✈️ We traveled!
- In 2024 we tried our first cruise (and family Disney experience) over spring break on the Disney Wish ship. It was a great fit for our family and no one managed to get sea sick! We also took a week in the summer to visit Okoboji with long-time friends and packed 3 families in one house over Ada’s birthday. Joe and I were able to travel to a music festival in Montana with friends- an unforgettably good time that included hiking in Glacier National Park. Before summer ended Joe and I gambled on taking our first family road trip to the Badlands and Black Hills in SD. Wonderful memories were made outside of the really unpleasant long drive home. Joe had a successful fall BWCA trip and trip to Dallas, TX to catch a surprise birthday concert of his favorite artists (Sierra Farrel and Nick Shoulders) with some best friends.
- We also were lucky to have a beautiful staycation with Kristina’s family who were in MN to celebrate her cousin Shannon’s wedding. Starting in Stillwater, stopping in St. Joseph and ending at Grandview Lodge in Nisswa, it felt so wonderful to spend relaxed quality time together.
🔦 Spotlight on Alice
Alice is in 1st grade this year but is hanging onto the coattails of her sister's level of reading. In class she is loved for being a great role model, yet also a class goofball. Alice has also been participating in hip hop, swimming and gymnastics and wants to take piano lessons next year. She still doesn’t need as much sleep as the rest of the family, and has been the most attentive for bedtime reading- always wanting 1 more page. We now have read the Hobbit, all the Lord of the Rings, and just started book 6 of Harry Potter.
Alice’s self summary: I like jumping on the trampoline, drawing, and presents. Also I am the smallest person in our family.🔦 Spotlight on Ada
Ada is in 3rd grade this year. She has been involved in hip hop dance class (5th year in dance), dabbled in gymnastics and swimming, and is hoping to start piano lessons and beginners basketball in the new year. She takes the responsibility of being the eldest sister and cousin on the compound very seriously. Ada would prefer to craft and draw above all other things. Highlights of things she has made include a giant (26 8x11 pages) paper origami frog, pop out cards, paper purses and a 3D paper santa’s workshop. She loves going out for cheeseburgers, and just getting out of the house in general.
Ada's self summary: I am really good at dance. I like art and crafts. And I like to spend time with my cousins.
🔦 Spotlight on Kristina
Merry Christmas to you all! I still love music. I’m also on my 8th year with Guardian Pharmacy based out of Sauk Rapids, working from home and in skilled nursing homes in the area. It’s a very cool job, made less cool by financial, business, and staff problems. Fortunately, I did have an opportunity to attend the annual consultant pharmacist meeting with peers in Denver, CO in November and was reminded of what greater purpose I serve in healthcare. I have also been appreciating the growing friendships I have been working on since moving to Sartell/St. Joseph. I can’t tell you how powerful these women are who help me celebrate International Women’s Day every year.
For Christmas, I am asking everyone to lock and secure all firearms in the house. I have enjoyed participating in the local Mom’s Demand Action group in St. Cloud, and the annual Wear Orange event that St. Joseph puts on every June to raise awareness of gun violence. And though all my efforts with this seem rewarding, it was still completely terrifying to receive notice from my children’s school that a firearm had been found in a locker during class in November. 100% preventable. Lock up your guns.
🔦Joe and Zygi
Last and arguably least, Joe and Zygi are settling into their roles as permanent fixtures on the farm. Zygi is there by Joe's feet while he works from home. Zygi is there when Joe is working on his timberframe projects. Zygi is there when Joe... you get the idea.
You might have noticed something different about Joe this year, 2024 was Joe's Year of the Mustache. Joe decided to see what the terminal mustache length he could achieve. Kristina was hopeful that "terminal" in this context meant death, but Joe meant it in the sense of how long would it grow if he just never trimmed it.