ABCs of 2021

A - Our senior pastor, Pastor Arlie, retired in May. Nadia and Ian attended a one-week art camp at our local public school. We toured Shedd Aquarium with the Benners. We spent two days in Arizona- we visited Horseshoe Bend, the Grand Canyon, Lowell Observatory, Walnut Canyon, Meteor Crater, and Petrified Forest. 

B - We visited the Benners in Chicago in September. Wendy, Grace, and Rachel also spent time at our house in August and Wendy and all four of her kids spent some time with us here in December. One of the kids' favorite national parks that we visited this year was Badlands in South Dakota. We visited forts/ battlefields in Michigan, Montana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Tennessee. All five of us individually read many books, (Nadia read more than 77 books this year, Ian read 50 books, Oliver read 24 books), and the kids and I (and sometimes Paul) also listened to 132 audiobooks. 

C - Paul and I each had two doses of Pfizer's COVID vaccine; we don't plan on getting booster shots or having our kids receive that vaccination. None of our immediate family have tested positive for COVID, but some of our extended family members have had COVID including Paul's mom and Yvonne's family. The most recent case was Margie who just tested positive yesterday. Her chemo treatment had to be postponed. I took the kids to see a production of Charlotte's Web.  I signed the kids up for co-op classes, but we were only able to attend once due to my broken ankle. We went to the movie theatre for the first time in 2 years in December to see Christmas with the Chosen. Earlier in the year we watched the second season of The Chosen. 

D - We visited Darien Lake amusement park in New York for the first time in May and a dairy farm in Wisconsin in September. I went almost 11 weeks without driving due to my ankle. All five of us have been doing Duolingo for several months. Paul and I are both in the fourth unit. We started a tradition this year of each child getting two dates per year with a parent. Nadia and Oliver had both dates. Ian is still waiting for his second bowling date with Paul.  

E - Paul and the kids skied at Elk Mountain in January. Nadia and I saw a production of Emma. On our way home from Long Island, we visited Thomas Edison's laboratory in New Jersey. I broke my right ankle at Effigy Mounds in Iowa on September 12 and had surgery on it at Evangelical Hospital on October 7.

F - During our final visit with Aunt Janet on Long Island, we visited Fire Island for the first time. We enjoyed learning about Henry Ford at the Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village, and Ford Rouge Factory in Michigan. One of the highlights was riding in a Model-T! We had new flooring installed in our dining room in October. Nadia began learning to play the flute.

G - The kids lost their second Grandma in May when Paul's mother passed away. All three kids participated in a theatre camp at Greenview Alliance Church in August. In December we spent two days at Great Wolf Lodge as part of Ian's 12th birthday celebration. On the first day of our vacation in September we stopped at President Garfield's home in Ohio. 

H - In July we traded our grey 2012 Toyota Sienna for a white 2022 Honda Odyssey. 

I - During our 25-day vacation we drove through 25 states. The only state we drove through but didn't do anything in was Indiana. Ian entered middle school this fall, which meant that he joined the youth group in June. The boys went 21 months without going ice skating due to COVID, but then we went ice skating twice in December.

J - The kids earned around 30 Junior Ranger badges on the vacation. They each have more than 100 badges altogether! My niece, Jenna, is now living two hours south of us when classes are in session at Messiah University. We were able to go to a Christmas show and take her out to dinner on December 4. Sadly, Nadia's five-year-old guinea pig, Jenna, passed away on December 17. 

K - The kids spent a day kayaking and fishing in June. We visited Helen Keller's birthplace in Alabama. We learned more about horses at the Kentucky Horse Park. Milo had a fabulous day with us at Knoebels amusement park!

L - In Montana we visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield.

M - Our first year with Milo and first visit to Mount Rushmore.  Pop Pop joined the kids and I at Montage Mountain water park. The kids spent five days at Good News Camp at Mountain View Bible Camp. We visited Mesa Verde in Colorado and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Paul and the kids played miniature golf in Tennessee. We enjoyed watching the first season of the Mysterious Benedict Society on Disney+.

Talking with their cousins in Quito via FaceTime

N - Nadia was in an online drama production of Nancy Blue.  Aunt Janet moved from New York to Nevada.

