2022 Summerstay Christmas Letter
Ellen was two this year, and speaks very well. She likes Youtube and Paw Patrol, running around, and playing with her friend Rosie and her cousin Ned. Daniel is at BYU studying acting. Doug is still working from home, using AI at all of his various jobs, for serious and playful purposes, and spending a lot of time with Ellen. Lesli did some professional photography this year for Ellen’s preschool and friends. -Doug
We started the year with a bang as Daniel’s appendix ruptured on New Year’s Eve. He ended up having 2 surgeries and spending 26 days in the hospital. He was determined to go back to school even though he missed the entire first month, and he played Mr. Bennett in a major BYU play (Pride and Prejudice) that semester, all while healing from surgeries that left him with an open wound, which he tended himself on the other side of the country. He also studied Shakespeare in London for spring term, which he loved. I ended up in the emergency room twice in late December because my PICC line of antibiotics failed. It’s been a super hard year for me recovering from my head surgery last November. I’ve struggled with debilitating headaches the entire year, and much worse health. My Dr. thinks it’s likely that my vagus nerve was compressed during surgery (always a risk with head and neck surgery), which would account for all my symptoms. I’m slowly improving, however, and hope to get back to where I was healthwise before surgery sometime this year. Our niece Theresa, and her husband and son, Ned, moved into our basement this summer. Ellen loves playing with Ned and started preschool this fall. -Lesli
Daniel [with Doug] at hospital for ruptured appendix On fast Sunday I called my brother Steve to ask if they could watch Ellen again while Doug is with Daniel in the hospital. Before I said anything Steve said- ‘Kelli says if Ellen is coming over she's going to stop fasting.’ Daniel- I've decided that pain is my least favorite thing.
Daniel- I love being able to start an email to a professor ‘I'm in the hospital with a burst appendix. Here are my demands: ...’
[In the hospital they started giving Daniel nutrients thru his IV bag and it was a whitish fluid.] Doug - You know how your Mom has been trying to get you to drink less milk? Well, now they are pumping milk directly into your veins.
[Lesli gave Daniel a sloth stuffed animal at the hospital.] Nurse- Is that your favorite animal? Doug [after she left]- No, but it is his favorite deadly sin.
Doug [on phone to Lesli from hospital after weeks there every day with Daniel]- Daniel asked to change to the side with the window. And there's a recliner here. We're really living the high life.
Lesli- Oh my goodness, Daniel, you're skeletal! You could pose as Christ on the Cross, no questions asked. Daniel [drily]- Well... some questions asked.
[Daniel, on the day he returned from the hospital, after 26 days there, was playing ‘Bring Him Home’ on the piano] Lesli- That sounds really nice, Daniel. Daniel- It’s fueled by my trauma.
[Doug was doing a Neilmed saline sinus rinse for the first time after being in the emergency room for many hours to try to avoid getting COVID, at Lesli's insistence. Lesli, who does it every day, was giving tips.] Lesli- It might be harder if you have congestion. Doug [miserably dripping copious amounts of saltwater from his nose]- Of course I have congestion. I’ve had congestion every day of my life. Lesli- Then it would probably help you to do it every day. it would definitely help your congestion. Doug- I'm not waterboarding myself every day.
Ellen being cute Lesli [to Daniel]- Ellen's being really cute this morning Ellen- yes.
Lesli [To Daniel immediately upon his arrival home for the holidays]- Ellen's gotten really good at colors. Here, look. Ellen, what color is this? [Indicating a bright yellow block Ellen is playing with] Ellen [With emphatic confidence]- Gween!!!
Ellen unfolded her peanut butter sandwich and said, ‘Ah found it!’ [she often just wants to lick the peanut butter off]
Ellen [while Doug pushes her in the swing]- Poppy a push me blue swing? A love it. Yee Haw! Whee! A horsie. A rocket. A push me more higher Poppy! Hey, Poppy, a feet up high a sky. A feet blue sky white clouds! A rocket 3 2 1 blast off! A swinging, Poppy. A push me, my back, oar hand, Poppy.
I was trying to get Ellen to go up the stairs on her own (instead of me carrying her like usual) and she went up 1 or 2 steps and said ‘I can’t. Is too hard.’ Then she patted her back and said ‘My back hurt.’ [I often say I can’t lift her because my back hurts]
Ellen- I found mine belly button. It hiding in mine shirt.
Doug- Don’t bother Mommy. Ellen- [leaning on Lesli’s leg while Lesli is processing preschool photos]- I not bothering you, I jus talking!
