SKI BIRTHDAY
For her birthday, KIERSTEN’s letters plan to sneak away and ski,
Watch the ENTRIES and the exits to the ski slopes—you will see.
(Let me here INSERT a warning—do not turn away your eyes
For each letter in her name can ski black diamonds if it TRIES.)
Oh, that birthday girl! Her letters now have all begun to STIR.
They won’t SIT still for a minute—they’re an awful lot like her!
They have made IT look so easy; things are worse than I had feared.
All those letters that I love so much have simply disappeared.
Yes, her letters all have gone, but wait, you heard it first from me,
They’ve been spotted on the ski slopes. Look for SKIERS, THEN you’ll see.
Look for SKIERS, TEN or twenty at the lodge when they arrive
And you’ll find that ski bum KIERSTEN celebrating birthday 5.


Annika and the Year of Birthdays
Annika had a birthday and from what I’ve heard folks tell,
The ice cream was delicious and the birthday cake as well.
The party was a big success, leading Annika to say,
This year I’m going to have a birthday each and every day!
The next day she turned 7 and the next day she turned 8,
And all her friends brought presents and came help her celebrate,
And everything was wonderful and all the parties fun.
Already, April Fool’s Day, she was turning 21.
On the 17^th of May, she celebrated 67.
By the 30^th of June, she turned a hundred and eleven.
The presents all piled up until, no matter how she tried
She couldn’t fit them in her room and had to sleep outside.
And so the parties go each day, and all the fun goes on
And there’ll be fun and games until the birthday year is gone.
And every day a birthday cake, and every cake a bean,
And every day a crown and every crown a king or queen.
So Happy Birthdays, Annika, I hope for next year, you
Can still blow all the candles out, when you’re 372!

Smokey Eyes Tutorial

The other day I flipped on the TV and happened to catch a segment on Rachel Ray's show with Tyra Banks.  I'm not sure why I had turned the TV because I only had a few minutes but it was long enough to watch Tyra Banks give a quick tutorial on smokey eyes.  The following day, I woke up, and feeling all inspired by having watching Tyra's tutorial, I actually put some make-up on.  But then I realized I had a rare opportunity to go for a quick mid-morning jog while my mom happened to be at the house and could watch my youngest, I switched to running clothes and went for a little 4 mile jaunt, pretty eye make-up and all.  When I got home I took a quick shower so I could drive my mom to the airport.  As I was headed out the door, I glanced in the mirror and realized that I now had smokey eyes, ala Heather.  My method took a little more time and effort than Tyra's but the end results were just as magnificent.

NeeNee

HPE_0726, originally uploaded by hezro.

Today we attended a graveside service for my husband's grandmother. It was a brief but very touching service. She was an amazing woman. She raised five children by herself AND put herself through college at the same time.

She was well loved and will be missed.

Holiday Letter 2024

I never know how to start these letters but I’m just going to start typing and hope that the words will fall into place. 

First of all, a big thank you to those of you who keep sending us holiday cards even though we’re slackers and haven’t reciprocated the last few years. Someday we’ll start it back up and you guys will get a special gold star on yours! But in the meantime, let me tell you what we’ve been up to.

In January Dwight built me an exercise room in our basement. I love it! Kiersten, Kardynn and I took a roadtrip to Waterloo, Ontario to check out the University of Waterloo. At this point Kiersten and I had visited a lot of schools and so far none of them were exactly what Kiersten was looking for. But she had high hopes for Waterloo. And I’m glad to say that even though it was bitterly cold, we all walked away with a good impression (no doubt the cold temps were offset by the very warm welcome that we received from my cousin Jillian).

Niagara Falls at night

In February I got to visit my brother Ted and his three kiddos, along with my Dad. We had such a great time and I appreciated the chance to warm up in the Arizona sun. After spending my formative years living at the equator, I’m for sure a sunshine girl. (Which I’m sure pleases my parents who often accused me of *not* being a sunshine girl, in my youth. Ha!) That month we were proud to discover that Kiersten was selected a National Merit Finalist. (Kiersten, I will NOT be removing this sentence from my letter – sorry!) And the biggest news was that Kardynn turned 16. I’m not sure how it can be that sixteen years have passed since my baby made her grand entrance but it seems to have happened.

