Christmas morning was pretty chill with just the eight of us.


 

The boys got an Oculus for Christmas and let Grammy and Papa try it out.

Christmas Eve was a little quieter than normal this year. Nana is in New Zealand for a few months, and the pass closed both ways, so the Avery’s of Pullman couldn’t make it over either. So it was just us, Grammy and Papa and a ton of food. We made the most of it though, and had a good time celebrating together.

These two played a lot of cards together

Avery and Papa, sharing time together on the piano
   

Because Uncle Scott couldn’t be here and Layla is old enough to recognize her dad in a Santa suit, we were left with a Christmas Eve crisis! Fortunately, our amazing neighbors pulled through and Santa still showed up. Let the magic live on!

“Do you see Rudolph?!”

Papa and all the animals

Avery and Silas, trying out the new gaming monitor

In 2020, the Varsity XC team started a holiday party and scavenger hunt tradition for team building during covid. It must have been such a bummer not really having a season at all. Anyway, last year was our first time being part of it and the kids (and parents) had such a fun time! The son of the family who traditionally organized it graduated last summer, so I decided to take over the tradition for a while. Mother Nature had other plans in mind and threw a bunch of snow and ice our way, so the 5-6 mile run turned into a 3 mile hike in snow boots. There were ambushes by XC alumni and Bigfoot. Then everyone came back to the house for dinner, dessert, and a white elephant game. It was a fun night!

This year we didn’t go to Maui, but Jonathan and I decided to get away for a long weekend on Oahu to see the sun. Unfortunately, it rained more than half the time we were there, but it was still nice to get away. Thanks to Grammy and Papa for watching the kids!

We went to Pearl Harbor. It was interesting to see and really brought to life my great uncle Don’s stories of surviving the day on the USS Oglala.

 

We got to see the Navy band rehearse
  

We got a day and a half of sun and two days of clouds and rain. Here’s us trying to soak up the very last of the sun we saw there.

In November we visited Nicole up at WWU. It was great to see her and catch up. Kind of a trip visiting our niece at the college where we met. Avery met up with a friend there for breakfast and also ate with Nicole. We got to see her dorm and take her out for a couple meals. Makes me miss college!

Edens Hall, Nicole’s dorm

Fiamma Burger

Mallard Ice Cream

Avery liked the piano in the dorm

Nicole’s room

Flying the drone

Giant sequoia on campus

All dressed up for the wine gala at The Club

My friend got free tickets to Thunder Down Under at the Snoqualmie Casino. They even came with a meet and greet! Fun ladies night out, and we ran into a surprising number of friends there!

Thunder From Down Under at Snoqualmie Casino on November 18, 2022.

Snow in November! Layla and Kennedy

Silas, making himself useful