6 December 2009

Happy St. Nicholas Day! This morning the kids woke up with candy in their shoes, a German tradition we have no real claim to except that it's really fun to wake up and find candy in your shoes. St. Nick suspected Brandan would prefer a book by a favorite author for a treat. And don't worry about Becky's shoe not being out-- St. Nick left the extra candy (Lindt balls and mini Toblerone) in the pantry for her.

We decorated for Christmas this week, including setting up the tree. Acquiescing to the reality of a busy 2 year old, we didn't put anything breakable on the tree and pared down on decorating the rest of the house. Gibson rearranges the decorations constantly.

We decorated gingerbread houses this week, too. This is earlier than we usually make them, but our ward was having a gingerbread house contest at our ward party which we entered. Each of the kids decorated their own little house. In the photo, Sophie is hurrying to practice the piano so she can join the others.

We didn't win any prizes at the party Friday night for our little village. This is what it looked like by Saturday afternoon. By Saturday evening, the last few remains were thrown away.

Here's a photo of the kids dressed for church this morning. Helen and Sophie were delighted with their Christmas outfits. Abe and Gibson-- not so much. They were good sports (almost) about sitting still for a group photo.

We're looking forward to a month of Christmas wonder-- traditions, treats, surprises, lights, music, stories. December would loom dark and dreary without this time of celebration. Although Jesus was born in the Spring, we remember his birth in the darkest time of the year. This year we especially love the carol In the Bleak Midwinter. It's an old carol, but it's new to us and beautifully expresses faith and hope in Christ in a cold and suffering world. You can find a great arrangement with the lyrics here .

29 November 2009

We tried something new this Thanksgiving and pulled all the kids out of bed before sunrise for the annual Turkey Trot, a 2 mile run/walk. Our camera batteries were dead, so you'll have to imagine the beautiful race route-- tall trees towering over orange and yellow underbrush, the whole scene veiled in thick mist. You probably won't want to imagine Gibson's meltdown with half a mile left to go. The photo shows Abe back at home, warming up with a cup of hot cocoa.

Did anyone else put olives on their fingers this week? We spent Thanksgiving dinner with friends and neighbors, enjoying delicious food mingled with wonderful conversation. The kids brought home leftover turkey and jello which they've been feasting on all weekend.

Helen and Abe helped Becky make 25 tiny pinatas. You'll see these pinatas again soon.

Gibson likes to pretend to cook on the kitchen floor. He always says he's cooking stew.

Yesterday Abe said Saturday is his favorite day of the week because something is always happening and he never gets bored. He likes tagging along with Brandan to get projects done. Here he is helping to clean the lawnmower and give it a tuneup.

22 November 2009

We took another fun Monday School field trip this week to the Mercy Flights hangar at the airport. Rylee's dad, Shawn, is a helicopter pilot and he showed us the helicopter and ambulances that are used to respond to emergencies and the fixed wing plane that is used for transporting critically ill patients to bigger hospitals. In the photo are Sophie, Kyia (Rylee's sister), Helen, Gibson, Rylee and Abe. Rylee and Kyia's mom, Kris, was also there. Shawn was a terrific tour guide, showing us everything from the computers the pilots use to monitor the weather to inside the engine compartment for the helicopter rotors. These Monday school field trips are spoiling us for regular school outings. There was enough time to let everyone have a turn. The kids clambered in and out of the vehicles at will. A cute flight nurse gave the kids stickers and pens. Becky asked whatever questions popped into her head without having other parents look at her strangely and think, "Who is that weird mom and why won't she be quiet?"

Abe really enjoyed trying out the pilot seat. We asked him if he would like to be a pilot when he grew up. "No, too scary. I want to be an astronaut." Because being an astronaut is less scary?

The helicopter is very compact. This allows it to maneuver into tight spots and land at a crash site, but doesn't leave a lot of room for passengers. Shawn showed us how a patient needing transport would be loaded into the back of the helicopter. Becky, who is a bit claustrophobic, would need sedation to ride in that narrow space. The liftoff fee for the helicopter is $7500, then an additional $50 per mile traveled is added to the bill. Trauma patients typically have a golden hour after their accident when treatment is most effective, which makes the speed of helicopter transport invaluable. We're so glad Mercy Flights provides this service. At the same time, we'll try to avoid using it.

Helen and Brandan made a blueberry cream pie this week just for fun. Gibson kept asking if it was family night. Nope. Brandan wanted to try adapting a recipe from the newspaper (is veganizing a word?) and Helen likes helping her dad.

The finished pie. You can tell Helen liked it, since she finished her piece before Brandan had cut pieces for everyone else. At least half the ingredients were substitutes (tofu, powdered soy milk, wheat-free graham crackers) but the finished product could be eaten by everyone. Everyone liked it except for Abe, who gave it 2 thumbs down. "And if my feet were hands, I'd give it 4 thumbs down." Don't listen to him-- it was delicious.

15 November 2009

Sophie took Helen and the camera outside earlier this week and took photos of Helen posing around the yard. They had a lot of fun and she took some cute photos.

We attended a concert Tuesday night that Sophie's school presented to honor veterans. Sophie is in the 6th grade choir and she sang two songs, "Taps" and "Dona Nobis Pacem (Give Us Peace)" The 6th grade choir is very small-- only 9 girls-- but they sang beautifully.

Wednesday morning we bundled up and went to our local Veterans' Day Memorial program. We've learned from past years to dress warmly. We're thankful to live at a time when veterans are honored for their service and can share their stories. It's good to stand in the cold for an hour and be reminded that "just the fact that we are Americans is an act of grace."

