We had already warned the kids: we would not be skiing this 2020-21 season. Most resorts required season passes in order to ski their slopes due to Covid restrictions.

Then Jim began to research options. It was a crazy thought at first: could we take the family out to Colorado economically AND ski the slopes? The more he researched, the more we realized the pie-in-the-sky vision could become reality. For one, flights were clearance priced; two, lodging was one-third the normal cost; and three, a few resorts were selling day passes as long as you made a reservation well in advance.

We pulled the trigger and decided to surprise the kids Christmas morning. A few short weeks later, we were at the airport, on our way to CO.

Our first day was at Keystone. It was a weekend day, which meant the place was packed. So much for lower numbers due to Covid restrictions! They were enforcing masks in the lift lines, at least. It felt so good to be on skis again. It had been almost two years since our last trip.

We spent the next three days skiing Arapahoe Basin. We crammed all of our ski equipment into the rental each day and unloaded in the parking lot.

A-Basin is where the boys learned to ski several years ago. They were definitely feeling sentimental when we arrived.

How’s this for a throwback pic: our first family ski trip at Arapahoe Basin, 2013 (Ruth was in ski school on another part of the mountain). Note the attire–no helmets, no goggles, and Jake and Derek are even skiing in jeans!

Before we left for the trip, Jim and I kept with tradition and made 48 cliff bars for lunches on the slopes. We got worried when at the airport TSA flagged the baggage containing the bars. After explaining what they were for, we were good to go. Ruth sat at the top of the mountain to eat.

We were buds that week.

These guys stuck together on the slopes every day.

The somewhat last-minute trip could not have gone more smoothly. It was good family time doing something we all love.

When we returned home, Peter put together a re-cap video:

We received the devastating news on January 1st that Ronnie passed from this temporary life on earth to eternal life in heaven with his Savior, Jesus Christ. To be clear, it is devastating for those of us still here; not for him.

I’ve written a little about his story here and here. His life motto was: Never Give Up, Failure is Not an Option, Refuse to Lose. He didn’t just believe those words, he lived them throughout tremendous trials. He had every reason to give up and to accept failure and loss, but he did not. Despite every earthly treasure being taken away from him, he never complained or felt sorry for himself. I’m pretty sure it’s because he understood this passage from the Bible more than many people:

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

We gathered earlier this month to celebrate Ronnie’s life, and even more so, celebrate the God who saved Ronnie from his sin and welcomed him into His presence once and for all. What a gracious, loving, powerful God! So it is goodbye for now, Ronnie. I’ll see you soon enough when we are worshiping together at our Savior’s feet.

We loaded up the vehicle with 6 people, one large dog, Christmas presents, air mattresses and pillows, and made our way to Dayton to celebrate Christmas with Jake and Tiffany.

It was well worth the effort–we missed them terribly on Christmas Day and were all so eager to see them. We got right down to business when we arrived and opened presents.

Molly offered her help.

J and T were dog-sitting their neighbors’ dog, Sasha. This may be shocking, but Ruth fell in love with her right away.

What’s even more shocking is that Molly did not fall in love with Sasha. They remained in their separate corners of the room most of the time. It didn’t take long for Sasha to sniff out Molly’s fear of other dogs, however, so the small one would occasionally snap at the large one.

They remained socially distanced, even while walking. The dogs were happy to comply with the restrictions.

We played games…

and the brothers got along most of the time.

Meanwhile, Jim assembled their new grill.

On New Year’s Eve, all the guys went to a local fireworks store to load up on explosives. Then as the night wore on, Ruth helped Jake make chocolate chip cookies.

We all headed outside to start making some noise.

The fireworks varied from roman candles to big loads. This one was the most impressive.

Here’s the emptied box.

We had a great visit and enjoyed time all together. Jim and I are grateful for the community with which God has surrounded Jake and Tiffany. One neighbor gave this gift to all the cul-de-sac neighbors.

Derek got a wood-burning pen for Christmas and got to work burning a Whistler Mountain trail map.

