Ramona's Holiday Tour

Because Forest and I currently have the luxury of living within a one-hour radius of our parents, it was both our duty and our pleasure to take Ramona around for a tour of multiple Christmases. But we celebrated a Christmas of our own on the 23rd, before our journeys began.
It started with angel food cake french toast for breakfast, new and improved from last year
. . . and included a stack of gifts, which dwarfed our tiny 18-inch Christmas tree.
Upon opening a few gifts, generally disregarding the contents, and playing with boxes and wrapping paper, Ramona commenced her holiday travels.
The 24th at Parry's
We spent the next couple of nights in Cerro Gordo, where a one-of-a-kind Christmas tree is always there to greet us this time of year. I can't decide which I like better--the Parry Tree '08 or the Parry Tree '09.Some of us wore festive socks for the 24th,
gave kisses under the mistletoe,
helped make an enormous Parry-style pie in the kitchen,


and watched the rain fall.


Christmas Eve at Grandma Carol's
At Grandma's house, Ramona played with a giant bucket of toys,
received plenty of hugs from Grandma,

opened more gifts,
gave Grandma a gift,
and attempted to steal ornaments off of the Christmas tree.
Christmas morning at Grandpa Parry's
Despite our hectic itinerary, Santa was well aware of Ramona's various locations on Christmas as evidenced by the plentiful gifts left for her at all of our stops that day.
He must have known what a nice baby she has been these past eight months.


Speaking of Santa, he never forgets to bring Parry a fresh supply of chocolate raisins.

Christmas lunch at Dutch and Bill's
Teresa's parents have a house that feels like some extension of the North Pole when this season arrives. Her lawn is covered with decorations, and a large section of her living room is dedicated to a tiny village of lit homes, ice skaters, and even an electric ski lift. It wasn't until after we arrived at their home that the snow finally came, transforming wet Christmas into white.
Diapers are perhaps more of a gift for mom than baby, but Ramona was still pleased . . .. . . and she was just as pleased when Teresa handed her a pickle to taste for the first time.Christmas afternoon at Ojiichan and Obaachan's house
More gifts awaited Ramona at my parents' home in Normal . . .

. . . as well as a basket of markers, promptly dumped out on the floor by guess-who?

A few successful family photos, after several attempts:

Ramona stayed with Ojiichan and Obaachan on the 26th while Forest and I headed up to Chicago to visit the temple. It was blanketed in snow by the time we arrived.
As we were leaving the temple, we saw three deer in a lot nearby. They looked back at us once before leaping away. I asked Forest if they were "snowdeer," instead of "raindeer." For all the pun-filled jokes he has told me, he should have laughed.We also saw a snow-covered nativity display still set up on the temple grounds. Somehow, looking at those figures and standing there together made it feel like we had found a moment of true "peace on earth." After all the busyness and activities of the past few days, I felt a contrasting sense of calm in being there. If I were a deer, perhaps I would wander by there, too.Merry Christmas.

Christmas Cello-ing

My cello tends to be a little bit busier this time of year. The past couple of weeks have been filled with various rehearsals for performances of Christmas music: a quartet with flute, violin, viola and cello for "The First Noel," a trio with piano, voice, and cello for "Gesu Bambino," a 20-piece church orchestra for "Beautiful Savior," "O Come O Come Emmanuel," and a medley of carols. The red cello case also made an appearance at my students' cello recital last Friday, which featured additional holiday music.

Although the increased musical obligations accompanying this season at times feels stressful and provokes some complaining on my part, I have to acknowledge that music has helped to shape some of my fondest Christmas memories. I'm not sure the holiday would feel the same without the carols--or the schedule packed with rehearsals.

Moving Forward

I have always been taught that God will never give us more than we can handle. In my own life, I have found this to be true. For example, on Wednesday morning, I was given an orchestra sub job, a cold, snowy morning, a nail in the middle of the road, and a flat tire. Fortunately, I was also given an extra set of strong hands (Forest happened to be along for the ride), a spare tire (which ended up getting more miles than I'd like to admit), a baby who remained oblivious of the situation and stayed asleep in the back seat (Ramona), and enough time to drop off each of my family members as planned and make it to my first assignment on time. Had I been alone and running late with no spare tire and a screaming child, I probably would have gotten nowhere that day.

Despite the occasional sharp objects in the road and my propensity for driving over them (two flat tires in two years is a lot for one driver, correct?), it still feels like our family is making some forward progress. We still have no idea where we will be in six months, but we do have hopes and at least one prospect. Forest has been in Portland the past two days interviewing for a job with Intel, who has promised him a yes or no answer in the next few weeks. Whatever the answer may be, I sometimes catch myself envisioning what it would be like for our little family to continue its journey in the great Northwest.

While all of this has been going on, Ramona has been making substantial progress on her own. She has been crawling in the forward direction for about a week now. This mobility combined with my lack of motherly experience has led to considerable reflection about what the word "babyproofing" actually means.

Onward, ever onward . . .

(partial) Gratitude List

Our Thanksgiving vacation spanned five days this year. The celebration seemed to highlight themes of friends, family, food, and freetime--all things at the top of my gratitude list.

Among many things, I am grateful for:

our little family
those who have taught me (by word and example)
music (and listening ears)
extended family
Parry's baking skills
food
good eaters (Ramona's first Thanksgiving meal was sweet potatoes)
(she loves her spoons now)
Grandpa Parry

smiles
Teresa
naptime
walktime

long-time friends (we saw some familiar faces at a wedding reception in Decatur)
occasional pranks (Ramona dumped a glass of water on Scott)
Grandma Carol
pack 'n plays (even when Ramona refuses to sleep in them and tries to escape)
walktime
naptimefood

(and the hands that prepare it)pretty colors
ojiichan and obaachan
It seemed appropriate to end the festivities by sending a thank-you note (albeit belated) for a baby gift from Japan.
Ramona even signed it herself.