Christmas Letter 2011!

Update 11 December 2011

Happy birthday this week to Brad, Greggie, Andrea, Kristen, etc.

We had parent-teacher conferences this week, and the kids are doing well in school. Ironically, both Arianna’s and Carlos’s teachers said that they don’t speak up enough in class; I indicated that this news made me jealous since we can’t get a moment’s silence at home!

Yesterday, we went to Disneyland and enjoyed its Christmastime theme. Kirk and I really enjoy the decorations. Thanks to Carlos, we now spend most of our time in the ‘Happiest Place on Earth’ in Tomorrowland (Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Space Mountain, etc.). Not very Christmasy but still fun.

Today, Kirk taught adult Sunday School and I taught the women’s class. Technically, I’m in charge of music for the ward, but that doesn’t spare you from teaching, too.  J  I did feel bad though because I had wanted to organize a small musical arrangement for today’s sacrament meeting but simply didn’t have the time (we’ve missed the past 3 weeks of church). Maybe I can still put something together for the beginning of January.

Tonight, we attended a live nativity. One fun (but we’re still not used to it) part of living in the LA area is that there is a lot of musical and acting talent in the local churches. So the people who acted and sang in the live nativity really were very good. At each stop (Herod’s castle, wise men’s camp, angels’ heavenly hang out, shepherds’ hill, crowded inn, and nativity stable), the kids collected a few treats (animal crackers from the wise men, candy canes from the shepherds), so they enjoyed it, too. However, Herod was pretty scary and Carlos nearly wet himself in fear of the operatic tyrant.

Our nightly Christmas carol/hymn activity is going well. Arianna really enjoys learning the songs, and I’ve been surprised to remember/realize how many Christmas hymns there are: you really can do one a night for the 25 days of December!

Enjoy the season!

Update 4 December 2011

This week I felt my unemployment. I sent off my application for my credential and contacted a school district about substitute teaching. Although there were lots of things to catch up on at home, I felt lonely and sad without my crazy high schoolers.

Over Thanksgiving week, Kirk spent some time working on his Master’s thesis from U-Penn. So, this week, my dad and I spent hours reading and editing Kirk’s thesis. I hope we can get it ready soon, because it would be nice to have this off of our shoulders. This particular thesis paper is for Kirk’s M.A. in International Studies through U-Penn’s Estée Lauder program. Alas, it was due 2½ years ago!

Our little man Carlos struggles with seasonal asthma, and this was a particularly windy one: the wind bent our backyard canopy into the inverse of its intended position! Well, with all of the wind, you can expect that Carlos was having some breathing trouble. I was lucky to get him in to the doctor, who added zyrtec and nasonex to his pre-existing regimen of nebulizer-transmitted inhalants. The medicine seemed to make him worse in the short run, but it was actually dislodging some gunk that had settled in his lower lungs. He is a trooper and reminds me about his medicine. It’s nice to see that the medicine makes such a big difference that a 5-year-old Chub-chub will request it!

Kirk was in Canada and Minnesota for most the week. (He really doesn’t know how to pick a party spot in December, does he?) He has been relieved to see the Canada team finally making some good progress—thanks in a large part to his regular babysitting these past 2½ years.

Kirk’s broken pinky finger is still tender but most of the bruising is gone. Hopefully he’ll be able to use it again soon. He’s been very patient and uncomplaining through this, despite the fact that the broken finger complicates the typing he does for work.

Friday afternoon, we drove to the Bay Area for a family dinner with the Monson relatives. It was amazing to see so many of Kirk’s cousins, including my old buddy Shauna, who I met in Paris. (Quelle coïncidence!)  Saturday morning was Grandma Monson’s funeral. The Lord filled us with His spirit and comfort and made the funeral a celebration for all of us. I am happy for Grandma Monson because I know that she is happy. We spent the rest of the day together as an extended family—catching up, going through Grandma’s Christmas ornaments, and enjoying each other’s company. Things were just as Grandma would have wanted them.

