Catching up . . . September, October and November

On September 17th Joseph received his Webelos badge.  Go Joseph!

And Joseph tried to teach me chess, just as Dan, Brandon, and Aubrey have tried in the past. It didn't go well. 

Aubrey and I went to see a musical she was very excited about (we both agreed that there were some cool parts and some good music, but overall it was a very strange and somewhat inappropriate show!)

October brought lots of soccer games,

 some in the pouring, windy, freezing cold rain.


















Sports are never cancelled for rain in Washington, of course!

We enjoyed a wonderful General Conference, with lots of relaxed listening and note taking (Joseph took notes on Dan's computer this time), plus plenty of puzzle doing and decadent food eating. We invited Hunter, one of our Trek family kids, to join us for Conference.

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Finishing up 2015

We were so happy that Bailey came home on Friday, December 18th!  Dan and I left his work Christmas party early to pick her our wonderful oldest daughter at the airport. When she walked into the house after being gone since August (home for a short break in August, but she started college last June), she was ecstatic about so many things.  Our carpet, a full refrigerator stocked with food, fresh fruit on the counter, her really big bed, her own room . . . .

It wasn't long before the Bailey-inspired selfies of the kids began.

The next day Aubrey had a special advanced vocal recital, during which four of her vocal teacher's "senior" students performed multiple numbers. She and her friend Emma also sang backups for her teacher Sara (who played and sang a song she had written).  Aubrey sounded absolutely beautiful!

 Between every number the girls changed their outfit somewhat, just like professionals.

The duet "Marry the Man Today" with Emma was HILARIOUS!

Joseph missed the concert because he went with Kartchners to his last basketball game of the season. We were so sad we missed watching him! He was instrumental in helping his team win the game, including making the winning free shot just before the end of the game!

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A Day in the Life of our Christmas Eve/Day 2015

Sometimes when I look at the pictures from important events in our lives I'm aware of everything that is not conveyed by the photos. This year I thought I would first give a rundown of our Christmas Eve day/evening/Christmas morning before posting pictures.

8 a.m.  I woke up. Dan was getting reading for work and the kids were still asleep. Hooray for waking up with no alarm and hooray for no early morning Seminary!

9 a.m. I worked on Primary stuff until it gave me a headache, and then turned my attention to putting together a shopping list for Christmas Eve dinner (which would also be Christmas Day dinner, as I have a rule that I don't cook or clean anything on Christmas). I had planned to gather the supplies for dinner earlier in the week, but in the 3 days before Christmas Eve we unexpectedly watched a friend's disabled 4-year-old for two days while they flew to SLC for a funeral (this required sticking to a strict medication and feeding tube schedule and me sleeping at their house at night) and all four of the Kartchner kids stayed overnight at our house while their parents were out of town. So it was that I was that I didn't get around to thinking about Christmas Eve until that very day.

10 a.m. Armed with a detailed list, I drove to Fred Meyer. I chose this grocery store because it tends to be the one in our area with the best customer service, and the lines move quickly. I guessed that there might be other last-minute shoppers like me.

10:15 a.m. Still driving around the parking lot at Fred Meyer looking for a spot. Apparently all of Vancouver was shopping at that very moment. Finally I parked about a mile away and sloshed through the puddles and the torrential rain.

10:20 a.m.  Inside the store, I realized that I had made a terrible mistake. We should have just eaten cold cereal for Christmas. The store was packed, and I could hardly push a cart through the aisles. I struggled to gather the items we needed for our Christmas Eve dinner (and forgot one crucial item) and then tried to find a checkout line which would allow me to be home before New Years. The lines stretched down the aisles, halfway to the back of the store!

10:45 a.m. I became fast friends with all the people around me, who were similarly trapped in a Christmas Eve retail nightmare. Finally at the cashier, I noticed she looked upset and teary. I asked her if she was OK, and she told me her 20-year-old daughter had experienced her first seizure the day before, they didn't know yet why she had seized, and the daughter was home alone because Mom had to work two different jobs on Christmas Eve. I was sufficiently humbled to remember that there are much more difficult things than waiting in line at the grocery store.

