Goodbye 2020!

 With fall decor safely stowed, we "immediately began that most pleasant of activities, the celebration of Christmas."  Last year the tree stood where the school desks are now, so we had to do some furniture rearranging.  The tree replaced the corner couch and the chaise made room for it by morphing  everything into a giant magical Christmas bed.  

Much snuggling done here this year.

It's especially enticing by twinkle light.

Here is a Merrick who loves to steal my phone and take hundreds of pictures.  I am including this one, because it has the mistletoe ball in the background.

Our neighbors go all out with Christmas lights.  It makes our house look better by association, but Drew still added some fun rainbow lights for our chaste tree this year, just for fun.  We wrapped it through the twigs so thoroughly we looked like we'd lost a fight with a giant angry cat afterwards.

Winter hygge demands a fire.  The kids especially like it on when they come down on cold mornings. This is usually very pleasant, but not when I'm exercising in that room.

The weather gave a feeble attempt at a White Christmas-time at least once in December.  Here are the boys and their leafmen...

...and an upside down Vivien.  She loves her snow bib.  She would very much like it to be part of her regular wardrobe.  

The kids got into the spirit of things and made a Christmas nyo-nyo.  What is a nyo-nyo, you may ask?  I am not sure.  But they always look like this, and my children love to make them with the counting blocks.

Poor Mr. Merrick has been having a rough time of things.  He was robbed of one-on-one mommy time this year by our homeschool (really any mommy time--I have very little mothering left in me after getting through a homeschool day), and his reluctance to potty train has not made him a favorite of anybody (how many times have I come out and found him crying on the driveway because he was sent home from a friend's house to get his poopy diaper changed?).  After a particularly emotional-Merrick day, it dawned on me that he is mostly being raised by 4-year-old Allen next door.  

This seemed like a bad plan, so I started taking steps to get the kids back into school.  I knew the Richardsons would leave some spots open at the family school that is about a mile away from us, so I emailed the principal about maybe enrolling partway through the year.  She entered us into the lottery, we were able to get all 3 kids in, and we let our homeschool break for Christmas a week and a half early in celebration.  Please enjoy their last writing assignments.  I let them write about whatever they wanted.  Annie's is as sweet as she is: "Why I like Christmas is because I give presents to other people."  Vivien's tribute to her dear friend evidences her social nature, which has suffered greatly during the homeschool.  Rafe finds the mechanics of writing to be a great hindrance to the expression of his thoughts.  

Here is the Vivs, loving to practice her guitar so much she can hardly stand it.

Here is Annie completing our daily weather survey.  It made me laugh to think of what the diagram would have looked like if we were still living in Bremerton.  

Here is Rafe taking a break and chewing his nails or maybe picking his nose, probably a bit of both.  I watched him pick off a piece of his toenail today and then put it in his mouth.  I made him spit it out and go throw it away.

He is a slurpy, wheezing, silly, wonderful boy.  One of his favorite games right now is to lurk on stools or counters or couches or tables and as I walk by try to jump onto my shoulders.  Keeps me on my toes.

We finished our Finn Family Moomintroll read aloud and loved it.  I will probably read it aloud to them again sometime.    

Here is the Goose painting away.  

I should have been a better art teacher, but it's also been fun to just let her loose on a stack of blank paper and see what she does.  

Christmas had a different feel this year, most noticeable in the lack of rehearsals.  It left lots of time for other kinds of celebrations.  We had a Sinterklaas party with the van Langens one night.  Merrick and Allen got to help make the speculaas.  

We had a Cookies and Carols party one night.  I spent the day before making gingerbread and sugar cookies and missing the cookie cutters we had growing up that I don't have yet (reindeer, bell, holly leaf, Christmas light).

Oh no, some of them broke and had to be eaten.

There were still so many!

For the party we had soup and bread for dinner, then when that was cleared away we decorated and decorated and decorated!  I took a time lapse of the comings and goings.

