Happy New Year!

 Happy New Year! We had our usual crackers, cheese, and dips for dinner on New Year's Eve. Since my lactose intolerance made me less than excited to prep all of that dairy-liciousness, Rose cut up all of the cheeses, and Jeff and Jay each made a creamy hot dip to go with crackers. Jay even learned how to toast almonds in a skillet! We played several rounds of our family favorite Wii game, Luigi's Ghost House, which had us laughing and screaming. We had "special drinks" (citrus soda, orange juice, and cherry grenadine). I finished my 2023 goal of drawing a picture every single day all year long, and it was a little sad to be done with that quest, but also very satisfying. I went to bed at 10:30pm on New Year's Eve, while my family stayed up. I did not exactly get much sleep-- I dozed off but was awakened repeatedly by random fireworks in the countryside around our house and my own family's various noises as they stayed up till midnight. 

On New Year's Day, Jay and Rose went to swim practice with Jeff and they all "swam the year:" 2024 yards! 101 laps of the tiny pool at the fitness club where they practice. They did it in 20 yard segments, on 30 seconds so they could rest after each 20 yards if they finished it in less than 30 seconds. Jeff reduced their recovery time twice throughout the swim. Impressive kids!

While Jay and Rose were at swim practice on New Year's Day, Amber happily colored dragons in her room while listening to a dragon audiobook. I am still not used to our kids disappearing to hang out in their bedrooms in our big new house. It will probably be a while before I stop being surprised when everyone is home but it is quiet and nobody is in sight. 

I started the new year off with a cold 5 mile run and some core work in the barn. It is pretty fun having a whole big room dedicated to working out, even if I am not quite strong enough yet to use the pull up bars and other equipment very much! I was able to reflect a little on 2023 and feel satisfied with the year, even though I ran less (like 200 miles less!) and read less (like 30 books less!) and even wrote less than usual. I did draw more and do more Duolingo than before. 2023 was an intense busy year, with two big new life events happening simultaneously: managing a home renovation and taking on a head track coaching job. I feel pleased and a little surprised/impressed with myself that I managed to get through all of those challenges. In 2024 I am ready to settle into life rhythms in our new house and continue improving in all of my various roles.

School began again on January 2nd, and the seminary wake-up hit me hard! I was dragging and sleepy all week long! On Thursday afternoon, Jay had a swim meet in Yakima. The girls and I drove over to watch him swim. He swam the 500 yard freestyle for the second time ever, and cut a minute off of his previous time! He came in third overall at the meet with a time of 7:23, and even beat the upper classman on his team in the event. Seven minutes doesn't seem like that long, but it seemed endless and I was exhausted just watching Jay swim back and forth in the pool for that amount of time. It was very impressive. Jay also swam the backstroke in the medley relay as well as the 100 backstroke, where he got another PR. Jay is such a hard worker! I felt all kinds of fluffy maternal pride watching him push himself in every race.

Here's what Jeff wrote about Jay's meet in his weekly report for the local paper: 

Highlights for Sunnyside came from Jay White who’s 100 Backstroke time of 1:30.21 was the only head to head win against Eisenhower and also beat Davis’s best. White’s 500 Freestyle time of 7:23.86 was good for a win against Davis and 2nd against Eisenhower. Both times were personal bests with the 500 time nearly a minute faster than his previous best.

“That was definitely a proud dad moment for me to see Jay win his first race. He’s been pushing himself and his teammates at every practice and it’s awesome to see that pay off in his racing.”

Zombie Jay with a mug of hot chocolate.

Amber helped me take down the Christmas tree on December 29th. We only lived in this house for 2 days without a Christmas tree, so it took a while to get used to the gaping hole left when we took the tree down. Now it just feels open and spacious and glorious. We have designated the space between the couch and the dining table as the dance floor. None of us are that skilled at dancing, but maybe we'll get better at it with all of this space! Hah, or not.

Jeff and I went to the dump with a van full of boxes and trash leftover from our move on December 29th. It felt good to get rid of that pile of stuff so we can organize the barn more.

The Gibbons cousins came over and Jeff put them through a circuit workout in the barn. It was pretty cute seeing the small kids on the big equipment.

Cousins doing band swimming!

After the barn workout, Rose and Amber went home with the cousins for a sleepover and had a grand time.

Walking into church on New Year's Eve.

Family selfie so I could draw us for my 365th consecutive drawing of 2023:

The biggest improvement in my drawing came more in speed rather than skill--it used to take me way longer to draw five faces.

I filled TWO sketchbooks in 2023!

Jay, sprinkling toasted almonds on top of his almond parmesan dip.

Piled into the computer room playing Luigi's Ghost House in the dark. I really don't like playing video games, but this one makes me laugh and I am able to sit through it with less antsy-ness.

Cheers, new year! I made mine in a tiny shot glass with about a teaspoon of Squirt soda because carbonation makes me SHUDDER.

Jeff and I indulged in a few New Year's Eve selfies.

Jay and Rose, coming home triumphant after swimming the year--2,024 yards-- on New Year's Day.

Amber's face after a family card game of Cover Your Assets--she gets so invested in that game that when someone steals any of her cards, she is tragic!

Random wet squashy sloppy snowfall on Wednesday morning. It was melted by lunchtime, thankfully, but left lakes of puddles all over our driveway and all over town.

Before practice, the swim team guys were skipping rocks in that massive puddle by the barn.

The swim team parkas came in, and Jay was cozy.

Go Jay! We lucked out that he was in the lane closest to our side of the pool, so we could see him really well for the entire 500 yards.

How does he do it? I am not a swimmer! I don't die when I get in deep water, but I have never swum for exercise.

Jay, worn out but triumphant after his 500 PR!

Backstroke!

The sun came out!

Home sweet home. It was so clear when I took this picture, Mt. Adams is visible on the left side of the house, and Mt. Rainier is peeking over the horizon on the right side of the barn. The grass seems extra green for January.

2024, let's go.