The Golden Guy

Brandon turned the big 50 this year. The theme: You're a Golden Guy. We are big on theming birthdays.

As you can see all presents were golden and his robe (a Christmas present from brother Ron) just happened to follow the theme as well. I think we came pretty close to setting off the smoke detectors with his cake this year. Not sure if there will be a point the we have to go to the number candles to reduce risk, but I'm willing to try a few more birthdays.

The main fun happened on our whirlwind trip to the big apple.

Brandon has wanted to see a show on Broadway for some time now. Just nice to get away, be spontaneous, and enjoy each other. Thankfully, for January, the weather was decent and we just played most everything by ear (only tickets to 'A Beautiful Noise' were prepurchased). A few pics below that captured our moments:

New York Library

the museum at the library is free and definitely worth checking out- Christopher Robin's original friends

carousel in Central Park

FAO Schwarz

Times Square- the ball is much smaller than on TV...

the last minute add on on Broadway

almost showtime!

view out of our Belvedere Hotel room

what was looking into our hotel room

Almost home again! We were proud of ourselves for navigating taxis and walking the streets of Manhattan without mishap. We stumbled on some good Georgian cuisine, and of course, some pizza. Amazing how such a big city could actually feel pretty intimate, when you are just focusing on 1 square mile. Happy Birthday, Brando!

Milla Making Mighty Moves

Yep, this girl is going places. Milla graduated with honors from the University of Colorado, Denver in December 2021 with a BS in Psychology and a minor in Anthropology. I don't think we even realized all she was doing. Milla is like that; quietly doing her thing. Working, playing, creating, serving. And before you know it, she's way down the path in front of you. Milla always loving and supportive, never judging. She has had a couple of interviews this week for jobs in ABA therapy, where she will do 1:1 therapy with children with autism in their homes under the direction of a licensed therapist. This would give her on the job training and give her a path forward in helping kids. Her favorite! We can't wait to see where she will go! (chess pieces were made by Milla for a final project for her 'Psychology of Death' class (yes, that is a thing). Each character represents one cultures symbol of death)

2022 Giving it a try

Well, thanks to Alyssa's amazing consistancy with her blog, I am again reminded that mine exists. During COVID I have managed one post a year. Getting 2022's in early! Never know, maybe I'll even fit in a 2nd. I don't take a lot of pictures as most of my kids cringe when I attempt a shot, but I get some in here and there. Below is a schmattering of my life over the past little while. WORK: I'm finishing up my third year at North Middle School this year. I've maintained my webpage for parents, although I always wonder if it is EVER looked at. The COVID pandemic has had the silver lining of building much stronger relationships with my coworkers- especially admin and my truancy officer. Everyone has pitched in and helped me out and vice versa, for which I am so grateful. My team is a positive bunch of patient (well most of the time...) people. In the team photo, I'm the one being squashed by the back leg of the polar bear.

My recent claim to fame:

We have always had an Autism Classroom (Sam, their teacher is in the foreground below), but this year was my first with an SSN Class (Significant Needs). They came together a couple weeks ago for a Unified Basketball tournament with a class from a neighboring school and did awesome. They had baskets set at 3 different levels so that all kids could participate. Student from the 'regular' classes ran along side the SSN and Autism students to help manage the ball. They also help in the classrooms daily, which is great experience for all. I unfortunately had to leave the game early when a (turns out drunk) student in the stands vomited... but fun while it lasted. We have 2 kids that are quadreplegic, 4 on gtube feeds, 2 with a trach, 2 with downs syndrome, 1 with epilepsy, and a myriad of other concerns. They are such a joy. Our newest student was born and raised in a refugee camp in eastern africa and has been fed and cared for by only his mother all of his 11 years. He has been a quadreplegic since birth and never had a wheelchair or gtube or been to school. It is remarkable to me, the work and love of his mom. Although severely malnourished, he is growing every day. He has the brightest smile I have ever seen! Always having been laid down, he has very poor neck strength. But after only 1 month, Olivier is already able to hold his head up for longer and longer periods of the day. He is insanely curious, looking about at everything going on. I can't wait for them to get him a speaking device to see what all his brain is capable of. I am constantly communicating with mom and his providers to work through frustrations of getting him to his appointments and school and to work through medical issues that arise. Mom can't read even numbers and speaks no english. How does someone track time and coordinate with transport when even the concept of a 7 day week is foreign to them? Despite there being language interpretation when calling Children's hospital, how does a mom even find the correct number to call on a device (phone) where she can't read the names to find who to call? It's been an interesting year and a learning curve all around.

My Go Bag with med supplies for out of office emergencies that I just fixed up with new labeling. Sorry I don't have more interesting pictures Home: Remembering seeing Emme and Cor utilize a cleaning app a couple years ago and being frustrated by constantly having to create chore lists and follow up with kids, I finally decided to try one out for the fam. After a bit of effort inputting all the chores in various areas of the house, noting how often each needed to be done and who should rotate through doing them, we are up and running! About 4 weeks in now using Tody, and I am pretty pleased with it. I don't mind getting behind a few days on most chores, but I did have to screenshot and send a text reminder to one child who needed a push.... All are getting accostomed to the app and basically keeping up, so yeah for when tech works!

To my Brandon

 

25 years is how long we have been married. It has been a road of never ending change. 

