2025 by the numbers

My dad with all 16 of his grandchildren

1 - Number of vehicles we currently own. Also, the number of times anyone in our family went to see a movie this year. Nadia, Ian, and I didn't go to a movie theater this year. Oliver and Paul saw one movie together. Ian had one surgery this year (septoplasty). Paul and I attended one of the Classics events at our church, which was a first for us. Nadia attended one prom (which was a new experience for her).

2 - Ian visited two colleges this year - Cairn and Cedarville. He's hoping to attend Cedarville. Nadia has had two jobs this year - working in the kennel that is two miles from our house and working at a Christian camp and retreat center that is 32 miles from our house. The kids went skiing twice this year - once at Elk Mountain and once at Montage Mountain. We had two car accidents this year. A deer ran into our van while I was driving home from church in the spring, and Nadia totaled Paul's car in November while driving to Camp Susque.

3 - Number of people in our household with driver's licenses as of September 26. All three kids performed in a musical together at MCS for the first time. They were in three performances of The Wizard of Oz. We went to three amusement parks this year - Knoebels, Six Flags Fiesta, and Six Flags over Texas. Our family helped out with service projects at our church three times this year - packing meals and packing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. We didn't fare well in terms of the goal to have dates with each of the kids. I don't think Ian or Nadia had any dates this year. Oliver had three dates this year - a movie with Paul, a dinner with Paul at Bonanza, and seeing Annie (musical) with me. I taught our Sunday School class three times this year as a substitute. 

4 - We visited four zoos or aquariums this year - two in Texas, one in Louisiana, and one in Arizona. We rented four vehicles - one that we drove from New Orleans to Phoenix, one on Oahu, one on Maui, and one on Hawaii. 

5 - Milo turned five years old in August. We went on five boat trips this year - one in Louisiana, one in Texas, two off of Oahu, and one off of Hawaii. I had five comments on my blog this year, which is far less than I used to get in the early years of this blog (considering I received over 1,800 comments altogether) but also an improvement as I had only 1 comment in 2024 and 0 in 2023.

6 - Number of credits Ian earned through Cedarville University this year. Milo spent six days at the kennel this year. It had been 28 months since he had been in a kennel. I volunteered at Experience Missions six times this year. Some of those times some members of the family joined me. Some people in our family attended six concerts this year. I went to 5 of the 6 (all but Winter Jam). Paul attended 3 of the 6 concerts. My favorite of the year was the Point of Grace concert in December, and Paul's favorite was the concert in Hershey that included TobyMac, Matthew West, and MercyMe. 

8 - Number of states we spent time in this year not counting our home state (Maryland, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Indiana, Hawaii, and Illinois). 

9 - We saw nine plays or musicals this year. Some of them we saw with our whole family (and the Towfighis joined us for two of those), and others only a part of our family attended.

10 - We boarded ten flights this year - 2 to get us to New Orleans, 2 to get home from Phoenix, 2 to get to Honolulu, 1 to Hilo, 1 to Maui, and 2 to get home from Maui.

13 -Oliver turned thirteen in August in Hawaii. Paul and I attended thirteen ballroom dancing lessons this year - 4 in salsa, 2 in merengue, and 7 in intermediate swing.

14 - Ian read fourteen books this year (four for one of his college classes this fall and the other ten for high school English). He asked for specific books for his birthday and Christmas so maybe he'll be reading some books of his own choosing in 2026?

15 - Number of credits Nadia earned through Liberty University this year (Government, Theology, Biblical Worldview, New Testament, Developmental Psychology, and Astronomy). 

16 - Ian turned sixteen in December. The kids each earned sixteen Junior Ranger badges this year.

17 - Nadia turned seventeen in June in Indiana during the Bible quizzing nationals.

19 - Our co-op grew over the course of the year! We had nineteen students participating in the fall session.

21 - We held co-op at our house on twenty-one Tuesdays this year.

23 - Number of family who were together for Christmas at Wendy's house in Chicago. 

24 - We celebrated our 24th anniversary in August in Hawaii. Nadia read or listened to at least twenty-four books this year. She reads physical books, e-books on her phone, and listens to audiobooks through Libby. She's procured multiple library cards. 

40 - Milo spent forty days at the Seibert's house this year.

42 - We had forty-two family fun nights this year. I'm pleased with that number considering we don't have one on the weeks we're on vacation, when Nadia is working at Camp Susque, etc. 

50 - Number of states we have now visited as a family as we spent time in Louisiana and Hawaii this year. I also saw all fifty license plates this year! I was stuck at 49 for several months, and then on December 22 I finally spotted Wyoming when we were about 75 minutes away from Chicago! The last time I succeeded in spotting all fifty in one year was 2021. Oliver read or independently listened to fifty books this year. 

53 - I turned fifty-three in April.

56 - I wrote fifty-six blog posts this year, which is very close to the number I wrote each of the previous two years.

57 - Cooper spent fifty-seven days at our home this year, which means the two dogs were together ninety-seven days altogether.

55 - Paul turned fifty-five in January. 

Six seven - The inanest expression of the year. Hoping it dies out sometime in 2026.

70 - Not counting the many wedding photography books I read this year, I read or listened to seventy books. Some years the majority of those were audiobooks. I've been reading more eBooks and also some physical books lately.

76 - Nadia spent 76 days at Camp Susque this year. Most of those days she was at work.

79 - We listened to (or I read aloud) a total of seventy-nine books as a family. 

87 - Nadia worked 87 shifts at Warrior Run Petcare this year. Some of those shifts were only 2 hours long, and other times they were 4-5 hours long.

The 23 of us ate and slept under one roof in Chicago in December

Thankful Thursday

 1. Cheri and I attended a Point of Grace and Jason Gray Christmas concert on December 5. It was amazing. I knew it would end up being my favorite Christmas concert of the year. 

2. All of us (except for Nadia) met most of the Towfighis plus Toby for pizza and a Christmas show at a church near where Jenna and Toby live on December 6. Brendan made use of the free nursery service. 

3. The kids enjoyed attending a Christmas party at the Seiberts house on December 7 while Cheri and I attended a Christmas candlelight concert at Bucknell.

4. Nadia enjoyed attending a Christmas dinner for the employees at the kennel where she works. She also was very grateful for the Christmas gifts her boss gave her, especially the $100 gift card. 