11:30 a.m. I dragged the bags into the house and found that my children were up and eating breakfast, just in time for lunch. Aubrey's friend had spent the night, and they reminded me that they wanted to decorate sugar cookies before she left. I whimpered a little at the thought of doing more baking (after our baking marathon the Sunday previous), but then someone remembered that friends had dropped of sugar cookie dough as a truly inspired neighbor gift. We pulled that out of the freezer and accomplished this very important sugar cookie tradition at almost the last minute.

12:30 p.m. We started preparations for our dinner, which was epic.  Knock-off Cafe-Rio with all the fixins': shredded pork, Cafe Rio black beans and pinto beans, lime cilantro rice, homemade verde enchilada sauce, creamy tomatillo dressing.  This cooking took hours. And hours. And hours. I was putting the finishing touches on it just before we ate at 5:30. I had some help while cooking, and we watched one Christmas special or Hallmark Christmas movie after another. Good times. After a week of significant squabbling between some family members, it was a relief to have some peace on earth.

5:30 p.m.  Dan was home from work and took the lead on setting the dining room table with our fancy dishes. We had decided that it was important that everyone have something they liked on the table for Christmas Eve, so Dan ran out to Dominos to pick up a pizza for Joseph. We enjoyed a scrumptdillyicious dinner and ate until we could pop.

6:30 p.m.  Joseph was bouncing with excitement like a Mexican jumping bean. We cleared the table and washed the dishes so that the kitchen would be clean for Christmas morning.

7:00 p.m. Then we gathered in the living room for our sibling gift exchange. Brandon and Angela had sent very thoughtful books for everyone, Joseph wrote his siblings a nice note, Bailey wrote notes which included an IOU for an outing with her while she is home, and Aubrey gave her gifts (an adult coloring book for Bailey and her old IPOD TOUCH for Joseph. To say he was thrilled would be a massive understatement!)

7:30 p.m.  Everyone scattered to dress in their nativity pageant costumes. Bailey was Mary, Joseph was Joseph and a shepherd, and Aubrey was an angel and a wisewoman. Dan read the Christmas story and I was the videographer.

8:00 p.m. The kids each opened their Christmas Eve gift - new pjs and a new Christmas book - The Mansion.  I gave Dan a special Christmas Eve gift - a picture book about how Dickens wrote The Christmas Carol (his favorite).

8:15 p.m.  Everyone wrote their letters to Santa Claus and set out their stockings.  Then they ran upstairs to set up the bonus room with mattresses and bedding for the traditional sibling Christmas Eve sleepover.

8:40 p.m.  Kids started watching The Grinch and the Year Without a Santa Claus while Dan and I were Santa's helpers.

12:30 p.m.  Dan and I were still going. What was taking us so long? I have no idea. We had very little to wrap and nothing to put together! The kids were still up.

1:00 a.m.  We parents passed out

6:00 a.m.  Joseph woke up and couldn't go back to sleep.

6:45 a.m. Aubrey and Joseph cajoled Bailey awake

7:00 a.m. All three kids came in to wake us up.

7:02 a.m. Downstairs to see what Santa brought!

After a fun morning of opening gifts, we made crepes, sausages, bacon, and Jamba juice, and then everyone either played with new toys, read new books, or took a nap!

Ok, now here's some pictures.

Decorating Christmas cookies Christmas Eve morning

 Christmas Eve Cafe Rio/pizza dinner

 Bailey adding her special ornaments to the tree and the other kids posing with the ornament they chose at Disneyland this year.