Moves: 7, Kids: 4, Pets: dog, beta fish, guinea pig, with some cat/dog/bunny fosters along the way, States: 4, Cars: 10, Adventures: more than I can count. 

Brandon is, above all, loyal. To me and to his kids. Thomas recently described him as 'Santa Claus' who is full of fun, hugs, chortles and gifts. (Mom is the scheduler, driver, and motivator). Brandon is a kid at heart. He loves movies, Disney, and singing at the top of his lungs. He loves to go out: dinner, movies, shopping, plays. He believes in autonomy, letting the kids decide when they want to participate in a family activity. He is amazingly intelligent and quick to make connections. I love 'debating' a range of issues with him, although he sometimes gets frustrated with my 'devil's advocate' approach. Although his introversion and my increasing need to be around people sometimes clash, he is always willing to participate in things important to me. He is constantly thoughtful: bringing home flowers or a sentimental gift or offering a backrub or to cover a chore when he knows I've had a hard day. Or just because. He has a gift in explaining gospel principles. I look forward to family scripture time because I learn and get a broader perspective than I have before. He has always encouraged me in whatever venture I want to do in life. Although our hobbies differ broadly, we also have a lot of overlap: singing in the car, rock climbing, biking, decorating and renovating our home, doing creative 'projects' (the full size Big John 'Solo' frozen in carbonite comes to mind), and spontaneous road trips all come to mind. 

Through the years we have regularly reevaluated the roles we each play in our family and relationship. Who does finances (me- excepting one small stint where he took it off my plate to try to reduce my stress- it didn't), yardwork (usu Brandon on the lawn and I do everything else, although kids have done lawncare for the past 5 yrs or so), financially support family (primarily Brandon, with myself increasing my contribution in recent yrs), make appts (usu me), housework, repairs and checking in on kids schoolwork (both throughout our marriage, but definitely weighed on my side early on with Brandon balancing it out now that I'm working). I'm grateful for having a husband that is always willing to step in and support me. A husband that helps me to keep life a little 'lighter'. A husband that wants to be in this relationship as much as I do. Love you, Brando!

And so it all began. February 16, 1996

Thomas and Brandon in 2019, spiffed up before heading out to a 'broadway play'. Brandon encouraged us to get an annual subscription to plays at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. We get about 8 pairs of tickets a year and have seen many a musical we otherwise would have missed! Plus we like supporting our community.

Hike at Painted Mines in Calhan, CO 2019

Kitchen demo 2020

Rewiring an outlet 

Infamous post prayer family hug (...I mean 'smash')

The kids were sad about holiday traditions being disrupted during our reno. Brandon make sure we still had a full Thanksgiving spread. He started the tradition of everyone getting their own bottle of martinelli's at dinner.

We often get an ornament to commemorate that year. This is the back of our very first one. Note the inscription, '1st Christmas -Vancouver Dec 25, 1996'

Brandon is king of bdays. There is always a morning spread of presents, games and the themed cake. This one was Star Trek, 48 yrs. 

Finishing touches on the built in shoe bench we created.

Climbing in Red Rock Canyon, Colorado Springs with our old La Grande friends, the Olsons, earlier this year.

About to go under at the Mollie Kathleen Mine in Cripple Creek, CO, June 2021

WDW trip for our 25th. This was at a German restaurant at Epcot where we had a 4 course meal and sang along with the performers. It was amazing!

Compiled after riding 'Spaceship Earth' at epcot. The ride where you are actually in the big ball. 

Manatees at Crystal Springs, FL! My favorite. Thankfully our tour provided a photographer. Brandon and I have always been hand holders and while snorkeling was no exception. The manatee wasn't too happy about it, though, and rose up, separating us. As we used to always say to our kids when they were little and tried the same maneuver 'It seems that something has come between us' ;)

My favorite shot of the trip taken on the last day as we looked out over the bay watching the sunset

to give hope for spring

Every year when the ground is covered with a foot of snow I begin to grow worried that everything is dead for good. But then the sun comes out, little sprouts begin to grow and *most* things spring to life yet again. In 2019 I let some pumpkins take over most of my lower beds, enveloping several newly planted grasses, roses and my haskap berry bushes. Only the penstemon and hyssop could come close to their vigor. A few pics to let you know that Spring always returns.

I am a succor for roses. Just pure beauty.

Decided to bring in a caterpillar we found in the garden to see what it would be. You can see the cocoon in the corner. This ended up being a pretty non descript moth, but it was fun to see the process nonetheless.

the pink in front is hyssop, larger penstemon (mexican sage) w/ red flowers was my most vigorous grower and new this year, to the left near grass w/ yellow flowers is a smaller pineleaf penstemon and is my favorite as it stays green through most of the winter and is a nice compact plant. On the upper level you can see some yellow flowers on my reliable oenothera macrocarpa (evening primrose)

I do like the dog tuff grass (a variety of bermuda grass) that has filled in well and needs little maintenance (low water and no mowing),  however definitely needs to be trimmed up on the edges a few times each summer to avoid it becoming invasive, which is a concern. 

Only mid summer in this picture, the pumpkins took over our entire patio in 2019. We ended up with 4, 50lb pumpkins, which were amazing and I somehow managed to NOT get a picture of. Or at least I can't find it... There will be no pumkins for 2020. Hoping to let some of my other plants recover that were suffocated by the bounty.