5. Our family plus Cheri attended a Christmas concert at our church on December 12. 

6. Nadia enjoyed watching her friend perform in the Nutcracker on December 13.

7. Nine of the Towfighis met us at Great Wolf Lodge on Monday. We spent time in the water park on Monday and Tuesday.  They spent the night at our house on Tuesday night and attended a homeschool roller skating party with us on Wednesday morning. We started the annual tradition of going to Great Wolf Lodge to celebrate Ian's birthday in 2018. This was our 6th time we visited GWL; one of those trips was in May of 2023. In December of 2023 and 2024 we went to the indoor water parks at Kalahari and Camelback. I think the kids enjoy these experiences a lot more when we invite friends (which we did last year) or cousins (May 2023 and this week) to join us. They love their cousins very much! Paul and Joe played two games of chess inside the water park on Tuesday. Paul was the only one who never wore a bathing suit on this trip. I hug

8. We watched Cooper while the Seiberts were at GWL last week, and they watched Milo for us for a little over one day this week while we were at GWL. It's so wonderful being able to swap dog sitting with them. Unfortunately, it won't work for Milo to be with them over Christmas. Praying that he'll have a good stay at the kennel next week. 

9. We usually have the thermostat set between 68-70 degrees in the winter. Thanks to our "smart" thermostat, it read 49 degrees when we came home from Great Wolf Lodge. We wore our winter coats while we ate our tacos. Thankfully, the pipes didn't freeze, and it only took two hours for the temperature to rise to where we wanted it to be. 

10. The kids attended two Christmas parties yesterday - one with homeschoolers at the roller-skating rink in the morning and with the youth group at night. We gave Faith and Xandir a ride to the roller-skating rink in the morning, and they spent the afternoon with us until it was time to go to Bible quizzing. Faith and Nadia baked cookies that they took to the youth group party. Ian and Xandir played games and went on a long walk with Milo. I'm thankful the kids have good relationships with friends and also cousins!

Sixteen years old!

I now have two kids who are old enough to drive! Oliver and Nadia love sitting up in the front passenger seat, but Ian refuses to ever sit there. He'll have to be willing to sit in the front row to be able to drive! Usually, we don't do schoolwork on Ian's birthday, but since we are taking off on December 15-17 to go to Great Wolf Lodge for one night and spend time with the Towfighis, today was a normal school day. He received his main birthday gift from us very early (in August) when I got him a nice desk chair for his bedroom. I had the idea because he had borrowed Nadia's while she was working at Camp Susque in July. He received a book from Nadia today, a TSO piano book from me, and money from Grandpa, Oliver, and Paul and me. He asked for stromboli for dinner, and he asked Nadia to make him peanut butter bars for dessert. Yum! 

Sixteen ways Ian has changed over the last year:

1. When he was very young, he and Nadia used to each eat half of a banana at lunch. Neither of them has been eating any bananas for quite a few years. This fall, Ian decided that he should eat a banana every day. 

2. He also has gotten in the habit of drinking a glass of milk every day, which has meant we're going through more gallons of milk per month than we used to. He doesn't drink coffee regularly by any means, but he does have some coffee now and then (such as when we're on vacation). 

3. He's completed his first two college classes through Cedarville University. He earned an A- in Bible and the Gospel. His professor still is grading assignments in his speech class, but he also has an A- in that class at the moment. He also visited two colleges - Cairn and Cedarville, and he has chosen Cedarville as his top choice, partially because that is where his cousin, Nathan, plans to attend.

4. From December 2020 to June 2025 Milo used to sleep with Ian half of the time. Milo slept with Paul and I for a few months starting in July, but now he is sleeping in a crate in Oliver's bedroom. Ian and Nadia used to each get Milo for half of the time while we did homeschool subjects together, but this school year Ian has Milo with him on the beanbag while he does schoolwork. Nadia doesn't have much contact with Milo. Nadia taught Ian how to trim Milo's nails. Ian is trying to do a better job of brushing Milo's teeth.

5. For many years Ian had a peanut butter and marmalade sandwich at lunch. He still has this every once in a while, but now his typical sandwich is a grilled ham and cheese with onions on whole grain whole wheat bread. Paul won't eat anything that has any onions or peppers in it, and Ian loves onions and peppers. 

6. Several months ago, he started letting his hair grow out. I don't mean it's long in the back. This has led to FAR more "bad hair days" than when his hair was much shorter, but it's his choice. I will say he doesn't have as many crazy hair moments as Oliver does. Oliver has followed in his brother's footsteps in terms of letting his hair grow longer. 

7. Ian continues to make good progress on the piano. I have been enjoying listening to him practicing his recital piece. I have included that in his birthday video. His teacher is working with teaching him to play Joy to the World by ear. He played two arrangements of Christmas carols at church in the foyer on November 30 in between the first and second services and after the second service. He continues to occasionally play with the youth praise team on Wednesday nights. 

8. Ian gets exercise in a variety of ways. He likes to take Milo on a lengthy walk/run. He has weights that he uses either in his bedroom or the basement. He has a pull-up bar in the basement. 

9. Ian eats at least one apple almost every day. When he was younger, his favorite types of apples were golden delicious and gala. Currently, his favorites are pink lady, snapdragon, honey crisp, Jonagold, Granny Smith, and cameo apples. 

10. Last spring Ian was Nikko (flying monkey) in MCS's production of The Wizard of Oz and Will Scarlet in our homeschool production of Robin Hood. This fall he played the part of Captain Hook in our homeschool coop's performance of Peter Pan. I have included clips from the play in his birthday video. This fall he tried out for the part of Sebastian in MCS's upcoming production of Little Mermaid and was given the role of Chef Louis. He was very excited to learn this week that next year MCS will be doing a play in the fall and a musical in the spring.

11. He has decided that he doesn't want to attend camp next summer as a camper. Nadia's boss has agreed to interview Ian so that he could work at the kennel. Nadia plans to end her employment there in early May due to working at Camp Susque and then going away to college. 

12. Ian had his first experiences with surfing and parasailing and skied at Montage Mountain for the first time (third ski resort he's skied at so far). 

13. Ian visited his 49th (Louisiana) and 50th (Hawaii) states this year! He swam with sea turtles, manta rays, and dolphins for the first time in Hawaii.

14. He attended Camp Susque three times over the last year as he had his first experience attending Winter Camp (he's doing that again later this month), spent a week there last summer (not doing that again), and attended his second youth group retreat there (will likely do that again). 

15. He took the PSAT for the first time. 

16. He had a septoplasty surgery in January. He uses mouth tape when he's sleeping to try to train his body to learn to breathe through his nose. 

Thankful Thursday

1. I had several months where I wasn't getting my usual amount of sleep due to Milo being in our bed and then my body took a few weeks to adjust to the time change. I am very grateful to be back to getting an average of nine hours of sleep each night, which is optimal for me. 

2. I recently purchased a new bath towel for myself. It is SO soft. I think the rest of my family thought I was crazy for caring, but I really, really like my new towel.