Today, our little family began the drive home. However, this time we made a special point of driving down El Camino Real (CA-101) and learning about the Catholic missions. There are 21 famous California missions, and we drove past the majority of them today. We read important and humorous facts about the missions (San Juan Bautista was built right over the San Andreas fault!) and pointed out the bells alongside the road that mark “The King’s Highway.” The state’s curriculum delineates that all fourth graders must learn about California’s history, with a special emphasis on its missions. Each student in Arianna’s class must write a report and create a model of an assigned mission. Happily, Arianna’s assignment is the Santa Barbara Mission—one that we had already visited and that lies along the route between San Francisco and Los Angeles (El Camino Real runs right behind our neighborhood in Encino). It is also a special mission to Arianna because her class is in the middle of Island of the Blue Dolphins, the historical fiction account of Juana Maria, an Indian who lived alone on her tribe’s island for 18 years before being discovered and relocated to Santa Barbara. (She is buried in an unmarked grave in the mission’s cemetery.) We arrived in Santa Barbara with a full hour to revisit the mission. Arianna seemed to come alive as she became reacquainted with the site and imagined her heroine “Karana” walking through the courtyard. We got some great pictures and informational materials that will help Arianna do well on her report and model.

We are all excited about the upcoming Christmas season. I always love spending this special holiday with relatives. I decided this year that I would help the kids appreciate “the reason for the season” by teaching them a Christmas carol each night. It is turning into a fun tradition and really captures the joy of Christ’s birth for us.

Links to this week’s picasa web albums:

https://picasaweb.google.com/113547050139096971693/SantaBarbaraMission?authkey=Gv1sRgCN7F5IXlibLceQ#

https://picasaweb.google.com/113547050139096971693/DrivingElCaminoReal?authkey=Gv1sRgCOfE-OyQnI-C3AE

https://picasaweb.google.com/113547050139096971693/GrMonsonSFuneral?authkey=Gv1sRgCJLL2IHB_N-kfA

Update 27 November 2011

We enjoyed a great week!

On Tuesday, the kids' school sponsored a Thanksgiving feast. I was so pleased that my student teaching ended just in time to allow me to help with the feast. 

Tuesday night, we drove to Las Vegas, where we joined my parents, grandparents, aunt Eileen, brother Greg, and sister Maren for Thanksgiving festivities. One of the highlights for our little reunion was that we got to meet Eileen's new dog, Ellie, who is SO CUTE. After so many months without a guinea pig to snuggle, I was in need of a serious animal fix. Ellie was happy to oblige me.

On Thursday, we feasted on Ted the Turkey (named by Arianna). Based on what they consumed, I think my kids enjoyed this Thanksgiving more than any previous one. (It helps that Carlos has finally developed a taste for "white people food," such as stuffing and mashed potatoes!)

Thursday night, my mom, Maren, Greg, and I decided to participate in our first Black Friday midnight shopping spree. We arrived at Kohl's at 11:20 p.m. and checked out at 2 a.m. We had all been looking forward to some needed purchases (in my case, pants for a fatter Lauren) and were excited to get so much for so little! Still, we felt sheepish and apologetic for making people work in the middle of the night. However, our cashier asserted that, if she hadn't been working, she would have been shopping, too--so it wasn't really a loss to her.  

We filled the rest of the weekend with random shopping, movie watching, bowling, and loafing. One of my favorite parts of the week was going to Kohl's with my grandma and helping her pick out sweaters and purses; it was fun and special "girl" time. It feels good to have so many birthday and Christmas gifts ready. For some reason, this Christmas seems so much more exciting than previous ones--maybe because I've been working so hard and finally can refocus on FUN.

Kirk leaves for Canada early tomorrow morning and the kids resume school. And so the week begins again...

Enjoy a very happy end to November and a fresh start with December! 

