Bridal Shower

 

Jenna with her three aunts at her bridal shower

1. My niece, Jenna, is getting married on February 7. I won't have trouble remembering the date of her anniversary because Paul and I met on February 7, 1997, and we started dating a few weeks later. She had a surprise bridal shower on January 2. Her mom, aunts, and Toby's mom hosted a shower for her yesterday at Toby's parents' house. At one point I wasn't sure if Nadia and I would be able to attend, but thankfully, we were able to drive down, attend the shower, and drive back home before it started snowing. I purchased the favors for the shower, took photos, and planned the three games that we played. Jenna wore a white dress and her very cute white boots that she will be wearing at the wedding. It was Nadia's first bridal shower. 

Here are some other things I'm thankful for today:

2. The window above our kitchen sink has been broken since 2018. Since it's a Pella window, it cannot be repaired. We have gotten estimates twice over the last several years for replacing it. The most recent estimate by Window World was far more reasonable than the first estimate we had several years ago. We decided to take the plunge, and on Friday we put down 50% toward replacing one window plus our sliding glass door. Thankfully, the salesman honored the quote we were given last May despite the fact the price of the door went up $800 over the last 8 months. 

3. I enjoyed taking my friend, Cheri, out for lunch on Thursday to celebrate her 69th birthday. 

4. When the boys had an orthodontist appointment last week, I visited the library that is across the street from the orthodontist. I discovered that you could check out board games! I checked out Blank Slate. We played it at co-op last week, and we've played it twice as a family over the last week. 

Jenna with Toby's Grandma and two of his sisters

5. I'm not a fan of cold weather. The last four years I walked outside almost every day no matter what the temperature was. A couple of months ago I decided to switch to exercising on the elliptical in our basement. When the weather is nicer, I definitely prefer being outside in the fresh air as I enjoy seeing plants, animals, and the sky, but I am very grateful we own an elliptical. We purchased it in 2016, but I haven't used it that much over the years. I don't go as many miles, but my heart rate is elevated far more as I can up the incline and the resistance level. I've gotten my time for completing 2 miles under 30 minutes, which is a big improvement for me. I know for some that would still be a snail's pace, but I'm pleased with my progress.

6. Paul and I were able to attend an 80th birthday party for a woman in our Sunday School class last Sunday afternoon. 

7. Our church cancelled the in-person service today. Thankfully, they had recorded a service on Wednesday night that they streamed today. So far, we've gotten 14 inches of snow today. As an added bonus, our former senior pastor (who retired in 2021) preached the sermon. I miss him!

8. A few weeks ago, Ian asked if he could start cooking a meal every Saturday. I was thrilled that he took the initiative with that. Since I was gone most of the day yesterday, Ian (and I) cooked our dinner tonight. I'm hoping we make this a habit so that by the time he graduates from high school he will know how to cook a variety of dishes. Nadia makes the majority of the desserts we consume. She made a delicious peanut butter pie today. Yum!

Thankful Thursday

1. The kids were able to participate in a Bible quizzing competition that our church hosted on January 9-10. Ironically the teams closest to us (also in Pennsylvania) didn't come, but some teams from two different churches in Indiana participated. Ian's team came in second place, and he also tied for fourth place in the individual part of the competition. I served as an official from 6-10 pm on Friday night and from about 9-4 on Saturday. I'm thankful the kids can participate in this program, and I'm praying that all three of them will put more time into studying I & II Corinthians over the next five months. 

2. While I was serving as an official, Paul took the van for an oil change and tire rotation. Typically, I'm the one who takes our vehicles for all their appointments, so I was happy to relinquish that duty this time around. Unfortunately, I forgot to give him a coupon he could have used at the appointment. 😞It was possible for us to be doing two things at the same time because we are back to owning two cars for which I am very thankful.

3. On Sunday afternoon Nadia, Abby, and her older brother went ice skating.

Nadia made this in art class at MCS - Lion Witch and the Wardrobe inspired

4. There are two shows that I look forward to watching the new episodes each year - All Creatures Great and Small on PBS and The Chosen. The newest season of All Creatures was released on January 11. Paul and I have watched three episodes together so far, which are sort of like little dates. I had planned for us to attend a ballroom dance at a Methodist Church on Saturday night, but Paul wanted to work on spackling in the kitchen. Hopefully, we'll make it to the next dance I have on our calenda (March 7). Wendy got me my first pair of ballroom dancing shoes for Christmas, and I want to try them out! My first ballroom dancing lesson was on January 31, 1997. It's about time I actually own the correct shoes 🤣. I've read or listened to quite a few of James Herriot's books. I'm not sure how many seasons PBS will make of the show, but they have no lack of material to use from his many books! 