3. We've been down to one vehicle for a month. Most of the time it hasn't been a problem, but this weekend was going to be a bit crazy. Thankfully, Nadia found out that a friend from church is also working at Camp Susque this weekend, and her friend is going to give her a ride to/from Camp Susque, and I also found someone who can give the boys a ride to a Christmas party on Sunday evening. I will be taking Nadia to that same party after she gets off work, and I will pick all three kids up after I attend a candlelight service at Bucknell with Cheri. 

4. We had our first snow (that accumulated) on Tuesday. The boys had fun throwing snowballs at each other. I was thankful we didn't have any plans to go anywhere that day (which is rare for Nadia) as I don't like driving in the snow or ice. 

5. A friend recently posted about how it is helpful to have not only a Philadelphia Free Library card (which I've had since 2019 thanks to her recommendation), but also one from Pittsburgh. I signed up for one last week, and we have already begun enjoying some books that we could get through Libby through that library that we couldn't get through our other library cards. I only sign up for Audible when it costs 99 cents a month, but they do that fairly often so between getting some books for $1.05 each (after tax) through Audible and most of our books for free from Libby, our budget for audiobooks is very small. Recently, we di

6. I used credit card points to fully pay for the rental of an SUV for 12 days while we're in Wales, England, and Scotland in May. We'll need to pay for renting an SUV for one day in Dublin and two days in Northern Ireland, but that will be it! 

7. I usually decline purchasing an extended warranty, but I did pay for an extended warranty on the eyeglasses that I purchased for Ian and Oliver in February. That turned out to be the right call as Oliver broke his glasses last week. We will be receiving a replacement at no charge. For the time being he's wearing his previous pair of glasses. 

8. Nadia continues to help a lot with cooking and baking. For Thanksgiving she made the yeast rolls, a cheesecake, and a peanut butter pie. She also used a recipe from Camp Susque to make sticky buns for us last week. 

9. I was asked to play the piano in the foyer again this past Sunday. I played a couple of Christmas carols and then had Ian play two hymn arrangements of Christmas carols. He played both songs after both services. He was very nervous at first even though it's a very low-key situation as people are walking by, talking, etc. It's good to be stretched out of our comfort zone sometimes. I'm thankful he had the opportunity. 

Giving Thanks

 

1. Paul and I enjoyed our Intermediate East Coast Swing class. We made it to 7 of the 8 classes.

2. All of us (except Nadia) attended a performance of Arsenic and Old Lace at a church in our town. None of us had seen that play before.

3. Nadia has completed two courses so far this semester through Liberty University. She earned an A in her theology class, and she currently has an A in her Developmental Psychology class. She had an A in her astronomy course, but she accidentally didn't complete one of the quizzes due the final week of that class, and that zero brought her grade in the course down to a B. Ian's Bible and the Gospel class came to an end through Cedarville University on November 21. He earned an A- in that course. His speech class doesn't end until December 11. I will say that the courses Ian has taken through Cedarville are MUCH more challenging than the ones Nadia has taken through Grand Canyon and Liberty. 

4. I've been able to play hymns on the piano at our church in between the first and second services and after the second service in the foyer three of the last five Sundays. I also enjoyed teaching our Sunday School class on November 9. Paul and I enjoyed packing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child at our church on November 15.

5. Unfortunately, Nadia was in a car accident on November 7 on her way to Camp Susque. She had only had her driver's license for six weeks. Thankfully, she wasn't injured, and she didn't hit any other vehicles. She was driving Paul's Mazda 3, which is a very low riding vehicle, and she ended up in some mud and tall grass. She had no cell service. We feel the Lord did a miracle in that #1 the vehicle wasn't stuck in the mud and #2 that she was able to drive another 10-15 minutes despite the fact the radiator fluid was draining out. Paul worked on the vehicle on November 14 (removing the bumper that was barely hanging on, etc.), but after he discovered the condition of the radiator, he knew we couldn't drive it home. We are supposed to be receiving $800 for it from a salvage company; they retrieved the car from Camp Susque for us on November 17. We opted to take the loss of the vehicle without reporting it to our insurance so that our rates wouldn't skyrocket. Nadia has been saving up money, and we're planning on going in with her to purchase a vehicle in January that she and Ian can use. We don't allow her to drive our minivan so for now I've gone back to being the chauffeur. Cars are replaceable (even if that doesn't happen immediately), but daughters are irreplaceable!

6. Nadia has been working at Camp Susque most weekends. The weekend of November 14-16 all three kids attended a retreat there with our church's youth group. Nadia has earned the nickname of the "dish fairy" because she often does the dishes in the morning at 6:00 am so the dishes are done before the others show up in the morning. Even the weekend she was there on a retreat she (without earning any money) went into the kitchen bright and early and did the dishes and helped prepare breakfast. I'm very proud of her and glad all three kids had a good weekend there with friends. 

7. Paul and I attended our first Classics social. We played games for about three hours. Paul had an easier time guessing the name the pastor had put on his back (Shakespeare). I had a much harder time coming up with Roy Rogers. Another man at our table had a very challenging one - solar eclipse! We introduced another couple to the game Quirkle.

8. Twenty-one months ago, we purchased 1/4 of a grass-fed cow from someone in our church. We finished that beef recently and this month bought another 1/4 of a cow from him. It's definitely more affordable than buying beef at the grocery store, especially considering how lean it is. 

9. The kids were able to audition to be in Little Mermaid at the Christian school. Nadia will be Aquata (one of Ariel's sisters) and also a princess, Ian will be Chef Louis, and Oliver will be in the ensemble. Ian was really hoping to be Sebastian, but we think he'll also have fun being Chef Louis. Their friend, Lydia, (who is also in our co-op and was Tinkerbell in Peter Pan) did get the part she auditioned for - Scuttle, and we were very happy to hear that. One of Nadia's closest friends, Leila, will also be a mersister, and that is also a blessing. 

10. Our performance of Peter Pan went well on November 21. Nadia was Wendy, Ian was Captain Hook, and Oliver was Nana (the dog) and the crocodile. A little over 40 people came to watch the show so there were about 60 of us eating dinner together afterward. After the play was done the kids surprised me with flowers, a card, gifts cards to Red Robin and Panera, and one of the girls gave a little speech about how much she appreciates being in the co-op. It was very sweet and unexpected. The flowers are very pretty! We had a dress rehearsal at 4:30 and let the guests come in at 5:20 for the performance. Thankfully the performance went far more smoothly than the dress rehearsal. Ironically, when I was a child, I directed a performance of Peter Pan that my sisters and some of our neighbors put on for our parents. In that instance we wrote the script ourselves and had far fewer people in the cast. I didn't write the script we used this time, and we had eighteen kids in the play. Ben was the only student from our co-op who didn't participate in the play. He went and picked up the pizzas from Domino's during the performance.

