Texas Snowmagedon

 And it snowed...and it snowed some more. But with the record shattering temperatures, we had to enjoy it in small spurts at first. On the 15th of February the high was 14 degrees. The kids were brave enough for a quick snow angel to disrupt the smooth blanket.

February 17th - Neighborhood friends and family snowball fight in our yard

Feb 19th was the last day for decent snow before it was slush so we built a very tiny snowman. Rhys has always really wanted to build a snowman since Sophie and Kira did in Colorado a long time ago. So we made it happen. I think the size was pretty comparable to theirs too. We tried for bigger but just couldn't make it stick. Wins the cuteness award.

 We were extremely blessed during this cold time. For us, it was enjoyable. We had fun. We were sorry for those who didn't have power for long periods or rolling outages, including Oma and Opa. They hunkered down near their fire as their pool became a frozen pond and stayed with their dogs. We invited them over but they only came for an afternoon. We never lost power. Our pipes stayed in good shape thanks to my husband's good efforts and God's blessings. Lots of families were moving from house to house to stay warm. It was a good reminder for preparedness for us. Thinking over "what would we do if" situations.

Here is a picture of Wall-E doing snow days right.

Valentine's Day

 Sophie heart attacked Rhys' door.

Oma sent Hot Cocoa bombs our way.

And of course we already had our own sweet plans. We made dark chocolate covered honeycomb with our real honey rather than sugar--we are beekeepers.

And we had our traditional "fancy" dinner of "never on a date" food. This year chili dogs.

It started snowing heavily today. We are to have a snow like we've never had here. We are thrilled and yes the outdoor faucets are covered.

Lunar New Year

 We celebrated Lunar New Year entirely in food. It was really cold out and we like food, comforting food.

So Asian inspired pastries for breakfast. (ube bun yumminess) Thank you 85 Degree Bakery.

Pork buns and tapioca sweet buns (Sophie's choice to try--we no likey) for lunch. Thank you 99 Ranch Market.

Americanized orange chicken, egg rolls, and pot stickers for dinner. Thank you Trader Joe's.

My Asian culture loving girl enjoying her pork bun.

Sophie hanging out with some ducks at the Asian market.

Dad Passes Away

 Dad started a steady decline when Mom went in the hospital for her heart attack. With a fairly quick decline starting after Christmas. I'm glad I helped Dad and said goodbye when I visited in October and November. I said that I loved him over the phone and decided to come out once he'd passed to help mom, encouraging her to use the available help we'd set her up with when I was there earlier. She really struggled with knowing when and how much help to let in as his decline was quick. Dad was not really eating, drinking, or talking so we got our tickets. Dad passed away from pancreatic cancer that night on 25 January 2021 with mom by him. Jolene came in to be with mom while hospice took care of removing Dad. 

Neal and I showed up the next day. We spent 10 days there. We removed the house of his things and spent hours and hours taking care of the clerical changes that come with a death. Jolene juggled her family and helping as well. I spent an entire Sunday going through all the genealogy stuff Dad had from grandma and his sister, that he had moved from California about a decade prior. So many photos and memorabilia. We only got out twice. Once to Port Townsend to walk the beach where I clearly saw bald eagles for the first time. The other day was to spread Dad's ashes and sight see. 

We spread Dad's ashes near the Olympic National Forest where he wished them to be. Mom shed a few quiet tears and was pleased we did it the way he would have wanted. We visited a favorite bridge he liked called descriptively enough as High Steel Bridge. We also visited Rocky Brook Falls. While driving we saw two large bobs of seals along the coast, a bald eagle, and a herd of elk. We ended the day having dinner from Panda Express so basically the exact way dad would have had it. 

I had a pow wow with mom about living with us. I communicated my desire to have her around us and the kids, my belief that a team around her was the best way to help her live a healthy and longer life, and that though she had taken care of her diabetes to this point, it was not humanly possible to be perfect 100 percent of the time. She communicated that she'd had a good life, she'd do her best to visit, and that she wanted to live alone. That this is what she wanted and that I needed to let go of my fear. We compromised by having her monitor alert us when her blood sugar levels were too low. I have her police department on speed dial in case Jolene is unable to intervene in her behalf.  So certainly not ideal in my book but mom is living the life she wants to and that part make me happy.

