Happy Holidays!  Our Holiday Letter!

2020 is almost done!

What a wonky crazy year!

I have learned that I love hanging out with my family.  I have realized that there is not a right or wrong way for people to choose to handle this Covid thing.  I am thankful for the learning and reflecting this year has given me with my job as well as with  my family and friends.

Isaiah

Isaiah is now 14.  He is a freshman in high school!  Ugggg, I still have a hard time with that!  He is doing school via zoom.  He is loving it.  It has been an adjustment, but now it works great for him.  His hair is getting so long, and we love the great curls!  He is doing taekwondo via zoom as well, and is currently a green belt.  He is so good at it, and after his next test, will be in the advanced class.  He is also taking a contemporary ballet class, with an instructor that is usually on Broadway, but now is back in Lincoln working, with Broadway being shut down, so that is a great experience for him.  Getting to work with a male ballet dancer is great for him.  Isaiah is a great kid and he still hangs out with his friends while they play their video games together! He got his first real job detasseling this summer, and he did great!

Quinn

Quinn is about to turn 14.  She is in the 8th grade.  Where time goes is beyond me.  She is in school learning.  She is still playing the drums in band, and loves it so much.  With this frustrating time with Covid, her dance classes have been postponed,  thankfully she has gotten to zoom with her friends a few times.  She continues to work on talking with her computer, and driving her chair.  She is tired of being home, and is excited when she get to go to the doctor.  Poor kid!   We did have a first, our first 911 call for her.  She had a seizure that would not stop.  It was our first call, and the first time we had an ambulance at our house.  I still can not believe it was the first time, so here is hoping we wait another 13 years to have to use that service, but I have to give them major props!  They were so on the ball and calm and in charge.   Here is hoping we can get out into the world again soon!  We are thankful for our nurse Catherine who hangs out with us a few times a week.  These two have the best relationship!  We are thankful for Chrissy too!  We are also thankful for her school nurses and teachers and support staff.  

Denali

Denali is 13, going on 23.  She is in the 8th grade, she is going to school in person.  She is playing the clarinet in band.  One day she loves it, the next day she wants to quit, and the next day she loves it again.  She is our most vocal about being bummed out that we are home so much and not out exploring the world.  She is in about a million dance classes this year.  They are in class when allowed with masks, and on zoom the other times.  She does not love the zoom classes, but is so funny, she will be on her phone with all her dance troup girls between classes talking about life and dance.  We are thankful for this wonderful group.  She is hoping her dance troup will get to dance in competitions this year, but we will see what Covid says about that.  She is also an assistant teacher for two classes of little bitty girls.  I drop her off and reflect back to when she was that little.  Denali keeps things exciting at the house, and is always wanting to try something new, like skateboarding, and she is doing pretty good!  The time goes by so very fast.

Buttercup and Cobalt

Our dogs have gotten so much attention this year.  Buttercup got a friend this year.  We got Cobalt during the summer.  He is an Aussie and he is a mess.  He is eating everything he can find.  He has torn up his bed, he will tear up toys, he has ruined carpets, and has tried to eat our wooden floor.  He will try to eat Buttercups tail as well.  They have a love hate relationship, actually more of a Cobalt loves Buttercup, but makes her crazy most of the time, then I see them chilling together, so they are getting there.  He is also so loving, and has been the perfect addition to our family.  With us being home so much, he has been a great distraction, and has been spoiled rotten.  I don't know what our dogs are going to do when they are home alone sometime in the future.

John

John is still working for Allstate.  We are thankful to still have our jobs.  He is working from home and that has been an adjustment, as he is an extrovert 100 times over.  So both boys are at home all day on their computers, working hard, while us girls head out to our schools.  He gets a bit of extra time out of the house checking in on his mom, and they both need that time together!

Susan 

I am still teaching art and computer science.  This year we are teaching both kids in the classroom and kids via zoom, so that has been an experience.  I am so thankful for my students and the team I teach with.  This year has helped me grow a lot as a teacher and as  a person.  I think I have learned to be more forgiving, more accepting, and more easy going, at the same time, being realistic.  So it has been interesting.  The arts are so important right now, with all the frustrations going on in the world, we all can express how we are doing, and have a quick escape from the daily grind to get creative for a bit.  

The Covid thing has lessened my time driving my kids all around, so that is kind of nice!

Our vacation t-shirts, porcho myarda, the only option, my porch, my yard!  Gotta have some fun with the situation right?

So no big trips this year, no dance recitals, no friends popping over, no family, or very little time with grandparents, (this one has been hard)  we are waiting to get together and can not wait much longer!  They are missed more than they know.

Instead we have talked, really talked, we have created, we have walked, we have cooked, we have cleaned.  We have had the luxury of really being together.  I am so thankful for that time.  I will cherish it always.

Here is to a calmer new year!  May you all continue to have all the toilet paper you need! :)  Blessings to you all!  

Susan

John, Isaiah, Quinn, Denali, Buttercup, Cobalt, Susan Otte

 Yikes!  Where does the time go?

With all the weirdness in the world, I am so thankful to have a bit of extra time to hang out with my kids.  They are pretty amazing humans!

Honestly, when things do go back to a new normal, I don't know what our dogs are going to do on their own.  They are spoiled like crazy right now.

We got some decorating done.  That is always fun!

It was adoption day anniversary and we got an ice cream ball, and it works pretty good.

Our guard dog!

Isaiah gives a big thumbs up on the ice cream.

Quinn has had her schedule all messed up and has slept most of the afternoons away.

Goodness, I think I might have an issue with taking a picture of our dogs.

Can you spend too much time with your pets?

It is easy to say that our dogs are spoiled rotten right now.  They are basically never home alone, as someone is always there working or playing or sleeping.  So when the world changes again, I don't know what we will do with them.

 

 

Quinn is so excited when we get her masks and shields out because she knows she is going somewhere and that is basically to school or therapy, so she is so excited to leave the house now a days, even if it is not to the fun places we use to go.

We did get a therapy appointment in, and appreciate it every time.

Denali got new glasses.

My excitement has been taking these two on walks together.  We are trying to train them to walk together with a double leash.  Oh my they crack me up with how they walk together.  That has been my entertainment lately.  So fun!

So we just keep staying home as much as possible.  Going a little stir crazy but not to bad!  Thank goodness holidays are coming up to keep us entertained.  Even though they will be very different!
 

Halloween was fun.  We stayed safe and found a few fun things to do.

Quinn was a neato burrito and Denali was a holy guacamole.

We carved pumpkins.

 

Denali was a princess at her dance class she helps with. 

Isaiah was so funny at his class.

 

We made cookies.

we saw Grandma.

It is good to find some normal in this crazy time.