And what would Christmas break be without a Lord of the Rings marathon? We got through all three movies in record time.

We enjoyed a night with good friends. Who told these kids they could grow up so quickly?

While Jim and I were away, Ruth learned to make these paper Christmas trees. Jim–always looking for ways to improve something–took Ruth to Menards to buy spray paint in order to make the trees sparkle.

Peter skied with friends at Cascade Mountain in Wisconsin. It wasn’t Colorado, but it was still an opportunity to strap the skis on!

Ruth and I sewed matching pajama pants. Since there was no spare desk or table top, we sewed everything on the floor of her room. She made her own pants almost completely on her own.

Despite the lack of expertise and finesse of her tutor, I’d say she did a really good job.

In addition to sewing, Ruth was also busy dipping cake pops!

The kitchen was busy that day, as these two made and decorated cookies to give away. The irony of the project they chose: both of them gave up sugar beginning in December, so they didn’t allow themselves to eat their product.

Cookie perfection. Thankfully, the rest of us did NOT give up sugar in December.

Then came Christmas Eve. The table was set.

The guys put on their finest flannel.

It was a small group this year: just Dave and Judi and us.

But with Dave and Judi around, every party has life, no matter how small the party is. We FaceTimed Jake and Tiffany, and they announced that they are having a baby girl!

Christmas morning, we lit the center candle of the advent wreath, while Molly patiently waited for her presents.

She got to open her stocking first.

It was a laid-back morning, and we enjoyed the slow-paced time together.

Animals and all.

For the first time, Molly and I had company on our Christmas morning walk on the prairie path.

We headed into the city to celebrate Christmas with cousins and grandparents.

It was a Comfy Christmas,

a new-shoe Christmas,

with a little bit of Legos thrown in.

We were there for just a short time, but our days were full. We did a different hike every day and felt like we got to know the area well. Jim took out the drone a few times and captured some great footage.

We said goodbye to the warm sunny weather of Arizona and returned ready to face the Illinois winter!

According to Wikipedia, today marks our Silver Jubilee (25th wedding anniversary). We are praising God today for His gracious hand upon our marriage. A look back 25 years ago, to the hour:

It’s hard not to look at our young selves and think we were just a couple of kids, knowing but not totally comprehending the fact that we were committing ourselves to one another for a lifetime. Well, here we are, a quarter of a century into it!

Ever since our ski-trip honeymoon, we have celebrated milestone anniversaries by strapping the skis on and heading back to the snowy mountains. For the first time, we traded our skis for hiking shoes and headed to the snow-less mountains.

We are more keenly aware than ever of our utter dependence upon God and His grace and mercy. And so very thankful to be celebrating this silver jubilee!

Greetings from Surprise, AZ, where Jim and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary!

How is this for a time warp: In December 1995, my 20 year-old brother drove us to the airport to send us off on our honeymoon in Colorado.

Fast forward to December 2020, and our 20 year-old son drove us to the airport.

A few more wrinkles and gray hair, but also hopefully (by God’s grace) a little more wisdom!

For 15 years now, my mom begins looking for houses to rent in Michigan for next year’s Thanksgiving as soon as the current Thanksgiving weekend has passed. Needless to say, a pandemic was the farthest thing from any of our minds after Thanksgiving 2019.

As we faced the ninth month of restrictions and Covid-related guidelines, we had a decision to make. Do we travel to Michigan and spend our favorite holiday of the year with family, or do we heed the statewide emergency alert on our phones warning us to stay home? Typically, I am a rule-follower; however, this decision was a no-brainer. It was Michigan or bust.

Jake and Tiffany joined us Wednesday night (more about that in a forthcoming post), and boy did it feel good to be all together as a family, my parents included! Thursday morning carried on the Giere Classic 5K tradition.

It’s hard to believe this was our 7th annual race. Jim added some excitement to the event by bringing out the drone. My cousin’s little guy was hooked.

The start!

For dinner, since Grandpa Barker was not able to join us in person, he prayed for the meal over speaker phone from his assisted living residence a couple miles away. We missed him greatly.

