How we Spent New Years Eve, 2020 Style

 Not gonna lie.  2020 has been tough... for everyone.  We are leaving it behind largely unscathed, thank the Good Lord, but it certainly left its mark.  We are not sad to see it go.  Robbie was distraught about his plane, and was in no mood for merriment (understandably so).  The pandemic kept us from enjoying friends in person like we typically do.  So instead, Reagan and I went ice skating at the local rink, and then the kids and I played games.  Later, after dinner,  we got on Zoom with Rob's nephew Dave and girlfriend in Chicago, and Rob's sister, husband and nephew in Minnesota, and played games together that way.  It wasn't the same - not by a long shot - but it was something.  At midnight, the kids and I went outside and lit off fireworks, more to celebrate the ending of a super tough year than to ring in the new one.  The kids stayed on the porch and I lit them off in the road.  I had invited the neighbors, but none of them came.  It was rather pathetic, to be honest, but typical for 2020.    We have hope that 2021 will be kinder to the world.  We will see.  We will see.  

Because 2020 just refused to leave peacefully.....

 Poor little plane.  Thank you, guardian angels, for watching over Robbie.   He is unscathed.  The little plane - not so much.   Rob is understandably upset, but determined to rebuild.

Date Night

 There's not too much travelling, these days of World-Wide pandemics.  But that doesn't mean the mama and daddy don't still need date-night getaways.  For Christmas, I bought Rob a night at a local swanky hotel, and we became tourists in our own backyard.  It was SO FUN!  The Vault is a much fancier place than I had anticipated.  Look at the lights under the bed!

And digital mirrors!  I had never even heard of a digital smart mirror before!

Sitting in front of the fireplace with a homemade chocolate chip cookie!

The soaking tub in our room

Breakfast in bed with mimosas, fresh berries, and quiche!

The view out of our floor-to-ceiling corner windows was fabulous...

.... and had a window seat!

Restaurants are closed to in-person dining, so we tried to dine outdoors.  But it was dang cold.

We ended up taking our food to the car, just to be warm.  Still wanting a romantic view, we tried to go to the overlook on Quincy hill, but it hadn't been plowed, so instead we ended up in the parking lot of the mine hoist and just stared at the building while we ate ;).

The only thing that could warm Rob up afterwards was a nice, hot bath.

Man, we need to do this more often!  What a fun little getaway!

Ski Hills and Emergency Rooms.

 As seems to happen every year, we ended up in the Emergency Room with a boy who was snowboarding maybe a tad too aggressively on the ski hill.  Quinn called to say "I have a lump in my hand that hurts".  He denied falling - or at least falling any harder than is typical for him.  But given his excessively high pain tolerance, I knew that if he called me and voluntarily wanted to stop snowboarding, there must be an actual injury.  When I saw his hand, and saw that there was a new "lump" somewhere in the middle where there wasn't supposed to be any lumps, I knew x-rays were in order.  LUCKILY, nothing is broken; he just sprained his tendons by overextending them when landing, and there was swelling in the tendon sheath, causing a "lump".  OK.  Hand-splint for two weeks.  We can handle that.  I have a feeling this won't be the last time we end up at the hospital this ski-season.

In other news, look at the yummy pizza I made for dinner!

Christmas Day

We were spoiled on Christmas day, as we always seem to be.  The boys got vehicles as their "big gift" - which they drove around the driveway (because they don't have licenses yet and the vehicles aren't yet insured) for hours and hours.  Too funny.  Quinn even gave his truck a wash in the freezing cold, to spruce it up.  Chuck, Grandma and Grandpa came for dinner, and it was just a blessed, quiet day. 

Annual "hug the sibling" day.

Reagan painted this for her dad.  How great is that??/

Cologne!  I'm hoping this doesn't replace bathing....

My big gift... a beautiful guitar.  I am so thrilled to learn how to play!

Reagan made Quinn his favorite dessert... he shared not a bite of it with any other human being.

The dog now feels entitled to get into the vehicle whenever there is one in the yard.  This is a problem.

My sister made me, with her own two little hands, this absolutely beautiful bread board!!!  How gorgeous is THAT???