Update 20 November 2011

This week, Kirk hosted some international visitors at work. On these kinds of weeks, he often works long hours. I should feel bad for him, but I can't get my mind past the fact that he is dining on filet mignon in wine-reduction mushroom shitake sauce with gorgonza sprinkles when I am eating spaghetti with the beasties.    LOL. 

Now Kirk is jumping in to point out that he went on dates with each member of the family this week: Carlos -> frosties, Arianna -> Jamba Juice, Lauren -> "Breaking Dawn." 

We also attended a meeting at LILA's Los Feliz campus (the middle and high school), where we learned that our principal Mr. Plancke is being promoted to the principal at Los Feliz (happy and sad--he's fabulous).

Kirk injured his pinky last Saturday and discovered later in the week that he had a chip fracture. He has been trying out the various splint options and has been a stoic, albeit broken, man.

I finished my last week of student teaching. The kids were great: they tackled me with hugs, wrote me notes, and gave me a card. It was so touching! I was really blessed to enjoy such a happy and smooth student teaching experience. I am now ready to teach full time, if a job comes along. Right now (after 15 months), I have a preliminary teaching credential. After I begin teaching and complete two more years of work, I will have the full credential. It's been a lot of work (a bit overkill, if you ask most people), but I know that it's going to ensure that California has exceptional teachers from here on out. P.S. I was the only person in my cohort to get full points on the Teaching Performance Assessments for the state of California!  

My back has been in a lot of pain this week--probably because I'm internalizing the stress of leaving my students and student teaching assignment. Ah, love "hurts so bad."  

Arianna is really excited about the upcoming holidays. LILA is hosting a Thanksgiving feast for the kids on Tuesday, and Arianna prepared a speech for the feast. I am really glad that my student teaching ended just in time for me to participate in the feast, too. Kirk has attended the feasts these last two years, and now it's my turn!    

Carlos played his last AYSO game of the season and is approaching the end of this semester's LILA soccer. We are really amazed by how talented he is. These past couple of days, he's been struggling with asthma or a cold or something. 

Our sad news this week is that Grandma Monson passed away yesterday (Saturday) morning. However, our sadness is only selfish, because we know that she was ready and eager to cross over into the next phase of life. 

Update 13 November 2011

Dear famlings and friendlings,

This week was pretty pleasant and calm (calm=pleasant) for our family.

Carlos has a new favorite book, David Gets in Trouble, by David Shannon. He checked it out from the school’s library and asks us to read it daily. Carlos’s AYSO game was cancelled yesterday due to rain, but his LILA team still played. He is such a natural soccer player—it’s just amazing! Today, Carlos discovered that one of his AYSO teammates attends our ward from time to time; I told Carlos this was an excellent friendshipping opportunity, and he was like, “Blah, blah, blah.” (LILA plays its matches at the YMCA, thus the jerseys. Carlos is #17.)

Arianna read books one and two of the Spiderwick Chronicles. We also finished book 7 of the Charlie Bone series (I read it to Arie). She is also into making crafts and writing stories. I wish I could say that I smile on these activities, but it’s hard for me to deal with the amount of mess that they generate. (Case and point, Kirk just caught her doing watercolor painting directly on the coffee table.)

One of our big concerns for Arie right now is that she is not eating well. She even turns up her nose to kids’ classics like Mac-n-Cheese. In August, we learned that this sort of obstinate anorexia has caused Arie to “fall off” her growth curve: she used to be around 98% for height and is now around 30%; most troubling, her weight is at 5%. She is visibly shrinking compared to her peers. The disturbing part of this is that she takes pride in being exceptionally skinny.