Ruth commented on the irony of our dinner napkins. Wait. Gather? Or don’t gather?

We played games throughout the weekend.

And ate a lot.

A fun addition to the weekend was musical instruments. Not only did we pack the dog and her bed, our luggage, and food, but also filled the car top carrier with a guitar, a bass, and a keyboard. That poor car was quite loaded down. But the instruments made for some fun.

Friday we went outside and took a big family picture. It was controlled chaos. This was us trying to stay in place while Jim set up the camera.

The Fab Four.

Later that evening we celebrated kids’ birthdays from the entire year,

with a memory game and gift cards to cap it off. Who knew a $5 Chick-fil-A gift card could be so precious?

We packed, cleaned, and checked out of the house on Saturday, then said goodbye to Jake and Tiffany. It’s always hard to say goodbye.

We stopped by Aunt Chris’s to take care of a couple tasks that required muscles,

then made a quick visit to the beach so Peter could fly the drone a bit.

Buds.

Before driving home, we crashed at my brother’s house for some football and turkey goulash. This picture depicts well how we all felt after an action-packed, food-filled weekend. We left with full hearts, enjoying the extended time with one another.

We ended up getting a few inches of snow a couple days before Thanksgiving. In a matter of minutes, Ruth looked out the window, threw on winter clothes and began making a snowman.

She added a message for Derek and Alyssa, who were returning to our house from a morning workout.

The title was nearly an alliteration success, but try as I might, I could not find a word beginning with an ‘s’ sound for drama.

November kicked off with a memorable election. Ruth finished her U.S. Elections unit study just in time to join me as I did my civic duty and voted. I talked through the entire process as I filled in the circles.

Peter got to meet Jim Cornelison, the man who sings the national anthem for the Blackhawks. Jim visited Wheaton Academy and sang for the school one day, and surprisingly, Peter was one of only a handful of students who stayed back to meet him. Regardless of what others think, he is a celebrity in our household!

Jeremy’s bird house is drawing the curiosity of the local squirrels.

Ruth learned about the layers of the earth. What better way to drive home the concept than with food?

This girl definitely does not mind getting her hands messy. She was quite eager to get her hands into the chocolate.

After the earth model dried, we cut into it and ate.

After several months of writing and practicing, the neighborhood crew performed The Lonely Princess, written by Ruth. It was quite a story, and at one point caused all the watching parents gathered in the backyard to gasp.

Jim led the WA football team in as many practices as he was allowed by the state of Illinois. One day they found themselves practicing under a rainbow.

Ruth is making a statement with her face mask.

She got a squishmallow from the neighbor. Now three of them have matching rabbits.

Ruth and I ran errands one day and drove by a glorious sight:

What’s so glorious about a building under construction? Why, it’s a future Woodman’s being built near our house!

We celebrated October birthdays.

As this special girl turned 11 years old, we celebrated at breakfast with birthday pancakes,

and at lunch with her favorite pasta.

She played her new ukulele for Sugar. Have I mentioned how much she loooves having her picture taken lately?

Peter got together periodically with his non-football friends to play football on the WA field.

Despite several restrictions and guidelines for Halloween, our neighborhood observed the holiday anyway. Kids trick-or-treated with abandon–so much so, that our ginormous candy bowl was just about empty by the end of the night.

Ruth recycled Jeremy’s colonial costume that he wore for several years.

She trick-or-treated with her neighbor friends.

Jeremy rounded up some western gear, borrowing Derek’s boots and Jim’s hat.

He trick-or-treated with his own posse.

When the night was over, the trading commenced. Jim weighed the candy accumulated by both Jeremy and Ruth: a whopping 20 pounds!

Meanwhile, as those two were sorting and trading, Peter had some friends over for a cake pop tutorial.

These two dressed up as characters from Napoleon Dynamite. I was embarrassed to admit that it was the first time I’d heard of the movie (which was made in 2004). I knew I was behind the times, but I think this set a record.

