2006..2007

Now's the part where I open our checkbook and write '07 on the next twenty checks.

No, we're not staying up for the new year in PST. It's already arrived in Paris and New York and Phoenix and it won't miss us greeting it. And I do want to tune in HGTV for the Rose Parade and unless we get some shuteye soon we won't be up in time (we are in vacation-sleep in very late mode here).

Favorite moment of 2006: seeing the puppy of my dreams after looking fruitlessly for almost four months.

Favorite accomplishment of 2006: standing on the summit of Mt. Rose together.

Favorite presents of 2006: E's Christmas card and Pierre's family photo, both tugged on the parental heartstrings.

Favorite event of 2006: Hauling the very very last wheelbarrow of 28 cubic yards of dirt (excuse me...soil).

Favorite photo of 2006: Grammy with the aspens blazing around her like 80 golden birthday candles.

Welcome, 2007. Bring us Peace. Bring us Laughter. Bring us Wisdom.

25...26...27...ready or not

Okay, you got me...I didn't update our Christmas newletter on the 25th as planned. Spent the entire day cooking, opening presents, and talking to family on the phone and the day was over before we knew it. We declared the 26th a day to do absolutely nothing (what bliss!), so no post then. But today, we're raring to go.

Our year had many memorable moments. We hiked to the summit of Mt. Rose for the first time on Labor Day. The weather cooperated, the company of friends was perfect and we plan to repeat annually. The aspen groves blazed later this fall. Tahoe was idyllic in July. The massive trout at Fanny Bridge left the family fisherman groaning over forbidden fruit swimming below. Sunnyside Beach had a pirate's ransom of beautiful stones to pick over and collect. I highly recommend riding a jet ski with Pierre, but found that other members of the family simply cannot steer a kayak. No one ended up in the cool waters of Tahoe though and it was nice to be with family.

The family geologist flew to Argentina early in the year to trek yet again in the Puna (the plateau on top of the Andes). He reported many changes since his first trip years ago, including paved highways and tamer wildlife. He visited Serbia in early winter and fortunately the weather cooperated. The rolling countryside was thinly forested with young deciduous trees. His unusual destinations furnish a variety of experiences. He seems to enjoy the geology and survive the accommodations but always is happy to get back to dining experiences that don't involve beef for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

The company closed their LA headquarters, so he will be reporting to Salt Lake instead. (It's always been convenient with drill sites and the office to be in the same area; we're hoping this doesn't mean that he will be spending even more time on the road.) Borax's parent company has reorganized, so personnel and locations are in transition. There is definitely potential for some interesting challenges and only time will show if the changeover is a positive one.

Kindergarten is a dream year with very small classes. We sometimes look around and wonder what we did with twice the kids last year! We see the benefit of individualized attention in their ability to read sight words, print in lower case, sound out words and count. It's really pretty amazing! I've enjoyed the opportunity to work with the high and mid level children as well as the lower group. My goal is to keep learning fun while still challenging them to do their best.

I had a new assistant coach helping me with the Soccer Chicks. She played for the Wolf Pack and somehow found the time and energy to help at practices and games. It was wonderful for the girls to have her as a role model. Our players improved consistently although our win-loss record didn't reflect the change. Then they surprised us all by somehow winning the Fall Friendship Tournament. It's a fantastic group of players and parents. So many of them were part of my original kindergarten class and it's been fun to watch them grow up.

Just when we were beginning to be frustrated by Kharma's teenage antics, we were lucky to find a wonderful dog trainer. She inspired us to be creative (hey, we should be smarter than our puppy, right?) and gave us a new focus. Kharma loves clicker training because it involves many wonderful treats. We love the success. It's wonderful to walk a dog who will heel. It's fun to teach her tricks. It's great to have the tools in place so we can continue working on good behaviors. I've begun to teach Kharma some basic agility and want to expand her boundaries beyond our backyard. We were totally fortunate to find such a great puppy. As they say, dogs are not our whole lives, but our lives are not whole without them!

More soon...

My Favorite Words

Christmas Eve

The night the entire family gathers.

The night you take a photo of the family dressed in red.

The night Santa drops a sheet-wrapped bundle in the backyard.

The night you hear sleigh bells on reindeer.

The night you get to open some presents.

The night Christmas lights gleam everywhere you look.

The night all the presents are wrapped and under the tree.

The night the refrigerator is stuffed with the Christmas edibles.

The night you can give a hugh sigh of relief as the stores are finally closed and you can't buy one more present even if you wanted to (which you don't).

The night you sing every carol you know.

The night it all began.

The night the Spirit of Christmas gifts each of us with a peaceful silence in our hearts.

Merry Christmas!

The stockings were hung

There's nothing in the stockings yet... but we're hopeful that we don't find coal in them on Christmas morning. How does Santa get down that chimney anyhow?