Heather with Kolton, Konnor & Kierra

March brought two more birthdays for Annika and Kiersten. Plus Kiersten and I visited Montreal to check out the university of McGill (spoiler alert, that’s not where she ended up).

Annika and her cat Tigger

Kiersten in Montreal

In April I got to watch Annika’s last hurrah as a collegiate volleyball player, at a volleyball tournament in Frederick. She had broken her hand the year before and it just never fully healed so for that and various other reasons, she decided to let the volleyball go. Which prompted her to change schools as well (she was already going to be taking her engineering classes at ODU so she figured she might as well benefit from their lower tuition rates).

May brought some sobering news as we learned that my father-in-law had colon cancer. He’d been very sick so it was nice to have answers and a plan. That month we had another visit to Waterloo, this time as an admitted student to the Honours Software Engineering program. Kardynn got her driver’s license. Kiersten graduated from the Academies of Loudoun. In June she graduated from Rock Ridge. Bruce’s surgery was a success so that was the absolute highlight of the year.

Kiersten

Kiersten's Rock Ridge grad

In July Oskar turned 21. Jonny defended his dissertation and became Dr. Prouty. Unfortunately, on that same day Annika was in a nasty car accident when someone ran a red light in front of her. That landed her with her ninth concussion. Not a statistic any parent wants to brag about.

She did get a little break in August when she went to Hawaii with her roommate for a week. That month started the exodus for the college kids. All three of them are at new schools this year. Oskar is studying abroad in Japan at the University of Waseda in Tokyo. And of course I already told you that Annika is at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia and Kiersten is attending the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. Kardynn is a junior in high school and very sorry to have been left behind – she says that she does NOT like being a “third wheel” with Mom and Dad.

Our emptying nest prompted me to downsize from our minivan to a medium size SUV. The minivan went to Ted’s family so we’re happy that it gets to serve another family.

Heather & Oskar

Kardynn started off her junior year of high school with a bang. She’s the president of her school’s Educators Rising chapter and she was inducted into the National Honor Society. She’s been working three evenings every week and she managed the high school volleyball team.

In October I spent a few days visiting Ted’s family in Arizona. As always, the company and sunshine were a delight. Work took me to New York City for a couple of days. I enjoyed the conference and ended up having a little time to wander around and explore as well so that was a treat.

In November, my mom – who was recovering from rotator cuff surgery – took a tumble and broke her pelvis. She had to spend a few weeks in a rehab center until she could literally get back on her feet. Meanwhile I road tripped with my cousin Jenna to visit our various family members in Waterloo. It’s a real treat that I get to see extended family when I visit Kiersten.

Before Mom’s injury, my family had plans to gather in Virginia for Thanksgiving. My brothers and I did a quick pivot and all drove down for quick visits with my mom in North Carolina before Thanksgiving.

December 1 was a low point for our family with the loss of our sweet cat Bandit. He had a very sweet, loving disposition and was super smart. The vet was very impressed that he knew how to open doors, for example.

Kardynn & Bandit

Later that month Dwight and I enjoyed a quick getaway to Costa Rica for a week. In case you’ve missed this underlying theme – I once again appreciated the sunshine and good company. When we got back to the US, my father-in-law met up with Dwight and Kardynn for his comeback to pickleball (after having a hip replacement in August). We rounded out the year spending a lot of time visiting with family and especially loved having Annika and Kiersten home for two weeks.

Dwight in Costa Rica

Playa Flamingo

We already have fun things to look forward to in 2025. I’ll save most of those for next year’s letter but one big highlight will be having Oskar back on the same continent as the rest of us.

