It’s Sammie Ann Beutke DeVito, the feline daughter of David and Allyson, writing again this year.
I was delayed in writing this year’s Christmas letter because my
brother Cash and I have been preparing for the end of the world. As you might
have heard, an ancient Mayan calendar predicts the world will end on Friday,
December 21, 2012. We’ve been stockpiling cat food and kitty litter. We’re on a
first-name basis now with the PetSmart employees.
We’re hoping to be around in
2013, but if the world does end, we’ve had a pretty good 2012, even though we slept through most of it.
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| We were impressed with the variety of Christmas and holiday stamps this year. Someone has to keep the post office in business, and we do our part with this letter mailed to more than 100 family and friends. We like the online version though because we can add all the photos. |
My dad is now in his second of four years of dental school at the University of Kentucky. During the spring semester, they dissected a human cadaver who they named Betsy Ross. Don’t ask. Even though he’s going to be a dentist, they still make him take classes about all parts of the human body. He has learned more than he ever wanted to know about diarrhea and worms.
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| Sometimes our dad and his classmates take a break from classes to eat cake. Even dentists love sweets as long as you brush and floss regularly. UK's College of Dentistry celebrated 50 years this year. |
They recently discussed a case about a woman who had maggots living in
her gums because of the poor condition of her teeth. I could show you a photo, but you're probably grossed out already just after reading about it (And before you ask, no,
she wasn’t from Kentucky). Also, did you know there is a Hepatitis A, B,
C, D, E and G. What about Hep F? Guess they don't want you to feel bad about
having hepatitis and it being an F.
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| Doesn't our dad look like a dentist with his scrubs and surgical gown on. Paging Dr. DeVito, Paging Dr. DeVito! |
He is
seeing patients now in the clinic, which he enjoys a lot more than his classes.
The spring and fall 2013 semesters are supposed to be the most difficult part
of dental school, which means he’ll have even less time to hang out with us and
handle our litter box. That should be interesting. He will take his board exams
this summer.
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| This was one of our dad's Christmas presents last year from Aunt Laura and Uncle Chris. He practiced with it to prepare him to work on real teeth. |
It’s also now impossible to watch TV without our dad commenting on
people’s teeth and mouths. Trust me, he’ll tell if you have a diastema, a class
3 bite or a pronounced sternocleidomastoid. Cash has all three!
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| During an American Student Dental Association meeting in February, our dad won a gift basket from Hooter's complete with gift certificates, a calendar, men's and women's shirts, playing cards, plastic cups, an orange rubber duckie, lanyard, chip clips, a fashionable trucker hat and an "anatomically correct" beer/soda can holder. We're wondering how this relates to dentistry. :) |
My mom
has taught five classes each semester between Eastern Kentucky University and
the University of Kentucky.
She said listening to Christmas music was the only
thing that got her through grading their final exams, papers and projects.
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| Eastern Kentucky University's campus during the winter. |
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| The University of Kentucky's campus |
During
the fall semester, one of her students was confused
about Generation X. This student in her early 20s claimed she is part of
Generation X. When my mom tried to explain that she is actually part of
Generation X, and the student is a Millennial, the student responded, “Um no,
you’re a baby boomer.” Goodness gracious! There is hope for this generation though because not everyone knows who reality
TV personality Honey Boo Boo is. During a class discussion one of my mom’s
students said it’s an old cartoon that featured a cousin of Winnie the Pooh.
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| Our mom's part-time faculty office at the University of Kentucky now has signage, so all of her students can find her! |
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| www.lexingtonhospitalforcats.com |
As the saying goes, “If you don’t like the weather in Kentucky, just wait until tomorrow because it will change.”
Speaking
of mother nature, we experienced our first earthquake this year. That’s right,
I said earthquake. We were all sitting here on a Saturday afternoon in November
when we felt the house move slightly. At first, I just thought Cash had passed
a giant you know what, but it was actually a 4.3 magnitude earthquake in
southeast Kentucky near the border with Virginia and Tennessee. I wasn’t that
impressed, so I went back to sleep.