11. Nadia had been driving herself and her brothers to art class twice a week, but I've been driving them since her accident. Last Monday I was able to sit and talk with a friend (another homeschool mom) during the art class, which was a treat! 

12. We began another week of dog sitting last Friday. Thankfully, Cooper is doing MUCH better than he was the last time he was with us. Also, Milo has been sleeping in a crate in Oliver's bedroom for several days. I really, really appreciate not having a dog in my bed at night. PTL!

Over the hill

I'm not sure when one is officially considered to be "over the hill," but I feel like Paul and I have reached that point. He qualified for a senior discount for the first time during our vacation in May. We are now eligible to be in the "classics" group at our church (which for the first several years we attended our church was called "best years fellowship"). Last year we never attended any of their events, but we're actually registered for one on November 15. The kids will be at Camp Susque at a youth group retreat, so it seemed the perfect time to attend one of their events. I'm guessing we'll continue to skip most of their events until we are empty nesters. When you get to this age, you're supposed to start having colonoscopies and get immunized for pneumonia and shingles. Paul had a colonoscopy. I opted to go the simpler (and far less expensive) route with that. Paul got the pneumonia vaccine last year. That was expensive!

I had a physical on Monday morning. In addition to the usual questions, "do you smoke, do you drink, do you wear a seat belt, do you feel safe at home, etc." I was asked a question a medical professional had never asked me before - if I still felt like I was a capable driver (or something to that effect). I was floored. I answered I hope so because I recently taught my 17-year-old daughter how to drive and have two more teens to teach to drive in the next few years. I really, really didn't anticipate being asked that question at the age of 53. I declined the flu, pneumonia, and shingles vaccines. The only one I am contemplating is the shingles vaccine because my aunt has had awful experiences with having shingles many times. If both Paul and I get the shingles vaccine, that will cost us $1K so we are going to wait a bit as this hasn't been a good year for us financially. My doctor said waiting until I am 55 is fine. I'm very thankful that aside from mammograms and physicals, I haven't had any doctor appointments over the last almost four years. 

The number of instances in which I feel "over the hill" have been increasing at a more rapid pace lately. Listening to teenagers talk I feel like there are so many words and expressions that they use which I don't comprehend. What is the deal with "six seven," for example? I find myself missing the music that we used to sing years ago in church. I have loved contemporary Christian music for more than 40 years, but I've found myself not enjoying a greater percentage of the music played on a Christian radio station over the last few years. It makes me feel old. 

Thankful Thursday

 

1. From September 19- December 7 Nadia will have spent 9 out of 12 weekends at Camp Susque. Six of those weekends she was/will be working in the kitchen for a small stipend. This weekend she's serving as a volunteer in the kitchen, one weekend she was there for an overnight birthday party, and one weekend in November she'll be there as a participant in a youth retreat with our church's youth group. She typically leaves our home in the late afternoon on a Friday and comes back in the afternoon on Sunday. I miss her when she's gone, but I think God is using these times of separation to help me transition to when she'll be living in Virginia at Liberty University starting in August 2026. I'm thankful she has made many friends at Camp Susque, and I'm thankful she is willing to serve in this ministry by cooking, doing dishes, etc. for those attending various retreats there this fall. Now that she has her license, she can drive herself to and from Camp Susque in Paul's car.

2. On one of the rare weekends that Nadia was at home, she had coffee and lunch with a friend from camp on a Saturday afternoon. The next day she went home from church with a friend from church and spent about 3 hours at her house before it was time for her to work at the kennel. 

3. Last Friday the boys served as candy runners at our church's trunk or treat event. I got Oliver's M&M costume at a thrift store. I paid what felt like a fortune for Ian's Captain Hook costume for our co-op's upcoming production of Peter Pan. While the boys were helping out at church, Nadia was at Camp Susque, and Paul and I were at a ballroom dancing lesson. Oliver has two costumes for Peter Pan (he's the crocodile and the dog), but he hates those costumes, so I doubt he'll ever wear them outside of our Peter Pan performance in three weeks.

4. The kids all had dentist appointments on Monday. I've been a mom for seventeen years, and this was the first appointment that included the words "has a cavity." If the cavity doesn't grow, they are going to wait until Oliver's braces come off to fix it. We are now trying to have him get in the habit of brushing his teeth after every meal. I'm thankful that *so far* Ian and Nadia haven't had any cavities.

5. For several years a man at our church has been playing hymns in between the first and second service and after the second service on a grand piano in the church's lobby. I was recently recruited to be one of his substitutes. He has been ill recently, and the other two women who substitute for him weren't able to play this past Sunday due to other responsibilities they had at church last week, so I was asked to play. I haven't played the piano much at all in recent years so that was a delight. Speaking of the piano, I have really been enjoying listening to Ian practice the piano the last several months. In the past there were months when none of the rest of us liked the music he chose to play. Last week he asked his teacher to choose an additional song for him to work on, and she loaned him a Christmas book by Dino, which was from the late 80's. My sisters and I used to play his music in the 80's and 90's. He's doing an excellent job preparing for the challenging classical piece he plans to play in the recital in February. 

6. For the first about 4.5 years that Milo lived with us, he slept with Ian half of the time and Nadia the other half of the time. The only time he slept with Paul and me was when both Ian and Nadia were away. The first week of July all three kids were at camp, so Milo slept with us. In June he had slept with Ian for two weeks straight while Nadia was at camp. For whatever reason, Milo started to object to sleeping with Ian when he returned from camp in July. We allowed him to sleep with us thinking this would change once Nadia came home, but it didn't. Earlier this month when Cooper was with us, we asked the kids to take Milo so that we wouldn't have two dogs in our bedroom. This was a total disaster. Milo was vomiting, peeing, and pooping in their beds or on their bedroom carpets. Cleaning up messes in the middle of the night in all three of their bedrooms was much worse than having two dogs in our room so we let Milo sleep with us again. If I could go back in time, I wish we had taught Milo to sleep on a dog bed in one of our bedrooms. Although Paul also doesn't sleep as well when Milo is in our bed, he was more willing to tolerate the inconvenience. In addition to getting less sleep, when Milo curls up near our heads our allergies are affected. Earlier this week I declared I was done sleeping with a dog. Either I'd sleep on a couch or a different bed, or Milo would have to sleep elsewhere. If Milo lives to be fourteen, I'd be sleeping with him for nine more years, and I'm unwilling to lose sleep on a regular basis for that many years. The "good" nights (in which I still get a good night's sleep) are way too few and far between for me to keep this up for months and years on end. Paul has graciously offered to assist Milo in learning to sleep in a crate at night. I bought him some new dog treats that Paul is using in the process. Milo is spending part of the night in our bed, but when Paul is ready for bed (a few hours later than me) he puts Milo in his crate, and Paul sleeps on the couch next to the crate. The first night was rough, but he didn't cry that much the second night. Hopefully, it won't take that many days for Milo to adjust to the new normal of sleeping in his crate either in the kitchen or in one of our bedrooms. Paul definitely loves Milo very much!

