In loving memory

Our beloved son, Vaughn Aldrich Lujan, passed away April 19, 2008 after a brief illness. We would like to thank everyone for all of the incredible support we have received and all of the prayers that were sent to Vaughn while he was in the Pediatric ICU. We are amazed by the impact one person can have on so many people in just two brief years. We feel truly blessed to have had him in our lives and will cherish his memory forever.

A graveside burial will be held at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 24th. A memorial service will be held in The Chapel at Princeton University at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 3rd.

In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to: Southwest Youth Services, Attention Alec Rekow, P.O. Box 82624, Albuquerque, NM, 87198-2624. In the short time Vaughn was with us he displayed an early passion for soccer. His parents wish to provide other Native American children with the opportunity to become involved in the sport.

Congratulations, Daddy!!!!!

Daddy was named head men's soccer coach at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA! The press release can be found at the following link:

www.cmu.edu/athletics

March 2008

We've been off-line for a month now, so here's a brief update. Vaughn had the stomach flu (2nd time) at the beginning of the month. He was out of school for 6 days. Then Mommy got the stomach flu (3rd time) and was out of work for a week. Daddy traveled to Dallas for work and got to stay with Uncle Lance, Aunt Heather, Eli, and Ryann...while Mommy had the stomach flu, of course. He even got to stay an extra night because his flight back to NJ was canceled. Unfortunately, there were more delays and Daddy didn't get home until 3:30 am. We left for Virginia the same night and stayed for 5 days. Also, our dog Marlin turned 4 and Vaughn turned 2. We had several celebrations with friends and family both in New Jersey and in Virginia.

Vaughn is infatuated with bulldozers, trash trucks, buses, trains, soccer balls, and books. He thinks Marlin is human and considers him his best buddy. Marlin has a new name, thanks to Vaughn: Marna.

Vaughn in 2006

Just a little flashback to 2006...This is Vaughn just minutes after he was born and at 1 week old.

Vaughn turned 2!

We celebrated in Virginia on Easter Sunday with G.G., Grandma Ginny, Nini, Pop-Pop, Dr./Mrs. Todd, Mike and Linda Amyx (Pop-Pop's childhood friend from Lawrence, KS who now lives in R'mond), Mommy and Daddy. Vaughn managed to blow out his candles with a little help!!

Baptism

Reverend Newton Todd baptized Vaughn on Easter Sunday at the home of G.G. (Great-Grandma) in Richmond, VA. Dr. Todd baptized Mommy in G.G.'s living room, too, about 32 years ago. He also married Mommy and Daddy, as well as Mommy's parents. Vaughn clung to Grandma Ginny for the duration of the ceremony, but did not mind the sprinkles of water on his head. Following the baptism, Vaughn found an Easter Egg Tree that had wooden eggs hanging from it. He pulled them off, yelled "FOOTBALL", and threw them...G.G. (thankfully) did not witness this!!

Swinging

Vaughn loves the swing set in Grandma Ginny's (now referred to as "Mama") backyard.

Snow day

We had snow when we woke up last Friday morning! The forecast was calling for afternoon ice, so 800 schools in our area closed including Vaughn's/excluding Princeton. (Mommy and Daddy played hookie from work.) We made a Native American snowman and had a pitching contest with snowballs to see who could hit the tree the most times.

Vaughn's language has really exploded. He counts to 15, sometimes substituting the word "da-da" for 3. We thought his teachers may be counting with his class, but that is not the case. It seems he is learning from his friends on Sesame Street. He is in the 'no' phase, but it is more like Nooooooooooooo! It's like the sound a bell curve would make...if a bell curve made a sound.

Vaughn & Catie

Catie came to visit for one night on her way to NYC. Vaughn would only eat his pizza on the couch next to Catie...we washed all cushion/pillow covers the next day!

Haircut

It was time...his hair was long enough to put into pig tails!

This was an exciting week at day care. The school hosted a nature program for all of the classes. Vaughn and his classmates were visited by a skunk, a bunny, an owl, and a turtle. When we picked up Vaughn at the end of the day, his teacher declared that he was "intrepid". We didn't even want to know the story behind that one.