My parents drank the blue Kool-Aid and became huge basketball fans when the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team won the national championship game in April. They haven’t been to any games, but they did see head coach John Calipari in Kroger one day, which I understand was a thrilling event.
Grandma
Betty and Grandpa Jean-Paul flew up and spent Easter weekend with us.
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| I had to make sure the flag was ready to hang outside. |
Cash
tried to talk them into buying us a baby chick or bunny, but they bought us a
new vacuum cleaner instead. It’s the Dyson animal model designed to suck up pet
hair. I was hoping it would suck up all of Cash and not just his hair.
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| Our dad shows Grandma Betty and Grandpa Jean-Paul what he does during dental school. |
They
also drove up to see us for a week in July along with Grandma Bouffard, Aunt
Allison and Uncle Matt.
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| Grandma Bouffard enjoyed sitting in this rather large chair outside a craftsman's workshop in Berea, Kentucky. |
Aunt Allison wasn’t feeling so great because our human
cousin, who was about the size of a blueberry at that time, was causing her to
have morning, noon and night sickness. Baby Ava Marie Beeman is due at the end
of February. We’re sure our canine cousin Toby will be a big help with changing
her diapers, especially the ones with turds in them since he enjoyed ours so much
last year when he visited.
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| Ava definitely isn't the size of a blueberry anymore. :) |
Speaking
of babies, Aunt Kristen, Uncle Jason and cousin Judson welcomed baby Adley
Faith Beutke the night before Thanksgiving.
She’s a cutie and weighed almost 9 pounds at birth.
She has lots of hair, and my mom said she should use some hair
gel that Uncle Jason used religiously every time he left the house during
middle school.
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| Adley loves wearing the Minnie Mouse pajamas we sent her for Christmas. |
Our mom
drove to Florida at the end of May to visit her family. She had lots of fun
playing with Judson who calls her Adda. Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Amos tried
to teach him to say Ally, but he likes Adda better. He calls our Dad, Daaaaave.
He also says Cash and Sammie. What a smart kid!
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| Judson loves to play with keys. When our mom took this photo in May, he called them "look looks." |
He made up his own names for
grandma and grandpa. They are Mimmy and Bapa.
Judson’s favorite book for Mimmy
to read to him at her house is the biography of African-American country music singer
Charlie Pride. He loves it.
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| Because your day isn't complete until you've sat on your grandpa's head. This is probably our favorite photo of Judson in 2012. Mimmy captured it while Judson sat on Bapa's head and pondered the meaning of diapers. |
While our mom was there, they also had a surprise
dinner to celebrate the 44th wedding anniversary of Shamos (the
combination of Sharon and Amos. When our mom really wants to get their
attention, she calls them Sharamos!)
Our dad
flew to Florida in June for a Father’s Day weekend surprise visit to see
Grandpa Sam. He didn’t have a clue our dad was there. They then traveled to St.
Augustine and visited the many, many, many, many historical museums and sites.
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| Grandpa Sam could spend hours in a museum. We think he could actually live in one. |
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| Cash likes to jump inside the grocery bags our parents bring him from the store. He even jumps in before they've finished uploading everything. Guess he's looking for his next free meal. |
Well, I
better sign off because my parents want to drive us around to look at Christmas
lights, but being a Siamese cat, cars and I don’t get along.
If the world doesn’t end this week, we hope
you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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| Our dad wore this awesome Christmas shirt to spread holiday cheer around the dental school. Don't you just love how the candy canes make little hearts! |
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| I like wearing this Santa hat about as much as I like driving around in a car. Can you tell? |
Cash is also excited about celebrating Kwanza.
Please come visit us, and remember to have your pets spayed or neutered! (Did you see that television history was made this year when "The Price is Right" had its first male model...look how far men have come!)
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| What a cutie! Courtesy: http://www.malecelebnews.com |
Love,
Sammie, Cash, David, and Allyson DeVito (dmdevito@gmail.com or
allydevito@gmail.com)