Spencer and Joel left some treasures in it.

Drew made a really cute snowman.

And all of Vienna's cookies were works of art.

After cookies we started a movie for the littles on our projector upstairs in the kids' bedroom and then Levi Sexton kicked off the Carols portion of the party with an awesome trombone solo.  Next we attempted an arrangement of The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy for bottle band and bells, because it was MY party and I wanted to.

After that we played a Wheel of Carols game.  Joel passed on to me a mini gameshow spinner wheel someone had made for singing time once and I filled it with the names of carols people had requested to sing.  

Krista helped me print out and assemble little booklets of sheet music copies and there were hymnbooks passed around.  Spencer shouted "SPIN THE WHEEL!  SPIN THE WHEEL!" after every carol, and his voice got hoarser and hoarser with each iteration.  

It was a lot of singing for one night, especially since we are all out of singing shape, but it was pretty much the only chance we had this year to sing ANY Christmas songs together, so we suffered through!  After singing, people started heading home, but the top of the Richardsons' Albuquerque Hour Glass was getting too empty to call it an early night, so we all stayed up until well past midnight, wrestling...

...and giving uncomfortable hugs.

The boys had had their last game night all together the week before.

I had spent a couple afternoons/evenings at the Richardsons' letting the kids romp through Kid Kountry with their friends while I helped pack.  Every time I'd walk into a newly undecorated or empty space, it felt like this:

But it was also wonderful to have an excuse to spend as much time as possible with people I love so much.  This coloring page ended up in their kitchen at one point during the week.  I can't remember if it was Bruce or Gabe who did it, but oh it made me laugh so hard.  The yellow briefs!  The midriff shirt!  The hunchback!  

The dreadful day arrived.  McKenzie makes an impressive master moving plan for each of her moves (and even more impressively, actually sticks to it), so it was a pretty painless process.  Physically anyway.  Joel's older brother is in the background of this picture.  When I took off my mask after all the helpers had gone, he said, "Oh!  You're the Primary president.  I've met you before.  You look a lot younger without your mask on.  When you first walked in I thought [Joel and McKenzie] must have a middle aged friend, but..."  I expected no less from a conversation with Joel's brother.  

Krista offered to watch my kids while Drew and I went to help load and clean, because she wanted to help but didn't want to face the empty house.  It was a disorienting and disheartening sight, indeed.  BUT, how often do you have a big empty space to play this game in when the work is (mostly) done and everyone has (mostly) gone?

The boys came and hung out with me the next day for a few hours while Joel and McKenzie finished up all the loose ends.  Brock took his naps (one easier than the other).  Bruce got bored halfway through the day and decided to "borrow" a bike and ride home by himself without telling me.  Axel tucked into HP Book 7 and these two friends read side by side for awhile.  

Oh, this picture of Axel sitting on my couch and explaining his thoughts makes me teary.  What a fun friend he has been for us all!

It has felt like a rough month at sea.  I had to write a sad poem to plumb out the depths of my feeling and find some stable ground to start building a future devoid of the constant association of these dear friends.

THE TREE

 

I stood and watched, the day they pulled the tree

My feet absurdly rooted as chaos crashed through

Sunlight scattered by branches dismantled

Leaves swirling

Roots ripped

Worms writhing in unexpected space

 

How strange the empty shape

An echo maintained by bedfellows

Forms defined by the contact of years

Who knew how deep, how far roots had reached

A stabilizing web

Invisible and uncharted

Until all that remained were sunken trails

Tracing back to a pit

 

At the edge I stand and remember

I hear again the singing of a breeze through the leaves

I savor the sweet fruits of summer

I grasp hardy branches and climb ‘til strength’s spent

I lean with my cares on the steadfast trunk

I lift to the laughter of children in the boughs

I feel patterns of Light warm my skin, filtered through the canopy

 

