Where Has the Time Gone???

I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't written since the beginning of October. At first just getting through October was reason enough to not write, but I did get through it, with flying colors. The family went hiking to commemorate the one-year passing of my dad. Somehow that hike and having gone through a full cycle of not having my dad around was strangely cathartic. I feel much more at peace but I'm still not sure why.

Kiersta with her Uncle Anders and Aunt Heather at Memorial Park on the one-year passing of my dad.

After surviving October, I just thought that I didn't really have anything to write about, so I continued to not write. However, when I was recently looking at the multitude of photos I have stored on my computer, I realized that there were more than a few post worthy events that had occurred. I thought and thought about writing, but how could I justify spending time to blog when I still haven't sent out the birth announcements (solution: send them out as our Christmas cards), have unpaid bills (solution: pay the bills-duh!), and all the duties that come with having two kids, working full time, and running a household (solution: well, those are all on-going and have to be managed on a daily basis). This morning I got out of bed at 5:30 AM and came downstairs to have some peace and quiet. I wrote the Christmas card letter (Brian will do a final edit when he crawls out of bed), caught up on emails and Facebook, made some coffee (though I have yet to drink any of it), and now I am blogging--YEA ME!!!! :)

So, I don't want to go back in time and write posts for these past events, so I'll just give a quick summary with the use of pictures. Here goes:

October:

Kiersta, my mom, and I spent a lovely afternoon at Don Edwards Regional Park hiking, letterboxing (1st finders!), and running into other letterboxers on the trail (2nd finders) to honor the one-year anniversary of my dad's heart attack that led to his death a week later.

Kiersta needs to open a hat shop! She made us all these ghost hats (they're saying "Boo!") without measuring any of our heads first.

Brian, Kiersta, Kyle, and I went to our local pumpkin patch (Spina Farms) to pick pumpkins. While there we went on a train ride as well as a hay ride (our very first ever). We had a beautiful sunset to accompany our chilly ride.

Halloween was spent with parades and trick-or-treating. We went with a family theme costume this year: Kiersta was Fern, Kyle was Wilbur, I was Charlotte, and Brian was Fern's dad from E.B White's Charlotte's Web.

November:

Brian's birthday is in October, but we celebrated his 41st birthday in November at The Elephant Bar with a few close friends.

Mid-November found us in Jackson for an Amazing Race style letterboxing event. Teams had to travel in one car. My mom, Kiersta, and I were part of an 11 person team that rented a van to hold all of us. This is Kiersta with the two other kids on our team. The big girls were very good about tolerating the younger one.

Me, Kyle, Team Eye Spy, and my mom at breakfast. We all wore matching t-shirts and inflatable antlers as part of our team uniform.

Princess Lea, Team Eye Spy, Bokmal, SJ Honey Bunny (holding Cotton Tail), Ramona the Pest, Disheveled Anime Queen, and Wassamatta U show off their winnings (yes, we were the winning team). The three girls (Princess Tata, Monkey Me, and Kitty Witty) were next door watching a movie while we were dividing our loot.

Kyle started eating solid food. This is his first time having cereal. The high chair wasn't set up yet, so I fed him in the swing.

Kiersta finished her first season on an indoor soccer team. Kiersta was definitely the star player on her team (no, I'm not just being a proud mamma). She was an excellent goalie! I think we'll tackle outdoor soccer in the spring.

Kiersta's "cousin" Anthony, Kiersta, and my dad's cousin Bob and his wife Carol at the Railroad Museum in Sacramento.

My mom, Kyle, Kiersta, and I went up to Sacramento to spend the day with relatives from my dad's side of the family. Since my dad's passing, it seems even more important to stay in touch and make the effort to spend time with the Johnson side of the family.

December:

Kiersta was in her first Nativity play at the Mormon Church. Our neighbors invited Kiersta to take part and while we don't share their beliefs, we didn't see any harm in letting Kiersta participate. She was super excited to be on stage with her friends

Becky, Kiersta, Kyle, and I went to Hidden Villa for a winter solstice celebration. We made gingerbread cookies and yule logs. Here, Becky is blowing glitter off "the best yule log a Jew ever made."

So, those are some of highlights of my life for the past few months. Hope you enjoyed! :)