O - Ian's first year of seeing an orthodontist (he had expanders and then a retainer this year)

P - The boys attended 6 nights of overnight camp at Pocono Mountain Bible Camp. We visited Paterson Great Falls in New Jersey, Petroglyph in New Mexico, the Parthenon in Tennessee, and Pipestone National Monument in Minnesota. Oliver began learning to play the piano.

Q - Nadia participated in Bible quizzing events in Indiana, Ohio, and Oklahoma. The team she was on won in Oklahoma which meant Nadia won a little over $1,000 college scholarship. Ian also participated in the event in Ohio. Yvonne and her family (minus Jenna) moved to Quito in September.

R- We had a new roof installed on our home in October. The kids and I made our annual trip to Reptiland. 

S - We spent 2.5 days at Six Flags America and Six Flags New England. Nadia spent 7 nights at Camp Susque and participated in a two-week Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs theatre camp. In July we visited the Springfield Armory, Springfield Museums, and Old Sturbridge Village. Oliver received stitches under his chin following an accident at the swimming pool. We visited science museums in New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, West Virginia, and Tennessee.

T - The kids took tennis lessons for two weeks in Lewisburg in the spring. We visited Theodore Roosevelt's Inaugural Site in Buffalo in May and his National Park in North Dakota. The kids and I saw a production of The Tempest in August. Nadia became a teenager in June! We watched the first 5 episodes of the new Tuttle Twins show.

U- We spent three days in Utah at Snowbird Ski Resort, Bryce Canyon National Park, horseback riding at Kodachrome, Zion National Park, and touring a slot canyon. 

V - The boys attended two weeks of VBS, and Nadia joined them for one of the weeks. I started making better videos. Speaking of which, I finished Ian's 12th birthday video yesterday.

W - Paul's dad joined us at the WWII weekend at the Mid Atlantic Air Museum. The kids went white water rafting for the first time in the Poconos with the Towfighis in June and again with Paul in Oklahoma City in September. I went 9.5 weeks without using my right leg to walk. We enjoyed spending a day at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. 

X - Ruth had x-rays of her right ankle taken in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. 

Y - We had a great day at Yellowstone National Park.

Z - Nadia had voice lessons via Zoom during the spring semester. She also chats with her cousin Rachel by Zoom on a regular basis.

Susie gave Nadia and Ian each a drawing lesson

Goal check-up

Unless I have a change of heart in the very near future, I'm not planning to create a list of goals for 2022. There are some that we've already been working toward that we will continue to work toward such as visiting all 50 states, speaking more Spanish, and earning at least 200 Junior Ranger badges. One goal that has been on my list many times (but not every year), is to lose weight, and if I made a list, it would be on it again in 2022. Ugh. I do so hate dieting. I enjoy getting more exercise when the weather is warmer. Spending so much time with my leg elevated for 3+ months hasn't exactly been helpful in regard to my waistline. Being able to keep up with the family when walking is another goal I have for the next few months. I hadn't revisited the goals I set for this year for several months, so I decided to do so once more as the year is drawing to a close. 

Some that we DID accomplish included:

1. The kids earned quite a few Junior Ranger badges this year.
2. We memorized Matthew 6-7 and James 1-2.
3. Ian and Nadia began learning some JavaScript.
4. Oliver transitioned to reading chapter books independently and finished learning how to write all the uppercase and lowercase letters in cursive.
5. I've been following the meal rotation plan which means we generally only eat the same main dish about 2-3 times a year.
6. The kids did add quite a few states to the list.
7. The kids went white water rafting not just once but twice!
8. Nadia and Ian learned the location and capital of all of the countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia/Oceania.
9. Although it wasn't exactly what I hoped due to breaking my ankle, we DID get a picture of the five of us at the Grand Canyon. 
10. Oliver began taking piano lessons.
11. We did complete the art projects on Creating a Masterpiece last spring.
12. We've continued to make progress through reading through the entire Old Testament (should finish in early May).
13. Milo did make great strides in some areas of his training, especially house training.
14. Nadia and Ian are both working on learning to cook.
15. We did start the tradition of each child going on two dates per year with a parent.
16. I didn't finish the videography course or actually implement much of what I already learned in the class, BUT I definitely made strides in terms of making better videos this year. 

They borrowed Grandpa and Margie's two person Christmas sweater!