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A glimpse into our December

Greeting cards have all been sent . . . the Christmas rush is through 

I guess technically the Christmas rush is not through. There is still a little less than a week to Christmas, but I feel like all the rushing part is almost done. I did almost 100 percent online shopping this year, and that was great. Our gift giving was a lot simpler, emphasizing those who really need help. We have enjoyed having our Christmas decorations up since mid-November. We have attended many Christmas concerts, parties, and other assorted activities. (Just a few are remaining - Dan's work party on Friday and Aubrey's vocal recital for her private vocal lessons on Saturday.)  Tomorrow Bailey flies home for the holidays! We are so excited to see her! Around the same time, Brandon and Angela will be able to fly to sunny Florida to see her family.

Here's some photographic evidence of a few of our activities:

Annual Blanket making service for the Linus Project at the Bennett's home.


After one of Aubrey's three VSAA Acapella Choir performances

Making homemade advent calendars for FHE:

A very rainy Walk 'n Knock, a yearly tradition in our area.   Everyone in the community is invited to donate food to the food bank and groups of youth or Cub Scouts walk through neighborhoods to gather the bags.  I drove a car and both Aubrey and Joseph walked and knocked through miserable conditions!

Aubrey and Alayna

 Cub Scout Posse - this kids have grown up together and are great friends.

 Waiting at a door. The boys carefully rehearsed their speech and did great!

Baby, It's Wet Outside

The weather has been historically rainy. We haven't experienced days of nonstop "firehose" rain since the first year we moved here, and this year we have broken multiple records for the amount of rainfall.  We have had 12 inches of rain so far in December, and rain is in the forecast for every one of the next ten days! Our usual rainy average for December is 5.49 inches!  There has been lots of flooding, landslides, and damage to homes in the area. The combination of the dreary skies, nonstop rain, and very short days (some days it almost seems the sun hardly rises) make for a slightly depressing weather scenario. Sunshine is the best. We miss it. And we are all wishing that the rain would solidify into some white stuff for Christmas. Once Bailey is home, I want to get snowed in. Then we can do Christmasy things and hang out together.  Statistically, our chances are small, but we can dream!

Sick Again

Joseph was sick AGAIN this week. He missed his last basketball practice and a day of school. It has been possibly our sickest season ever. Luckily, he slept all one day and then felt well enough to rejoin his class for his holiday party and the HIGHLIGHT field trip of the year for 5th graders (more about that in a minute).  Joseph's immune system surely wasn't helped by doing safety patrol all last week. It was pouring buckets of rain every day and really cold, and the kids aren't allowed to use umbrellas. So he stood outside twice a day getting soaked through! Here he is getting ready to head outside on one of the "warmer" days when it wasn't quite as cold or wet.

That's the pitiful amount of sunshine we have received on our best days. And that's at 3 p.m.!

Money, Money, Money

Yesterday was Joseph's chance to go to Biztown, which is the highlight of the 5th grade.  It is run by Junior Achievement and is mini-town set up in a building in Portland. For months the kids learn about the business world and how to participate in or run a business. They decide what jobs they want to apply for at Biztown and dress up for "job" interviews. I was one of the interviewers, and it was amazing to see how well the kids were prepared. They made eye contact, shook my hand before and after the interview, and answered questions confidently.  

Joseph was selected to be the CFO of the Discovery Center in Biztown.  Yesterday was the big day. I was one of the helpers, in NW Sports. While I kept an eye on the CEO, CFO, and store clerks in my store, I was able to sneak over to check on Joseph now and then. The parent helpers in his store couldn't say enough positive things about Joseph. They said that he showed true leadership and was professional, organized, and a very hard worker. The CFOs have the hardest jobs at Biztown. They start working while everyone else is having a rah-rah town meeting, because they need submit their business loan application to the bank and print the first paycheck for all the employees. Then, throughout the day they are busy paying invoices on the computer system, recording payments and orders, making deposits to the bank, and updating the CEO on the financial stability of the business. It is such a great experience for the kids! They truly run this little mini-world, and learn a lot in the process.

The kids as they were walking in with bright eyes

I got these pictures of my little CFO getting to work

I finally dragged him away from his desk for a picture with me.