5. Nadia drove the Subaru for the first time on January 10 while I was in the vehicle. She began driving herself to work and herself plus her brothers to church for art class, Little Mermaid rehearsals, and youth group starting on January 12. Thankfully, all has gone well so far. I don't take that for granted. I also appreciate a temporary reduction in the amount of chauffeuring. Ian plans to get his learner's permit this summer, but for the next about four months I shouldn't need to drive as much as I usually do. 

6. Ian's piano teacher was flexible and allowed us to move Ian's piano lesson from Friday to Tuesday so she could help him prepare for being part of the youth worship team on Wednesday night. In addition to working on his recital piece by Rachmaninoff, he also has begun working on one by Bach.

 7. Paul and I joined a new small group on Wednesday nights. We are discussing the book Hearing God by Dallas Willard. 

8. Our co-op resumed on Tuesday. We have 16 students participating this session as Ben has moved to New York and two girls have left our co-op to join one that just started this month. This session will be much easier for me as another mom is teaching art, Paul is doing chess and physics, and one of the students in the co-op is teaching ASL. I created the lesson plans for the ASL class, but the only things I am teaching are photography and book groups. In art the students studied some of Grandma Moses' artwork and then began drawing a sketch of a project they will be painting with watercolors. Some weeks I might be babysitting the art teacher's three youngest children for 90 minutes, but this week she didn't need to bring them along. Each week I have two different students choose what games are played from 12:30-1:30. This week Julianna chose Dutch Blitz and Lydia chose Jackbox Games. 

9. I'm continuing to make progress with planning our vacation to Europe, which is only four months away. We have our rental cars, lodging, and airfare. I've booked a few of the activities. Would you believe the time slot I had originally chosen for touring Jane Austen's house was already booked? For many of the attractions it's still too soon to book the tickets. Unfortunately, the Palace of Holyroodhouse will be closed on the days we will be in Edinburgh, but so far that's the only thing I've had to completely scratch from the itinerary. 

10. For most of the day yesterday I was unable to make or receive phone calls due to a problem Verizon was having. Thankfully, Nadia's and Paul's phones were not impacted so I was able to use their phones to make a few phone calls. Today I found out Verizon is giving me a $20 credit on our next bill due to the inconvenience.

11. I recently listened to The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge. I did so because he's one of Paul's favorite presidents. I didn't know that much about him prior to listening to this book. I agree with Paul's assessment. I wonder if we'll ever have a president like him again. I am not at all happy with our current president, but I rest in the knowledge that God is in control. I am thankful that over the years *some* of our presidents have been excellent albeit it's been a while since we've had one I'd put in that category. 

7th trip to Elk Mountain

The first time my kids went skiing was in February 2017 when my dad and I took Nadia and Ian to Ski Sawmill. We could have also gone skiing for free at Elk Mountain that year, but we didn't begin taking our kids to Elk Mountain until January 2020. Ironically, February 2020 ended up being the last time that WVIA offered a free ski day at Ski Sawmill. Our kids have been skiing 4 times at Ski Sawmill, 7 times at Elk Mountain, and 1 time at Montage. I'm planning to take my three plus Nathaniel skiing at Montage again next month. The last time I went skiing was on January 19, 2021. I broke my ankle later that year and decided to retire from skiing and ice skating due to the plate that is now in my leg. We get four free passes through WVIA which we had been using for 3 kids plus 1 parent, but the last four years we've been inviting a friend to use the fourth pass. Jill, Nathaniel, and Julianna all went skiing with us in the past. Of those three kids, Nathaniel definitely seemed to enjoy it the most. We had invited him to join us again this year, but he is on a mission trip in Honduras with his church this week. He plans to join us at Montage next month. When we found out Nathaniel couldn't come to Elk Mountain, we invited Nadia's friend, Abby, instead. She took to skiing like a fish to water! Maybe she will also join us at Montage next month? 

Here are some things I am thankful for today:

1. Paul's dad was able to spend several hours with us on December 19 to celebrate his 84th birthday and Christmas. 

2. The five of us were able to help with packing meals for a food distribution our church did on December 20.

3. Although it was hard to drop Milo off at the kennel, I was very grateful to learn on our return that we would get a 50% discount due to the fact Nadia works there. 

4. The kids had a blast spending time with their cousins while we were in Chicago from December 22-27. We were also grateful that the Benners were willing to host the large group and that we didn't encounter and snow or ice while driving there and back. They played a lot of games, went bowling, (outdoor) ice skating, and (indoor) rock climbing.

5. Nadia and Ian enjoyed their time at winter camp at Camp Susque. Nadia was able to go sledding and also do some ice skating while she was up there. 

