Skiing

Sunday, the kids and I piled into the car and headed up to Snowy Range for a day of skiing.  The mountains have had some good snow recently and since we didn't get out at all last winter, we decided to take advantage of a long weekend and go skiing.  This picture paints a rosy picture of our day and that's how we'll go ahead and leave it.  But someday when the kids are middle-aged and possibly flipping through this blog like we do with our old fashioned photo books they might remember this as the day that mom completely lost her cool when Reina inexplicably couldn't get her ski boots on (boots that fit perfectly fine the day before), how at one point both mom and Reina were yelling and Will was trying to be the calm one and later suggested that he would now refer to Reina as "fat foot" which actually made her laugh, mom threatened to drive back home like fifty times, Reina finally got her boots on, everyone skied a bunch, mom and Lucy fell getting off the lift at least 50% of the time and the last time, the lift operator had to stop the entire lift to help mom get up and then Reina was worried mom had a concussion, Will had to ski by himself most of the time because he went down runs that were more advanced and he needs to go skiing with friends rather than moms and sisters, and a bunch of other little things.  But hopefully they will also remember a mom who wanted them to have fun doing some of the same activities that she liked to do and even a bad day on skis is never a completely bad day.  

January Snow Day

 We had snow in the forecast this week which was great news because it's been an unusually dry and warm fall/winter so far.  I was skeptical that we'd get any moisture.  I was pleasantly surprised when the snow started yesterday afternoon and quickly started to accumulate.  The temperature dropped and an email from the school district indicated that today might be a virtual learning day if the weather continued to deteriorate.  Then the state offices closed at 4:00 pm so that we could all get home (that RARELY happens!) and we settled in for a chilly night.  

 

Short hair dogs love fluffy blankets. 

The phone rang at 5:05 a.m. apparently (I slept through it) but Glenn woke me up and I checked the messages and schools were closed for in-person learning but it was time to fire up the Ipads for virtual class.  State offices were open but our agency got permission to work from home for the day.  This level of detail is probably unnecessary so I'll jump ahead to the highlights.  It was like March 2020 again - wheeee!  Reina tackled her classes and needed help from time to time with technology and algebra.  Thankfully she handled her health vocab list on her own (estrogen, pituitary gland, puberty, etc. etc.).  Will was pretty independent but wanted help with a sports marketing project and how can I resist the words sports and marketing?  I squeezed some work into the day but ended up taking some vacation time because it was hard to juggle everything without losing what little bits of sanity I have left.  

We ended up with a good amount of snow (7 to 10 inches in town) and some crazy temperatures - negative 3 this morning and right now it's back in the 30's.  

This girl captures my energy today.  Also, she kept sitting on my laptop whenever I stepped away.  Cold and hungry.  It's me!  

A short story in four parts

 

And a Happy New Year

It's 8:08 on New Year's Eve.  We just finished up a dinner of homemade curry with chicken that Reina made for a class assignment.   It received rave reviews from Glenn, Will ate a big bowl and Reina even had some.  We also had a (mostly) homemade creme brulee for dessert.  Mostly because I found a mix for creme brulee at the store last week and thought it would be fun to try.  Man, we are exciting around here. 

I had hoped to write an eloquent post wrapping up the year but I just don't have it in me tonight.  Life feels a little bleak with covid still ever present, fires in Colorado, division in our country, drought and to top it all off - football teams that I dislike keep winning big games.  I know I need a dose of perspective but that's where I'm at.  I want this blog to reflect our real lives and it's not always goofy pictures of kids and chaos.  But I think for now, I'll try to focus on some of the good stuff.  We're all here. The house is nice and warm on a night that is supposed to be the super cold (negative wind chills expected).  We have more pets than we can probably handle but one of them is serving as a heating pad right now and it feels delicious.  We are still having a fun holiday break and it's only Friday night!  

There are some good things to look forward to and maybe that will be my New Year's Resolution - look for the light instead of paying attention to so much darkness. 

We'll give it a try.  

Merry Christmas 2022

 It's Christmas Day 2022 and we had a lovely time.  I was just reading my post from last Christmas and it's nice to have most of us back together although Covid still casts a shadow over our plans.  But let's talk about Christmas. 

Reina's favorite Christmas present is without a doubt her VR thing.  VR headset?  I don't know how exactly to refer to it but she loves it, it was #1 on her list and we might have lost her to the void.  We've all tried it out and it's actually really cool.  She can't wait to save up some money to get more games because her only game right now involves her working different jobs in the VR world and that sounds too much like real life for me.  

Glenn's favorite present his bipod which is a fancy way to describe this two-legged thing that he attaches to his hunting rifle blah blah blah.  Lucy also got him an ancestry DNA kit so that we can see if we are related and some sardines from World Market.  

Lucy's favorite present is a lens cap for her camera that is super sturdy.  (For the record, this was one of those years where I didn't really need anything and I bought myself some stuff on sale before the holidays so I said let's just call it good.)  Glenn did an excellent job filling up my stocking with candy so that was awesome.  

Will's favorite present is his airpods - which are noise cancelling so I think that's his answer from his room with the door closed.  He also got a massage gun to help with his training and some Wyo clothes.  And a stocking filled with authentic ramen from World Market (guess where Lucy did some last minute shopping?)   

We spent Christmas morning with the Fry family and Grandma and Pop-pop and it was sweet.  It's still fun to see Christmas through the eyes of the younger family members and especially sweet to have us all back together.  We got a surprising white Christmas too - we woke up to a few inches of snow on the ground and had fluffy white snowflakes coming down during the morning.  After everyone left, we napped, walked dogs, ate a bunch of delicious leftovers, watched football and played with our new toys.  What a nice Christmas.  

Traditions!

 A few nights ago, we all braved some chilly weather and took a trolley ride around town to look at Christmas lights.  It's a tradition we've had for the last few years, 2020 excepted.  The younger cousins picked a spot between the two older cousins naturally.  We saw some crazy light displays which is always just a little more fun watching it through the eyes of the 5 and 8 year olds.  The Christmas spirit is in full force!  

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

With five days until the 25th, it better be looking a lot like Christmas!  Today was the first day of holiday break for the monsters.  Glenn and I are at work most of the week - well Glenn's at work more than me - but we were both very jealous of all of the sleeping in that was happening at the house this morning.  

We are in the homestretch of the holiday preparations.  Most of the presents have been purchased, but not wrapped.  The house is so decorated that it's almost over-decorated.  The baking is mostly done.  The Christmas cards... well those are still on the to-do list.  But we are just about ready.  

Coco can't stay away from my very precious Lego village.  

At the beginning of the month, I had to make some cookies for the Tea Room at Christmas House. I made an error in trying a new recipe for the first time.  I found a recipe for rocky road cookies and it called for adding just one marshmallow to the dough before cooking.  I didn't think that was enough so I added two marshmallows and then popped the cookies in the oven.  When they came out, I realized that I had created some cute aliens.  They still tasted delicious.  

Finally, it's German Christmas cookie time. This is the batch of lepkugen fresh from the oven.