Pearl Jam in Chicago

August 2018: Forest took a trip to Chicago to meet up with his high school friends for a Pearl Jam Concert.

Shoulder to Shoulder

I need Forest. I am not complete without him. But I have had to learn to be okay without him the past year and a half as work has required him to travel to Taiwan every other month. Those trips, combined with a smattering of work trips to Silicon Valley, has made his absence rather prominent. Back in May, not long after another Taiwan trip, Forest had surgery on his left shoulder which ended up having a more challenging recovery than anticipated. With post-surgery restrictions limiting the use of his left arm, I was left with all the lifting, child carrying, and lawn mowing that needed to be done. More than ever, I was learning to survive without his help. 

Although it was not fun, I'm sure it made us stronger somehow.

Here is Forest on the day of his surgery, by the time his drugs were wearing off: 

And here we are a couple of days later on our 11th anniversary, trying to soak in some peace from the temple grounds after a particularly rough day:

Eleven years of marriage has taught us a lot. One thing Forest has learned is the benefit of supplying his wife with consolation chocolate to help make life a little sweeter. Here is my favorite variety of chocolate he almost never fails to bring back from Taiwan:

And this is a bag of chocolate I must have earned one week when I was looking more defeated than usual:

Now that his shoulder is mostly healed, I have felt some of the burden lift off of mine. But I hope Forest still keeps buying me chocolate, anyway.

Happy Birthday to us

My birthday was the same night as Ramona's third grade music performance.

We had Chick-Fil-A for dinner afterwards . . .

. . . and some birthday cake, too.

I bought myself a separate flourless chocolate cake that I ate almost all by myself that week.

Forest's birthday was the same day as scouts and activity days at the church

The kids and I arranged to surprise him at the church building

We disrupted the scouts' lesson on building tools, but made up for it with some cupcakes.

Forest has been traveling so much for work, lately, it was necessary to get him a quality eye mask and neck pillow.

We may not be much wiser, but we are definitely getting older. Happy birthday to us!

Snow Long Ago

Forest took Ramona and Mika skiing for their very first time in January. After a lesson with their instructor Greg on the bunny hill, they went up the ski lift. Forest was impressed with how well the girls managed this new experience.

Although Paula didn't get to go skiing this year, she did get some good sister snow time at home and in the backyard:

The girls always play some kind of footprint game as they make tracks in the snow, and it is surprising how long they can stay out in the cold.

Wylie suited up to play in the snow for his first time in February. He loved it.

It's comical how big of a mess it makes when four kids to go out and play in the snow, then come back inside:

Hot chocolate, anyone?