Thankful Thursday

1. Teaching a teenager to drive is definitely not my favorite thing to do, and letting a teenager drive independently, especially when all my children are in the vehicle, is a bit nerve wracking at first. Thankfully, all has gone smoothly over the first almost three weeks of driving solo.to both of her jobs, picked up pizza for our family for dinner, and driven herself and her brothers to art class at our church. Three of those places are located 5-15 minutes from our home. Camp Susque is about 40 minutes away. The first time she drove there, she took the wrong exit and then got back on the highway headed the wrong direction. Thankfully, she had left early enough that she wasn't late for work despite the drive taking longer than normal. She had no trouble coming back home from Camp Susque. Hopefully things will continue to go as smoothly as possible when she's driving in the days, weeks, months, and years to come. 

2. On October 3, Tab met me at Ian's piano teacher's house so that we could walk and talk during his 45-minute lesson. What a treat that was!

3. Paul, Ian, Oliver, and I were able to pack meals at Experience Missions on October 4, and all five of us were able to help pack meals at our church on October 11. 

4. Jenna and Toby joined us for dinner at Applebee's in Hershey on October 5. 

5. Our family really enjoyed a Matthew West, MercyMe, and TobyMac concert on October 5. Paul said it was one of the best concerts he's ever attended in his life. Knowing that Nadia is a senior, it's possible that concert might end up being the last one the five of us attend together. Time will tell, but the days are numbered. 

6. The past two Mondays we found out Ian was scheduled to play the keyboard with the youth praise team on Wednesday night. His piano teacher moved his lesson from Friday to Tuesday both weeks so that she could work with him on the songs. 

7. I am thankful for the ability to be flexible with homeschool curriculum. I decided that Fix It Grammar wasn't sufficient for Oliver. So, I purchased a used copy of Giggly Grammar that I'm using with him this year. Also, since he hasn't listened to or read nearly as many books as his siblings had at his age, I decided he needed a vocabulary textbook. We've added that to his daily schedule. 

8. Since Nadia is a senior, I decided to go a different direction in the resources used for Bible class/ family devotions this year. The first book wasn't a big hit (The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges), but the family really enjoyed the last three books - The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi, and Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman.

9. Ian and Oliver attended Xandir's 13th birthday party on October 12. Birthday party invitations are a rare treat for my kiddos, so they are greatly appreciated. 

10. I think that finding deals for our trip to Europe will be few and far between, but I used some leftover Alaskan airline miles to reserve two free nights of lodging in the United Kingdom in May. I realize you get more bang for the buck if you use miles for a flight, but after using Alaksa Airlines for multiple trips from August 2024- August 2025, I don't think that will be the case in the next few years so getting anything for the miles we had seemed to be the wisest course of action. I've begun the lengthy process of planning out the nitty gritty details for the trip. I bought tickets for our flight from Scotland to Northern Ireland, and I've booked our lodging for eight out of fifteen nights so far. I'm trying not to think about how much I paid for one night at the Holiday Inn at the Glasgow Airport! Getting two other nights for free helps to compensate for that expensive night. I did book two inexpensive nights (about £100 total each night including the hefty VAT). 

11. Our tradition we started a few years ago of having dates with the kids has mostly fallen by the wayside. Oliver is the only one who still requests to have dates with Paul or I. Paul took him to see the new Tron movie on Tuesday night. Tickets are 50% off at that theatre on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and I had a gift card, so he paid less than $5 total for their tickets. Now the popcorn and soda they shared were another story although they did use a $10 off coupon to bring down the price of that also. It was the first time any of us had been in a movie theatre this year, so it was a special treat. 

12. We really enjoyed our last audiobook - Boys without Names by Kashmira Sheth, and I am quite certain that will be true for the one we started today, Ms. Pennypickle's Puzzle Quest because we have loved many books by Chris Grabenstein in the past. 

13. We dog sat Cooper for eight days recently. At one point we were concerned about how he was doing physically, but thankfully he bounced back the last day he was with us. 

14. I can go months without watching anything on tv, but Paul and I watched a good movie recently on Prime called Last Breath. Movies based on true stories are typically my favorite type of movie. 

Driver's License!

Nadia got her first learner's permit on June 25, 2024. She logged her required 65 hours of driving experience by the end of 2024 but decided to wait on getting her license. In August she renewed her learner's permit and asked us to teach her how to parallel park. Paul took primary responsibility for that. She had no trouble learning that skill. On September 4, Nadia took her first driving test. It took multiple attempts over the last few weeks, but she passed with flying colors today! Woohoo! She and I celebrated with a stop at Rita's before I dropped her off at Camp Susque. I added her to our insurance policy this evening. Praying that all will go smoothly as she begins driving without a parent sitting next to her. For starters, we will be letting her drive to work and take herself and her brothers to art classes on Mondays/Thursdays at our church. Ian will be old enough to get his learner's permit in December. Our kids are growing up way too fast! This means that we've now checked off all 119 things listed on our 2025 first time experiences "bucket list." I know it's not Thursday, but in addition to Nadia succeeding today with passing her driving test, here are some things I'm thankful for:

1. On September 15 I walked around the church property while the kids were in art class. I was stunned to see a New Hampshire license plate on one of the vehicles near where we were parked! I'm down to one more license plate to find over the next 3.5 months - Wyoming. 

2. On September 12 Cheri and our family drove down to Camp Hill. First, we took advantage of a coupon Dairy Queen had for small blizzards that only cost 85 cents (they're usually over $5). An hour later we met Jenna at Panera for dinner. Toby also joined us for a few minutes. The primary reason we had driven down was to attend a Stephen Curtis Chapman concert. The very first Christian contemporary concert that Cheri had attended in the 80s was Stephen Curtis Chapman. In the first part of the concert, he sang the entire Speechless album (from 1999). In addition to a drummer, pianist, and guitarists, he had a string quartet accompanying him. After the intermission he sang some other songs from other albums. Nadia thinks Speechless is his best album. It was challenging for me to stay up past 11:00 pm, especially as I had been sick that week, but a good time was had by all. 

3. Oliver, Paul, and I enjoyed attending a social our Sunday School class hosted on September 13 at church. We ate lots of delicious food (potluck) and played some games to help us get to know each other better. I brought white chicken chili, and three women the next day asked me for the recipe.