Gibson really loves helping to build fires. He likes carrying wood in, crumpling newspaper, arranging the wood. He doesn't get to use the matches, though. When Becky builds a fire, Gibson gets very concerned and tells her, "Those are Daddy's matches!" He also likes to build pretend fires out of blocks or crayons or toys.

8 November 2009

We took a Monday School field trip this week to a nearby animal sanctuary. The sanctuary has 2 missions: rehabilitation and education. They provide medical treatment to injured wild animals and return about 80% of the animals they treat to the wild. Some animals cannot live in the wild and these animals are given as comfortable a home as possible. The sanctuary offers tours of their permanent residents in order to teach people about wild animals. For example, black bears make really bad pets. This photo was taken in front of the bear pen. The bears are preparing to hibernate and are nicely roly-poly from eating pounds and pounds of dog food, chickens and pumpkins. Safeway and Fred Meyer send the animals their outdated meat and produce.

We chose to go to the sanctuary because Abe is studying wild cats this trimester. Clark, a mountain lion, is another one of the sanctuary's permanent residents. Someone had tried to keep Clark as a pet and cut the tendons in Clark's paws so that he cannot extend his claws. The sanctuary is beautiful and the animals receive first class treatment, but it's sad to see the wild animals penned in.

Helen wanted to go on a picnic on a cold, rainy day, but settled for a tea party inside, instead. She has some streaks of face paint on her face left over from playing at school.

Saturday morning Abe made waffles while Becky went running and Brandan worked on his talk for Sacrament Meeting. It makes us wonder what else he can do that we haven't thought to ask him.

We love the dresses at shabby apple . So many gorgeous dresses, all with sleeves and all at least knee length-- no tank tops, t-shirts, jackets or leggings required. Simply beautiful.

1 November 2009

Eeeek! If you haven't run away screaming after seeing this photo of a terrifying zombie, you might recognize Abe. Abe's costume was great fun to make. After sewing the pants and shirt, Becky gave Abe a pair of scissors and he cut tatters into them.

Our second scariest trick-or-treater was Gibson. This was his first year to catch the spirit of Halloween. He talked all night long, "I'm a spider! Trick or treat! Happy Halloween!"

This beauty is Miss Helen. Helen couldn't decide if she wanted to be a cheetah or a princess so she combined both ideas and was a cheetah princess.

And here's Sophie. Sophie sewed little bells around her scarf and made herself big hoop earrings for her costume.

Brandan's clinic won the Providence costume contest with their zoo theme. Brandan's group was assigned the bears. As it's not practical to examine patients in a big, furry costume, Brandan just wore bear ears. The doctor he shares an office with dressed as a zookeeper and carried a big shovel around. Several patients asked Brandan if he was the bear the other guy was cleaning up after.

Sophie invited some friends over for a party Friday night. From the left they are dressed as a musketeer, a disco queen, Granny, a dead bride, a gypsy and a devil. The girls made monster pizzas, decorated photo frames and played flashlight games in the dark. Twelve year olds are our new favorite age to host parties for. They play their own games at their own pace and you don't feel like you've been run over by a truck when they leave.

After Sophie's party, Brandan and Becky headed next door to Matt and Jen's annual couples Halloween party. There were so many creative costumes dreamed up by clever and talented people. Brandan made paper masks and we went as the Owl and the Pussycat from Edward Lear's nonsensical poem .

Our last Halloween activity was a trunk or treat at the church followed by trick or treating in our neighborhood. Brandan stopped too long to chat, so the kids plopped down on the sidewalk to eat candy. With them are Gideon (monster) and Eric (ninja.)

25 October 2009

Three cheers for Sophie who celebrated birthday #12 on Monday. We love our Sophie-- sensible and whimsical, playful and mature, smart, kind, generous. Sophie has a joyful heart and is delightful to spend time with.

Grandma Linda crocheted Sophie 2 afghans with the Young Women's colors for her birthday. Sophie likes them both. Twelve years old is such a milestone birthday. Sophie falls into a gap between ages of the girls in our ward, but the older girls have made her feel very welcome and she's enjoying the activities already.

Sophie got a new haircut with bangs this week. She took along a picture she drew so the stylist would know how long she wanted the bangs to be. The stylist did a good job of copying the drawing, even slipping clips into her hair to match.

This week marked the end of cross-country with the district championships. We left our small town and drove out to an absolutely tiny town in the middle of nowhere. We did enjoy the beautiful fall color as we drove through the countryside to the meet. Sophie had a great race. Her school won 2nd place for the girls and 3rd place for the boys. Sophie will miss the 8th graders, running with her friends and making treats now that cross-country is over, but she's looking forward to having more free time after school.

Here are two of Sophie's faithful fans. Abe mostly liked playing with his friend, Tate, at the meets. Helen liked watching the runners and cheering them on. Gibson was just along for the ride.

This may be the most beautiful fall we've had. We may say that every year. Earlier this week we noticed one bright red leaf on our vine maple tree.

Becky has been reading Our Only May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm to the kids at bedtime. It's a pioneer story, a genre we like, but a little more intense than the Little House books. We love the Finnish connection, too. May Amelia is enormously likeable, but better suited for kids 8 and up. Becky hadn't read it before and sometimes she has to edit on the fly while reading.

One final photo of Sophie. Brandan and Sophie went on a date to drive go-carts on Saturday. Looking at this photo reminds us that in 4 short years, Sophie will pass another milestone and be behind the wheel of a real car.