Currently enjoying:

• holiday vacation for the rest of 2006
• hot chocolate from scratch
• over-the-top displays of lights in Hidden Valley
• shopping far away from the mall and traffic
• the Carpenters' Christmas album
• a soft clean puppy that smells like soap
• Kharma cookies and homemade fudge
• receiving Christmas cards
• an expanded flock of antique Nativity sheep

What about you?

Cozy and Warm

There is no place better, on the shortest day of the year, than the kitchen. Decembear has been wandering through the house and wisely has been spending some time in the kitchen, enjoying family time while investigating the cupboard and the cookie jar.

This is the first year in memory that I have not made one single batch of cookies, fudge or peppermint bark! It seems a little sad that I haven't had time to do anything but cook dinner, however there is always a silver lining. I have very little self control around sweets (okay, I have no self control) and this December I haven't gained a single pound. We have had a few visiting elves and I can say that I'd rather have visitors than time to bake!

Have Some Bubbly

Currently enjoying:

• Mitch Miller and the Gang on the CD player
• Hot cocoa made from scratch--2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa, dash salt, mix well with a little hot water, add milk and nuke for a minute and a half--yum
• The warmth of Sorel boots
• Garlic sausage, sauerkraut and Brussel sprouts
• A Stephanie Plum mystery
• A clean desktop
• A husband in the house
• Canine snowtoes
• My sewing machine

TTFN--time to grab a book and head into a toasty warm tub filled with bubbles.

By Any Other Name

Light
White
Soft
Clumps
Fluffy
Sparkly
Diamond Dust
Champagne Powder
Drifts
Showers
Magical
Shovels
Tracks
Silent
Chilly
Mittens
Mysterious
Discovery
Beautiful

Attics

It's a good day to rummage around in the attic--there's no telling what you might find up there: children's books, old soccer jerseys, stained-glass lampshades, twin sized blankets, aquariums, board games, picture frames, school memorabilia, turntable, college art and crafts, and some empty Christmas boxes and bags. Lots of things that fit a former lifestyle. Lots of things we don't need anymore. Lots of things that we can't bear to get rid of. Attics are a good place to have.

Sorry, Decembear, you're too late to find the holidays in the attic. They've moved on. Keep on looking--I'm sure it's somewhere in the house.

Soot and Cinders and Candlelight

We've always liked it best when Decembear stands on his head to look for the holiday spirit!

I guess we all get a little looney sometime during the holidays when our time gets short or our creativity falters or our patience lapses. Fortunately, it all seems to work out in the end. I'm way behind on many things but I have faith that this weekend will work wonders!

Since the D-bear looked after sundown, I suspect that he might have caught a glimpse of some Hannukah candles shining in the dark. I don't know about you, but I could really use a holiday that lasts for eight leisurely nights. And the Dreidel game is the best!

Got Dustbunnies?

Yes, indeed, that silly Decembear is looking under his bed for Christmas. It's a very kindergarten thing to do (something that I am an expert on). Any kindergartner will tell you, if asked about hide-and-seek, that under the bed is a hiding place par excellence.

But anyone who has ever been to our house in December would tell you that it takes more than the few cubic feet under a bed to hide our version of Christmas. We actually have seven very nice plastic bins that hold the majority of our seasonal decorations on the garage shelves. Added to them are the large wreath box that previously held the replacement top of a thirty-six inch kitchen range and the attic contents that are odd sizes and shapes with don't fit in a box. It takes a full day just to pull the non-tree items out and arrange them around the house.

Indeed, I am very lucky that my sweetie patiently endures my yearly decorating frenzy. (He knows that he really doesn't have a choice in the matter. It's like geese migrating or boys splashing in mud puddles--it's just gonna happen no matter what.) I'm not sure why I feel the entire house needs to be decked in green and red each December. I didn't inherit my tendency towards overkill. It's not neighborhood peer pressure.

I have no explanation. Except...maybe...I just love Christmas?

The Search Goes On

Decembear took a brief trip to SLC so his search for the holidays was temporarily interrupted.

He's back now though and has begun roaming through the house to see if he can find some of that Christmas spirit.

He had a little bear brainstorm and decided to look in the toy chest. (That's probably the most logical place he's looked yet.) He's found lots of toys there, but no nicely wrapped packages that make intriguing noises when he shakes them. He may not have found Christmas today, but I think he'll have fun with all those toys that he had forgotten about!

I grew up with two toy chests. One is a little bench with a lid that opens and decals decorating it. It wasn't large, but it held Raggedy Andy nicely along with my other dolls and toy horses and my favorite stuffed dog. My brother would look there for his tiny green toy soldiers and his slightly mangy stuffed tiger. As I grew older and used it less, my sister would store her treasures inside its depths. I realize now that it was a very small area, but it seemed more than adequate to a child. I think it resides now in Paso with my brother.