We are super grateful for the support family showed us--Oma and Opa giving up their lives for two weeks to take care of the kids, since they attend school online. Kira for her helpful information about dad's decline. David for jokes he texted to keep us smiling and lightening the mood for my mom when we shared them.

Backyard Goals

 Working as a family, we have some big goals for the backyard this year. This week we put in a lot of work with the help of the kids. Keri worked on treating the new bee boxes with linseed oil in preparation for paint. The kids helped oil the garden box wood and cut it. The kids and I also sifted through several large containers, removing the styrofoam we used for drainage in the old system and keeping the dirt for the new garden box. We trimmed up some branches that were hanging low to our new fence and the house. We used the branches and the raked leaves to fill the bottom half of the box using a hugelkultur method, dumping all the sifted dirt on top to fill completely. Neal and Keri spent a couple evenings assembling the hive boxes and frames. Then Keri painted one new hive box using up the rest of the yellow from last years hive painting job and painted the second new set of boxes lilac.

A bit of snow dusting our garden bed--the first in a very, very long time!

 

Cats

 

Big moment here. Lady must have been desperate for warmth because she is scared of Neal for no reason at all.

Also a big deal. That cat toy, Sophie crocheted it. She stuck with something challenging. I am so proud of her!

Christmas

 We did not attend the Christmas Tree Lighting, do the Rudolf Run, or participate in the Nativity Exhibit this year as Covid-19 hates Christmas. BUT, we did find ways to fee the Spirit and celebrate. 

While I was in Washington, my family put up our advent calendar and filled it "just for mom". My heart was filled with gratitude for their thoughtfulness. I received kind/humorous words ans well as sweet treats which, of course, I shared.

Here are more highlights:

Sophie and Neal forgo the step stool and use teamwork to install the mistletoe in the archway. Also, she is giant now.

 

Lady does a face plant

Making gingerbread houses

Winter themed Lego creations by Rhys

Photo Op

Time with Opa and Oma. Sophie successfully made candied sweet potato casserole-something she's been wanting to do since she learned how to in a class before Thanksgiving 2019. Rhys successfully played Jingle Bells on his trombone, which he's learned virtually and in home practice.

I made a family recipe for almond butter toffee passed on from Norma--who I came to find is my great grandaunt and that she owned and operated her own candy shop.

Norma Rees

We enjoyed Christmas concerts online and watched Christmas movies and drank hot cocoa and ate way too many sweets. Honestly, gift wrapping was complicated. The kids were often popping in and out between classes so I really had to work smart to not spoil their Christmas, as the dining room table served as my work station and we have an open floor plan.

Sophie and I wore Christmas pins that belonged to her great-grandmother, Ionne, to church. Ionne had an extensive collection. Kira has a couple too, and uses them ornaments to decorate her Christmas tree.

We decorated Neal's workspace for Christmas because we were kicking back and having fun and we didn't want him to feel left out.

So we had a good Christmas and life goes on. We were thankful for the phone visits with family and for them thinking of us. We love you!

Sophie Awarded - Bees Buzz Off

 Upon returning from Virginia, Sophie and I invited our beekeeping mentor over to help us be sure the hive was in good shape before the winter. Upon opening the hive and looking down into it, a hard realization hit us. We all stared at each other in shock. Our strong, prolific colony was completely gone! We searched the hive and comb for clues There was ripped open comb cells only a few dead bees in the bottom or at the entrance.

Sophie was to present on the anatomy of a honey bee and be awarded for the completion of her year long experience with beekeeping. We met as a small group and it was great for all the students to see each other, especially as some have not been in school or anything social given the pandemic.  Sophie presented her information in a well organized way but decided she would include more pictures in the future. We learned a lot from the others as well. We are so proud of Sophie for the dedication she put toward her bees and this adventure with me. It has been a great time for us to be together, hard work, and fascinating. 

We found from further discussion from our instructors that it was likely the queen died and the bees sucked up the honey and headed out as she was no longer producing pheromones to keep them there. We also learned that colony loss is quite normal and across the board colony loss is 40%. Would have like to be on the other side of normal but we are going to keep at beekeeping. In fact, we ordered two nucs (beginner colonies) for the spring while at the meeting.