4. Our first day of co-op went well on September 16. I used the dining room plus living room together for government (9:00-9:45) and drama (11:15-12:00). We brought up extra chairs for both rooms. 18 out of 19 kids were in attendance that day. I used the family room for personal finance. Paul did part of the physics lab outdoors and part of it in the dining room. He did two experiments about relative velocity and Newton's first law. Twelve of the kids stayed for lunch and games. Nadia and Ben picked what games the group would play, and the kids split into two groups for the game time. Faith stayed at our house until 10:00 pm. Xandir stayed with us until Wednesday afternoon.

5. Ian, Oliver, and Xandir enjoyed roller skating at the homeschool party on September 17. Lucy, Sincere, and Andrew were also there. 

6. On September 18 we saw a performance of A Tale of Two Cities in Lititz put on by Servant Stage. This organization provides the concessions and tickets to the shows as "pay what you wish." They even had a live orchestra! None of us had seen this musical before, and Ian is reading that book this marking period after he finishes Frankenstein. We were very impressed with the quality of the vocalists. I had originally gotten us matinee tickets for the last Saturday in September, but none of the matinee performances fit with Nadia's schedule. We didn't get home until almost midnight, which is far from ideal, but Paul graciously drove which helped. I didn't have Nadia read that book during high school. I think the only thing she read by Charles Dickens was Oliver Twist; this was another reason I thought it was good for her to attend the musical as this way she at least knows the plot of the story. 

7. Speaking of Nadia's schedule, she attended an 18th birthday party for a fellow counselor from Camp Susque. She and some other girls stayed in a cabin from September 19-21. I'm grateful for the friends she has made through being on staff at Camp Susque.

8. Paul and I had our first lesson of intermediate East Coast swing dancing this evening. We were pleasantly surprised to see a couple from our Sunday School class also in the class! They live close to us and suggested we carpool in the future. I said let's call it a double date! :) 

9. Last week Ian got behind again, which made last weekend very intense as far as getting his work done. Thankfully, he's back on track and this weekend will be much more relaxed for Ian and also me. 

10. Right now, everything is a "go" for Aunt Janet to have her knee replacement on October 1. This is an answer to prayer because her surgery was postponed once (due to COVID), and we're hoping she will visit us in February, and that was not going to be possible if her surgery was postponed again. We're continuing to pray that all will go well with her surgery. 

11. When Paul and I were in England in 2002, we saw two theatrical performances - one of Shakespeare at a theatre in the round and also the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Our kids would not want to see anything by Shakespeare, but I was hoping to take them to see Chitty Chitty. That doesn't look possible, but the good news is that in addition to Paddington (a brand-new musical which is debuting in November), it looks like we can see Phantom of the Opera, which is one of my favorite musicals and one I had hoped to take them to. Previously, they had said the show would end in London in March 2026, but they recently extended it several more months, which means we can see it in May, Lord willing!!

Thankful Thursday

 

1. Earlier this week I was sneezing and had some congestion and chalked it up to allergies. On Wednesday I realized it was actually a cold. Thankfully, I've been healthy for several months straight, and I'm also grateful that the worst of the bug seems to be over. Yesterday I didn't help at Bible quizzing, but today I was able to resume my normal activities without taking a nap. If you know me well, I am NOT a napper. I can go years without taking a nap, but I fell asleep in the family room prior to bedtime on both Tuesday and Wednesday, which shows I was not feeling well.  

2. Everything went smoothly while we watched Cooper from August 28- September 2. I'm very thankful that we can swap dog sitting with the Seiberts. 

3. Nadia enjoyed working at Camp Susque last weekend. She was helping in the kitchen for a retreat being held at the camp. Shortly after she got home on Saturday, she then went to work for two hours at the kennel. She's doing a great job of saving up money towards her first car.

4. Ian had a rough start with his college classes this semester. He is learning to read instructions more clearly and that he can't wait until the last minute to get his assignments done. He submitted two assignments late on September 1. Thankfully, since then he has submitted everything on time or early. For now, I'm helping him come up with a plan as to how to complete everything at a reasonable pace (not all at the last minute). In time, I'm hoping he will take over that responsibility. He's taking two classes, and he currently has a 100% in one of the classes, and he has plenty of time to pull his grade up in the other class. Yesterday, he had ALL of his work done (homeschool, college, and piano) for the day completed by 4:00 pm, which was wonderful. 

5. I've been increasing my expectations for Oliver this year considering he's in seventh grade. He had his first science test this week. I made it an open book test for him, and I'm not actually going to keep track of his grades, but I want to give him an idea what it's like to take tests before he's in ninth grade when I do have to give him a grade. I also have him completing a literature guide for what he's reading (Prince Caspian and Voyage of the Dawn Treader so far) and requiring him to complete the weekly writing assignments (300-500 words each) for government that Nadia and Ian are also completing although I'm not grading his. I'm also working with him more to study I and II Corinthians for Bible quizzing. The science notebook also takes a lot more time for him to complete than the elementary level notebooks, but he's adjusting. So far, so good.

6. Nadia was invited to attend an overnight birthday party that will be happening next weekend. In April I had purchased 3 tickets for an Anne Wilson/Jordan Feliz concert at the Bloomsburg Fair. Cheri and I were planning to attend, but Nadia is the one who really likes Anne Wilson. When she no longer wanted to attend the concert, we decided to try to sell the tickets. At first it seemed like I couldn't even give them away, but thankfully eventually someone bought them from me for almost exactly the amount I paid. 

7. Ian has kept up in government and physics, but he also got behind in literature and math. I knew that getting caught up in the college classes was the first priority. On Sunday, I had him start getting caught up in his homeschool assignments. In math, the plan was for him to complete part of Saxon's Advanced Mathematics textbook this year. There were two other times in the last 13 years that I chose one math curriculum for a child and then switched gears part way through the school year. Years ago, I had planned for Nadia to use Saxon and switched to Teaching Textbooks. That switch didn't represent a waste of money because I had borrowed the Saxon text from my sister. Last year, I planned for Ian to use Art of Problem Solving for Geometry, but he ended up using Teaching Textbooks. This year I thought Ian would be using Saxon. The Christian schools where I taught had used Saxon math. This hasn't been working for him, but I was determined not to resort back to Teaching Textbooks as I feel it wouldn't challenge Ian. This week I made the decision to sign him up for Precalculus through Arizona State University. It only costs $25. Nadia is taking College Algebra the same way. In her case, if she does well, I'll pay $400 for the 3 credits so she will be eligible to take Calculus at Liberty next year. In Ian's case, I don't see any reason to pay for the credits, but we'll have up to one year after he finishes the course to make that decision. Hopefully this will be a good fit for him this year. I don't like wasting money on curriculum that we never use, but it's much worse to have a situation that's frustrating for both parents plus Ian for months on end. I'm thankful ASU makes their courses available for such a small amount of money.

8. Paul and I have signed up for another ballroom dancing class! We're planning to take eight intermediate swing lessons on Friday nights this fall. 

