How It's Going - A Quick Post

Diana and Peter arrived Saturday afternoon and we've had so much fun! They've been going almost non-stop, on their way to the Children's Museum and the park as I type this.

There's a lot to share but for today I'll leave you with these:

The Christmas We Won't Soon Forget -- Takes a Turn

The few days after New York were busy -

 

We celebrated Diana and Peter's Birthdays.

We had Ravioli Night where the whole family worked together to make ravioli from scratch. There were three generations there that night. Such a fun tradition!

We had Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Opening stockings and gifts, some at Diana and Peter's, some at Peter's folks. We got matching pajamas for Allison and Adelaide.

And little by little, day by day, THE ICK crept in. Adelaide had croup. Diana woke up one morning with a fever. Some of us were getting congested. By the time we were supposed to head home, we were too sick to fly. We postponed our flight for a couple of days. Then Sharaya had to postpone their flight. In the end, seven of the eight of us were very sick. Stomach bug, laryngitis, chills, coughing, congestion, strep throat, fever, headache... each of us seemed to have varying symptoms. (Beth and I both tested negative for covid and influenza but were told we had upper respiratory infections.) Allison was the only one who didn't get sick. Definitely not the way we thought this vacation would end.

I'm writing this on January 10 and Chuck, Beth and I are still congested and coughing but we are slowly improving. The rest of the family is the same way. It sounds like this is going around everywhere. I'm so sorry if you got this bug, whatever it is! 

I know with time though, the fun memories we made on this trip are what we'll remember most. It was good to all be together again!  

Just Beginning

I decided I was going to sit down and write about our trip so I got my phone and uploaded a few photos. Hahahaha!! More than 250 pictures later... I figured I should probably just start writing! 😂

There were so many surprises.

So many beautiful moments.

The flight down... the views were spectacular. 

 Exploring the resort was so fun and sometimes took my breath away!

 We celebrated Chuck's birthday while we were there. Restaurants were open and we found one that served steak, his favorite! Plus Diana had some cheesecake delivered to our room.

 Sunset Cliffs! We hadn't been there in forever and while I was walking around I came across this arch. It was beautiful!

There's so much more but I'm going to stop for tonight. 

As I type this the snow is falling. We're expecting anywhere from 3-8 inches tonight, it all depends on if the storm stalls over us or if the winds pick up... so I'll be awake most of the night, getting out of bed every so often to look out the window. I absolutely love the snow! As long as I don't have to drive in it. Which unfortunately is exactly what Chuck is doing right now. Driving a large city bus. Until 12:30am. 😬 Every time I look outside I pray for him. And you can bet I'm looking outside a lot!

Have you flown anywhere lately?

Do you like to fly?

Are you getting snow this weekend?

A Quick Update

My sister and great niece with their truck, travel trailer, 2 tortoises and a german shepherd all pulled out around noon today. We had so much fun while they were here and I'll write more about their visit in another post.

 

Chuck had his third infusion on Tuesday and we've been told this is usually when the side affects begin, so they'll be keeping a close eye on him. He's doing really well though, he's working about 55 hours a week and feels good.

I've got a full day of work tomorrow so I'll close. 

I can't wait to get back to reading your posts! 

Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks

Have you ever felt busy but haven't really been busy? That's kind of how it's been for me this week. I haven't been on the computer much because I've been doing a lot around the house, plus I've been at work every single day, but it's not like I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. (Do chickens really do that?!)

On Saturday I went into work to check on a few things and was told our trash dumpster had been half filled with mulch. What?! Sure enough. There's nothing we can do about it at this point so I hope the refuse company actually empties it!

  

I also need to get our maintenance guy out there to trim a few branches so we can close the lids.

Sharaya and Allie spent spring break in Palm Springs, CA! Sunshine, blue skies and a pool! I was a little more than jealous. They met up with the same friends they went to Paris with and spent one day hiking in Joshua Tree National Park but other than that, they spent their time lounging by the pool. A true vacation!

 

I'm trying to teach myself sign language. It's something I've always wanted to learn and I get started and then I stop. For a long time I've felt the Lord has wanted me to learn it, through conversations with people and different circumstances, you know when you know you're supposed to do something? I've had this book by Elaine Costello (you can tell it's well loved) and it not only lists signs by category: Things, People, Food, etc. but there's also an index that alphabetically lists every word. I LOVE that! 

The last few weeks I've been sitting in the deaf section at church but there's no way I've been able to keep up. I know a few words and can sign them when they're in a song, but mostly I just watch. I'm really excited to learn this time around!

 

Our Sunday school class has been pretty quiet lately. Only 3 or 4 students each week. I need to contact the other families to see how they're doing. But, there have been no screaming outbursts. No calling the paramedics. Sometimes quiet is good.

Today they spent a lot of time reading. Teacher Rebecca (in the jean jacket) sat on the floor with one of our students looking for books about dogs. I had some soft music playing in the background and it was so peaceful. They're all on the autism spectrum and I think they just really enjoyed the quiet and the stillness of the room. 

It really was a good day.

Have you learned something new lately?

Is there something you want to learn?