Ellen's favorite video game is Tetris, because she's so good at it. She can make a tower of blocks, right down the middle of the screen, every time!
After Ellen’s first celebrated Halloween this year, she thinks whenever she finds a bucket she can bring it to me and say ‘trick or treat’ and I should give her candy.
Ellen being cute cont. Ellen dumped half a cup of peanuts on the floor this morning just so she could sweep them up with her new toy broom.
Doug- I showed Ellen how to control Aloy on [the video game] Horizon Forbidden West. She especially liked that she could press X and make her jump very high. So when we were watching Lost in Space, and the spaceships were falling to a planet out of control, Ellen found a remote control (for a toy car) that looks like the PS4 controller and said ‘Ah fix!’ and tried wiggling the joystick to make things work out on the TV show.
Lesli- What was Ellen crying about? Doug- She was crying because I wouldn't let her burn her hand on the stove.
Doug- It must frustrate Ellen to no end that no matter how clearly she explains "a TV a bebe shark do do do a mommy shark do do do" that for some incomprehensible reason I still don't turn on Youtube for her sometimes.
Doug- I let Ellen choose what to read this morning. She picked Silas Marner.
Ellen- I smell Play-Doh. Doug- What does it smell like? Ellen- Play-Doh.
Daniel and Merrick [to each other during the Summers family Christmas party 2021]- There are no small kids to entertain. What the hell are we even doing here?
While Doug was putting up the Christmas tree, he sneezed very loudly. Ellen kindly responded with ‘Blast you!”
Lesli’s brain damage Lesli [about a toy of Ellen’s]- I really think that's the Johnsons’. Doug- It’s from the Halloween party. Lesli- Then why didn't you tell me that before when I asked where it came from? Doug- I did. I already told you. I really think there's something wrong with your mind. Lesli [pauses] [with concern and seriously—thinking about the surgery, pain meds, and problems thinking]- Do you think I’m losing my mind? Doug- I already told you that.
[Watching Lost In Space, they see test results that John Robinson can make a full cognitive recovery from blacking out in 19 seconds, making him the perfect one to pilot the rocket.] Lesli- With the number of times he's been hit on the head lately, there's no way his recovery time would still be that low. Damage from concussions is cumulative [etc...] Doug- Everyone has their expertise where when they're watching a TV show, they say, ‘Oh, it wouldn’t work like that.’ Your expertise is in getting hit over the head.
Doug on Twitter I'm so lazy that instead of getting up to turn up the heat, I just remoted into my desktop with a big GPU on the other side of the room and started generating a ton of images. [his computer makes a lot of heat when it’s creating AI images]
My 2-year-old daughter has the attention span of a squirrel with ADHD
All due respect to Kermit, but his song is based on a false premise: there's literally only one other song about what's on the other side of rainbows.
Some letters, like C(c) and S(s) have young that closely resemble them, but others like G(g) and R(r) undergo a significant metamorphosis as they develop from lower-case to capital forms. Q(q) lives mainly as a symbiotic pair with U(u).
Other stuff Daniel [thinking how Ellen’s interests as a two-year-old will play out in her future]- Maybe she’ll take up dance. Lesli- Yeah, in order to get into dance, you have to have parents that help you and are willing to drive you everywhere and stuff. Daniel- So you're saying she'll develop no talents until she's 16? Lesli- Yeah, just like you.
Friend [Attempting to make Daniel eat more of a variety of their Indian food that included naan bread]- Okay, you can't just eat the flatbread. You can't eat the bread until you've eaten your non-bread order—wait—I mean …
Doug- The server at Subway said I looked just like someone from an anime and I can see the resemblance. [Zeke Yeager from Attack on Titan] Daniel- Ha he's got your hair perfectly!
We heard a Father’s Day talk today in which the speaker commended his father for never accepting mediocrity in his homework and teaching him to take pride in it to the extent of always exceeding expectations. I was amused to think how the talk I would give about how you taught me to live a good life would be essentially opposite. Happy Fathers’ Day, Daniel Doug- Ha Ha (but true.) [Doug’s motto is: If it’s just barely worth doing, just barely do it.]
Doug- Gluten-free lasagna is disgusting. Lesli- No. gluten-free lasagna is fine. Doug- We’ll just have to agree that you’re wrong.
Lesli [to Daniel about a kids’ play Little Red Riding Hood he was performing in]- You need a haircut, Daniel. Don't you need one for the show? Policemen don't have long hair. Daniel- Policemen can have whatever hair they want. Lesli- That's literally not true—they have a dress code. Daniel- Anyway the gritty realism of the show has already been compromised. -the end-