9. I had been told that the kids were signed up for art class at MCS on Mondays and Thursdays at 1:20. The last two weeks they had art on Thursdays. When we showed up this week on Monday, they were told there isn't an art class at 1:20 on Mondays. It turns out the schedule changed last week, and they forgot to tell us. To make matters worse, the kids hung out with me in the car until the next period of school only to find out they were just having a study hall in art. Oi vey. That was a big waste of time. The silver lining is that having art at 2:05 on Mondays will actually be better for us than at 1:20. This Monday Nadia worked from 7:30-11:30 am and the boys had an orthodontist appointment at 10:30. We hadn't been able to get the subjects we do together done before art, but this will be more possible on a Monday that Nadia works, if art is at 2:05. 

10. Ian's piano lessons are on Fridays this school year, but when I found out on Monday that Ian was scheduled to play the keyboard with the youth worship team on Wednesday evening, his teacher offered to move his lesson to Tuesday so she could help him go over the songs before Wednesday night. We appreciate her flexibility and assistance, and I'm grateful Ian has been signed up to play the keyboard on Wednesday night every other week during this school year. Speaking of piano, sometime this summer Ian started being more careful when he practices. What a difference this has made! His teacher and I are both thrilled with this change. I'm also thankful that he's playing music that is more appealing for the rest of the family to listen to. 

Thankful Thursday

 1. Oliver had his physical on Friday. He was grateful he didn't need to get any shots. I am very grateful that he hadn't been to the doctor since his physical last year. At the doctor's office he weighed 95 pounds (39th percentile) and was 5 ft. 4.5 inches tall. He had gained 11 pounds and grown 2.5 inches in the last year. His height is at the 83rd percentile, and his BMI is at the 11th percentile, which is an improvement as some years his BMI was around the 5th percentile which put him close to being labeled underweight. When Nadia turned thirteen, she was 5 ft. 1.25 inches tall, and Ian was 59.5 inches and 76 lbs. when he turned 13. So, Oliver weighs about 20 pounds more than Ian did at this age, and he's also 5 inches taller than his brother was. At the moment, Ian is still taller than Oliver, but I think Ian's days are numbered as to being the tallest child in our family.

2. The weather has been so nice lately! The highs have been in the 70's, and it hasn't been humid. That's my kind of weather! Paul and I usually walk together twice a day with Milo. Sometimes Oliver joins us on rollerblades for our second walk of the day.

3. I'm grateful to be able to continue to homeschool our kids. Yesterday we took our first day of school pictures one day late because it had been raining on Tuesday evening. We also got ice cream at Becky's to celebrate the start of a new school year.

4. Nadia wanted to get some clothes at the thrift store, so we went there yesterday. Last week she renewed her learner's permit which had expired in June. She drove a lot from September through December last year, but she had barely driven at all in 2025. She was the driver for our errands yesterday. We used a Pizza Hut gift card Paul had gotten through his company credit card previously to get stuffed crust pizza, which is something Nadia really loves. 

5. Six months ago, the dentist thought an x-ray showed I had a cavity in a tooth. He decided to wait six months. On Tuesday an x-ray of just that tooth showed zero sign of decay. Woohoo! 

6. Yesterday was Oliver's spiritual birthday. I got him an Adventures in Odyssey book, and we picked up six donuts last night at Dunkin for our family to enjoy today. 

7. I never know what I'll find when I shop at Surplus Outlet. On Saturday I found they were selling bags of Sun Chips for $1.47 (the size that is typically $4-5 each). I shocked the kids by buying 24 bags. I figured I'd likely never see them at that price again. We all like them, and they are healthier than most chips. I've never bought that many bags of chips at one time before, but I don't regret the purchase.

8. I treated Tab to lunch on Friday as a belated birthday lunch. She suggested eating at a restaurant I had never been to before. The food was tasty, but more importantly I enjoyed time with my friend. 

9. The kids have their first art class for the year at MCS this afternoon. I'm thankful the kids can take art there and participate in their musical. 

10. We have nineteen kids signed up for co-op this fall. I used a Lowe's gift card that I had intended to use toward our new refrigerator to pay for four folding chairs. One of the new moms teaches art for a fee elsewhere. She has agreed to teach art in our co-op for free in the spring as long as the supplies are provided. Art is definitely not my forte, so I'm grateful for this assistance.

11. For a few months I've been monitoring the price of airfare to the United Kingdom. On Tuesday evening I learned of a nonstop, roundtrip flight from Newark to Dublin for less than $350 each. Including taxes and fees, I ended up paying $361 per person for nonstop, roundtrip flights in May. Yahoo! I've been working on a two-week itinerary that includes visiting Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, and Ireland. Nadia wants us to add in a day trip to Paris so that will likely happen. It will be the third continent for the kids! Paul and I have been to Paris and England, but we haven't been to Ireland, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland. I think everything we see in Paris will be a repeat for Paul and I, but only some of what we do in England will be a repeat for us. 

The last first day of homeschool for Nadia!

 This is my thirteenth year of homeschooling, and it's my last one in which I have three students. I've had a tradition of taking a picture of the kids at the start of each school year. Below you'll find a picture of Nadia from each of the past years of school. I also have the kids draw a self-portrait every year and write goals for the year. Last year we began the tradition of getting ice cream at Becky's after taking our first day of school pictures. We indented to continue that tradition yesterday, but it started raining a little before we had dinner. Oliver, Paul, and I were walking (in Oliver's case rollerblading) home when we got caught in the rain. Due to the rain last night, we took our annual pictures this evening and got our ice cream afterwards. In this post you'll also find the video I made about our trip to Hawaii (above), and Oliver's 13th birthday video (at the end of the post). I usually make 5-6 videos a year. I've made four so far this year, and I'm planning on making one in the near future that commemorates our trips to all fifty states and then one more in December for Ian's 16th birthday.

Our local school district went back to school last week. The Christian school at our church had their first day of school today. Due to just coming back from Hawaii, I didn't want to start at the same time as our school district although we've done that many times in the past. Many years we've had school on Labor Day, but I decided to ease us back into the school year by having two four-day school weeks the first two weeks of school. So, I decided we'd start on Tuesday this week and take Labor Day off next week. The first two days of school went fairly smoothly. Oliver was overwhelmed by the jump in difficulty from the elementary level science textbook which he used in 6th grade to the Physical Science textbook he's using this year. Yesterday I decided to return an audiobook I had purchased with a credit that we hadn't listened to yet with Audible and instead used the credit to get an audiobook of his textbook so that he could listen to it while he reads it simultaneously. I have to say he did a nice job in the science notebook yesterday and today. Math didn't go smoothly for Ian yesterday. I'm attempting to have him switch to Saxon. He did well with Beast Academy through 5th grade, and then he's been using Teaching Textbooks which I feel is too easy for him, and he thought AOP was too challenging last year when I attempted to have him use that for geometry. Hopefully it will work for him to use this Advanced Mathematics book by Saxon this year. Oliver is using Teaching Textbooks, and Nadia is taking College Algebra through ASU. I'll also do Life of Fred with all three kids, but we haven't started Life of Fred yet this year.