Bad Habits

It seems as though Vaughn has picked up a bad habit (that is also illegal in the state of NJ). No comment on the perceived source of the habit...Mommy was in the kitchen making dinner and heard silence, therefore becoming alarmed. Vaughn had located a cell phone (donated to his toy chest) and made his way over to his truck. He was obviously in a hurry to make the call because he left his door wide open! As Mommy quietly watched from the kitchen, she observed Vaughn dialing numbers before he held the phone up to his ear and had a full conversation with "someone" on the other end. Once he discovered he was being watched, Mommy asked who Vaughn was talking to and he replied, "Dad-dy!"

Super Bowl

Mommy made a football cake to take to a Super Bowl party. Vaughn decided to help ice the cake. He stuck his finger in the vanilla, tried it and said, "Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!"


So, then he tried the chocolate and had the same reaction.
Once it turned into a vicious obsession, we took the icing from him. We'll say he was less than pleased. However, doesn't he look cute in his sweater vest that Great-Grandmother Vivian knitted for Daddy over 30 years ago?? It's hard to even notice the tears!!

Just hangin' out watching some classic Fox Soccer Channel -- Manchester United vs. Ipswich c. 1995.

New 'do!

Mommy has a new hairdo with a "severe" angle, as the stylist put it. She finally found a decent salon after 2-1/2 years of living here, though it's in Philly. Vaughn's hair is now longer than Mommy's!

Flip-flop

We "flip-flopped" our house on New Year's Eve/Day. Anyone who has visited our humble abode knows of our space constraints in our Cape Cod. When we moved in 2-1/2 years ago, the movers could not get our California king mattress upstairs. So, we opted to put our bedroom on the first floor "temporarily". Then, Vaughn came along and we put him on the first floor, too. As convenient as that was (we only have one bathroom and it is on the first floor), we were not using our square footage to its maximum capacity.

As Vaughn snoozed away 2007 and into 2008, Mommy and Daddy moved the master bedroom upstairs and our guest room and office downstairs. Sounds easy enough...not really. We tried several different ways to get our king mattress up the stairs (I mean, what do movers know anyway??) We even resorted to taking the mattress into the front yard (around midnight) and attempted to ram it up the staircase. Big shock, but we had NO luck! We already had a full-size bed on the second floor in our guest room, so we (drastically) down-sized and compromised. We then moved Vaughn's room the following day.

The pictures show a few of the transformations. The pink walls are "temporary" and will hopefully be masked by a soothing tan when the weather is warm enough to open the windows -- we are very aware that the color is nauseating! Vaughn loves the monkeys and "na-na-nas" in his room.

Baby it's cold outside!

Vaughn is cold and irritated that I "dragged" him outside in the snow. It is amazing that he even has a coat on...he usually refuses to wear one. (We are learning a lot about "choosing our battles".) We have to sneak up on him and tackle him in order to get his coat on. He then screams and collapses to the floor, making the task even more difficult. This is a twice-per-day occurrence and has been going on for months now...when will he outgrow this phase??

Marlin, on the other hand, loooooovvvves snow!

Mommy/Daddy update

Mommy decided to add one more thing to her busy life...she is a graduate student at UNC - Chapel Hill's School of Public Health. She is learning all about biostatistics (whatever that means!) Also, congratulations to Daddy who graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Master of Science degree in Sports Leadership. Daddy was not able to attend his graduation ceremony, but does have his diploma (which is all he wanted in the first place!!)

The Greenbrier

We visited The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, WV between Christmas and New Year's. Vaughn had fun swimming in the pool, riding the elevators and exploring the long hallways. He even learned how to use a finger bowl in the main dining room. He knew exactly what to do each time he was presented with "lemon soup" at the end of each meal. We went to afternoon tea each day where Vaughn was mesmerized by the violinist and pianist. He also ate his share of cookies!!





Grandma Ginny, Daddy, Vaughn, Mommy and G.G.




After demonstrating his dance moves, Vaughn decides to take a break in the Great Hall.

Bigfoot

Wearing Daddy's shoes around Grandma's house... Vaughn insisted on descending a flight of stairs in his new kicks.

Trip to Dallas

Waiting to board the airplane in the Richmond airport.



Vaughn, Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Heather, Uncle Lance, Ryann and Eli



Opening gifts with Grammie B. and Daddy



Playing with Zoie

Dishwasher

Vaughn likes to "help" with the dishes.