And now, this silent hole

The living borne away

Leaving the cold earth of memory

 

Yet displayed in this open wound

Are not sands of desolation

But a rich soil

Imbued with the essence of the tree

Each leaf that fell, incorporated

Each root put forth, an anchor

Every passing day, the earth enriched

Its ability expanded

Impervious to leaching rains

 

I will stand here in the spring, with loss a sweet aching

The abyss alleviated by tender new and knowing old

Softening edges

Spilling over

No reincarnation

A different garden

Where all will grow more abundantly

Because here lived the beloved tree

So, life goes on.  At least we still had Christmas to look forward to!  I showed up at Costco one night for the pre-Christmas shop and had to take a picture of the line (our NM COVID restrictions for businesses are so fun).  Who should be in my picture, front and center, but Hillary!  

We had some holiday themed workouts for Masters the week before Christmas.  They were intense.  I had to rest while I waited for Michelle.  One of the lifeguards ran over with concern.  "I don't know you well enough to know if you're kidding or not!"

Michelle does it too sometimes.  

We kind of do it after we run, but it looks more like stretching and less like dying.  

Michelle is working hard to train Murphy as a running companion.  He is very intimidating; the coyotes don't stand a chance.  This is a coyote I saw on the road on the way to the post office when I went to mail Jade's Christmas present to her.  I followed it for awhile, just for fun.  He was annoyed.

One morning Drew went running with Spencer (who was finishing up his 2,020 miles in 2020) and caught this incredible sunrise.

Erica Bass came over one day as Vivien's Primary Activities leader with a gift and ended up staying for about half an hour to chat.  Everyone is missing company in these COVID days.  

OhVivien, who is getting so big and can help Daddy make dinner!  Drew and I switch off in the kitchen for dinner most weeks.  I thought it was just because he loved me and wanted to be helpful, but a comment he made the other day made me think that perhaps he cooks because I often make vegetarian meals, and he wants to make sure we get to eat meat occasionally...

We must feed the growing bodies with good protein!

I believe for Christmas Adam we had a Dickens night (hot sausage and mustard, roasted potatoes, braised cabbage, cranberry pudding, Muppet Christmas Carol) with friends.  Spencer made a kransekake that was very exciting.  I apparently didn't take any pictures!  On Christmas Eve we had lighter fare: a Mary and Joseph dinner of sorts, with bread dipped in olive oil, and salad that had goat cheese in it.  We watched The Nativity Story afterwards, which I love.  

Then the kids got to open their Christmas jammies from Grandma Paula and Poka Moyk.  Vivien whirled and pranced with joy in her nightgown, and looked so much like Wendy Moira Angela Darling I would not have been surprised if she had taken flight.  I wanted to get just one picture of all of them making nice faces in their jammies in front of the tree, but Rafe was too funny.

I took 28 pictures and this is the best we got.  

We had stroopwaffles and hot cocoa as a Christmas Eve treat.  

Santa came and made things ready.  

It was hard for the larks to wait for the owls in the morning.  

But I think it was a pretty happy Christmas for all.  Santa decided to have Vivien's requested onion dinosaur ("wild scallion" from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2) toy made last minute, which was a much appreciated gesture.  Christmas spoiler alert: Vivs had come to me early in December and said, "Mom, some time can I talk to you about Santa Claus?"  A day or so later while I was sorting laundry I called her in and asked what she wanted to talk about.  "Is it Santa that makes the gifts, or is it just you and Dad?" I explain.  Pause.  "Well that doesn't make me any less excited for Christmas!"

Merrick was smitten with this fun book from cousin Gabe.  

The kids all gave gifts to each other.  Rafe gave Annie his second copy of a Magic Treehouse Fact Tracker on Space.  

I can't remember who this was from, but it was funny!