Some that we did NOT accomplish included:

1. We didn't see the Blue Angels. At the moment I'm thinking it won't happen until 2023.
2. I don't feel that we made progress as far as actually using Spanish throughout the day even though we've been each putting more time into studying it on Duolingo. Hopefully at some point what we're learning through that app will translate to our everyday conversations. 
3. Paul and I still haven't been on a date since February 2018. However, I recently purchased two tickets for Paul and me to see a touring Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof in March so hopefully our long drought without a date will be coming to an end in a little less than 3 months.
4. Ian still struggles to stay seated during meals.
5. We didn't go to NYC in December to see the lights or the show at Radio City Music Hall.
6. The kids still need to improve in their manners such as holding the door for other people, looking people in the eye when talking to them, and answering questions with a descriptive sentence.

Extended Family

One of the things we missed the most over the last two years was time with extended family. COVID actually meant we got to see the Towfighis more than usual because their move from Maryland to Quito was delayed due to COVID, but we went longer periods of time without seeing Grandpa, Margie, and Wendy's family due to COVID. I went a full two years without seeing Wendy and her kids (8/19 - 8/21), but now in a span of four months I've seen her three times as she came here in August and December, and we were in Chicago in September. Even though Paul's family lives far closer to us than my family, we saw very little of them in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID and also Paul's mom's health. We thought we might see Paul's dad three times this month, but he didn't end up coming up to celebrate his 80th birthday with us because he wasn't feeling well that day. Although it won't ever be total "normal" again due to Paul's mom, my mom, and my brother passing away, I'm hoping that 2022 will be more normal in terms of being able to spend time with extended family members.

The Oculus Quest 2 has been a hit with our kids and also their cousins. Several of the adults also gave it a whirl. Nadia loved her new roller skates that Uncle Al and Aunt Millie gave her so much that she rolled around the house in them for several hours on Christmas Day. We played Oliver's new Lord of the Rings Monopoly game from Aunt Yvonne with Pop Pop on Christmas Day. The kids opened presents twice on Christmas Day and opened their gifts from Wendy, Grandpa, and Margie on the 26th. Margie liked the scarf I got her which contained the names of their collective 21 grandchildren (15 on our side and 6 on her side). Ian has built his new Lego sets and played some of his new Switch games. All seven kids plus Wendy had fun ice skating on Sunday afternoon. Yesterday we went to church and the ice-skating rink. Today we stayed at home all day. We played Boggle, Codenames, and (traditional) Monopoly. Over the course of two days some people watched the first Hobbit movie, which was one of Oliver's gifts. Oliver and Grace spent many, many hours playing together in the basement, and Rachel and Nadia spent many, many hours together in Nadia's room. My kids wish they lived a LOT closer to either of my sisters' kids, but they are very grateful for the time they do get to spend together. I didn't use my good camera to take pictures or take as many as usual, but I did get some with my phone. 

We'll have some more time with Wendy's family tomorrow, and then it will go back to being just our immediate family. I'm planning to finally tackle Ian's birthday video, go to the dentist, take Ian to his 12-year physical, and keep my foot elevated more than I did the past four days. I could hardly bear weight on my right leg last night due to extreme pain from standing too much for three consecutive days. From December 30 through January 2 the only thing on our calendar is going to church. I want Ian and Nadia to put extra time into studying Romans as their next quizzing competition is on January 7-8. Paul will be in Baltimore the first week of January, and the kids will be back to school on January 3rd. It will only be a four-day week for the kids as I'm taking them skiing on January 6. January 3rd will be our 95th day of school, which means we're a little more than half-way through our school year as we plan to end in early May. 

Merry Christmas!

The last completely "normal" Christmas for me was in December 2015 albeit I had no idea at the time that my mom's quality of life was going to drastically change in a matter of days or that she had only a little more than six months left to live. The pattern used to be that we'd celebrate Christmas with our immediate family on Christmas Eve, spend Christmas Day at Paul's parent's house with his side of the family, and then drive to Maryland to spend a few days with my side of the family. December 2017 was the last time I celebrated Christmas with Maurice as he didn't join us in 2018 and he passed away in the early part of 2019. In 2019 we only celebrated Christmas with Paul's side of the family. In 2020 we didn't see anyone outside of our immediate family. Today I'm hosting Christmas for Paul's side of the family. I believe it's the first time I've hosted them for this holiday, but I'm grateful for the change for this year because I think it would have been very, very hard to celebrate Christmas this December in what is now Al & Millie's house because I'd be thinking about how much we miss Paul's mom. This is her first Christmas in heaven. Aside from the absence of Maurice, my mom, and Paul's mom, this Christmas will be a lot closer to normal than the past two Christmases because we'll celebrate with both sides of our family.

