Febuary 2022

We celebrated Valentine’s Day this year like we do every year – making cheese and chocolate fondue.  Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures during our meal, but it was delicious! 

Anna’s Valentine flowers from Daddy

My goals for this month were very simple – celebrate Valentine’s Day as a family and continue hanging things on our walls.  We’re still in the process of hanging wall art, but I’ve wanted to think this through rather than just start putting holes in walls.  It takes a while to live in a new space and figure out what will work best where.  I’m hoping to finish this task in March. 

Saturday morning French Toast

On President’s Day when the whole family was off from school and work, we decided to visit the new Olympic museum that opened in town a couple of years ago.  We SO enjoyed our time there and loved all of the interactive displays.

Kenny’s favorite winter Olympic sport is curling!

And lastly, our church celebrated its 50th anniversary on February 20th.  As it happened, our new pastor who arrived this month, preached his first sermon on February 20th.  It was such a special Sunday.  

I’ve been at Village Seven for 22 years this summer, and Kenny has been a part of this church for 32 years – since he was Anna’s age!  We love our church home and count it a privilege to be part of.  

Basketball Season

James played 7th-grade intramural basketball this past fall at school and had a great time.  About forty 7th-grade boys tried out for the interscholastic team – the team that competes against other local schools.  Twelve boys made that team and the rest formed five intramural teams that played each other each week.  This was a great way for James to ease into sports with fewer practices and less pressure.  We all enjoyed watching him play each week and definitely saw him improve.  He had a small group of friends that stayed after school each Friday to watch him play which was so nice. 

“1-2-3 Titans!”

 

October 2021

October began with Anna’s 4th grade sharing their Grandparent’s Day song at a Friday assembly for the parents.  Look for Anna towards the middle front, directly behind the tallest 4th-grade student.  

I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of taking pictures of our beautiful sky. 

In October I discovered a crazy, easy skillet meal that I’ve since made several times.  October, the month we moved, was very, very busy and I often was scrounging up dinner with whatever we had so I had more time to work.  On this night, I found a kielbasa and green beans in the freezer, along with a potato in the pantry and a carrot in the frig.  I sprinkled some “21 Seasoning” from Trader Joe’s over everything and, voila! 

More recently, I’ve used all frozen ingredients to make a similar meal: frozen, cooked cubed chicken, french fries, sliced carrots coins in fun colors, and green beans.  I don’t always cook like this, but some nights, it’s quite helpful to have a stash of ingredients in the freezer that will come together in no time.  

James preparing his drum set for moving. 

We moved on October 15th – six months – to the day – from starting our house hunt.  The kids were on fall break that week which was perfect.  These are the only two pictures I took on moving day.  We loved our Wheatgrass house and have so many, many happy memories there.  

We’re so thankful for how God orchestrated the timing of our move – having the ability to have painting and flooring finished in the new house before moving in.  The move itself went well.  We were exhausted but so thankful to be in.

In the first week or so, Anna started painting some yellow accessories to go with her new purple bedroom.  

In the fall, I loved watching the sunrise from different windows in the new house.  So beautiful. 

And we can spot our favorite mountain from some windows too. 

In late October, Anna and her friend, Emmy Jo, entered their school’s talent show with a dance they created together.  They practiced hard and did such a great job.  

One of our favorite family night activities now is playing pool together.  The finished basement makes all the difference and we’re so thankful for this space.