Arizona 2024

 I apologize for two things right off the bat today.  The first is that there was no blog for last week.  We were in Arizona for Merrick's basketball tournament and too busy partying for me to get a post in.  The second thing that I need to apologize for is that this is going to be photo dump.  As I said, we had tons of fun in Arizona, and I have the photos to prove it.

Before tryouts for the basketball season even took place, there was a rumor that the "A team" would be traveling quite a bit, including a trip to Arizona.  Even before tryouts and schedules being finalized, my kids were sure we would be going to Arizona, and they were adamant that we would all be going.  Luckily for them, the stars aligned, and we did, in fact, get to use a basketball tournament as a reason to take a family trip to Arizona.

While Saturday and Sunday were pretty basketball heavy, we used every bit of extra time to play with all the family.  This includes two new baby girl cousins that we hadn't gotten to meet before.  We had a pizza party, went to multiple parks, including one with rides, spent a day at a trampoline park, and learned to cross stitch.  We also had Clifford Cousin Christmas.  We crammed a lot of fun into just a few short days.

We had such a great time.  We are back to reality now but made memories that won't soon be forgotten.  I'm so glad basketball gave us a reason to visit.

Extra Curriculars

This was our first full week back to real life following the Christmas break and it was a busy one.  Merrick had practice, basketball or baseball, every night plus horses and his weekly church activity.  Carrigan also had a church activity. Elsie also started a ballet class and had her first class this week.  Jeremy and I also had extra curriculars with a basketball game for him and a cooking class for me.  All this made for a busy week with LOTS of driving.

As for Elsie's ballet class, to say she loved it would be an understatement.  We signed up to take it after hearing about it from one of her friends.  Elsie was really excited to get to go with her friend, but it turns out they were out of town for this first week and Elsie had to brave it on her own.  I was worried that she might be too nervous to go, not knowing anyone, but she did a great job.  She definitely was not ready to leave when class ended and all the way home she talked about how excited she was to go back again next week.

My cooking class was a class on baking a raspberry cream pie.  It was a bit labor intensive but I made a homemade pie crust (for the first time ever), a cream custard, and a raspberry glaze topping.  Pies have never really been my thing, but it was delicious and I think a made the best crust of the night.  I may have been channeling my grandmother, who was an excellent pie maker.

This weekend all extra curriculars, and really all curricular for that matter, came to a halt as Portland got hit with a major storm.  We were hoping for snow, but really just got ice and lots of it.  Thankfully we have not lost power or any trees at our house, but our street is pretty much a solid sheet of ice and it's about 20 degrees out right now.

While the kids didn't get the fun, play in the snow day they were hoping for, we did venture out for a bit yesterday until our faces nearly froze off.   Ice is certainly different from snow, but it did make for some fun, fast sledding for a bit.

Tomorrow, Jeremy and the kids are off school and work.  I am supposed to go to the office, but we will see.  I did watch our neighbor make it off our street with some sliding, but this Arizona girl is just not very brave.

Welcome 2024

Almost a full week in, but I would like to officially welcome 2024.  In a lot of ways, 2023 was a challenge for us.  We spent the first part of the year struggling with Jeremy's business, trying to decided if it was the right thing, at the right time for our family.  Shortly after he decided to take a position at a firm and was settling in, Merrick started having heart problems.  While juggling everything with Merrick's heart, I started my first full-time job in 15 years, and my grandmother fell and subsequently passed away.  We then capped the year off with heart surgery, recovery, and then Covid.  It was a lot.

Typically, I have a lot of anxiety around starting a new year.  I think it's one of those "the devil you know is better than the devil you don't" things.  However, this year, I am optimistic about what the new year could bring.  We are hopeful that Merrick's heart concerns are behind us. The kids are doing well in school and have good friends.  Jeremy and I are both enjoying and having success in our jobs.  I know the challenges will come but, like I said, I'm optimistic.

Here's to happy and healthy 2024 for my family and yours!