Another Trip to the Burn Center (5th Day of Christmas)

Izaak took the day off work and was able to drive Bre, Jojo and Trudy to the burn center today.  We had been told today's appointment would hurt, but Jojo was given meds before they left to help with the pain. They headed up to the burn center to have his wounds checked, cleansed and rewrapped. Izaak says it best, his hands are "gnarly." Poor Baby. 

I had purchased some Christmas crafts to do with grands, but this has not been the typical year, and I haven't spent time with the grands, and I kept forgetting to take things when I went to spend Tuesdays with the boys. 

Today, I brought some of my goodies. Wood cut outs and paint, our hot potato and snacks. We never did get around to playing hot potato or eating snacks. We had breakfast and then got out all the paints. 

I think they turned out cute! I thought the kids would want to sneak them into Bre's decor, but the girls had other ideas, and Gideon followed their lead. They had an eye for where they wanted to display their crafts. 

The infamous stovetop 

The kids asked for playdough next. Sure thing...

Japanese Ramen by Bella 

Gideon and Bella started making models of different characters from the Christmas story. Cute. Then they asked me to choose the best one of each. I asked them why everything needed to be a competition, and then I remembered their mom and aunts and uncles on game night and the annual gingerbread competition. OK - got it. 

Bella presents Baby Jesus 

This Mary is amazing...note the baby bump and the cane for walking after riding on the donkey all day. 

Gideon presents an Angel 

I was happy to squish fun-colored playdough. 

Annie ignored the competition and made pans and pans of PIZZAS. 

Everyone got home from Anchorage about this time...we'll save the rest of the fun for the next visit. Jojo will have another appointment in a week. 

So Glad Daddy could go today! 📷 by Bre

I needed to go shopping. Our family gift exchange is on NYE. I thought I'd go home and get Allie and Stacia first. When I got home no one was available to watch GG...we didn't go shopping.  Dinner was quick and easy - rice and burritos. 

We are settling in to see if we can get another Home Alone done....who knew? 

4th Day of Christmas at the Burn Center

On Christmas Day, this cutie had an accident involving a ceramic stove top. I alluded to his accident in our Christmas post. We got a call that Bre needed to run to the ER; one car wouldn't start, and the other was ice/snowed into place. Cory ran Bre and Jojo to the ER. Izaak stayed with the others. 

He's a trooper - quite a cheery 2-year-old too. He has second degree burns on the palms of his hands. They are bad.  The ER doc here wanted him seen on Tuesday at the state's burn center. Bre spent all day Monday calling trying to get him an appointment on Tuesday. They told her the earliest they could do was Thursday.  This morning she took the wrappings off his hands and sent a picture to the nurse at the burn center. She showed them to the surgeon and the backup surgeon. They told her to bring him in as soon as she could get to Anchorage. They told the ER at the Anchorage hospital that they were coming. 

Bre still had the problem of her car being immobilized. Izaak had the van at work and was unable to get off work. Papa drove Bre, Jojo and Trudy to Anchorage. I spent the day with Bella, Gideon and Annie. It worked.  It was a LONG day for the Anchorage crew; come to think of it, it was a long day for all of us. LOL They went ahead and did "surgery" - cut away all the skin that was blistered and damaged. 

Still smiling 

Papa held Trudy for the first time today. He was thrilled. 

Jojo seems to be getting a bit suspicious of "special trips" with Mom and Uncles or Papa. 

Meanwhile, back at the house, the kids and I played.... Bella taught me how to play checkers. I played with Gideon too. I did win, but I had to really think to do it. LOL 

We played with playdough. I've decided I need to buy some fresh playdough for the house. I think it would be therapeutic to play with playdough every day.  The kids made cakes. 

I went home when Izaak got home from work.  The girls and I threw together mac/cheese and ham....for the girls and GG. The boys weren't home or had already eaten; Michael was still on the road. I didn't feel like eating. 

We started a Home Alone marathon. When I suggested this, I thought there were TWO movies. ::snort:: SIX????? Ah well...we have made it through Home Alone 4. 

The 4th Day of Christmas draws to a close. 

Even the Moose Come to Celebrate (3rd Day of Christmas)

 

On the second day of Christmas Stacia continued to feverishly work on a gift she wants to have ready by the 31st and our family gift exchange. 

And the moose came to celebrate Christmas.  

On the third day of Christmas, we did a lot of waiting.  We had HOPED I would be going to watch kiddos while Bre took Jojo to Anchorage to be seen, but the center was running very, very slow. You think a referral for a 2 yo from an ER would make things MOVE. LOL Jojo is doing well. He's a trooper. 

Michael and Allie took her car to the tire shop. 

Michael and Stacia were able to get that gift Stacia has been working on ordered. They say she can pick it up on the 31st. We'll see. 

And the moose came to celebrate Christmas again - a different moose. 

 

As we ate dinner, I contemplated...it's worth the effort to seek Jesus, to worship him. 

We've entered the slow, magical, Twelve Days of Christmas. 

Christmas 2022

 The day began with our traditional cinnamon roll breakfast. 

We piled into the car and headed out to Farm Loop Christian Center, CoRielle's church. It is always fun to join them.  We came home, had lunch and opened Christmas stockings. Basically the girls' and Michael had one or two things I'd found...but our shopping dates were curtailed by the storm which blew in. I fund this shirt for Michael, with the tags on, at a thrift store. LOL 

I had bought this fun game for CoRiell's boys, but Arielle had told me had it already. I decided to keep it here to play when kids are over.... It's a hit with kids of all ages...

