Christmas 2025

It felt a little weird only setting up gifts for 2 kids (and 4 adults--real adults, haha) this year. It also felt easier than normal, maybe because we didn't have any crazy big gifts that we had to manage.

But the gifts they got went over big. Peanut got a starter D & D kit--with modules, dice, books, and I don't know what else. After several years of having at least one kid playing, I still don't quite understand D & D.

And Bean was really happy with all of her new rock climbing gear, including these new shoes. She now has a harness, carabineers, and rope, so she's ready to go climb outdoors! 

We took a break midmorning for cinnamon rolls and quiches. For some reason, our Christmas mornings seem to take longer and longer each year. Maybe breakfast is less rushed, or the kids want to really examine each gift.

This year we had added breaks for calls with Bug. He called us first in the morning for a few minutes before he was headed into his Christmas party for the missionaries. He tried to call us from the party a little later, but it was too loud and we couldn't hear, so we told him to go have fun and call us that evening.

So we got to talk to him a third time later in the day. It sounded like he had a good Christmas, even if it didn't feel quite normal. He and his companion had gotten a basket of food and treats from their ward at a party a couple of days earlier, and so he stuffed a few of the goodies in his companion's stocking for that morning, which is not a tradition in Brazil, but he thought it would be fun to share one of his Christmas traditions with him. He's enjoyed seeing what the holidays are like down there.

All in all, it was a good Christmas, if a little weird not having Bug with us in person.

 

Sneaking in Some Sanity Time

It may be one of the busiest times of the year, with parties and friends and family, but it's been really nice to make time for some slower, quieter times., too.

While Peanut was hiking in Big Basin with his Ranger Explorers program one Saturday, Daddy-o and I signed up for a day of bird watching and nature journaling with John Muir Laws, who is one of my favorite naturalist people. I feel like we're pretty lucky that he lives in the Bay Area and there are occasional events that we can join with him.

And one of the best parts was spending a few hours with a bunch of other nature enthusiasts. We spent the morning at the Cosumnes River Preserve drawing ducks and other water birds, and then met up for a delicious potluck lunch (seriously, there was so much good food!) After lunch, someone from the Blue Point conservation group talked with us about bird migration and we shared our nature journals from the day.

And then it was on to the main event--driving out to where the Sandhill Cranes hang out in the winter. The feed in the fields in the delta area all day and then fly in to the flooded areas for the night. The fly in itself is supposed to be amazing, and I hope to see it soon, but it was a really cold day and after hours outside, we were so cold that we really didn't want to wait for an extra hour. But it was a really fun day and we'll be back for more cranes.

The next week I headed to the redwoods for a hike with a friend. I wanted to scout it out for one of my upcoming Nature Explorers groups, and also just really wanted to see some mushrooms.

We got lucky and found a couple of rough skinned newts, too.

And a bunch of banana slugs, of course.

And mushrooms!

This area has always been good in the winter, and it looks like we're going to get a lot of rain, so I think we should be good for my scheduled hike in a few weeks.

I love finding them as they are emerging. 

And the little tiny ones are always some of my favorites.

It was an excellent way to spend one of the last days of school. 

I'm sure there were plenty of other things I "should" have been doing, but this was more fun for sure.

And Daddy-o and I also went to the Oakland temple one morning. It takes a little scheduling to fit it in so we can make sure Peanut gets to seminary and Daddy-o can still get to work for a chunk of the day, but it was a nice start to the day.

We got there almost early enough to enjoy the Christmas lights that are all over the grounds. I think we'll make it back with family one evening.

As much as I enjoy a lot of the louder, crazier parts of Christmas, and all the time with family and friends, I also really appreciate the time that I get in nature and to actually reflect on what it is we're celebrating this season.

Holidays are Coming

We kicked off the Christmas season with our church dinner which had a Dickens theme. 

Daddy-o dressed up and sang with the carolers. 

He can rock a top hat for sure!