In high school, I finished Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with the juniors; next week, they will start The Great Gatsby. The freshmen began To Kill a Mockingbird last week. Nothing dramatic happened this week, but I am beginning to feel melancholy: this coming week is my last. I really love many of the students and know that leaving them will feel like a high school romance break up.  :-} 

On Friday, I learned that I passed my Teaching Performance Assessments; I was the only individual in my single-subject cohort to pass with 100% accuracy! Thank you to everyone who sent blessings my way; I could not have done it alone. So, the next step is to apply to the districts and private schools for a job. Until something comes along, I suppose I will have no choice but to sub.  :-P

Kirk had a good week at work. Yesterday, he did the unthinkable and played church basketball. I was proud of him for the effort (basketball is not one of his interests, and I can honestly say that I’m probably better at it than he is). Unfortunately, he jammed/sprained a finger badly. Ah, the casualties of church ball!

We have no further news about Grandma Monson, and I am proud of her for hanging on another week. We are especially impressed by the excellent care that her children and hospice workers give her. We’re glad that she can at least be comfortable during these final days.

Last week, I mentioned my nephew’s terrible brain injury. It was a scary and tentative week as we waited to see if he would survive. Although he is recovering, an MRI scan shows that his right parietal lobe died and his occipital and right temporal lobes suffered damage. We may not know the full effects of the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) for years to come. However, Noah is responding in ways that seem to contradict the MRI scan: he can still recognize people, grasp objects, and move both sides of his body. Already, his continued life is a miracle, but we all hope and pray for further miracles on his behalf. Every baby seems to have a “spill” story; this one simply was the one-in-a-million fluke tragedy. We have to trust that God has a purpose and plan for little Noah, despite this lifelong hardship.

Noah is home now with his parents Andrew and Kristen and big brother Asher. Asher, who turns 2 this week, has a Baby Noah doll from the hospital. Nurses taught Asher about how to touch Baby Noah now that he has some new scars and challenges. The doll looks just like the real Baby Noah—Darth Vader scars and stiches included! Happy birthday, Asher, and prayers and kisses to Baby Noah!

Lots of love,
Lauren and family

Update 6 November 2011

Dear famlings and company,

How could I have forgotten to mention that during Marvin’s visit we got to see Kristina and Jen? Jen is in the process of helping her mom, Ann, move to Oregon. Ann (a nonsmoker) has been battling lung cancer for the past few years. She is moving into the same nursing community where her parents live. Jen took the semester off from teaching college English to care for Ann and facilitate the moving process.

I also failed to mention that the kids’ primary organization (at church) had their annual performance on October 30th. They were super cute—even Carlos, who simply smiled when he forgot the words to the songs!

Kirk, Marv, and the kids carved our jack-o-lantern after church, but the neighborhood black cat began eating the jack-o-lantern’s eyes as soon as we set it on our porch.

On Monday, I taught a special Halloween lesson to my freshmen and juniors: Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Black Cat.” I had planned on teaching this a month ago, long before the neighborhood cat showed a fondness for pumpkin. However, if you know the story, you also know how ironic it is that the cat went for the jack-o-lantern’s eyes. I dressed up with a witch’s hat and cape and enjoyed the students’ costumes—one was fully clad as Batman!

The kids had a costume parade on Monday at school. Unfortunately, both Kirk and I missed it. I’ll try to get some pics of the kids from other parents.

For Halloween evening, we invited our new Tahitian friends over. Marotea is a boy in Arianna’s church AND school class, and this was his first Halloween. It was super fun to celebrate with his family and to see his excitement.

On Tuesday, Kirk had a business trip in Northern California. We had learned over the previous weekend that Grandma Monson, now 89, was ailing. Kirk was fortunate to have time between his meetings and return flight to visit Grandma. She was coherent and they enjoyed talking together. She asked him about his shoes and intimated that she was thinking of going on a journey. Kirk was grateful to have read Final Gifts and to be able to appreciate this clue. That evening, we decided to plan another visit for this weekend.

The rest of the school week was *mostly* uneventful for me. Still recovering from pinkeye, I shouldered the humiliation of going out in public in my glasses and without eye makeup all week. Alas! 

