I have begun the process of potty training Ada yet again. The lovely weather in the picture above gives away the fact that it has been several months since the first attempt.
Especially since this is how it looks outside our house currently.
But alas, it is a New Year, and though I am not one to publicly own my Resolutions (so that I don’t have to publicly admit defeat), I will say that I am determined to get my little smarty of a daughter to use the “loo” properly!
A late Merry Christmas from the Bulthuis’s.
“For unto us is born this day in the City of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11
Between Southworth with Bjørn’s family and Blodgett with my family, it felt a little like a Dr. Seuss book: we drove here, we drove there, we drove up, we drove down. We drove all around! Ruby was quite clingy and as we later learned, sick for a majority of the trip. So it was a chaotic time.
But time was well spent with family, delicious dinners eaten, coffee dates with sisters relished, marathons ran (not by us, but Peter), and more. It was a good time!
Ruby’s First Christmas.
Ada helping Daddy open his gift.
Ada with the Georgians.
Ada got to spend time with this guy.
And we got to spend time with this little guy.
Peter waving to Ada as he finished his marathon.
A rare Ruby moment.
Some of the Bulthuis Women. And yes, I did notice how much Esther and I look alike in this shot. Eeiry.
We finished off the break by celebrating the Eide Christmas Get-Together on New Years Eve.
Ada’s fabulous Christmas gift, handcrafted by none other than my very talented, albeit slow (9 months slow), buy talented husband.
The Christensen family did it up in style this year for Thanksgiving weekend. After sharing the actual day with the Bulthuis family, we flew out to the Windy City in order to attend my cousin’s wedding, an informal Christensen Family Reunion, and all of the sites and sounds of the city.
Four Generations: Grandma O Connor, Greg Christensen, myself and Ruby Jean at dinner the first night.
Saturday morning, we loaded up the 15 passenger “Transporter” (as Chaueffer Grandpa Christensen called it) and drove to Glen Ellen, to check out my dad’s stomping grounds in high school.
Glenbard High: Gregory J. Christensen, Class of 1968
This was quite the impressive school, or dare I call it a castle? Though you can’t tell from this side because it is on a hill, there are actually four stories to the building. Dad said there were all kinds of tunnels and passageways he and his friends would sneak around in.
We made back in time for naps and the Wedding, which was held at the Pheasant Run Resort.
Cocktail Hour with the sisters
Celebrating with Grandma O’Connor (my dad’s mom)
Sunday morning we enjoyed a brunch at our cousin’s house, before sending Jeff and Whitney off to the airport.
Grandpa Christensen and his favorite little people outside our cousin’s house.
Monday morning, we were up bright and early for a day in the city. Our first destination was Jeanette’s nephew’s apartment. As you can see from the photo below, he has an excellent view of the Chicago Skyline from his apartment roof.
The Magnificent Mile and more.
View from the apartment window itself of Industrial Chicago. Jackson was ecstatic to see a real train come down those tracks.
Our next stop was the Museum of Science and Industry. Real Trains, Lego-made cityskapes (including our beloved Seattle), a Dr. Seuss exhibit, Christmas trees from every country, had us all pretty stoked to check this place out.
“Christmas Around the World” display
Dr. Seuss Exhibit
But the real winner was the coal mine exhibit. We took an elevator down the mine shaft below the museum to a “real coal mine” and got to see the machinery in its natural environment and ride in a coal train through the tunnels. It was so cool! Unfortunately no flash photography was allowed.
We ended the day with a driving and quick stop tour around popular buildings and streets. We of course, had to make a stop at Wrigley Field.
Here’s Wrigley Field in the early 1900’s.
There’s that famous sign from my iPhone camera.
Jill and I on the corner of Clark St by Wrigley Field. If it weren’t for the color, you’d swear we were back in the 30’s wouldn’t you?
And that my dear friends, is the end of our Chicago trip. As Frank Sinatra said in one of his many songs about Chicago, you bet your bottom dollar you can lose your blues in Chicago, that wonderful town! And boy did we!