Nadia in August 2013 (Kindergarten)

Nadia at the start of first grade

2nd grade

3rd grade

4th grade

5th grade

7th grade

8th grade

9th grade

Home Sweet Home

Hawaii is a very beautiful place, but it's quite an ordeal getting there. It took us a little more time to get to Hawaii than it did for Paul and I to travel to China in 2006. We passed through twelve time zones on that trip, so the jet lag wasn't *as* brutal on this trip as it was *only* six time zones away. We are very thankful to be at home again, and as much as Milo loves the Seiberts, he's also very, very glad to be reunited with us. In light of all the traveling we did, I determined not to drive anywhere today except to take Nadia to work. She's planning to get her license next month, so my days of driving her to work will be coming to an end in the very near future.

Tonight, I'm grateful for:

1. The free coffee farm tour we were able to schedule at the last minute when something else fell through last Friday morning. 

2. For all the fish we were able to see when we snorkeled on Friday in Honaunau Bay and Kahalu'u Beach Park. 

3. Although we didn't get to see any monk seals, we saw many, many sea turtles on the trip - some in the water and some on land. 

4. We ate some VERY delicious island cream on Maui. Yum! We also were finally able to try shave ice once. We went all out and got the two possible additions - ice cream and a snow cap on top.

5. One of the kids' most favorite beaches from our trip was Napili Bay Beach on Maui. 

6. One of Paul's top three meals on the trip was the beef brisket sandwich he had at Mama's Ribs on Maui.

My view as I looked up from where I was lying down at the beach on Maui

7. The volcano on Maui was one of my top experiences from the trip. The views were breathtaking from 10,000 feet elevation. 

8. Everything went smoothly with our two flights from Maui to DC, and Joe picked us up from the airport.

9. We enjoyed having some time with the Towfighis. When we arrived before our flight to Hawaii, everyone was there except for Jenna and Joe. When we returned, everyone was there except for Andrew; so over the course of the two trips we saw all eleven members of their family plus my dad. 

10. Westyn mowed our lawn once and took out our recycling once while we were gone, Cooper gave Lily food and water and watered my plants, and the Seiberts took care of Milo. It takes a village to go on vacation, ha ha! I'm thankful for all their help. 

11. Nadia has been signed up to work in the kitchen at Camp Susque when they are hosting some retreats in September and October. She could have worked there over Labor Day weekend, but she had to decline that retreat because she's already scheduled to work at the kennel in the evening on August 31. I'm thankful that she has two jobs that she enjoys. Her favorite job is Camp Susque, but I think working with animals is better for her resume. 

12. I didn't get much sleep for three consecutive nights, but last night I got 9.5 hours of sleep! I almost never sleep in until 7:00 am, but I slept until about 7:45! Nadia and Ian didn't wake up until after 11:00 am, and Paul slept until 10:00 am. This is a result of jet lag. I think my body is making the six hour transition, for which I'm grateful. I felt *much* better today than I did yesterday. 

Silversword plant we admired at the top of Haleakala 

13. I had a request from another mom for her two girls to join our co-op. That will probably put us at 19 kids if I say yes. If we didn't meet in our home, I wouldn't have to think about it. My kids are very excited about co-op resuming in a little less than a month.

14. We all were healthy during our trip. Two of the Towfighis tested positive for strep throat while we were with them. We're hoping we didn't catch it from them.

15. We visited six National Park sites on this trip. As of August 18, we've been to 175 National Park sites, of which 30 of those were "National Parks." Nadia and Ian have each earned 231 Junior Ranger badges, and Oliver has earned 219 so far.

Farewell, Hawaii

On Monday morning we left our Airbnb and started our drive to the Haleakala National Park. On the way there we stopped at the Komoda Bakery in Makawao. We did a few small hikes, the kids earned Junior Ranger badges, and we enjoyed many amazing views as we drove to the summit (10,023 feet elevation). We were looking down at the clouds! The road was filled with many sharp turns. The kids and I felt like we were on an amusement park ride on the way down. The two volcanos (one on Hawaii and this one on Maui) were two of my favorite experiences from the trip. We weren't supposed to board our flight to San Diego until after 10:00 pm. We passed some of the time by watching sea turtles at three different beaches on the north shore (not too far from the airport). At this first beach there were 22 sea turtles on the beach, there were 3 at the second, and there were 17 at the third. At each beach we also saw sea turtles in the water, but it was impossible to count those. We also had pizza at the Flatbread Company. It was very tasty, but it was very expensive. Still, it was cheaper than ordering five entrees elsewhere. The pizzas were too small for one large to feed five people. Oliver and I didn't want to get just a cheese pizza. We chose Mopsy's Kalua Pork which included pork, a mango BBQ sauce, red onions, Maui pineapple, goat cheese, parmesan, and mozzarella. Paul only had the regular cheese pizza, but the rest of us had some of the pork one. 

We had a glitch with using our TSA Precheck because Alaska Airlines required us to book our tickets as three different reservations. Since Oliver was 12 when we flew here, he was able to go with us through TSA Precheck, but now that he's thirteen they wouldn't permit that. I don't plan to buy tickets through Alaska Airlines again. Our first flight took us from Maui to San Diego. We all slept a little bit on the flight. Thankfully, the food prices were more reasonable in this airport than they are in the Seattle airport. I bought five breakfast sandwiches at a Jack in the Box near our gate. When we shopped for groceries on Maui, I had purchased a cheese Danish for us to share and also some Club and Cheddar cracker sandwiches. This will constitute our "lunch" on the second flight to DC. We plan to spend the night at Yvonne's house and drive back to our home and Milo tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, it won't take us too long to adjust to the six-hour time change. We will stop hearing the words Aloha and Mahalo that we've heard so many times over the last two weeks! Thankfully, we were all healthy during our trip, and the weather was nice. We had almost no rain. The only time rain impacted our plans was part of the day that we were hiking at the Volcano National Park on Hawaii.  I'm thankful we have been able to visit all fifty states! As beautiful as Hawaii was, I feel the same as I did when we left Alaska. I loved our time there but don't anticipate Paul and I will ever return to either state. I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tomorrow night and snuggling with Milo. Nadia's Astronomy class began yesterday through Liberty, and Ian's two classes through Cedarville begin tomorrow. Summer is almost done. It's been a good one!

Hawaiian goose "Nene" at the volcano