Not until Thursday did things become interesting. I have a particularly squirrelly class of 39 freshmen (basic English) during 4th period. I am somewhat lax with occasional side chatter and fidgeting, because I can appreciate how hard (and sometimes boring—although of course NOT in my class!) it can be to sit through multiple hours of school. (Plus, teachers have to be pretty lenient with discipline these days or parents get all down our throats about violating their kids’ rights.) Well, on Thursday, these freshies were unusually boisterous, and I wasted a lot of time correcting and redirecting them. Then, while I was reading a very short story to the class, about half of the students suddenly began clapping—not at me but over me. Apparently, they had rigged this in advance and thought it was OH SO FUNNY. Well, that just crossed the line for me: it’s one thing to do a little chatting but an entirely different thing to overtly interrupt the teacher and stop the lesson. So I made the clapping students stand and hold their textbooks (because they clearly needed something more kinesthetic to do). They were like, “You’re kidding, right?” And I was like, “Nope.” Then the students started arguing. So, my master teacher called a campus supervisor (two arrived), and the referral process began. We decided to refer only repeat offenders, meaning students who often have to be hushed. In all, eight students walked to the office with the campus supervisors and 31 students sat in shocked awe and horror. (My master teacher thought we had set a school record with so many referrals in one period, but apparently not—just 2nd place.) After that, we had a very enjoyable lesson. (P.S. My master teacher topped off the Punishment of the Eight by also having the kids’ coaches bench them.)

I must confess that I was nervous about 4th period on Friday. I was amazed by the whole debacle because I was never truly angry at the kids—just super disappointed. Well, between the campus supervisors, the assistant principals (who now function as deans), the coaches, and the parents, some of the referred kids were also feeling disappointed—in themselves. And they apologized before class! THEY were concerned that I would never forgive them and that they would always be on my black list, so I assured them that I loved them and that the punishment was targeted at the behavior and not the student (blah blah). They totally brightened up and were like, “So you still like us? You forgive us?” You see, most of them really are good people at heart—despite being squirrely, brainless freshmen. Now, the best part of the referral fall out was that my classes Thursday afternoon and Friday were absolutely serendipitous. Our friend Rumor spread among the students and EVERYONE seemed to know that Ms. Monson had referred 15+ kids (the number kept growing, and I was happy to let it). LOL, not a fun experience in the moment but a valuable student teaching moment; it was fun to give the impression of power despite still being the lowly school serf.

Carlos came home from school thrilled silly because he had learned the word “but.” BUT if you know my 5-year-old Chub-chub, you also know that he was thinking about another kind of “butt.” It was like his English teacher had given him the best Christmas present ever—now he knew how to spell a word that actually mattered, one of his favorites even! So all afternoon, it was “butt, butt, butt,” spelled “b-u-t.” I love that silly gordito.

Saturday and Sunday we spent in the San Francisco area, visiting Grandma Monson. Kirk’s dad, aunt, and two uncles were also there, and it was really nice to see so many family members unplanned. Grandma was much less coherent than on Tuesday, waking up only a little this morning and not making much sense as she talked. Still, it was a very holy experience to be with someone who will so soon “cross over” and to reflect on mortality. The skin on her hands feels like dry, fragile tissue paper and slides when you try to touch her. But her face is still soft and young-feeling, and I thought that was just as Grandma would want it, even at 89 years: she has always been such an elegant person. Probably in the next week or two we will return to San Fran to celebrate her legacy.

Overshadowing our weekend, a tragedy with Andrew and Kristen’s baby Noah also tugged at our hearts. Noah, just 6 months old, rolled off a low couch onto his head. His brain began hemorrhaging and doctors had to remove 1/3 to 1/2 of his tiny skull to drain the blood and check for damage. All weekend, we were sick with worry and heartbroken by updates. At this point, it looks like Noah will survive, although every day still seems like a rollercoaster of ups, downs, and anxiety. As you can imagine, poor Andrew and Kristen are stretched thin. And baby Noah now resembles Darth Vader. Keep him in your prayers for all of us.

Lots of love,

Lauren and family