The plans for today include the kids opening their gifts from us, eating pumpkin bread for breakfast (we usually have monkey bread on Christmas morning but we're waiting until tomorrow morning for that this time), eating a big meal with Paul's family, exchanging gifts with them, and finally my sister and her four kids are due to arrive around bedtime this evening. Tomorrow they'll go to church with us, have our main meal, and then go to an ice-skating party. My Dad and Margie plan to arrive at our house tomorrow evening. The kids decorated gingerbread cookies yesterday. Earlier in the week we made lemon cookies and pumpkin cookies. Today I'm planning to make sugar cookie dough so that it will be ready for my kids plus Wendy's three girls to use to make cut-out sugar cookies either tomorrow or Monday. We're also planning to watch Encanto on Disney+ at some point while they are here with us. I think my dad, Margie, and the Benners plan to leave on Tuesday afternoon. I think we'll have a total of eleven extended family spend some time at our house over the next few days which is a big change from zero last year due to COVID. Susie, Adam, Dad, and Margie will be meeting Milo for the first time as the last time Dad and Margie were at our house was in August 2020, and the last time Susie and Adam were at our house was August 2019.

One thing that has remained constant through the years is going to a candlelight service at church on Christmas Eve. Our church has services at 3pm, 5pm, and 7pm. Because Paul took the day off of work (yay!) we went to the 3pm service yesterday. We're not supposed to have a White Christmas today, but we did have a white Christmas Eve yesterday morning. The boys had fun throwing snowballs. It can be easy to get distracted from the true focus of the season - celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I hope that you and your family will have a blessed Christmas!

Perspective

Whoopie pies, gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies, and popcorn balls at the library

Two weeks ago, I was very discouraged by the slow progress of recovering from ankle surgery.  I hadn't anticipated how painful it would be to walk and drive, how slowly I would walk, and how painful it would be to let my foot dangle a full nine weeks after the surgery. Thankfully last week I started to notice big improvements. The only time I feel pain and tightness now is when I stand or walk on it too long. I had been feeling pain ALL day long even when I was in bed, so this is a big improvement. Also, it doesn't hurt to drive any more, although I haven't driven more than 20 minutes away from our home so I can't say if I could tolerate a longer drive yet or not. I can also let it dangle for longer periods of time before it hurts, so that's again a welcome relief. My gait is almost normal, but it's going to take time before I can walk at the speed I used to walk prior to the accident. I strained my right elbow when using my right arm to bear the weight of my body instead of my right leg for 10 weeks, but thankfully just last week the pain also decreased in my elbow. I'm hoping that when the weather turns warmer in the spring, I'll be able to resume taking nice long walks with Milo and that by May when we plan to go on our next family vacation that I can walk at a normal pace and not be terrified to go on a hike. I assume once I start walking farther the muscles in my right calf will get stronger. It's still painful to cross my right leg over my left leg, so I don't do it. The bottom line at the moment is that although my ankle and calf aren't back to normal yet, I am very encouraged by the recent progress. Part of the problem is that I need physical therapy and haven't received any because we'd have to pay for all of it on our own. It was a pre-existing condition when we signed up for the Samaritan medical sharing program so I wouldn't be allowed to submit any charges for reimbursement even if they exceeded $400 and our previous insurance wouldn't have paid one penny toward it.

If you've read this blog for very long, you've figured out I'm a penny pincher. I shop around and try to get the best prices for things whether it's something small (a pound of apples) or something large (a new roof). The only times in my life that I've paid for something that cost more than $10K have been when I've bought a house or a vehicle.  The only times I've paid a large medical bill that wasn't covered by insurance were when we did IVF and Ian's braces. We knew in advance approximately what IVF would cost and saved up the thousands of dollars we would need to pay before each round of IVF. I called many orthodontists and met with three in person before choosing the most affordable one, and again we saved up the money ahead of time. We have gotten nowhere in our attempts to reduce the size of the medical bills we are being asked to pay. The hospital will give us 10% discount on the biggest bill if we pay it in full in the next two weeks. They aren't giving us any discounts on any of the other bills. The insurance investigation has gotten nowhere because the company has ignored all the communication from the investigator. He told me that he'll be passing the file on to his manager since he hasn't gotten anywhere. This ankle surgery very well may be the first thing other than a car or house that I've paid more than $10K for. 

