love is old, love is new, love is all, love is you

January has brought us both old and new experiences.  The girls continue to grow and we're happy to spend time with them before they become too cool. ;)  We celebrated the Lunar New Year at their Chinese school and enjoyed participating in games and activities that reminded us of Shanghai.  We also had fun at the Winter Carnival as we had done for many years before Shanghai (we had covid last year and missed it).  

On the new side, Nina played her first band concert and we were proud of her work.  She has put in a good amount of effort and has taken to it more than we predicted.  Both girls are enjoying various book series; Nina is reading The Mysterious Benedict Society and Pip is reading the Humphrey (hamster) series.  Ben's school is transitioning from the old part of the building into the brand new, so this week he's been digging up old treasures.  He will trade in his 40 year old desks for some new couches and a new view.

New Year!

2022 has come and gone and it was a calmer year than the last two years.  Nina started middle school and with it the clarinet and tennis.  Pip is working hard in fourth grade and still doing gymnastics.  The biggest change would be that the girls got hamsters and they are in love with them.  They have been very caring and enjoy spending time with them every day.  

2022 Video

Other than that, we didn't have a lot of big events this year but enjoyed the day-to-day routines. Being grateful and present in the small things like going for a walk around the lake each day, family dinners, visiting with family, time with neighbors, and fun trips out to eat at Olive Garden and Rudy's Red Eye Grill.  We look forward to another fun year.

We finally got to Nebraska to celebrate Christmas and had a lovely trip once we got there.  The roads and storms did their best to keep us out, but we made it through.  A drive with a gas station lunch and mini-golf storm break made for an unusual Christmas day but it was all worth it once we got there.  

Minnesota has either been cold or snowing and so we've tried to make the most out of it.  We're clearly getting exercise from all the shoveling. ;)  We've tried hiding from the cold in our classic spot at the Como Zoo and Conservatory and we've been reading a lot of books.