Three months after he left for his mission, we were able to chat with Zaque. Although missionaries are allowed to call home more frequently than in the past, he told us before he left that he’d likely only call on Christmas and Mother’s Day (the two days missionaries could traditionally call). True to his word, he dialed us up today and we had a great time talking to him. This photo doesn’t do justice to the 75-inch screen he’s on:
We swapped stories and heard about his latest adventures. We opened gifts and enjoyed the ones he’d sent to each of us– all of which he’d squeezed into a box about the size of two decks of cards. And one of the gifts was a deck of cards, so there’s that.
He’s doing a great job in Oklahoma, working hard and having fun. I’m really proud of him.
So, until Mother’s Day, peace out, Elder Schroeder!
In keeping with tradition, this year’s Christmas card was a little different than most. After some thought, Pepper and I decided it was time to change the front to only include the two of us. In addition to celebrating our new empty-nest-erness, the logistics of creating a single photo of all five of us would be a challenge since we’re in three different states. I decided to go with a James Bond theme, and this is what I ended up with:
Personally, I think the shot is great. And the tag line– Christmas… Merry Christmas— combined with the little gun beside “2019” made it seem obvious it’s a play on Bond. Heck, I even used the fonts from Spectre and Goldeneye, although it would take a very distinguishing eye to recognize that. But many people completely missed the joke. A few thought we were about to have a “duel” and walk ten paces. Others thought we’re just gun fanatics showing off our firearms. Hmm.
Anyway, we packaged up 300 of these puppies and sent them to family, old friends, and neighbors. Our list seems to grow longer each year, and it’s always gratifying to get feedback from people about how they love the cards.
In return, we received a healthy number of cards from near and far:
I just saw an article about how physical Christmas cards are actually more meaningful these days, since so many people elect to send greetings via social media or email. So the tradition will continue…
Since this is Kaitlyn’s first time spending Christmas away from her family, we asked if there were some traditions her family enjoyed that she’d like to share with us. After some thought, she told us about their Christmas Eve dinner. They prepare a meal similar to what the Jews might have eaten in Bethlehem: chicken, flatbread, olives, some fruits and cheeses, and wine.
Pepper and Kaitlyn spent much of the afternoon preparing everything. We sat on the floor (on cushions) at a low table, and ate by candlelight. And of course we used our fingers.
It was really cool. I think we’re going to make that a new tradition in our family as well.
Merry Christmas. Remember the reason for the season.
Today’s the day! Pepper and I are going to see the final installment in the Star Wars franchise on opening night. I saw this hilarious “spoiler generator” that pretty much sums up how the plots in the latest movies have been developed:
I looked out the window just now, and saw a cool view of the lake. It’s been snowing all day, and now the lighting really brings out the blue in the distant water. I like how it mixes with the white, green, and brown of the trees.
After the Thanksgiving wind storm, we’ve been waiting a little nervously for a couple weeks while that huge tree loomed over our house. Today it was cut down, along with six other trees in the yard that were “compromised” and likely to fall on the house in any future storms.
How do you (safely) cut down hundred-foot-tall trees? Well, it’s a pretty cool process to watch. Travis, the arborist, used a bucket truck to slowly ascend this beast, limbing as he went up.
The bucket truck couldn’t quite reach to the very top of the tree– here it is at full extension. But I guess it was enough, because Travis whacked off the top of the tree.
After that, it was a matter of bucking the tree all the way down. He’d cut a foot-long length of trunk and toss it to the ground, where it would make a satisfying thunk.
With maybe forty feet left, he dropped down to the base and toppled the remaining trunk into our driveway. I was a little disappointed he didn’t yell “Timber!“
The limbs and leaves went into an industrial chipper (the yellow machine above), and the logs– which are apparently called rounds in lumber lingo– went into a truck. Per our request, they’ll be donated to organizations around the valley who provide firewood for needy families this winter.
Trees near the house weren’t quite so easy; they had to be climbed. Travis put on some boots with massive steel spikes, a safety harness, and up he went. Again, he’d shave off limbs along the way.
It may not look all that impressive, but he’s probably eighty feet above the ground, and acts like it’s nothing. He wields his chainsaw with one hand, using the other to hang onto the branches and toss them to the ground so they don’t land on the roof.
It was sad to see a couple of the trees in a little grove in our backyard come down. They looked perfectly fine, but in his expert opinion, they were compromised and most likely wouldn’t survive another storm.
Here’s a good shot of Travis as he finishes limbing and starts working on taking down the crown of the tree.
I did some quick math. It took him around half an hour to remove one tree, and the bill for that will be a thousand dollars. That’s $2,000 an hour. Clearly I picked the wrong vocation! Even lawyers don’t charge that much. Then again, lawyers don’t come crashing through your roof during a storm…
Anyway, all’s said and done, and our yard is looking a little more bare. It’s a good thing we still have a gazillion (minus seven) trees in the forest all around us!
Every Halloween, I love buying Brach’s mellocreme pumpkins. For some reason they’re vastly better than “regular old” candy corn. Now here we are, mid-December, and I’ve finally reached the end of my bag of pumpkins. I guess I have to wait another ten months before I can have them again.
Pepper and I have slowly been improving at pool. Heck, we inherited a really nice pool table with the house, so we may as well use it, right? We play normal eight-ball, as well as nine-ball (which I prefer). Despite her repeated statements that she’s not very good, I can’t help but notice that Pepper wins at least half the time.
I took a few pictures (my so-called kameraspielen) of the action.
It’s a fun and easy way to spend ten or twenty minutes together. And we can actually tell we’re improving, which is nice.
Since we gave away most of our furniture prior to our move, we’ve been improvising a bit while we figure out what we’d like. A couple of weeks ago, Pepper and I found a nice dining set down in Missoula, and a (somewhat) matching coffee- and end-table set. We bought them, hoping to have them in time for Thanksgiving, but no such luck. They had to be shipped from Denver and then scheduled for delivery, and showed up the following week. Thus, we had Thanksgiving dinner at our 23-year-old table, sitting on Walmart folding chairs.
But now that the goods have arrived, they look fabulous. We have a nice table and chairs:
A couple of leaves expand the table to comfortably sit ten. We also have a coffee table for the party room:
And another coffee table and some end tables for the lounge:
I like how these tables incorporate some stone, which (sort of) matches the stone floor in the party room. It almost looks like it was intentional…
