A December Whirlwind!

This past month has been pretty crazy. I sang in two choir concerts, gave a capstone presentation at the art museum for my docent class, finished the school quarter, and then started prepping for the class that I just started to teach.

A few days before Christmas, Grandma P passed away, and we went as a family to Utah to attend her funeral. She was an amazing lady who loved to learn and read, and she accomplished a lot of great work within her community too. I think it is pretty impressive that the administrations of both local universities sent flowers to the family:

The B family men at the funeral

The kids were quite good at the funeral. My dad and sister L came, and I think Sam was a lot more attentive because he was sitting next to L. We actually stayed at my dad's house, so we got to spend some time with family and extended family while we were there too. Sam and Lucy loved playing in the snow with some of their aunts:

V got to see Lucy in the Christmas Queen outfit that V bought for her

Second cousins! Lucy and Vera

I got visit with three good friends in three short, thirty-minute stints. It was good to see Joanna, Heather, and Katherine, although each of the visits was much too short!

We made sure that we went down and visited my Grandma L. She is doing better than when we saw her in July, and I'm glad that we were able to have a nice conversation with her (although she kept getting confused as to whether she was in her right room in the nursing home). I'm glad Sam got to see his "Gingerbread House Grandma."

Before we flew home, we met with V by her work and got to eat lunch downtown. V took us on a tour of the underground tunnels near her work, which Sam thought was pretty neat!

We came home right before Christmas Eve. That day was a little bit of a blur, since we were getting last-minute things ready for Christmas.

Christmas Eve bedtime story

Christmas morning! Sam got a Kylo Ren helmet (he specified to Santa that he did not want a mask) and costume!

Santa brought Lucy a toy kitchen, which came with a little phone!

Christmas breakfast. J made delicious cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting. Sam said that he made this face in the picture on purpose, but I think he must have been about to sneeze.

Christmas also didn't go quite like we expected. On Christmas afternoon, Lucy tried to take her new Fisher Price popper vacuum downstairs to our basement and fell down the flight of stairs, breaking her arm in the process. She fell just about thirty minutes before E and C were supposed to do a video chat with our family from their missions in the Philippines and Hong Kong. Lucy calmed down enough that we were able to start the video chat, but in the middle of the chat J was worried that something was wrong: Lucy wasn't using her right arm, although she could wiggle her fingers. J ended up taking Lucy to the ER before the video chat had ended.

J and Lucy in the hospital

J's brothers and their families arrived in town on Christmas night. We joined them at RB the next morning, since Lucy and J were at the hospital the night before. For the most part, Lucy was really cheerful and happy, despite her cast. The kids had a fun time playing with cousins.

Cousins peeking at each other between the banister

Sam got to join the grown-ups on an outing to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It was really fun to see it at the Cinerama, since Paul Allen's personal collection of Star Wars costumes was on display in the foyer!

Cousins walking in Snoqualmie after an outing at a bowling alley

Lunch at the Seattle Center! 

Lucy chose a bright lime green color for her cast. Maybe she and her mom like the same colors.

Cousins and brothers

J and I were also able to slip away to Vancouver, BC for a few nights to celebrate our ten year anniversary. We are so grateful that we had family members who were able to watch the kids so we could get away. J pretty much planned the whole thing. We stayed at a lovely Bed and Breakfast called Thistle Down House in North Vancouver. It was really nice to relax and spend time with each other. J said afterward that it was nice to spend time as two people, without the titles or roles of "dad" and "mom."

Anniversary selfie in Lee Bul's installation Via Negativa (2012) at the Vancouver Art Gallery

We went to Granville Island to seek out the Giants installation by Os Gemeos. This is a detail of the installation (there are actually four silos that are painted, but two of them were hidden behind some industrial machinery).

At the Hotel Vancouver New Year's Eve party, where we danced to a live band playing Motown music!

Brunch at the Tea Room in Stanley Park

And now we are back home, and things are getting back to normal! School started up for me and Sam again, so we are getting back into the normal routine. 

Lucy has learned how to get along with her cast. She makes a great padawan for Kylo Ren.

And she can still push her stroller!