December 2022, second half

Melanie and I went for walks faithfully through the winter. It can be so beautiful in the snow!

I celebrated a year of friendship by going out for dinner. Lovely company, and the food was pretty good too.

Jennifer and Nathan switched bedrooms. It was a great excuse to force Jennifer to go through her stuff. She managed to through a bit of it out, but most of it just got shoved into a new neater location.

Her closet was one of the last thing we had to empty. Each box has stuff in, some old "dress up" clothes, some have pine cones...

She arranged everything very neatly. It's a lot easier to keep tidy than her other room...maybe because there are so many storage places.

The Christmas holidays are here! It's a tradition now for me to sign out some Peanuts comic books from the library. It could only get better if you add a hot chocolate.

Matthew's air cadets had a Christmas dinner. They require him to dress up, including a bow tie. So handsome. (if only he'd smile normally, he'd look even better)

We also had our Sinter Klaas celebration. We all get two names, and need to find something or make something for two people. This year we even had a wish list so that some more difficult people we could have some idea of what they might find useful.

Everyone reading the books they got. I guess that means they were good?

We had some snow in December, so the boys decided to enjoy biking in it. Sledding is too boring now, maybe?

And the ice rink froze solid!! Time for some hockey!!

Jennifer and I opted for a walk instead of skating.

Evelyn finally found someone to help her finish her sled. She was pretty pleased with it.

We had a big Christmas Party, but for New Years we had a quiet affair. Melanie and Jennifer decided to do some sewing.

Evelyn Daniel and Matthew played games.

Dad made olliebollen. It is tradition.

Melanie made me a sweater to match hers. It is lined with fleece and it's so great for when it is really cold.

Jennifer tried really hard to turn an old curtain into a dress before midnight. It was completed in 2023, but it looked amazing in 2022 already!

December 2022, first half

We did some school work in December. Nothing memorable. Just lots of work.

Melanie has been driving for a while by now. I am finally able to relax enough to let go of the van and snap a quick picture. I'm sure she is a good driver, it's just me not being relaxed.

We discovered persimmons a few years ago. So delicious. These are decorated to give away with some boeterkoek. Yum. Melanie made it look good.

Evelyn helped me make a batch of apple pies. 

Matthew has been doing a lot of marching for Air Cadets. It's hard work. Especially standing still. It's actually not so uncommon to have people faint.

Philip has been working hard in the workshop. I am getting a pretty nice walk in closet. :)

Nathan keeps busy when he's not doing his school work.

We got enough snow to play in!! 

Matthew stuck with biking. It's actually pretty fun with a bit of snow...an extra challenge to regular biking.

We decided to send family pictures and Christmas cards this year. So we tried figure out a way to get us all in a photo.

The cards were made by hand. That was a lot of work too. Which is why we don't do it every year.

The weather is getting colder, hopefully we can fill the rink and it freezes soon!

Daniel is 13! Nov 2022

We went to the science center for Daniel's birthday, along with some friends from out of town.

We covered a lot of the place. Many things were the same as years ago when we had a membership. And in disrepair.

It was still fairly interesting.

Taking my picture while I take his. ;)

Fortunately for Melanie and I, Daniel likes to help with cake.

13 already!!!

Since his siblings are older, and made a lot of money last summer, Daniel got more purchased gifts than hand made ones. He got spoiled.

Trying out a remote control car. Zoom!

After only getting "I dunno" as answer about what to have for dinner, I eventually remembered that Daniel liked a meat fondue before...so we enjoyed that for dinner. Yum. Hopefully Daniel liked it too. :P

We are thankful for the 13 years we've had with Daniel.