the family. Emily also ran track, representing her school at a big meet. She was fast! As far as Emily is concerned, all the world’s indeed a stage. She loves dance, hip-hop, show biz kids, show choir and piano. We made the mistake of letting Emily plan her own birthday party. She invited 30 of her closest friends to a backyard movie night. We are still cleaning up to this day.

Andrew – 4 and sporting plenty of machismo. Andrew is 100% boy. He loves the rough and tumble. He loves video games, playing baseball, soccer and football with dad. His soccer team was… not good but he had fun. Andrew is into Star Wars. He was a star in Jedi training at Disneyland and then promptly fell to the dark side. He was Darth Vader for Halloween. Andrew, like his mom, dad and sister Kate had a nice trip to the ER… but for stitches. He slipped and cracked his melon on the kitchen counter. Amazingly, Andrew didn’t cry, even at the hospital while they stitched his eyebrow closed. He definitely got his pain tolerance from his mom. Andrew and I are best buds. We go on the father and sons campouts, Disneyland trips, eat out at In-n-Out, play xbox, and we love going to Anaheim Ducks and San Diego Padres games. Andrew loves to stand up and yell, “Let’s go Ducks!!!” He’s also my big helper around the house. No task is too big for him. Andrew is seriously a cute kid. Not that he needs to, but he likes to remind people not only that he’s handsome, but that he’s awesome, fast and strong. He has no problems with self-esteem. However, Andrew is a giver too. He loves to compliment others. He tells friends, family, police officers (he likes the uniforms) and an occasional Best Buy employee that they are handsome, strong and fast. Andrew is the son that I’d always wanted. He’s incredible. My best buddy.

Snowball Clifford– Yes she’s a part of the family, barely.  She made it a whole year without getting kicked out of the house. It was pretty much touch and go for a while. Why you ask? Well, she failed puppy training at Petsmart, chewed everything valuable in sight, and often would dig in the mud ripping up my sprinkling system. Her new nicknames – Mudball and Chewball. She wore the cone of shame briefly when she was spade, which helped cut down on the chewing. All in all, she’s a part of the family…. for now. Kidding. However, given the choice between me and snowball… the vote is snowball.

2010 highlights – Camping in the RV. Family reunions to Bear Lake, Utah (20 hours each-way), Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, Magic Mountain and Legoland. Beach days, soccer camps at BYU, going to the San Diego zoo, 4^th of July and of course loads of friends and family who came down to have fun. Merry Christmas and may 2011 be fantastic.

Michele came across a touching address that Elder Holland gave at BYU (Ensign Dec 1977) that is definitely worth reading. In it, he recalls Dr. Suess’s How the Grinch stole Christmas. It sums up what Christmas is really about, our Savior Jesus Christ. The Grinch can find the true meaning of Christmas, and you can too. With all of our love, we wish you a Merry Christmas.