One very “Fallish” morning, much to the chagrin of an Aunti, the girlies and I headed over to Stoneyridge Farm for a taste of fall. We decided to embrace it all in one morning: apple cider donuts, warm fire outside, farm animal petting zoo, apple orchard, corn maze, hayride…. AND, what am I forgetting? Oh yeah! Some punkins!
Over there!
Obligatory Fall picture with a pumpkin and a sister.
Ada was pretty in love with the Cabin this summer, and would randomly ask if we were going to “The Cavin?” and start crying if we said No. We finally experienced the ‘Ol “Dog Days of Summer” Labor Day Weekend when Peter, Esther and Markus joined the Eides and ourselves for the annual sleepover at the Cabin and Oyster BBQ.
Lazy Sailors: Bjørn and his father relaxing on the lake.
Toilet paper procedures at the cabin.
Oyster Feed: An Eide Labor Day Tradition. We grilled up 5 dozen oysters, and threw in a couple of crab as well.
Little Ru and her daddy enjoying the Oyster Fest.
Momma and the girlies.
A fantastic Lynden Antique Store purchase later, Bjørn and I drove home with a teak patio table and chair set in late June. We promptly put them to use in what we later dubbed the “Gardenview Café” under a plum tree in our backyard, next to the garden.
Looking back, scenes from the Café pretty accurately portrayed our visitors of 2011.
Bjørn, the first visitor to the Café shortly after opening in late June.
Dinner Parties with the local Greenwood Folk in June.
Canada Day Celebration with College Friends.
Tea Parties in August with the Girlies.
Granpda and Grandma’s visit in early September.
A lot of our warm spring and summer days were spent out in the garden. We got Ada a shovel and rake, and everyday she spent time helping me weed, harvest, clean and even cook from the garden, while Ruby lay on a blanket close by. I gathered tons of recipes for using the different produce we grew, and feel I did a much better job this year of using what we grew. In order for us to remember for next season, we tried to document the process and growth along the way. Here is a taste of the process.
Due to such a late Spring, we planted mostly all from starts, except for the corn patch and the carrots.
The Serious Gardener. As you can notice behind him, Bjørn tried “raised” beds (obviously without the wood framing). Made weeding a little weird, but it was successful in keeping Ada from walking all over the plants!
The planted garden
Closer view
The reason our garden turned out: Bjørn and Uncle Michael. They planted, watered and weeded. I highly recommend hiring them.
Planting the Front Garden Bed. Ada’s helping Daddy plant Basil.
Our perennial herb bed: rosemary, thyme, chives and sage somehow survive every winter.
Enjoying the view after a hard day of work ;)
We didn’t experience pests of the normal variety this year. But I am a little suspicious what a jealous neighboring gardener was trying to accomplish in burning so large of a brush pile in such close proximity to our garden!
Uncle Michael built an official raised garden bed and did a second/late summer planting in Mid-July. This is a couple weeks after the planting: leeks, beets and couple of lettuce varieties.
Progress.
Gary, the Scarecrow who came to watch over the garden.
Ada helping Mommy gather corn.
Harvesting is tough work.
Beginning of October, Bjørn rototilled most of the garden and planted rye as a cover crop. Since it was a pretty mild fall, we were able to still reap produce including pumpkins, butternut and hubbard squash, potatoes, leeks, and beets through November.
Well, actually Bjørn and I forgot until recently, that we still have some potatoes in the ground that we should probably dig up before the next gardening season starts ;)
And a better question, “Jenny where did you blog posting go?” Due to “technical difficulties” (that’s the official term right?) the blog was down and I wasn’t able to post for 4 months. And then, due to “memory difficulties” (I continually forgot that I could use my blog again), the rest of the year disappeared.
Anyway, since I did keep a little up to date with posting pictures on my Flickr, I have a series of 5 or 6 posts to sum up May through December 2011. And just to prove it, check out my Garden post.