In preparation for Christmas we set up our tree on the 3rd. It was beautiful, as usual, but we ran out of time for setting up any of our other Christmas decorations. I never got my Nativity tree set up. We were going to finish doing that on the 4th but I had a strange little accident requiring a visit to the ER and some glue on my eyebrow that took the whole stinking day and I was wiped by the time we got home.
Dad's little helpers.
Pinewood Derby was held on the 6th of the month. I've never seen one done in this month but new things happen all the time and we learn to adapt. Jaron was the only one racing, Darik will be 8 this month and wasn't eligible. Jaron designed his car to look like a train. He had a great time building it with Jason and painting it himself. He didn't place, big surprise, right? But he had a great time with the project and a GREAT attitude in racing.
On November 29th Jason's work, IGT, officially decided to send Jason to Australia to give some training to the engineers in Australia. The trip was to be from the 9th to the 18th. He asked if he could bring me along, and was told yes. We had IGT purchase my flight at the same time as Jason's with our credit card.
Jason's parents generously agreed to fly down here on the 8th of December to care for the kids as we would leave the 9th and return the 18th. The plan was for them to stay for two days after our return to spend a little time together as a complete family.
The evening of the 9th we had our bags packed and were just about ready to say goodbye to the children and leave for the airport when Jason received a text stating that he was not to board the flight as the trip had been cancelled. There was no explanation, no apology, nothing. It was very disappointing, to say the least.
We decided to drown our sorrows in good food and took the entire family to Texas Roadhouse to distract us from all the preparation, time and money diverted. However, this same week as we prepared to leave the country, my mother went through 3 emergency surgeries on the 5th, the 7th and the 8th. We decided that since Bill and Linda were here to help with the kids that I would fly up to Portland to help care for her in the hospital and the transition home.
I left early the morning of the 12th and was able to stay through the afternoon of the 17th. It was good to be there to help her in her recovery and she was making good progress in healing when I left her in the hands of my sister Caryn who arrived on the afternoon of the 16th. The kids had a great time with their grandparents while I was away and Jason was able to work each day while they held down the fort. He did get off a little early each day to be able to spend time with them.
After my return we were able to enjoy the visit with Bill and Linda for several more days before they had to return on the 20th. We also took advantage of the weekend before I left to do a little bit of fun. Early in the morning of the 10th we got up to watch the lunar eclipse. Nathan had an Eagle service project to help with that morning so as soon as he returned home we took a trip down to Carson City to ride the Santa Train at the train museum there. Then we trekked up to Virginia City to check out that city and see one of the museum's up there.
Viewing the eclipse.
Riding the Santa Train.
In Virginia City at the visitor's center. We had just been told that the trolley ride I was hoping to ride had closed a little early and we wouldn't be able to ride it as "planned". Seeing as I was throwing together a day's worth of activities to do for a day that I had planned on skipping due to the international dateline I was doing pretty well.
On our way home from Virginia City we came around a corner and found a lot of cars pulled off to the side of the road and couldn't initially understand why. We quickly figured out that people had stopped to take pictures of the wild horses. So, being ones who love to follow the crowd, ha-ha, we stopped too and took a few pictures.
On Monday the 19th Linda, Bill, Caleb, Sarah and I went to IGT for a tour where Jason works. Then we went down to the Atlantis for lunch at the Manhattan Deli. It was a nice afternoon. Rachel had a rehearsal that night for her band's performance on Wednesday so Linda and I snuck over to the high school to listen in on the practice. Then we played some games for Family Home Evening.
Tuesday we let the kids go to school in the morning but play hookie for the afternoon. We picked Jason up at 12:15 and Nathan at 12:30. Then we headed to the Children's museum for the afternoon. There are a lot of good pictures here so I've included the link to the album to make it easier to view them all.
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| From December 2011 |
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