Here's a back track journal of our December memories!
The Shrivastava Family visited on their way to Utah!
Little Salil was 4 months old
Here's Cora at the same age :)
Uncle Scott and Salil
Scott, Allie and the kids went to UMass Lowell to ice skate at a holiday reception
We got Bella the Budgie the same day they arrived. It was pretty exciting!
We've never officially had a pet until now
She is very friendly and we love having her around.
We were lucky to be gifted her by some friends from our Littleton Ward, the Hollands.
Earlier in the month, we celebrated Tim's 15th birthday!
He chose a cookies and cream cake and a movie at the Cinemark
Here's Tim as a toddler.....my.....how he's grown!
I was pleased to hear from several families that I raised money for in Bangledesh.
This little girl needed a surgery. This is her receiving the money for her care.
We were able to buy this widow a cow. She had lost her home and all her livestock in a fire.
This little girl needed tuition for school and books
This family has a special needs son. They had lost their income taxiing people in boats over the water when a new bridge was built. The money my little group raised with a pie fundraiser bought him a Tuk-tuk so he could earn a living driving taxi in the city instead, and will give him the chance to provide for his family.
Cora, Anna and Isla started rehearsals for Suessical Jr.
The kids had THE POLAR EXPRESS morning at their elementary.
We tried out this German Christmas Market in Amherst.
Not really comparable to the real thing, but we liked looking at the booths and getting some cocoa.
It was a very far drive, it was freezing cold, and there was not enough food at the market.
We were starving, and stopped at a bakery to fill up.
It was nice to check off our list and say "Been there, done that"
Pretty Christmas Lights
Salil's first Christmas Card 💓
Cora's entry in Reflections
She won 2nd place for her school for visual arts.
Ollie got to play at his friend Jacobs house
They both love Spiderman and just have a great time together
He got to play at our house too!
Cora's "Bestie," Anna
Scott and I were super lucky to get gifted tickets to see
Ingrid Michaelson's Christmas Concert in Boston at the Wilbur.
It was a last minute Thursday night thing and was so much fun!
She pulled this girl up to sing with her on stage.
Holiday Concert time for Aaron
Watching band concerts is fun when you get to snuggle with Dad.
We got to watch Kaya for several weeks while The Shrivastava's were in Utah. She got along so well with Wanda's Reme. They were best buddies!
My kids were in heaven having both a new bird and a dog to love on.
Feeding the girls a snack before they head off to rehearsal
Piano Recitals
The Ward Christmas Party
We heard some amazing music at the Ward Christmas Party!
There was even a pinata
A Christmas Carol by the Nilssons
Greensleeves by the Dawe's
Cora on Christmas Day with Kira.
They got matching pajamas
She also got lots of accessories and outfits for Kira
Ollie mostly wished for Legos
Just a few days before Christmas, Scott had the gift of a colonoscopy :)
He had a teenie/tiny polyp, otherwise, excellent results!
My kids loved having Kaya around
I took her on 2-3 walks every day.
Sometimes Aaron and Scott took her out hiking too
We were in charge of cleaning the church on Christmas Eve
Here it is looking all ready!
Aaron has a particularly close bond to Bella
The missionaries came over on Christmas Eve and got to meet her too
We had our traditional Christmas Eve "Bethlehem Dinner"
I convinced everyone to visit the house on Mt. Vernon Drive in Pelham late on Christmas Eve.
It was AWESOME and just 5 minutes from our house!!
The family back home in Utah celebrating Christmas
Unfortunately, Christmas morning, Scott and I were naughty, and slacked on muzzling Kaya.
She had been so calm the whole week. We were busy getting Christmas breakfast ready,
getting everyone ready for church, and letting everyone open one gift before we went to church.
Everything was going so well, and then.....
Kaya got spooked by Ollie's Nerf webshooter, and attacked his left hand, and really gave it to him.
We were all alarmed of course.
I hurried and sanitized his hand with Benzoyl Peroxide and put gobs of triple antibiotic ointment on it. Scott put a butterfly bandage on and wrapped it up tightly.
This happened just 5 minutes before we needed to leave for the last minute music run through for the Christmas Program, for Scott to prepare to conduct the meeting, Tim to prepare the sacrament, and Aaron to lead the Deacons in passing the sacrament.
We couldn't easily just miss church, so we decided to go to the meeting and take him right away to urgent care afterwards.
We left for church, Scott and I both of us fraught with worry for him.
Ollie told Scott and me that we get coal in our stockings for not muzzling Kaya.
Yes, yes we do, Ollie!
Fortunately, Jeff Miner was at church, and looked it over and said that in his opinon he didn't need stitches or anything, just to watch it for infection.
It healed up over the week.
We double checked with Dr. Mary Kate,
and our doctor's nurse as well about this healing, and he did just fine.
Soaking in warm water and Baking soda, and keeping his hand unbandaged at night to let it breath really helped.
We learned our lesson! Kaya needs muzzled around Ollie. He was the only one who triggered her like that. Little kids movements are unpredictable, and Kaya has a history that makes her nervous about certain things. So, the combination just needs a muzzle.
After Christmas Gingerbread Making
Me, going skiing with all 4 kids solo! We went 5 times over Christmas Break. :)
Whoo! Big effort to make it happen, but a great way to spend time together and get everyone OUTSIDE
New Years Eve at Pat's Peak!
Here we come 2023!!!
A nice hike with Kaya in January
As you can see it was extremely warm most of the winter.
We rarely had snow until the end of February.....then it really came down!
In March we had a few big storms!
January, was most pleasant....lots of 50 degree days