Speaking of Jake, Tiffany sent a photo of his wall-sized white board in the office. It’s so… him.

And here’s a final scene from the month of October: the tree in our front yard that turns a vibrant shade of red. Alas, as I write this, the tree is now bare.

Jake and Tiffany came for a visit one long weekend in October. It was so good to be with them! We played some games.

We watched Jeremy play some 7 on 7. This is the closest we’ve come to any sporting event in months.

We picked up Derek and headed to Mom and Dad’s after church on Sunday for some lunch

and more games.

While the guys played, we girls went for a walk and sat at the dog park to people/dog watch for a while. It was so entertaining, I forgot to take a picture!

When we returned home that night, Jim and I took Molly for a walk around the track across the street. She thought it would be fun to make friends with a skunk. She learned the hard way that skunks don’t make friends.

The rest of the night was spent washing skunk spray off her fur–first outside with vinegar and baking soda, then in the tub.

When Jake heard that Ruth is learning astronomy this year, he was sure to pack his telescope to show her first hand what she is learning in her textbook. It warmed my heart.

We enjoyed a fun weekend with this beloved couple!

It’s been over three years since we moved here, and my daily outings on the prairie path have yet to get old. They are still a highlight of my day. Part of what keeps them from getting old are sightings like this:

The deer have been active ever since the weather turned cooler. I caught this one bathing in the river.

They will often cross the path just ahead of me, then disappear into the trees just as quickly as they appeared. This one, however, stopped on the side of the path and fixed her eyes on me as I jogged past. I pulled out my phone camera, because I figured if she charged toward me I would at least get it on video.

But this day, I saw a most amazing sight: a bald eagle flew overhead and perched on a nearby tree branch. Beautiful.

Ruth and I enjoyed a girls’ overnight at a nearby hotel recently. We stayed up late talking and watching a movie, then ate breakfast the next morning at a popular breakfast spot.

The hotel had two pools–one outdoor, one indoor. We attempted the outdoor pool, but the weather was so cold, cloudy and windy that we opted for the indoor pool instead. We had it all to ourselves!

After checking out, we got our nails done.

We each went for fall colors.

Then concluded our time together with a round of mini golf.

It was a brief 24 hours, but so much fun to be together, just the two of us. This girl is a lot of fun to be around!

This is the miscellaneous post where I dump all the pictures I’ve been meaning to sort and post by topic but ran out of time.

School carried on in September. Ruth went on a field trip to the Chicago Botanic Gardens with the neighbor girls who are homeschooling this year. She went as part friend, part mother’s helper.

After learning about the power of the sun, she did a cool activity with the magnifying glass and a leaf.

Jeremy sorely missed baseball season last spring. He spent some time across the street pitching to the net.

Thankfully, he was able to participate in a 7 on 7 intra-squad football team several weeks this fall. The sport is not exactly made for linemen, but he did get his hands on the ball a few times.

Speaking of football, take a look at this map. The dark green states are the ones that are not playing high school football this fall. Telling, no?

Mom and Dad have been diligently heading up to Michigan every week to see my Grandpa. They are required to make 30 minute appointments to see him, and the visit must be outside. He is always delighted to see them.

He’s done well, considering the residence has been on lockdown for months now.

We hear he’s quite the charmer among the residents. No surprise.

Derek exited the teenage years in September, and he was happy to see them go. I still vividly remember bringing him to his 2-day doctor appointment–yes, 2 days after he was born–and hearing the doctor tell me that “this one has a look in his eyes that is wise beyond his years.” Indeed.

Since Derek is living in the “Wheaton bubble” this semester, we originally planned to bring the party to him and eat a picnic lunch outside somewhere. But he was itching to come home, and we were eager to have him home even if just for a short time.

The time was so short, in fact, that this was the ONLY picture I got of the birthday boy.

Jeremy came with me one afternoon to drop off Ruth at volleyball practice. He wanted to stop at Hobby Lobby to pick up a bird house to make into a bird feeder. We realized halfway into the drive that he forgot a mask. And in this Age of Covid, no mask, no entry, so I stopped to get a mask for him. He now owns the coolest mask of all of us.