The surgery wasn't an emergency. If the insurance company or the hospital had informed us during the preauthorization process on October 6 that we would be paying for 99.5% of the cost of the surgery, we would have paid for retroactive COBRA insurance, but they didn't tell us until the middle of November and our enrollment window ended on November 1st. If we knew that we were going to have to pay for the surgery, we would have gotten a second opinion to make sure it was absolutely necessary to have the surgery and also would have shopped around at more than one hospital to find where it would be the most affordable even if that meant driving a lot farther away. Yesterday the investigator suggested that I hire a lawyer. I know that God will provide if we have to pay $20K, but it's very frustrating to be surprised with a gigantic bill out of the blue because of the deceit of an insurance salesman. As a point of comparison, we definitely spent more than usual on this last vacation because it was much longer, but we spent a grand total of $4K for the five of us to be on vacation (not camping) for 25 days, and that one short hike might end up costing us $20K?

Today I found out that one of my closest friends from 1981-1990 lost her husband unexpectedly yesterday due to a seizure. She is one year older than me and the mother of three girls; the eldest is a freshman in college. When we were in high school, her father was killed in a car accident, so she has walked the road that her girls are now walking in terms of losing a father at a young age. My heart is breaking for my friend and her three girls. I am praying for them, and I'm going to send a card, but I wish there was more that I could do. They live in a suburb of Atlanta. Her husband had been the children's pastor at a large church. Facing a large medical bill is trivial compared to suddenly losing a husband and father. I remember thinking when Maurice passed away that it was a blessing that he was single as he wasn't leaving behind a wife or children. As hard as it was to lose my brother, I think it pales in comparison to what my friend and her daughters are going through right now. Prayers for my friend and her daughters would be greatly appreciated.

13.5 Years Old

Ian turned 12 on December 12, but he hasn't had his birthday date yet because he wants to go bowling. His date has been delayed until Paul's back isn't giving him so much grief. Nadia's half birthday is on December 24, and she asked to go ice skating for her date. Since neither Paul nor I are up to ice skating right now, we changed her date with Dad into ice skating with her friend, Jill. Yesterday we left church with four children. We stopped at a Dunkin Donuts for breakfast sandwiches and then the kids skated for almost 2.5 hours. Jill had never gone ice skating before. With Nadia's help, Jill improved a lot during the time we were there. The boys hadn't been ice skating since the beginning of March in 2020, but all of the time they spent rollerblading over the past 21 months was very beneficial to their ice-skating skills. While the kids were ice skating Paul stayed in the van while I sat in front of the fire inside the building because the bench that I was sitting on bothered his back. Although we hadn't been there since the beginning of March 2020, we plan to return next Sunday afternoon for a Christmas party with Wendy's family and then weekly for ice skating lessons beginning on January 6.

This month is the first time that Nadia used some of her money to buy her brothers Christmas gifts. I'm not sure if she is giving anything to Paul or myself for Christmas. She made the largest purchase of her life recently when she bought herself a loft bed. Previously her most expensive purchases had been less than $100 each (Lego sets and a hoverboard were her most expensive purchases in the past). Nadia earns money through reading ($1 per 1,000 pages), babysitting ($5/hour), and Bible memorization ($10/chapter of Romans or James). So far, she has memorized Romans chapters 1-5 and James 1-2. She gave me $175 for the bed, and I paid the tax. She always loves sleeping on a top bunk. Now she is sleeping as high as if she were on a top bunk and has room to store large Lego bins under her bed. What had been her bed ever since she moved out of a crib many moons ago was moved to Ian's room to convert his bed into a bunk bed. Ian benefited from his purchase as he is now sleeping on the top bunk in his room. I purchased a twin mattress for the bottom bunk, which will be a guest bed when cousins are visiting us. Adam will be sleeping on the new mattress later this week. We are planning on putting two air mattresses in Nadia's room later this week for Susie and Rachel, and Grace and Wendy will sleep downstairs on a sofa bed. Milo has gone from sleeping in a crate to sleeping in a bed not far off the ground to sleeping on a bed about six feet off the ground as Nadia and Ian take turns having him sleep with them. 