These last few years have brought a lot of changes for our household - our kiddos are rapidly leaving the nest and venturing out into the world to start their own lives. It’s a big transition for me and Dwight. We miss having them around all the time but we’re so proud of each of them and are just in awe of the amazing people they’ve become. It’s such a privilege to be a part of their journeys. I have no idea what this next stage of life will look like but I’m excited to find out. It’s a little strange to suddenly have a surplus of time to focus on ourselves and our hobbies but I’m making the most of it.

Dwight (center) and his bandmates

Dwight is still loving playing music with his band mates. They’ve been doing this for more than a decade now! They don’t play for the public very often but if you do have a chance to make it to one of their gigs, I highly recommend it!

Twice a month Dwight and his sister get together with their Dad to record stories of his youth. Dwight’s been loving that routine with his family and looks forward to it every week.

The older I get, the more I appreciate how fortunate I am to have a life rich in family, friendship and community. You guys are fantastic - thank you!

If you have the patience, here's a little video with one second from every day of 2024:

Wishlists 2024

Here's the 2024 update to our wishlists.

Dwight
Fave stores:Guitar Center, New Egg, Micro Center

Amazon

Heather

I love handmade everything - especially pottery. I'm a sucker for pretty 16oz mugs. I love earrings. I love lotions and soaps. I love milk chocolate. I love all things blue.

Fave stores: Athleta, Etsy, IKEA, Etsy, Stegmann, Paka (socks!), Zappos

Amazon (not much on there at the moment)

Oskar

Since he's out of the country, probably the best bet is sending him cash. but as far as I know, he still enjoys these establishments.

Fave stores: Steam, Chipotle, Taco Bell, Chick-fil-A, McDonalds

Amazon (but I seriously doubt this has been updated anytime recently)

Annika
Fave stores: Olive Garden, Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, McDonalds

Amazon

Kiersten:
Cash for savings

Amazon | GoWish

Kardynn:

Fave stores: Aerie, Sephora, Nike, Target, Taco Bell, Chipotle, Lululemon, Kendra Scott

Amazon | GoWish

New York New York

 In October I went to New York for a work conference.  I've not really spent very much time in New York city so I really enjoyed the opportunity to explore a little bit. Here are a few photos from my short visit to NYC.

Entering my Empty Nest Era

Three of our children have left the nest and it is strange. In fact, two of them have not only left the nest, they've actually left the country altogether. I encouraged them to document their adventures - whether by blog or by Instagram - but I don't have high hopes for that so I figured the next best thing is for their mama to do some documenting.

First, here are the basics. Oskar is in Japan. Kiersten is in Canada. Annika is at the opposite end of the state. Kardynn is never home. Tonight I'm home alone for the first time in I don't know how long. Right now it's novel and kind of nice - not going to lie - but of course I would happily swap it out for the company of any of the aforementioned hoodlums.

First impressions of nearly-empty-nesting? 

1. I have soooo much free time now. This is partially because not only has our household shrunk in half, but we've gone from three high schools to one; we're not doing any sports - high school or travel; there's no one who needs a ride from me, ever. We have almost twice as many cars parked outside, as people in the house so it's kind of ridiculous how unnecessary it is for me to give anyone a ride. (Side not, if you know someone who's in the market for a low-mileage 2007 Honda Pilot, let me know!)
2. I don't know how to cook - or shop - for just three people. It's weird. Once upon a time we were a household of two but this is kind of blowing my mind. I look in the fridge and in the pantry and realize that I have a bunch of stuff for XYZ person and half the time XYZ person is no longer in the house. Oops! So I'm trying to wrap my head around new recipes and new shopping habits.
3. I switched out my minivan for a mid-size SUV. I'm loving my new wheels but it's kind of bizarre to have a vehicle that can't even seat all of my family. Dwight keeps reminding me that we almost never all squeezed into the minivan anymore anyway but it's definitely a big step in the empty-nest direction.

But enough about me. 

Oskar

The main reason I wanted to write was because I wanted to be sure to jot down the tales from when Oskar first arrived in Tokyo.

