The State of the Family

Debbie said good-bye to the corporate world for awhile and the Whitakers survived their newfound “togetherness”. Over the summer, we visited Calaveras County exploring “Big Trees” and Arnold, CA; took our annual Trip to Graeagle, California at the Gray Eagle Lodge with the Whitaker Family; and spent a long weekend in the Bay Area -- staying in Novato. We are adept at taking advantage of our family’s offers to visit. The school year started with Wesley entering the the 3rd grade as one of the biggest kids in the entire school and Eli entering a 1st/2nd grade combination class due to his independent nature. Debbie took on managing our home full time and working at

the boys’ school and Chuck was transferred back to Rio Americano High School.

Giving Back

Wesley and Eli joined Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and the Judds performing at this year's Farm Aid, which celebrated its 25th anniversary on October 2nd at Mather’s Independence Park. This year's concert marks the first time Farm Aid, which raises awareness and money for American farmers, took place in California — and the first time the event featured performers younger than 50.

Licorice

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Breeders’ Cup winner, Licorice, is being retired. The Whitakers purchased the1 year-old pup from owners S & E Chelini Ranch of Elk Grove, CA and will keep him as a pet in their Mather, CA stables.

Licorice won nine races in 12 career starts and he was named champion 1-year-old last fall after winning five of six races. He went off as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby but finished a disappointing 7th place.

Chuck and Debbie

Chuck Whitaker and Debbie Kassis-Whitaker refuse to go more than a week without seeing one another. The couple is keen to do everything they can to ensure their marriage continues to work so they have drawn up a list of rules. Among the rules set by the couple are to vow never to speak to a relationship therapist, never to ban alcohol or to cancel their cable TV. Like any power couple, Chuck and Debbie have combined their names and both answer to the name, “Chubbie”.

Debbie has taken her innate ability to run in circles and has thrown herself into running around the mean streets of Mather -- logging in close to 30 miles a week. She still enjoys washing clothes, chauffeuring her children, and cleaning up after her 2 sons, a husband, and a dog that’s bigger than she is.

Chuck enjoys exploring familiar places and becoming less relevant to his family. He spends time on Twitter trying to reduce his life to 140 characters.

Eli

Eli Whitaker will star as Bilbo Baggins Jr. in Samuel L. Jackson’s film The Hobbit, Too, an unauthorized sequel to The Hobbit which will start production soon after years of delays and setbacks. “Exploring Tolkien’s Middle-earth goes way beyond a normal film-making experience,”Eli says, "It’s an all-immersive journey into a very special place of imagination, beauty and drama."

It wasn’t a done deal signing Eli for the role, “I wasn’t a fan of Tolkien but screenwriter Sylvester Stallone has done a great job in creating a character that I can identify with. A couple of weeks ago, I tried Bilbo Jr.’s hairy feet for the first time, and also the ears, although mine are big enough already. Moreover, they made molds out of those parts of my body since I’m going to be using prosthetics for many months. How did I look? Really different… but I’m ready to be Bilbo Jr.” The Hobbit, Too will be shot in 3D. The Hobbit, Too will hit cinemas in December 2012. www.thehobbittoothemovie.com

Wesley

Talk show host and comedian Wesley Whitaker returned to television last week after his very public departure from Bravo’s Good Night with Wesley Whitaker in January.

On his new TV Guide Channel show "Wesley," the funny-man returned to his roots and famously eccentric ways. Wesley has stayed pretty busy throughout the year. In February, a little over a month after leaving Bravo, he famously joined Foursquare and began posting about the life of the unemployed and the locations of clean public restrooms. Wesley’s humor and fans are one-of-a-kind and he has already taken steps to make sure he'll be around for a long time. When asked why he named his new show "Wesley," he said he did it “because ‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ was already being used"

Debbie & Chuck

Debbie works to maintain her sanity caring for the needy men in her life. She has taken to repeating herself over and over in a desperate bid to be heard. She enjoys laundry, vacuuming, and doing dishes.

Chuck spends his days changing his Facebook profile Picture and cooking vast amounts of food in hopes someone will come to dinner. He enjoys leftovers for lunch and wrestling with his boys.