Being interviewed by BZTV

The kids at the end of the day for the final Town Hall Meeting

What a great day!  We were both exhausted and took a nap when we got home.

Early December thoughts

The end of the Santa photos?

This is really happening. My last child is refusing to get a picture with Santa Claus. Today his pediatric dentist office is holding their yearly Christmas party, complete with free pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Joseph told me "I'm too old for that, Mom" and is refusing to go. I'm totally not OK with the end of Santa photos!

Speaking of my awesome 10-year-old, here is a self-portrait/getting to know you project which came home.  I love it.

The attack of the Viruses

I am in shock that it is a week into December. It feels like it was just barely Halloween!  Part of the reason it has all been a blur is the fact that someone in the family has been sick since the second week of October. 

Just before we left to Disneyland, Joseph had a 2 day severe stomach flu.  Right after returning from Disney, all of us ONE BY ONE came down with the worst cold virus we have had in many years. It was almost to the level of influenza.  And both Dan and I developed sinus infections on top of the virus. In the midst of that misery, we were really busy. Dan taught seminary (he finally got a sub for two days at the end of November, after dragging himself sick to seminary every day for three weeks) and went to work.  I had all the normal stuff I do, plus a LOT of stake primary stuff. At the peak of my sickness, with my head pounding and my ears completely stuffed, we held our first stake primary leadership meeting. It was a very intense day and night for me. I'm still not sure exactly what I said to the women that night. I felt like I was talking into an echo chamber and I had a hard time hearing anything. But, I survived!

Finally, I can cautiously say that everyone is well as of this moment in time. (Fingers crossed, knock on wood, etc.)

Time Out and In the Christmas mood

Aubrey and I spent a fun weekend in Portland for Time Out for Women/Girls the second week of November (along with a lot of our friends)

and while we were gone, Dan and Joseph put up the Christmas tree and the outside lights! It was pretty funny, because for several weeks we still had our door decked out with fall decor, but also had Christmas lights lit on our house! (I thought the fall colors this year were really extraordinary.)


Then we decorated the tree on Sunday and the rest of the house on Monday. So, we have had a good long while to revel in everything Christmas, which is the way I like it. I have always loved everything about Christmas, especially the decorations, the music, the books, the movies, the food, the hanging out together in front of the fire, the way the season reminds us all to focus on the Savior and on serving others. Okay, I love everything about it. I especially love that we have simplified some aspects of our gift buying this year and are focused more on giving to those who really need our help.  

Someone build us an ark

It has come - that time of year when it barely light by 7:30 am., grey and overcast (or raining) all day, and then starting to get dark again by 4 p.m. Sigh. That's the flipside of living in the PNW. 

Sometimes I delude myself into thinking that everyone experiences this in the winter, but our Thanksgiving in AZ reminded that . . . WAIT, some people actually have sunshine in the winter. However, our beautiful summers and falls make up for the grey and dreary days of winter. I need to keep reminding myself as the rain keeps pouring down as if from buckets.  

Two days ago was the RAINEST day in history in Portland. That is saying something, for a city which is already really rainy! At our home, we got 5 inches of rain in the last day and a half. Poor Joseph has had safety patrol all this week, so he spends 20 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the afternoon holding the flags and escorting schoolgoers across the crosswalk. The kids aren't allowed to use umbrellas while doing their official duties, so he has been getting SOAKED.

Looking forward to Christmas

The first three weeks of December are super packed, with a holiday events, choir concert, basketball game, etc. every single night. It's a little out of control. But, that's OK. As I sat at the first of Aubrey's five choir/vocal concerts last night, I relaxed and focused on the beautiful music and watched my even more beautiful daughter share her God-given gift of music.  I will enjoy this season, and I want to spend as much time as possible reading Christmas books, watching Christmas shows, driving around to look at lights, and making goodies to share. I have stocked up on peppermint, chocolate chips, and butter, so I am READY.