Sugar cereal is not the fanciest Christmas morning breakfast, but everyone was certainly excited for it!  (I searched high and low to find all the softest Christmas clothes for Ms. Vivien.  My favorite find was a pair of navy velour pants that she is wearing under her new sweater dress.  There is gold thread in the sweater dress that gets caught on things, so it is not as favorite as the pink sweater dress she got.)

The hours after breakfast were full of peaceful building.  (I tried really hard to find Christmas shorts that would be suitable for Rafe's exacting standards.  He likes pockets, he likes elastic waistbands that are tight enough or have draw strings, he likes them to cover his knees, he likes them to feel silky.  Picky, picky, picky.  These sort of worked.)

Even Merrick could follow along with his directions pretty well.  

Christmas morning explosion!

I ducked out for a minute to deliver some washcloth stacks to friends.  When I wrapped up the first one Merrick came over and said, "Ooooooo, is that for me?!"  They did look like a lot of fun.

We spent the afternoon enjoying presents...

...watching the Guatemala City East Mission's Christmas Devotional and preparing for the Christmas feast.  We had ham and twice baked potatoes and green beans and a pretty trifle for dessert.  I think half of the red velvet cake is still in the freezer.  

The day after Christmas I cleaned all day to get ready for our trip to Utah.  Presbyterian offered a $2,000 bonus to frontline healthcare workers who worked a certain amount of hours between 11/16 and 12/26, so I worked that night to squeeze in the last shift I needed to qualify.  Because I had been cleaning I hadn't taken a nap before I worked, then right after work I drove over to Pres main to get the first round of my COVID vaccine.  They have you wait for 15 minutes afterward to ensure you don't have any adverse reactions; I sat in the chair and tried to be mindful of how I felt and realized that I felt pretty awful, but not from the vaccine!  I stopped by the McEwen's on the way home to pick up a box of gifts that had arrived too late to go with them on their Christmas trip and that we were going to bring to them in Utah, then headed home to finish packing up.  We drove the truck for this trip because the van's abilities are becoming questionable without having to factor in winter roads.  I woke up around Farmington to a sleeping Rafe's head resting squarely on my exquisitely sore injection site.  It took a day or two before I could lift my arm again.  There was a wholesome dinner waiting for us when we pulled up to Grandma and Papa's house.  It is such a beautiful feeling to be "home!"

In the morning we had Christmasy waffles.

We stopped by to visit the Foxy girls.  Melanie had her childhood friends over who had both just taken jobs at AF L&D, so we got to talk nursey talk for awhile.  

Then we went to the Cooks' to see the baby Kitten and the new LEGO table.  I love this squeeshy baby!

Grandma made delicious fried fish for dinner.  Merrick loves to maul his Daddy at the table.

Tuesday we woke up and went to the dentist.  It really does make me so sad that all those James Christensen paintings are gone, but I still like the Dr.s Greenwood.

My kids may not get to do much with their cousins, but they can at least be in the Tuffy Tooth Club together!

That afternoon we met the Alworth's at Mutual Dell for some sledding.  Papa Mark was a good sport and tramped after us carefully on his new knee.  

There were lots of nice little hills.  One of them had a jump that took some deliberate aiming to hit.  Poor Annie had to try at least 7 times before she nailed it.  

The hill behind the cabin was a nice long ride this time.  

Adults look so funny on this sled.  Good mobility exercise!

Rafe had to visit the porta-potty.  He was gone so long I had to go make sure he had not fallen in.  He came out in time for one last ride and then got towed back to the car by his loving Grandma. 

That evening we hung out at home for awhile.  Vivien found this old coat in the dress-ups and fell in love.

She wore it as often as she could get away with it.

Even inside!

The Richardsons were driving through Utah on their way from California to Idaho and stopped to buy a new car for Joel to drive on his snowy commute.  While they went to the dealership (always such a quick and painless procedure), they had their kids stay and play at McKenzie sister's house, which just happened to be about 10 minutes away from us.  We coordinated a drive-by hugging in the cold.