He hopes it’s not too distracting for the pastor at church. We got back home, he painted the bird house and attached it to the tree. For a while, it was an attraction for birds and squirrels. Until the squirrels broke the feeder part. Now it’s a nice birdhouse decoration outside the back window.

He’s been the animal whisperer lately.

Ruth capped off September by visiting the Great Wall of China. Covid-style.

At first, Labor Day weekend was looking like it was going to be like any other weekend in the age of Covid: Enjoy time off *at home* as a family, grocery shop, etc. etc.

Then Hannah texted to see if she could come stay for the weekend. After an excited yes, she then suggested that I keep it a secret from the kids. So her visit ended up being a pleasant surprise for Peter, Jeremy and Ruth. Well, at least Peter and Ruth, since observant Jeremy caught on to the scheme right away.

She added some much needed pep and life to the household! Ruth was happy to have a partner to practice passing the volleyball to.

Until the White Sox lost in the first round of playoffs, we watched nearly every game of the regular season. The TV was uncharacteristically on almost every night. Even Molly got into it.

Sometimes Cinnamon took his seat on the couch next to us. It’s a family affair, you know.

We capped off the weekend with a meatopia of sorts. Jim threw a bunch of meat on the smoker, then we assembled towering sandwiches and homemade (totally from scratch) fries and delivered the packaged dinners to Derek and his big-eating buddies.

The food made a hit with the guys…they gave it 5 stars. A smoked meat restaurant beta version debut? We returned home and ate the rest.

As I sit down to write this, we are in our sixth week of school. One-sixth of the way through the school year. How is time flying so quickly?

With cooler weather comes the barista offering me a latte, cappuccino or americano in the afternoon. He understands my occasional need for a caffeine boost midday.

Ruth chose to study Astronomy this year, partly inspired by her oldest brother commissioning to the Space Force. She made a model of the solar system, starting with the sun.

I’d say she nailed the sponge painting!

I lent a hand with painting some of the planets.

The finished product exceeded our expectations.

Ruth has been relishing the night sky like never before. Ever since Jim showed her where to spot some of the planets, she has been a hawk, spotting them once the sun goes down; as well as snapping pics.

For ancient history, she reconstructed one of the great pyramids, to an approximate 1:2000 scale. We brought it to the sandbox “desert” at the neighborhood park to get a picture.

When not working Geometry problems and reading about U.S. government, Jeremy puts his creative juices to work, building things like Lego glasses

and designing mug patterns.

But his creativity does not stop there! He likes to give subtle hints toward his disdain for subjects such as American Literature. I discover these bursts of creativity while I’m grading and find them quite entertaining.

Roses are red, Strawberries are redder; This book would be better Going down the paper shredder

While he’s waxing poetic, Ruth is showing her own peculiar side.

We have a good running start, and I’m hoping it will carry us through the long dark days of winter!

Ever since moving away from the lake-size pond behind the old house, Molly has not had any opportunity to swim. But there must be a faint memory of her favorite activity lodged somewhere in her brain, because when we asked if she wanted to go for a swim, her ears perked up and she looked at us eagerly.

She shoved past us in order to jump in the car. She didn’t want to wait for us to change our minds.

When we arrived, we discovered that to get to the dog pond, we had to walk through the dog park. Past dogs. Big dogs. This didn’t go over too well with our elderly pup who is struck with fear of other dogs. But once she saw the open water, her fear faded.

She was the happiest I’ve seen her in a long time, which made me happy. If we hadn’t called her to shore for occasional breaks, I do believe she would have swum until she drowned.

Why was it her last swim, you ask? A couple days after feeling on top of the world, she began itching terribly–to the point where tufts of hair were coming out, leaving bald spots all over. There were some internal issues as well, that made us realize she’s unfortunately getting too old to bounce back from youthful activities such as swimming. But we were glad she had one last happy memory in the water.