Four other recent changes in Nadia's life would be that her first pet passed away, she switched from Saxon Algebra I to Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1, she stopped going to FBC's youth group on Sunday nights, and she switched from the flute back to the piano. She hadn't taken piano lessons for more than a year as she took voice lessons while she was in seventh grade. Right now, she's in the beginning of Level 4, Oliver is halfway through Level 1A, and Ian is at the very end of Level 6. Because she switched textbooks a little less than halfway through the school year, she has been doing more than one math lesson a day on the Teaching Textbooks app on the iPad so that she can finish it by the beginning of May. She's completed 13 lessons and one test so far, and on 12 of the 13 lessons she did much better than she was doing when she was using the Saxon textbook. Hopefully that will continue to be true. I had to purchase the Teaching Textbooks course for her, but thankfully Yvonne had loaned me the Saxon textbook, so I only purchased one Algebra I curriculum for her. We're not exactly sure of the reasons, but after they had to take a break from the youth group due to our vacation and then my broken ankle, Nadia and Ian decided to only attend the youth group at our church on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights and stopped attending the youth group at another church on Sunday nights. For the time being we're all typically at home on Sunday nights.

Jenna was Nadia's first pet. I guess we should have seen it coming because Nadia had said that Jenna had been sleeping more lately, but still it was very sad and a shock to find her dead in the cage on Friday morning. She was a little over five years old, and the typical lifespan for a pet guinea pig is 5-7 years. Ian's first pet (Patches) died in February 2020 at the age of 3. He cried a lot over her passing. Oliver also cried when his goldfish died at the end of December last year. Patches had been put to sleep by a vet, and Paul buried her on the company's property as he took her to a vet on the way to work. I flushed the goldfish down the toilet. Paul didn't go to work on Wednesday or Thursday because of his back, but he did go to work on Friday, so I had the unpleasant task of removing a dead guinea pig from the cage. The things we do for our kids! I wrapped her body in towels, put her in a plastic bin, and put the bin in the garage. Paul buried her on our property yesterday. Nadia is more stoic and far less prone to crying than her brothers. I don't believe she cried over Jenna's passing, but she was definitely shaken up on Friday over it. I think it also helps that she still has Peppa (her guinea pig who will turn two in a couple of months) and Milo. Peppa and Buttercup didn't get along very well in the beginning. Jenna was the peacemaker who got along with all of her cage mates - Patches, Peppa, and Buttercup. We're hoping that Peppa and Buttercup will get along despite the absence of Jenna. We have two wooden houses in their cage as all three didn't fit in one house so they can either go in a house together or they can each be in a different house. Jenna was very loved and is definitely missed. 

In many ways Nadia hasn't changed over the last six months. For example, she still loves to play with Legos with Ian, listen to episodes of Adventures in Odyssey, and read. Recently she read The Hobbit, several books from the Mysterious Benedict Society series, and reread several of the Harry Potter books. The majority of the items on her Christmas wish list were either books or earrings featuring animals. She still loves attending overnight camp; she's attending a winter camp for a weekend in January for the first time ever. I can't believe that in less than five months Nadia will have completed middle school. She's very excited about having her first cell phone when she turns fourteen! 

Thankful Thursday

1. I'm so very glad that Ian joined our family twelve years ago! I'm thankful that we were able to celebrate his birthday at Great Wolf Lodge and that three of Paul's relatives came up to celebrate with us on December 12. He received three phone calls on his birthday (Aunt Janet, my dad/Margie, and the Schrecks), and he also appreciated the gifts he received (Legos, book, Nintendo Switch games). 

2. We were able to have a play date with Micah and Isaiah on December 13. It was the first time we met their two rabbits. 

3. We went to the movie theatre for the first time in two years on December 2. In hindsight, we would have skipped going to see Christmas with the Chosen in the theatre had we known it would be released for free two weeks later to stream at home, but we are grateful for the first two seasons we've watched at home, so at least our money went to what we believe is a very worthwhile venture, and the kids were grateful for the popcorn and drinks we got for free thanks to coupons I got through Coke caps. 

4. The kids and I were able to help pack medical supplies for refugees at our church on December 3. Since we hadn't been able to participate in other service projects while I was unable to drive, I was thankful I could drive to this one.

5. It was lovely to see a Christmas program and have dinner with my niece, Jenna, on December 4. 

6. The kids enjoyed skating at a homeschool Christmas party on December 6. I enjoyed being able to chat with moms, especially my friend Tab during the party. I got to talk with her at length in person two weeks in a row. That might be a first!

