Christmas Letter

December 19, 2018

Hi!

Just a brief, little update on what we’re up to these days. Our lives continue to be full of work, school, sports, and church activities/serving. We’re grateful for all these blessings.

Greg--Just returned from a week-long business trip to Japan, where he got to experience new places, new foods, and a different culture while building bridges with his Japanese colleagues. He brought back interesting gifts and treats for us to try. He enjoyed all the sushi and Japanese food...except the raw cow stomach--that he did not enjoy!

Andrea--Spending most days of the week subbing at the kids’ schools and most of the rest of the time driving the kids everywhere and trying (mostly successfully) to keep track of the nutty schedule. Thank goodness for Google Calendar!

Kari--Just turned 15 years old and got her driver’s permit on her birthday. Her first year of high school is going well so far--cross country was a new sport for her this fall and a great experience. She continues to play the piano and clarinet and loves to be with her friends. Her favorite classes so far are Culinary Arts, Spanish, and Honors English. We see less of her these days for sure! She’s a busy girl. She’ll play tennis in the spring.

Joel--Turns 13 in January and is rockin’ the 7th grade. Right now he’s playing on his school’s basketball team AND the competitive basketball team he’s played on for the last 3 years. Last year was a character-building year for him (and his parents), but this year is already shaping up to be a better experience all-around. He worked hard on his skills over the summer! He’s playing the trombone again, too. Basketball, youth group, and homework leave little free time for this kid.

Aubrey--Is 10 years old, turning 11 in February. She’s in her last year of elementary school and is happy to be part of the leadership team at school. She is in her second year of piano lessons. She also just started playing on a competitive basketball team that Greg is assist-coaching. Lots to learn this year!

Grant--8 ½ years old and thriving in 2nd grade. Grant is spending a lot of his time at his siblings basketball games these days and looking forward to playing in his own, come January. He loves playing with our neighbor friends (all the kids do--we have some pretty great neighbors!) and being where the people are.

Never a dull moment around here. This is a crazy, hectic, wonderful season of life we’re in, and we feel it breezing by way too quickly. We’re trying to soak up the time we have with all four kids home with us. We continue to be stretched and grown as we parent these four kiddos God has entrusted to us. Thankful we don’t have to go it alone. “I Need Thee Every Hour” is a song that accurately reflects the way we feel about life these days and, really, should remember always. Thankful for our Savior!

Merry Christmas, from our family to yours!

Winter Break

It sure was nice to have some down time with our family and not be running to practices and games and activities. We played games at home, relaxed, did some organizing, and enjoyed not having a hectic schedule.

A few days after Christmas,  Kari, Ken, and Kylee had a Survivor marathon. They had a goal of watching an entire season of Survivor in one day. It took some perseverance, but they did it. They finished at 9:30pm. They were pretty sick of it by the end. :) They started out at the Wilsons, went to the Langley's at lunch, and came to our house at dinner time. Mission accomplished!

For Kari's birthday, we redecorated her room, new paint and all. It went from blue to gray with lavender and yellow accents. It came together very nicely. She's happy! Her room has now been three colors--bright pink, light blue, and gray. I think that's the last time we'll paint it for a long while.

Christmas Puzzles

With school getting out so late for Christmas break this year (last day was Dec 21), we didn't feel like we had much time to prepare or enjoy the season before Christmas. It finally felt like Christmas when we busted out a puzzle and turned on White Christmas. We completed several puzzles this Christmas season. It's something I really enjoy, and I'm glad the kids are getting into it, too. In the last couple years, I started buying one 1,000 piece Christmas puzzle each year to work on during the break. This year we completed that one quickly and put together two older ones we had from previous years, as well. Then Great Grandpa and Grandma gave us a puzzle for Christmas. We got it done within a day!

Christmas 2018

We spent Christmas Eve with the Arnolds and Christmas Day at our house with the Moffats. I forgot to take any photos Christmas Eve, so no record of time spent with that side of the family. Oops! Lots of photos of Moffat Christmas. We were all together for three days. Ryan and Michelle drove over Christmas Day and spent two nights at our house. It was a really good time together. I was sick with a sinus infection (got antibiotics on Christmas Eve), so that was a bummer for me, but I slogged through and everyone helped with food and everything, so I didn't have to do much, which was nice.

On Christmas night, we drove to the light place we discovered last year, Aspen Meadows. It was a great way to end the day.

Christmas Program

Aubrey and Grant read Bible verses in the Christmas program this year. So cute. I made our family sit for a photos before church. It wasn't the most pleasant experience (Grant had the wrong pants on and didn't like his shoes), but I got my photo and documented us ready for church on Christmas Sunday.

 

Band Concerts

Both Kari and Joel had band concerts before Christmas. The next time they have concerts in that auditorium, it will be all new and remodeled. Looking forward to that!