We dropped him off at the airport around 9:30 am.  We were off to a shaky start because in the 11th hour we realized that the trunk-style "suitcase" I bought him was a little bit too big.  When you included the wheels and handle, the height + length + diameter was a little more than 62 inches.  It was under weight and he only had one bag to check but we drove to the airport with two empty suitcases in the trunk, in case we needed to re-pack at the last minute.  Fortunately they didn't give him a hard time.

The day before Oskar left I thought, "Oh, we should have gotten some yen for him." Around the time I was having that thought, Oskar gave away the last of his cash (to some students going door-to-door collecting cash for Kardynn's high school's band program - which amuses me greatly). Sadly it never crossed my mind that while not having yen has unfortunate, having NO cash was a grave error in judgment. Doh!

We did have one coup in that the credit card I encouraged Oskar to apply for (once again, in the 11th hour), did arrive literally the day before he left. That day he also ordered a Sim card to pick up at the airport when he arrived in Tokyo. And we got him to download WhatsApp at the restaurant where we ate breakfast, on our way to the airport. I also helped him download a Google Map for the part of Tokyo where he'd be traveling.

So off he went with a super heavy carry-on, a relatively-light but slightly-too big-bag to check, WhatsApp on his phone, a downloaded map of part of Tokyo, no cash, one credit card, two debit cards, one passport, one student visa and no return ticket. 

I was proud of him that he did ask about the possibility of getting an exit row seat but no luck for his 6'6" self on that front. That said he did end up with an empty seat next to him so perhaps he was able to use that to his advantage.

At 3:30 am I woke up to a ping from WhatsApp. Oskar had made it to Tokyo and picked up his sim card, but it would probably take a day to activate. Fortunately the airport has free wifi.  Meanwhile, he stood in a long line for the ATM, only to discover that he'd never actually set a pin for the internationally-friendly ATM card that he planned to use. He also wasn't sure he was accurately deciphering the all-Japanese metro card vending machine but he'd understood enough to know that he needed cash to buy a ticket.

It seems he eventually got all of that sorted out because two hours later I got my next message from him. He'd managed to get himself to his share house - which included a bit of a walk from the metro station which apparently made the relatively-light suitcase seem NOT light at all. When he arrived, a fellow-English speaker had gotten numbers mixed up and was in the process of moving into Oskar's room.

I've heard from him a few more times and all seems to be going well. He's managed to get himself to the university and back. He's met some other people (though not sure if he lives near any of them or whether they'll be in any of his classes.) He's not sent a single picture - naturally.

Kiersten

She seems to really be enjoying her classes and classmates. She likes her roommates. She's managing to keep herself fed. She's navigating public transit. The other day I begged for a photo and got this. 

She went to an all-you-can-eat sushi place with my cousin Jillian.  Apparently it was amazing. I can't wait to try it on a future visit. She also tried poutine at the local Costco.  Who knew Canadian Costcos not only have poutine but vegetarian poutine?!  So now I want to try that too!

Annika

This one actually sends me photos and if she ever reads this, I want her to know that I very much appreciate it.  She and I have a 140 day snapchat streak going. She transferred schools this year and I think she's mostly happy about the change. She's having to take a mandatory intro to engineering class with a bunch of freshman. Ha! She's also taking Physics, Calc 3 and a Public Speaking class that she switched to virtual.  (Seriously?! Virtual Public Speaking?!) She seems to be enjoying going to a school that has a football team. Otherwise I'm not sure how much socializing she does on campus - she and her roommate don't live super close to campus. Speaking of her and her roommate, I should mention that between the two of them they have four cats - four very cute cats but four cats nonetheless.

Last month the two of them had an epic adventure to Hawaii. They came back with lots of stories and new tattoos.

Kardynn

Between her new job and managing the volleyball team, we never see this girl. I'm impressed that she's managing to stay on top of stuff because she also has a heavy academic load.  But so far so good.