6. We celebrated Paul's 56th birthday on January 3 by having dinner at Texas Roadhouse. 

7. I found out on January 2 that Liberty expects the fall 2026 semester bill to paid in January. That totally caught me by surprise. My maternal grandpa paid for all twelve of his grandkids to go to college, and his money is now being used to pay for all of his great grandchildren to go to college, which is utterly amazing to me. I've been the one helping with the paperwork of getting the bills paid for my nieces and nephews, so I know from experience that most universities expect to be paid in August or September. Nadia's roommate paid her bill on January 2 so she was able to request a room in the dorm they had selected, and she indicated that she wanted Nadia to be her roommate even though Nadia can't accept that request until the bill is paid. The girls found each other through the Bunky app. Thankfully, the trust issued a check to Liberty this week which means in the near future Nadia will be able to request her dorm and roommate. It also means she can take her technology and math assessments over the next couple of months as those need to be completed before she registers for classes in early April. Thank you, grandpa!!! Nadia and her roommate (Carolina) have been making various plans including picking out a rug for their room, comforters for their beds, etc. There will be a total of seven girls in their suite, and they have picked two of their five suitemates so far. I hope the girls have a wonderful year together! 

8. Nadia is starting a weekly Bible study with a friend (in our town) who is also going to Liberty next fall. She also has a friend from church who is going to Liberty next fall so we have carpooling possibilities. 

9. Oliver enjoyed roller skating at Faith's birthday party on December 30. Nadia and Ian weren't able to attend due to being at Camp Susque. 

10. Paul had bloodwork done at the end of December, and his cholesterol had dropped some from last year. PTL!

11. Everything went smoothly with our skiing trip yesterday. Milo was very glad that Paul stayed at home. We stopped a Red Robin on the way home for dinner. I had received a $75 gift card to Red Robin from the co-op parents in November. Because it was the first Wednesday of the month, Ian and Oliver's meals were free, and they also each received a free ice cream sundae! This meant that even including the tip, we didn't use the full value of the gift card yet, which was great considering five people ate at a sit-down restaurant. 

12. We test drove a 2022 Subaru Impreza on Tuesday and paid a down payment on it. We hope to complete the purchase today. Paul's car was totaled a little over two months ago, so we are very grateful for the prospect of having two cars and are praying that we won't need to buy another car for the foreseeable future. At least this car is NOT gray (for a while both our minivan and Paul's Mazda were the same ugly gray). This car is red. It already has a lot of miles on it, but we only plan to use this car for short drives so we're hoping it will last for several years despite how many miles the first owner put on it in a short time span. I'm looking forward to a little break in the amount of chauffeuring due to Nadia being able to drive herself to work, take herself and her brothers to art and Little Mermaid rehearsals, etc.  

13. When the kids were little, I remember how Paul would laugh and laugh when I'd read a Ramona the Pest book aloud. We have discovered another author (Gordon Korman) who makes us all laugh, and his books are more geared for teenagers than the Ramona books. He's written over 100 books, so I doubt we'll read/listen to all of them, but we've enjoyed the seven we've finished so far. I think my top three so far (in no particular order) would be The Unteachables, Old School, and Slugfest. I used to read aloud to my middle schoolers in the early 90's. I'm confident my students would have adored his books if they existed back then. I'm glad we found another author we really enjoy! 

2026 first time experiences

Nadia and her friend, Abby

I used to post goals on January 1 on my blog, but in 2022 I started the tradition of posting a bucket list of sorts for the year by posting a list of first-time experiences. I modify the list throughout the year by adding things as well as deleting others, and I mark them off when they are accomplished. Last year's list ended up containing 123 experiences in the end. Two got deleted last week when we didn't go to the Art Institute or Indiana Dunes National Park. The majority of the items on the list are usually things we will see and do on one of our vacations. 