7. The kids and Tab enjoyed the Christmas around the World program put on by missionaries to Tanzania on December 9.

8. Nadia and Ian enjoyed the youth group's Christmas party last night at church. Ian came home from the white elephant gift exchange with a Lego set!

9. The last time I was driving the van it hit me that it no longer is painful to press the gas pedal! I also can tolerate my foot dangling for longer periods of time, and I think that my gait seems to be a lot closer to normal. I still can't stand on it for very long, but I'm encouraged by the progress. I still have both feet step on every step on the way down the stairs, but now I can go up the stairs in a more normal fashion provided I have a railing to hold on to. 

10. My Sunday School class recently resumed after a 21-month hiatus due to COVID! This meant that all five of us attended the first worship service together, and then we all went to our classes during the second service.

11. On December 12 I finished recording the video clips to use in making Ian's birthday video. I thought I'd have finished it by now, but instead I've been doing vacation planning in my spare time. I will create the video before the end of this month. I'm enjoying planning the vacation we hope to take in May. Some things that I had been thinking we'd do on that trip have been scratched from the plans such as Epcot (just the tickets not including parking or anything else would be $700 for one day!), Six Flags Georgia, Chattanooga Aquarium, and Andrew Johnson's site. I've added in a manatee snorkeling trip that we're excited about! At some point, we'd love to swim with dolphins, but there are many places you can do that, which can't be said about manatees. There are some other places I'd like to take the kids in Florida that are farther south (ex. the Florida Keys). We are hoping to visit my sister and her family in Quito and also spend time with them on the Galapagos Islands in January or February in 2023, 2024, or 2025 (when we go will depend largely on when COVID is no longer such a pressing issue). I did some research on flights, and at the moment it wouldn't add any cost to the airfare if we flew to Miami, spent several days in southern Florida (Biscayne, Big Cypress, Everglades, Dry Tortugas, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Bahai Honda State Park, Museum of Discovery and Science, etc.), and then flew from Miami to Quito. It's been 9.5 years since Paul or I went snorkeling, and the kids have never gone snorkeling. So, although Florida is the state that we've taken the kids to the most often in terms of family vacations, I'm thinking we might go there two more times over the next few years. Although Universal Studios is also very pricey, we are still planning to spend two days there partially because I'm *hoping* to use credit card points to buy those tickets. Yesterday I applied for a credit card for Paul to help accomplish that goal. At the moment we're hoping to spend about two weeks in the Southeast in May and about one week in the Northeast sometime next fall. We realize we might have to abandon the idea of taking the kids into Canada on that trip due to the fact we're not planning to have them receive a COVID vaccine. If no COVID tests are required to fly, then we'd like to travel to the Northwest in 2023 to see Aunt Janet and cross three more states off the list (OR, WA, and NV). 

12. We're also thankful that Milo has been part of our family for a full year as of December 12. I'm very thankful that he doesn't have accidents in the house anymore. He still needs to learn not to jump on the dining room table and to come when called. He has spent MANY hours snuggling on my lap over the last 2.5 months. Although it was expensive, I'm grateful that we found someone to watch him while we were at Great Wolf Lodge and that he wasn't overly upset by our absence thanks to the fact he really enjoyed their dog, Penny. 

Birthday Boy!

On December 12, 2009, Ian Alexander was born, and on December 12, 2020, Milo joined our family, which means tomorrow is Ian's 12th birthday and the first anniversary of Milo's "gotcha day." Ian's birthday celebration began on Thursday, which was also Aunt Janet's 79th birthday. A few years ago, we started a tradition of going to Great Wolf Lodge in December as a part of Ian's birthday celebration, but we didn't go last year due to COVID. We go with a homeschool group from New Jersey which enables us to pay less than half of the usual rate for our room. The room is decorated in the theme of a wolf den and contains twin bunk beds (Ian on the top and Nadia on the bottom), a full-size sofa bed (Oliver), and a full-size bed (Paul and I). Thankfully the resort just relaxed their mask policy earlier this month, so we didn't wear masks during our getaway. 