About 3:30 or so our home began to fill up. BreZaak  were unable to make it as they've had quite a round of illness in their home. CyRi spent the day with her family.  The noise level increased, the fun meter went through the roof. 

Jamin is attacked by the paddle ball

GG and the boys enjoyed hungry hungry dino

Danny was intrigued by the sweet birthday cake

It was fun to watch Danny come back to the cake again and again. He was fascinated. 

Allie and Danny 

Benny let me know they do NOT have this game at home, and he would really like to have this game at home. I told him I thought I'd keep it for him to play with us when he visits. I happen to know I got another game to give the boys at some point this winter. 

Egyptian Rat

Note Danny has the sound box from the "hot potato"

Papa's Pony Express

Danny took the soundbox out of the hot potato. He loved pushing it and dancing to it. I couldn't quite catch it all without also catching Little Buddy but here is what I got. 

Listen to the big kids playing Egyptian Rat in the background. 

About this time, we heard from BreZaak. Jojo had an accident and needed to get to the ER.  One of their cars was snowed in and the other wouldn't start. We mobilized. We prayed. Cory drove Bre and Jojo to the ER. Michael eventually drove Arielle home to get the truck so she and the boys could go home.  Jojo is fine. His hands are burned but he's o.k. He's so tough. 

We haven't seen Larissa since October (or maybe it was early November). Little Noah has certainly grown in the time. It was so great to see her. 

Larissa, Noah, Jared and Benny 

We settled down to watch a movie - trying to calm the little guys down...

Long day for Arielle

And, this ended the first day of Christmas. It was a very full day...full of activity, emotion, chaos, memories, the unexpected - full of family - worship and wonder. 

Christmas Eve

 Christmas Eve. 

We had been invited to a Christmas Eve Service at Lazy Mountain Bible Church.  Our church, Matanuska AG, also has a Christmas Eve Service. We discussed, planned and decided we could catch the 3 p.m. service at Lazy Mountain before heading to our service at 6 p.m. 

Semper Gumby. They joke was on us. The roads to our church remained impassable.  We were happy we had another plan in place. The girls, GG, Michael and I headed out to the service. We enjoyed it. The gospel was shared, Christmas was celebrated. 

We took the time to drive through various downtown streets.... the snow drifts were amazing. The wind had blown snow into CoRielle's carport and filled it.... amazing. It blocked the shed where they had hidden Christmas gifts. Not to fear...they figured it out.  Here is one house which shows a bit of the drifts...it is common for one side of a yard to be bare, while the other side features towers of snow. 

Semper Gumby

 I'm quite certain the storm was expected. However,  I was focused on getting ready for the Christmas Adam Tea today and I was clueless until this morning. We had such a terrible time trying to plan the tea last year...and Bre, Carrie and Larissa couldn't make it to the tea in 2020...We were really looking forward to this year. It looked like everyone but Bre, Bella and Annie would make it. They've had a CRAZY month since Trudy was born.  We bought a teacup and made tea candles to gift everyone, we made candy, baked treats and ordered tea...and we woke up this a.m. to a HUGE, HAIRY, HORRENDOUS STORM. 

The Christmas Tea seems fated in Alaska. This is something Mom started, and I want to continue it - but it is proving quite difficult. We waited until 3 p.m. and we simply had to call it. It would NOT have been safe for Krista, Carrie and Larissa to drive out to the Valley. 

This storm did NOT drop a lot of snow. We were under blizzard conditions due to the high winds, blowing snow drifts and cold temperatures. Winds gusted to 77mph, temps were -20...and our power went out. Police were stopping people on the road and telling them to go home. Many roads were simply impassable. We didn't get the worst of the winds...even so the line of trees between us and our neighbor is gone.  We had a wooded hedge/trees where the red line is in the photo below. It's odd to look out and see his house, his yard lights instead of trees, and a mountain top. We have a much clearer view of the mountain. When it warms up a bit, I'll have to get out get more pictures. LOL 

Finally, a weather condition that threw the girls off their laying! They looked at me accusingly when I came into the coop today. No amount of singing caused them to budge from the roost. 

We amused ourselves in various ways on this powerless, windy day...we melted lots of snow.  I found it ironic those who cannot remember to flush the toilet in normal times were the very ones who couldn't remember not to flush while the power was out. ::snort::

Allie loves this spot. She has been enjoying some writing projects during her school break. 

I enjoyed a cuppa tea and scone in the dark...sort of like a Christmas Adam Tea. LOL 

The girls decided to map out a wild mystery story. It was fascinating to listen to their repartee.

It was a day for wood heat and candlelight. I'm happy with the way our candles look but the scent disappeared. I'll have to do some research before we try again. 

Soy wax and wood wick...

We are so thankful for the wonderful city and borough teams of plowmen...and for the linemen at our local electric association. They worked non-stop for several days to get power back up and roads cleared!  We've lived in several northern locations and this town has the very best services we've seen. Now, I'm always surprised how businesses leave their sidewalks snowed over...but the streets are amazing. It's gotten to be too hard to take Dad downtown in the winter. 

We settled in to watch the Chosen Christmas episode when the power went out again. We were prepared this time and transitioned to chatting...

It wasn't the day we planned, but it turned out to be a very good day, nonetheless. We are immensely enjoying our school and ministry break. It does seem everything I planned this year was cancelled...i.e. trip to Washington DC, Christmas Tea...ah well.  Semper Gumby - always flexible. We still have hopes for Hawaii in January. 

BTW - 2022 BEGAN with a huge wind storm and it seems it's going to end with one too.