1. Take Abby with us when we ski at Elk Mountain - Done!
2. Watch season 6 of All Creatures Great and Small on PBS - Done!
3. See Riverdance performance at CAC - Done!
4. Ian and Paul attend a concert by the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra - Done!
5. Ian and I attend a reception at the Lycoming College Art Gallery - Done!
6. Tour the Pennsylvania Capitol and the Pennsylvania National Fire Museum - Done!
7. See Joshua at Sight and Sound  - Done!
8. See the movie A Great Awakening  - Done!
9. All three kids participate in The Little Mermaid musical at MCS - Done!
10. Ian gets his first job - done!
11. Have Nadia's graduation party at Trout Pond Park - done!
12. See the play It Runs in the Family at CWC - done!
13. Tower of London - Done!
14. British Museum - Done!
15. Kensington Palace - Done!
16. Big Ben - Done!
17. Westminster Abbey - Done!
18. Churchill War Rooms - Done!
19. Punt on River Cam - Done!
20. Camera Obscura - Done!
21. St. Giles Cathedral - Done!
22. National Museum of Scotland - Done!
23. Arthur's Seat - Done!
24. Alnwick Castle - Done!
25. John Knox house - Done!
26. Eat at The Piemaker - Done!
27. Kelpies at the Helix - Done!
28. Battle of Bannockburn - Done!
29. Stirling Castle - Done!
30. National Wallace Museum - Done!
31. Riverside Museum - Done!
32. Loch Lommond cruise - Done!
33. See Paddington the Musical - Done!
34. Eilean Donan Castle - Done!
35. Kilt Rock - Done!
36. Quiraing - Done!
37. Titanic Bellfast - Done!
38. C.S. Lewis Square - Done!
39. Gobbins Cliff Path - Done!
40. Blackhead Coastal Path - Done!
41. Carrik a Rede rope bridge - Done!
42. Giant's Causeway - Done!
43. EPIC Irish emigration museum - Done!
44. Eat at Leo Burdock's Fish and Chips- Done!
45. Christ Church Cathedral - Done!
46. Trinity College Book of Kells - Done!
47. Ha'penny bridge - Done!
48. Little Museum of Dublin - Done!
49. Eat at Indulgence Cafe - Done!
50. GPO Museum - Done!
51. Eat at Lemon Jelly Cafe - Done!
52. St. Patrick's Cathedral - Done!
53. Conwy Castle - Done!
54. Caernarfon Castle - Done!
55. Snowdon Mountain Railway - Done!
56. Caerphilly Castle- Done!
57. Jane Austen's House - Done!
58. Buckingham Palace - Done!
59. eat Welsh cakes at Cardiff Market - Done!
60. Cardiff Castle - Done!
61. St. Fagan's National History Museum - Done!
62. Sainte-Chapelle - Done!
63. Notre Dame de Paris - Done!
64. Musee d'Orsay - Done!
65. Eat at Moo Pie Gelato - Done!
66. Eat at Haggis Box - Done!
67. Explore Greyfriars Kirkyard - Done!
68. Eat ice cream at The Rinkha - Done!
69. Eat at Jack's Gelato - Done!
70. Arc de Triomphe - Done!
71. Eiffel Tower - Done!
72. Eat crepes, baguettes, and pain au chocolat in Paris - done!
73. Ride a train from Belfast to Dublin - Done!
74. Eat at Makar's Mash Bar - Done!
75. Ian attends cybersecurity camp at Messiah University - Done!
76. All three kids compete at Nationals at Houghton University - Done!
77. Vanderbilt Mansion* - done!
78. FDR* - done!
79. Eleanor Roosevelt* - done!
80. Saint Croix International* - done!
81. Fundy National Park~ done!
82. Hopewell Rocks - done!
83. Cavendish Beach and Cliffs in Prince Edward Island National Park - done!
84. Green Gables Heritage Place~ done!
85. Eat ice cream from COWS on Prince Edward Island - done!
86. Halifax Public Gardens - done!
87. Go kayaking with seals in Nova Scotia - done!
88. Peggy's Cove - done!
89. Maritime Museum of the Atlantic - done!
90. Halifax Citadel - done!
91. Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site~ done!
92. Walk on the earth's mantle - done!
93. Fortress of Louisbourg - done!
94. Take ferry to and from Labrador - done!
95. Gros Morne National Park~ done!
96. Western Brook Pond boat tour - done!
97. Spillars Cove - done!
98. Dungeon Provincial Park - done!
99. Cape Bonavista Lighthouse - done!
100. Elliston puffin viewing - done!
101. Skerwink Trail - done!
102. Signal Hill National Historic Site~ done!
103. Cape Spear Lighthouse - done!
104. Salem Maritime* - done!
105. Saugus Iron Works* - done!
106. JFK* - done!
107. Nadia moves into a dorm at Liberty University - done!
108. See the elk in Benezette, PA
109. Compass program at Ricketts Glen State Park
110. Kinzua State Park
111. Army Expo in Carlisle
112. Nadia completes her first semester as a resident student at Liberty University
113. Ian gets his learner's permit
114. Watch six episodes of Chosen in the Wild with Bear Grylls
115. Watch six episodes of season 6 of The Chosen

~Denotes a place the kids can earn an Xplorers reward (Canada)

*Denotes a place the kids can earn a Junior Ranger badge

Thankfully, Oliver's cousins were happy to play Monopoly with him

*