The other toy chest was a very large square box with a (totally unsafe) large lid that until recently resided on our parents' very long hearth. Made by my grandfather, it held toys for my kids when they visited as well as any other rugrats that happened along. The toys were castoffs that none of us has any emotional attachment to, but were still very fun. When my mother moved at this time last year, we gifted it to a young family so presumably another generation of three siblings is currently rooting around for their toys and fending off a brother or sister in the process!

Good memories.

Send Not to Know...

John Donne knew. We are all connected.

Rest in peace, Nate Krissoff...classmate, friend, whitewater kayaker, brother, son, Marine. You will always be part of our Roy Gomm family. Thank you for your courage and dedication in a land far away. You led your men in an environment that we can not begin to imagine. You inspire us. We'll do what we can for your parents and your brother. Fare thee well, say hello to Matt P and Matt B for all of us.

Tears today, but pride always.

Games

Decembear officially made it inside the house! I'm sure he'll be much warmer searching for the Christmas spirit there than outside, even if he is a bear with a nice furry coat. He's looking inside the closet under the stairs.

Oddly, we have exactly such a closet ourselves. Inside are games and more games. Monopoly, Checkers, Battleship, several versions of Trivial Pursuit, Don't Break the Ice, Junior Pictionary, Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Uncle Wiggly, All the King's Men, several decks of cards and, let us not forget, Uno. No, that's not all, but it's all my brain is going to come up with right now.

What's your favorite game? (Please remember that this is a family site and reply accordingly. Or not.)

And yes, it does say it's Tuesday the 5th up top, but that's because it's only 3 minutes away from the 6th. So I'm a little overprepared and have some caffeine in me, live with it!

Take the Fifth

He thought he might find Christmas underneath the doormat. I had a look at my multilayered mat today and found that it could use a good cleaning to remove leaf fragments that have escaped previous autumnal rakings and sweepings. Afterwards I stood back to look at the door and realized that it looks pretty welcoming at this time of year--a very country wreath, a snowman beside the door, Santa welcoming visitors from the wall, a post wrapped in red tinsel and bows, and the icicle lights dangling all around. Visitors welcomed...

p.s. If you feel like you are so busy you might as well be standing on your head...it's better than being a doormat!

The Front Steps

Decembear is looking on the front steps today.

Appropriate, I think, since many of us are focusing our attention on our outside decorations for one and all to enjoy. Isn't it nice that the Season brings out our hospitable side?

We not only decorate for our neighbors to enjoy, but we give to our local charities to help those in need of food or shelter as well as those international groups providing education or medicines to our global neighbors.

We admire the work our local Food Bank does in providing food for families. My scrapbook store is helping them by collecting food for babies (apparently this is an area that not many people think of when they are contributing to a food drive) and I had a blast in the babyfood aisle in Safeway. Doctors Without Borders is also getting a contribution from us this year--a well-run group providing essential services in places throughout the world. I am especially drawn to their work in Africa. I feel so helpless when I hear of the tragic events that have been much in the news this year and Doctors Without Borders has provided me with a way to help.

Decembear's Annual Trek

Welcome, Decembear!

Our favorite countdown to Christmas is hung. Decembear has already looked for Christmas in the sleigh (it wasn't there) and at the skating pond (cute little bear-ette, but no Christmas). He's checking the mailbox right now in hopes of finding some holiday. I don't think it would fit in there, myself--but then who would think a slightly overweight elf would regularly slide down the chimney? So...maybe.

We are getting in the holiday mood. Our Christmas lights looked wonderful in the crispy air tonight as we came home from a walk with Kharma. In fact, the whole neighborhood looked festive as each neighbor finds the time to unravel their string of lights and house by house. Looking for the Decembear wallhanging meant that all the boxes of Christmas paraphenalia had to be opened and searched. So as long as we had them unpacked, we decorated the whole house--fireplace, china cabinet, kitchen window, front door...well, you get the idea. Our whole house is red and green now!

Don't think that there is nothing more to do! I still haven't grabbed the odd items from the attic and the wreaths and Christmas star are still up high in the garage. They are on the list for tomorrow. And it will be a while before we go out and find a tree.

Having Decembear at the mailbox reminds me that I need to begin composing our annual holiday letter. Naturally we send it to let family and friends know what is happening in our life, but old versions have become a favorite tradition to re-read for a reminder of what life used to be when the boys were young. Cub scouts, violin recitals, band concerts, young fishermen and novice mountain bike racers, a parade of pets, vacations, both parent and kid sports--how wonderful to look back and realize how lucky we were although we may not have had to time to pause in the mad rush of parenting to reflect on our good fortune. How time has flown! So on this third day of December, our hope is that you have time to think about an earlier time and smile gently at your memories. Cheers!