Side note: I am trying really hard to get this post finished, but Annie is coloring at the table and will. not. stop talking to me.  It feels too mean to ignore her so I have to leave 15% of my brain available to occasionally say, "Mmmhmmm.  Oh?  Huh. Cool! Wow."

After the driveby hugging we drove through some fun Christmas lights in...Mapleton? I think?  Then we stopped at Chick-fil-a for delicious peppermint shakes.  

The next day Drew and I went to see a filmed production of Hale's A Christmas Carol at Jordan Commons with Meme and the aunts and uncles.  Tia Kate watched the kiddos.

They got to eat cotton candy??? What magical auntiness is this?

Also, popcorn in fun bags?!  They had a great time.  We did too.  We went to Arby's to pick up lunch and then ate it back at Meme's house.  

That evening we put away the tree.  Here is Rafe getting mauled by the base.

He loves to help his Papa.

In the morning, Kate and I went for a run together along the Jordan River.  

It had snowed overnight and I had neglected to bring shoes with proper traction, so we attempted to add some bumps to the bottom using bird netting and rubber bands.  

It worked pretty well.  I only fell once when the trail got particularly steep.  We reenacted, for your benefit.

Good thing I didn't roll more, or I'd have made quite a snowman.

It was a beautiful, crisp day...

...and a great way to cap off a year of exercise!

That afternoon Drew went to have lunch with Mark Hillier and got back just in time for the McEwen's to come by to pick up the box of presents we had brought from their house.  They came in to have a little rest from their travels.  It was fun to have worlds colliding and the girls were thrilled to see their friends.

We spent the rest of the afternoon making ready for a New Year's Eve party!

Since none of the Forbes clan were in town and Nana and Papi are in Guatemala, Grandma and Papa adopted some Brunsdale girls for the evening.  Even Haley cast herself out from the Sheffield COVID Sanctuary to join the festivities.  

Drew picked up Whistle Wok for an easy feast.

There was BINGO and limbo...

...the Virginia Reel and a piñata...

...some M&M straw races and fireworks, of course!  Kate and I threw snaps at each other, because we are very good examples.  

Drew handled the fireworks and made the show mercifully short with clever combinations.  

(Annie's still going strong talking my ear off here.)

We had a toast with fancy glasses at fake midnight, then Haley gave us her SheffTalk about the MCU while the kids pretended to have a sleepover.  

Haley stayed the night in the resort room.  In the morning we woke up and did horrifically difficult exercises together, then we chatted with Presidente y Hermana for awhile.  

I don't remember what else we did on New Year's Day.  Oh, yes I do!  We ate a staggering amount of Pizza at Papa Tony's and did a virtual, international Tunuk Tunuk dance and then played poker (I won, but not because I'm good at poker).  In the morning, Kate, Haley, and I swam laps at the Legacy Center.    

I interrupted a game of Avengers Go-Fish back at home.

Then that afternoon we ALL went to the pool for a swim.  

Here is a whirpool full of Brunsdale people and their people.  Our people.  Lots of people in a whirpool.

It was our anniversary.  I'm sure it's customary to celebrate your anniversary at a public pool.  It is SO romantic.  

After swimming we met back at the Alworth's for a tasty soup lunch, then we dropped our kids back off at the Forbes, went to see Wonder Woman at the Cinemark with Kate and Justin and Haley and Jacob, and rounded out the evening at Habit Burger, where we enjoyed stimulating conversation and delicious foods.  

We stopped by Melanie and Isaac's afterwards.  There were a couple reasons we needed to go by so late at night--the only one I remember now is the one we forgot while we were there (to borrow a couple diapers to get us back home)--but it was fun to interrupt their movie and sit and chat for a minute.  

The next morning we went home.  Drew made me drive the last half.  Rafe took pictures of him asleep.  

And some flattering pictures of himself as well. OH MY GOSH ANNIE IS STILL TALKING!!!