Alexis

Last but not last least, the baby, Cade. Cade is enjoying life and being bounced around 6 other kids! Zev is not interested in holding Cade but all the other kids have been fighting over who gets to hold Cade. Anyone who thinks number eights don’t get attention should come to our house! Of course number eights don’t get referred to by name…only by number!

Kailey is taking a summer math class to skip ahead a grade in math. Somehow she has managed to still hang out or have a sleepover with a friend (or two) almost every night. I did get the honor of seeing her for one whole day this summer, so I guess I should be thankful! (Editor’s Note from Mark: I am not sure if Kailey ever sleeps. She wanted to take math over the summer (not sure I understand that) while doing dance and spending every possible spare moment with friends. On the other hand, at least she hasn’t memorized the Geico commercials this summer like her brother Tate!)

Talia has decided she is going to grow her hair like Rapunzel. She also has become the queen of texting. I text a lot of clients so if any of you get some crazy messages, please know it is probably from some 6 year old girl! (Editor’s Note from Mark: What is worse is when Talia tries to text me from Alexis’ phone and does not tell me that she is using her mom’s phone to text me. I have to be careful how I respond to text messages from now on!)

Ariella and Mark had a recent trip to Washington DC for a family event. Ariella was such a trooper – it was a 48 hour trip and half of it was spent traveling . . . a trip that began with a red-eye flight from Phoenix to DC that left at midnight and stopped in Chicago at 5:00am. At the family event, Ariella got noticed for her break-dancing moves. Everyone at the event gave Ariella rounds of applause as she was out dancing with the older kids all night. (Editor’s Note from Mark: Ariella was fantastic beyond anything you could imagine. We traveled all through the night and she never complained once. She stayed up all day and then spent her night on the dance floor. Then we ran over to see the White House and other sites before jumping on an airplane back to Phoenix. We were gone from Arizona for less than 48 hours and she was fun and energetic the whole time. In a room full of people, I am pretty sure the DJ learned her name first . . . she is practicing to be a future lawyer by making herself known!)

Speaking of the success of advertising to children, Tate has every Geico commercial down to a “T.” He has also taken the time to learn some of the commercials for other Arizona personal injury law firms. I told Tate he needs to work on a jingle for us! He didn’t seem too enthusiastic with that suggestion. (Editor’s Note from Mark: Tate is going to be spending time at camp this summer, just as he did last year. He and Zev will be at an all-boy, all-sports camp. Sounds like it is a good thing he will not be spending more time in front of the TV!)

Pierce has a birthday coming up and has been asking for something that has been advertised on TV for a while. I am amazed at how well advertising to kids works. It’s amazing how kids see something on TV and they remember it all. (Editor’s Note from Mark: I am not surprised Pierce remembers the commercials, because this kid remembers everything. When he was four years old, I coached a baseball team and we held practices at a park that is on the way to school. Every once in a while he will point to the field to remind me that we had practices there. That was well over a year ago. He sometimes will say things that he remembers from even further back, but my memory doesn’t go that far back, so I have no idea if he is right or not!)

Summer is here and it is hot out! Zev is going into high school this year. The whole family went to Zev’s 8th grade celebration – basically a graduation from middle school. We were very proud of Zev when they announced his name among the small percentage of students that won the President’s Award. We were even more surprised to learn that it was the President of the United States. Apparently, every student in middle school across the country (many thousands of students, of course) who meets a specified set of academic standards and criteria receives this award. Great job, Zev! (Editor’s Note from Mark: The graduation was not the highlight of that week for Zev. His favorite part was the party thrown by another 8th grader for the entire 8th grade class. They had a DJ and a couple hundred middle school kids dancing and celebrating. Zev was talking about that for a week. He never once mentioned the award he won. Priorities of an 8th grader, I guess.)

Personal Injury and Wrongful death attorneys Alexis and Mark Breyer, “The Husband and Wife Law Team”, recently created an infographic to inform the public about male and female driving statistics. The graphic presents statistics about safe female driving habits as compared to men.

Women drivers have taken over the road, and brought their safe driving habits along with them. Currently in the United States 40% of the SUV’s on the road are driven by women. Ninety-seven of women are the principal drivers of a new car and spend $300 billion annually on used car sales, maintenance, repairs, and services. Women influence the purchase of 80% of the cars in the United States. According to statistics male drivers cause 80% of the car accidents involving pedestrians and have a 77% higher risk of dying in a car accident themselves. Men given more traffic violations than women, and are cited 3 more times than women for reckless driving.

The infographic attempts to show that women as a group are much more conscientious when it comes to purchasing, repairing, and driving cars. The statistics are clear through police reports and insurance rates. In 2010 the median insurance rate for men was $765 for a six month policy and only $698 for women. Men can joke as much as they want but women do really rule the road!

The Arizona based Husband and Wife Law Team specialize in personal injury and wrongful death cases. They often deal with pedestrians, drivers, and passengers that have been injured by the negligence of another party or parties. The infographic was released to show that women drivers are much more responsible and thoughtful when it comes to car buying decisions and safety on the road.

http://www.breyerlaw.com/arizona-personal-injury-attorneys-present-fun-car-accident-facts.html

Distracted driving has become a major problem in the United States and the number of injuries and deaths are continuing to rise. The American Lawyer Academy recently held its First Annual Viral Video Scholarship Contest to create distracted driving awareness. The Southwest region was sponsored by the Husband and Wife Law Team. The First Baptist Academy from Universal City Texas won first place in the Southwest region and received a $1,500 scholarship.

In total 45 students student’s ages 11 to 17 worked on the video for three months. Christi Stuebben, the student’s teacher said the entire community became involved. Phone calls to family members in other states were made, emails were sent, Facebook statuses were posted, church bulletins were printed, and local media stations were contacted to publicize the contest and voting.

The students originally planned to use the scholarship money to buy a digital SLR camera for school functions, sporting events, and yearbook photos. However, over Memorial Day weekend the school was vandalized and the windows were broken in the bus and transportation van. The students got together and decided that the scholarship money would be best spent if it was given to the school to pay for the damages. Stuebben said that the students reached the decision to donate the money on their own and she was very proud of their maturity and willingness to give.

Last but not least Zev. Zev is 14 and definitely acting like a full-fledged teenager. If I come to close too him, he acts as if I have the plague. In contrast, he thinks Mark is the coolest dad ever. Boy, this kid is confused. Just kidding, Mark! Anyways, Zev joined us at the Mesa community dinner at Joe’s Barbecue. The only way I got him to go though, was to let him bring a friend. I was OK with it because he chose a friend that he has been friends with since second grade. (Editor’s Note from Mark: Let me get this straight: Zev thinks I am the coolest dad ever and you question him? Sounds like a bright kid to me. Of course, he did not think I was so cool when he lost his right to every electronic device in the house for 5 weeks after it turned out he had been “forgetting” to do his homework. So, I guess which one of us gets to be considered cool is going to change from week to week while the kids are teenagers!)