2022, December 19-25

Merry Christmas! We spent most of the week indoors and hanging out at home.

Hard to believe that it's been a year since we went to Disneyland and the boys got their light sabers!

Landon's friend Sonny went down a few weeks ago, and he got Landon a white kyber crystal. 

This may be one of the last photos we see of Landon at taekwondo for a bit. We took him to the doctor for some back pain he's been experiencing, and it turns out he has a fractured L5 vertebra. He'll get an MRI next week. In the meantime, no exertion or extensions. 

 Here is some art Landon did for a final project. We're having to push him to keep up, but when he works he does well. 

Eliza seems built for the cold weather. She practiced her fine control skills at horseback riding this week. 

Landon and Mike tested out Landon's new crystal with their sabers. Although it's white, it kind of has a lavender tinge to it, maybe? 

Mike cut several paper snowflakes this week in keeping with the season and the cold weather. Here is a window into the process. He uses a very sharp pair of scissors that he bought at Gardner Village nearly two decades ago (yeesh). They have (mostly) kept their edge. Sometimes he'll use a pencil if he's feeling ambitious. 

Hallie got her hair done. This is as short as she's going to let it get for the next little while. 

Such a hottie!

On Thursday morning, we spied a crane through our front window. Looks like Reagan Elementary is getting new HFAC equipment. 

Hallie's sister ended up in the hospital due to a serious viral infection, and instead of her and her family coming up for Christmas, Grandma and Grandpa opted to go to California to help out. We went over to their house to help wrap the presents Carly had shipped up earlier. 

We also had an early Christmas gift exchange. 

Later in the day, Mike took Eliza to riding practice. It was cold, but note that Eliza has no gloves on. She's a skilled and tough kiddo. Eliza loves working with Nugget the miniature horse. This week Eliza spent time desensitizing her to all the fun Christmas items Afton and Eliza could spook her with.

In the evening, Mike caught Eliza singing along with a YouTube video of an old America's Got Talent episode. Eliza has a natural musicality to her. 

Mike collected the flakes he's cut this year. He keeps pondering whether he could frame and sell them as some sort of home décor. 

This is Fergus's favorite place, and he got a lot of it this week. Sometimes Mike feels trapped, but the kitty is so adorable! 

For Christmas Eve, the kids opened their gifts to each other. Landon got Eliza a bee ring, and Eliza got Landon a Naruto-themed gift set. 

Carly seems to have gotten the timely help she needed. She still has a long road ahead, but we're hopeful.  

Christmas morning dawned (too) early with an excited Eliza eager to open her gifts (6:30) Landon would have been happy to sleep in. That said, he was eager to get his gift from Santa. 

Skittles story books let you get your Santa on. 

Obligatory annual tradition: The stair sit, going on 11 years now. 

Landon enjoyed his new sword particularly. 

Eliza laughed at the funny cats on her new calendar. 

Fergus seemed a bit nonplussed by all the activity. 

And just as soon as the present frenzy ended, the kids were back to doing what they like best. 

Fergus too. 

Later in the day, we all got outside to get some fresh air. Landon enjoys practicing his sword play. Like Eliza, he seems impervious to the elements. You'd think it was 80 degrees out. 

The girls played with Eliza's Lite Brite and made bracelets as we watched movies. In all, we had a quiet day at home celebrating the season together. As we did our own thing this year, that meant Chinese (Panda Express) dinner on Christmas Eve, egg soufflé and cinnamon rolls for Christmas breakfast, and homemade Mexican (including tamales) for Christmas dinner. Every Christmas is unique, and some are more wistful than others. Here's hoping for many more Yuletides to come!