       

Rocky morning

The week before Christmas break was a full week, with no margin for issues. But we had an issues. Grant had a tough time that Tuesday morning. His teacher had set up "Secret Santa" for students in his class, and we had not prepared sufficiently (who has time for extra things like that in late December?!). We were short on time that morning, and Grant had a meltdown because he didn't know what to give his person that day. He had put a rock and a shell necklace that we had brought back from Hawaii for him in a sealed envelope and then lied to me about what was in the envelope. He started crying and said he was sorry for lying, and then he continued to cry as he told me that his assigned "Secret Santa" person was a girl who "isn't very nice" to him and that he didn't really want to give her anything.  So, we had the lying issue on top of the all other emotions and issues.  I realized in the midst of this mini-crisis, that it was time for me to leave. I was subbing at East Orient that morning. So, I told him to draw her a picture and that we would talk more after school. It wasn't a great way to leave the kids, with Grant in an unsettled, emotional state, but I had to go.

Well, at about 8:20, I checked my phone and saw multiple missed calls and texts. I had been going over lesson plans and talking with other teachers. The first text said, "Mommy it's me Grant I am going to miss the bus but no one can take me what do I do with Joel." I saw another text from my mom, though, that said, "You probably saw some missed calls. Don't worry, I got Grant and we're headed to school." Right after I read these texts, Aubrey came running into the room where I was subbing (school hadn't started yet) and says, all flustered and upset, "Grant was still working on his Secret Santa picture and didn't get breakfast and wouldn't brush his teeth, and he wouldn't go out to the bus, so I got on the bus without him, and he's still at home!" I assured her that everything was ok and that Grandma had gotten him to school. Another mom volunteering that morning overheard part of our conversation and offered to go pick up Grant, if I needed her to, which was so nice. I love being a part of a community of people ready and willing to help each other out. I assured her that all was well, and we got our day started.

I did find it funny that Aubrey had left Grant behind, but she didn't know what else to do, and Joel was still home. Turns out, Joel called me first and didn't get an answer, called Christine and didn't get an answer, and then called Grandma. His next call was going to be the other Grandma and Grandpa, but it didn't come to that. She was able to jump in the car, pick Grant up, and get him to school on time. Crazy kid! When I got home, we talked through our morning and how we need to show love to people even when they're not always nice, because that's what Jesus wants us to do. And then we worked on Secret Santa gifts for the whole rest of the week, so they were ready and waiting to go in his backpack each morning.  The whole situation could have been avoided if we had been more prepared for our day. Lessons learned by all of us.  This was the first big morning botch/missed bus we've had since I started subbing. For the most part, it's worked out pretty well, so hopefully, days like that one will be few and far between!

Oh, and when I volunteered at Grant's winter class party, I saw for myself the little girl who was his Secret Santa partner. She is a sassy little thing who speaks her mind! I can see why he was intimidated by her. He's a pretty strong personality himself, though, so I think he'll be able to hold his own with her. :-)

Facepainting

Grant's teacher asked for a parent volunteer to do face painting at their class Christmas party. No one volunteered, and so I told her I'd do it, even though I've never done face painting before. I bought some paints, did some pinterest research, and practiced on my hand and on Grant's face. I printed up a sheet of the things I could do, and I was the official face-painter for the party. :) It actually was a lot of fun. Another mom helped me and painted faces, too, using my templates. The kids loved the reindeer face the most. It was a lot of fun!

Kari's birthday

Kari turned 15 on December 17th and immediately went to take her driver's permit test that same day. Grandma A. took her to the DMV since Joel had a school basketball game, and I had told Kari she would have to wait. Grandma saved the day and made Kari one happy girl. She celebrated her birthday with her friends here at our house, just hanging out, eating pizza and brownies and ice cream.

Greg is the primary driving teacher, but I have driven with Kari a few times. The first time was a heart-pounding experience. It was her first time driving the van, and we were both nervous. It was a short drive, though, and we made it! Phew! After that I bought magnets that say "Please Be Patient. Student Driver," and just knowing that others will know we have a new driver at the wheel makes me feel better about the whole thing. She likes driving!

Japan Trip

Greg found out less than a week before departure that he was going to Japan on a business trip. They had talked about the possibility of a two-week Australia/Japan trip in the weeks leading up to it, but it sounded like it was not going to happen. Then, at the last minute, the bosses decided to send them just to Japan and only for one week. It was quite the trip. Greg got to experience and a whole different culture and a whole lot of new foods. He liked everything but the raw cow's stomach. Don't blame him for not finishing that! Bleh. We had a crazy, busy week here at home, as I was scheduled to sub every day that week, but we made it through. It was great to see all the photos and hear about all his adventures. Greg handled the jet lag and 17 hour time difference very well coming home. He had to jump right back into life here with a basketball tournament for Joel that weekend.

our "fancy" turkey dinner without Greg the night after he left

I watched his plane on an app as it landed in Tokyo.

view from his hotel room

candied fish--he said they were tasty

us with our MOD pizza without Greg

Japanese goodies he brought home for us