Sarah, Lynette, and I continued our tradition of attending the Nutcracker. We usually go to Mountain West Ballet and they had great talent this year.
And to all an end to the year that was 2021. :)
I think we finally decorated our Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. It had been sitting in boxes by the front door for a few weeks, so it was now or never. I didn't lack Christmas spirit, we'd just been playing make up from not having Mike around. (If you haven't heard me say it yet, we're all SO grateful to have him home)
Christmas morning dawned and we started with our customary watching of The Nativity movie along before opening presents. Audrey was so excited, it was adorable. She even made everyone their very own bookmark and we laminated them and wrapped them for each person. Not sure why I didn't get any of the girls opening their gifts, but that's okay. :)
We had the Starleys over for Christmas brunch and then opened presents. It was a perfect Christmas spent with family.
We didn't take pictures until the following Sunday, and I don't remember why, but here they are in their cute attire. (Sarah said someone was sick, which would make sense. Stupid Covid! but not Covid)
***Warning- Graphic pictures in this post***
Mike wasn't around when I bought our Estes Place, so we scheduled a few days the week before Christmas. Lots of cousins and family fun. We'd heard about sledding opportunities inside RMNP at Hidden Valley, so Ash and I packed up the kids and went sledding. It was cold! They have an area roped off for sledding, but I didn't see any hills. Through a little gate I could see a bigger hill with people sledding, which was obviously the hill. There were signs telling people NOT to sled, because it's an old ski slope and a bit steep.
We weren't the only ones sledding. There were some nice people visiting from a warmer location and it was their first time sledding...ever. We tried to avoid them, but one of the bowled right into our group of kids. Sarah tried not to land on Audrey and in doing so hit her head. Again. The kids had fun sledding and then going down like penguins on their bellies. Here are some pictures. Pay attention to the large log I've pointed out. Ash was nervous of the hill and imposed limits on her kids, but I thought she was being "No Fun Ash" and let my kids keep sledding.
Adam went off course on one of his trips down and slammed into the log sticking out. He "only" hit his leg, and we were grateful it wasn't his head. His pants didn't have any markings on them, so we assumed he was okay. He didn't want the fun to stop, so he sat on the side while everyone sled for a few more minutes. When it was time to leave, it hurt for Adam to put pressure on his leg. I talked him into letting us haul him out on a sled. He agreed, but got mad when I snapped pictures.
When we got home Adam decided to look at what must be a cool bruise forming. I then hear lots of screaming. The impact of him hitting the log had completely split his leg open. Not a cut, no missing skin, just his leg burst open. It was gnarly. We took him to the ER and they numbed it and stitched it up. His pants had some guts on them, but barely any blood. The Dr said it could be because of the cold, or the way it split. He got 29 stitches! He had quite the tale to tell. He and Steven sent the pictures to all of their friends, as did Sarah. (as did Mike and I)
Sarah's actual birthday was overshadowed by Jessica's passing. I was quarantined with Covid so I gave her an IOU on celebration. I'm not sure if she even had a picture taken on her birthday. (strange few days, but Sarah was kind and understanding as always.) She wanted to wait to have her party until Mike was back from Weapons School, so we FINALLY celebrated her on 12/17. We took 12 of her friends, the boys, and a few of their friends to the Spiderman No Way Home movie. We then went to Cold Stone and loaded them all up on ice cream. (In the winter)
Sarah and Steven's teacher opted to do a no-family service recital at a senior center before Christmas. I didn't want to drive home so I waited in the hall and addressed our Christmas cards. Sarah looked so cute i in my dress that I let her keep it, and some of the female residents were incredibly impressed that she was able to play while wearing heals.
Sarah's song was O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.
Steven played, We Three Kings. He had a hard time selecting a song, but ended on this one.
Finally, after a little more than five months, Mike graduated from Air Force Weapons School. This is twice as long as he's ever been gone, and we all definitely felt his absence. He was able to come home on a few long weekends, but those short trips weren't enough. Mike has tried to play down the significance of the program, but when we finally arrived at his graduation we got a better idea of how demanding and significant the program is. As part of the program they get call signs which are only given to fighter pilots and weapons school graduates, which are called "Patches". They get a new patch that they're expected to always wear. Mike tried to say he wouldn't wear the patch, but he came to appreciate it, and his commander insisted on it. Here he is getting the patch from his commander, Colonel Greg Foster.
We brought the kids with us to Vegas and I dropped the boys and Audrey off at the "petting zoo" where they store old machinery and let you go in it.
The night started with an airplane specific graduation where Mike was given the award/trophy for best flyer in his class. Steve, Lynette and Andy came out to support him. He had quite a few commanders and wing mates come to support him as well.