Usually, we arrive earlier on the day we check-in, but Thursday morning the kids attended a Christmas program at Camp Susque, which was put on by missionaries from Tanzania. Tab drove a carload of seven kids to the event. The same group of kids went roller skating together at a homeschool Christmas party on Monday, and the same group of kids are gathering for a play date at Tab's house in the afternoon on December 13 in honor of Ian's birthday. Paul, Milo, and I met them on their way home, and then the five of us took Milo to a pet sitter who lives 25 minutes south of us. This pet sitter charges $45 per night so we won't want to use them for a vacation as we paid far more for Milo than we did per person for the rest of us for this getaway! Owning one dog is far, far more costly than owning three guinea pigs. Milo was shaking as we were driving to the pet sitters, but thankfully he really enjoyed their dog, Penny, and he was very, very happy when we picked him up last night! When I take him to the vet later this month for his rabies and distemper vaccines, I am also going to ask for the Bordetella vaccine, which is required by kennels so that we will have the option of placing him in a kennel when 

we go on vacation in 2022, as the kennel charges around $25 a day which is more than we paid our friends but a lot better than $45 a day. The kennel, which is also MUCH closer to our home, wasn't an option this time because he hasn't had that vaccine. After dropping Milo off, Paul drove us to Great Wolf Lodge. After checking-in, I drove to Domino's and Dairy Queen to pick up our dinner. The kids were expecting pizza from Domino's, but they were surprised by the DQ Treatza (ice cream) Pizza I got for us to share for dessert. After eating, the kids played in the water park for three hours.

This trip was different from past trips because both Paul and I currently have mobility issues. On December 3 Paul hurt his back. We weren't sure if we'd be able to meet Jenna on December 4th, but thankfully we were able to go to the Christmas show and take her to dinner at Texas Roadhouse last Saturday. I am grateful I can walk on two legs, but I

walk VERY slowly. An elderly woman using a walker passed me out as I was walking into Christian Life Assembly last Saturday afternoon. In the past I've always used my camera at Great Wolf, but this time I just used my phone. Due to how much my ankle swells when I use it, I didn't take many pictures or videos. I didn't bring a swimsuit. Paul didn't go down any of the water slides because of his back, but he did go in the swimming pool, hot tub, and lazy river. Even the wave pool was painful for him. So, most of the time Paul and I were sitting in chairs in the water park and the kids were on their own. Thankfully I can tolerate my right leg dangling for longer periods of time than I have for the past 3 months. They had a great time, but Oliver was frustrated sometimes when he wanted to ride a water slide that didn't accommodate single riders as most of the time Ian and Nadia were doing things together. On Friday morning the kids and Paul slept in as the water park doesn't open until 10am. Paul brought back breakfast from Dunkin. We skipped lunch as the kids used the water park for almost 6 hours straight. We had dinner at Red Robin before driving to pick up Milo and then returned home. Some of the servers sang happy birthday to him at dinner last night, and he was given a free ice cream sundae. I had a coupon for 50% off one entree which meant that the $50 gift card covered our five meals and the tip. We used gift cards for Texas Roadhouse last Saturday, Dominos on Friday, and Dunkin and Red Robin yesterday. Now I'll start stockpiling gift cards for our vacation in May. Thankfully credit card points can be used not only for restaurant gift cards but also tickets to Busch Gardens and Universal Studios. 

We don't have any birthday celebration plans for today, but tomorrow Paul's dad and brother are coming up. Ian has requested pizza from Venarri's and chocolate cake with peanut butter icing from Aunt Millie, and he will also open his birthday gifts tomorrow. We gave him his biggest birthday gift from us two months early as I paid for an Amazon Music Unlimited annual membership in October which the kids access via the Echo dots. Nadia has asked to go ice skating with Paul for her half-birthday date later this month, but Ian hasn't decided what he will do with me for his birthday date. We are very, very grateful that Ian joined our family twelve years ago. I can't believe in one year we'll have two teenagers! Ian's new privilege is that he will have the opportunity to be paid to babysit Oliver when I need to take Nadia somewhere, and his new chore will be that he will be doing the dishes after dinner one night a week. I think Ian's birthday celebrations have gotten off to a great start especially considering his birthday was pretty much a nonevent last year due to COVID. which is partially why we got Milo on his birthday last year. Nadia is definitely his best friend, but I'm thankful that from December 6-13, he will have been able to spend time with Micah and Ean on three different occasions; he really likes those two boys but can go months without spending time with them. 

Dinner with Jenna at Texas Roadhouse on December 4

Craft time at Christmas Around the World - Nadia was at a different table with some girls she knows.