Playing Catch-Up

Yes, I realize I am way behind on my blog. I blame that (at least partially) on not having a working camera. Thanksgiving, Christmas? No working camera, no pictures. Well, I suppose I have a working camera with my cell phone, but it really isn't a good camera. Yet it's better than nothing at all. Which is why I am including a couple of pictures in catching up. Even one relating to Christmas.

The holiday season was a nice one.  We spent Thanksgiving with Russ' family.  It was one of the few years that all of his brothers and sisters were there.  We had some family pictures taken, which I'd include but I didn't find them quickly and am feeling a bit lazy to search more for them. I may post them at a later time.

Christmas was nice as well.  We always spend Christmas Eve with Russ' family and did so again this year.  On Christmas we went to my parent's house and had a nice dinner with them.  Both of my sisters who live nearby went on vacation over Christmas so it was just us.

We have a tradition of opening up new pajamas on Christmas Eve.  Used to just  be to open a present, but it's become opening pajamas.  Jimmy made presents for his sisters and brother (except for Rachel because she is a bit young for it) and we also let them open the gift from him then too.  He made them each pillows.  Did most of the sewing for it himself.    This is a picture taken that night in their new pajamas and with their pillows. 

Later I took this picture of the kids.  Not all were thrilled to have it taken.

We drove up to Boise over New Year's weekend to visit my sister.  Her son got baptized that weekend.  We had fun going up and visiting.  I didn't get a single picture that weekend. 

The next weekend, Rachel was playing with her sister and tripped and hit the bridge of her nose along the edge of the tile and cut it nicely.  I took her to the instacare even though I figured it wouldn't need to be stitched.  They did put glue on the cut because she had some loose skin and it would keep it protected and safe from infection.  She still has a ridge on her nose from the loose skin and how it refused.  I'm sure she will have a scar from it.  This picture was taken shortly after she hit it and after we wiped away some of the blood.  She had nice black circles under her eyes for a while.

As I've mentioned before, the week of Feb 7 to Feb 14 is National Congenital Heart Defect Awareness week.  I helped with Intermountain Healing Hearts to make sure we could still have a banner hung on the parking garage for Primary Children's Medical Center and we had a table set up on the 3rd floor of the hospital with cupcakes, fliers, and other things to help spread awareness.  A.Rae, the historian/angel liaison on the governing board for IHH was very nice and made some pictures for use on Facebook for some of us who have children with heart defects.  She made this one for me:

I also went with Brytten to Capitol Hill during CHD week. We were representing IHH at Non-Profit Day on the Hill.  We had a chance to talk to some of the representatives up there about IHH and what we do and a little about pulse-ox testing of newborns.  I think it turned out well and we were able to talk to several people.  They wanted one person to go take notes to the representatives and to speak with them and the other to stay at the table we were given to use to talk to anyone who might come by.  I stayed at the table.  My representative for where I live happened to walk by the table so I was able to talk to him.  We basically had our table there set up like we had the table set up at the hospital, only we also had the posters IHH uses at events.

 While we were both sitting at the table waiting for things to get started, we had a visitor from another non-profit come by to visit us.  Only she wasn't supposed to and it startled us when she came.  Something about the flapping of wings by your head when you aren't expecting anything.  She was a toucan from Tracy Aviary.  Later they had a golden eagle.  I commented I was glad it wasn't that one that "attacked" us.  The last two pictures are of the bird and of Brytten at our table.

And now I'm basically caught up.  Well, except for mentioning the big wind storm we had at the beginning of December that caused some damage to our house and knocked down branches from a couple of trees and caused our neighbor's tree to fall through the fence.  It also caused us to go without power for nearly 36 hours.  But I won't go into that.  I think this post is long enough.