Decorating at home has been a slow process. We came home from Thanksgiving a little under the weather (Daddy-o was still feeling pretty badly, Peanut and I were on the mend) and so we didn't get much done the first few days. And then, Peanut and I got hit with a SECOND cold before I was 100%, so it's been a sluggish couple of weeks getting things done. But we finally have the tree done and our village set up. It makes it feel a little more Christmasy. Now to finish shopping!

Other winter going-ons: The winter birds are back in Springtown. I went for a cold walk one afternoon--it's been colder than normal which makes it hard to find a good time of day to get outside, especially since I've had a cough. 

But I'm glad I made it out because along with some of the usual suspects (like egrets and mallards), I found a few other birds, including a goose I've never seen before (the Greater White-fronted Goose).

And there were a couple of these American Wigeons there, too, which I haven't seen in that location. I love how there are different birds from week to week, year to year.

And this week was my science escape room for my Chemistry classes. The kids LOVE these challenges and always surprise me with what things they figure out so quickly, and what things seem to stump them. They showed some recollection of the things we've learned this semester which always makes me happy--I like to know that at least some of them are picking up on some it!

And now, I've got one more hike and then I'm on winter break for 4 weeks! Good thing because I'm feeling a little behind after being under the weather for so long.

Trying to Get Back Into Things

Just because we're home doesn't mean I had to give up the sunsets and we had one that was on fire the other night!

Transition home has been a little much. Daddy-o got my cold by the end of the week, so we've both been dealing with rough nights where we can't sleep great because of congestion and he's still in the worst of it all. I've had a lot of catch up to do with work because I didn't actually get to any of the planning I was going to do while we were gone and still had 2 more weeks of science to plan, as well as getting everything set up with my class rosters for next semester. Add in the normal stuff to get our house running again and decorated for Christmas and it's been quite the week!

More Holiday Fun

The week between Christmas and New Years was busy. Thanks to typical California weather, we were able to get outsie a lot.

We went up to Springtown for some bird watching and found the night heron.

And it's baby!

And cinnamon teals, along with lots of mallards and coots.

Found some cool lichen, too. I love the little cup shaped ones.

We had lots of movie time, too. I think Peanut liked having siblings around.

We made a trip up to Grandma and Grandpa's house, too.

I think Daddy-o really wants a cat. He always loves on their cats any time we're up there.

These boys were fans of this one, too.

We got to have a late Christmas together.

My high school friends came over another afternoon to hang out. 

Quite the group this year!

Thanks to this group. So fun to be together 30 years after we graduated!

I never get enough pictures when we do these things, but it was really fun having a couple more friends and their families than we normally have. And fun that one of them made the pictures happen.

Any time we can get someone from out of town up, it's a good excuse to get the local group together. We don't see each other often enough.

But it's really fun seeing all of our offspring together :)

And finally, we tried to go to Deacon Dave's.

We kept meaning to get over here, but by the time we got back into town, it was the Christmas rush and we were hoping the lines would be shorter after.

But this was as close as we got. The wait was longer than we wanted, so we just looked at it from out front.

It's hard to see the line, but this is down a couple of houses and going around the corner.

We finished the year with two New Year's parties, and so many games. A lively round of NERTS was going on,

while a few of us played Wingspan.

And then, the second party was with a family who has connections to El Salvador, where they have a tradition of burning “El Año Viejo”.

They create an effigy to represent the old year and burned it before midnight with scraps of paper where we had written down things we wanted to change from the old year.

It was funny that both New Year's parties that we were invited to this year expected to end before midnight. The first one was way before because they had to take their kids to a dance an hour away, but the second one, we kind of just stayed, playing games and talking, until it was close enough that it seemed silly to leave early, and their kids were pushing for it. I guess they don't usually stay up, haha. We're just crazy party animals who don't go to bed--now that the kids are older, it doesn't seem too hard to do once in awhile (and the kids do it all the time.)