2021 in Review!

Well, another year has come and gone.  There were days

and weeks full of routine, as life is prone to be when raising

small children, as well as adventures and other notable things. 

We had a young person living with us all year, and he survived

the challenge of doing virtual high school in a language that is

new to him, all while never having met his teachers or

classmates in real life.  He did a restaurant training program

during the summer and then promptly used those skills to work

at a Mexican restaurant, and then switched to McDonalds, that

is walking distance to our home.  Luke continued to work from

home for Neighborhood Partnerships from the shed.

In addition to hanging out with our dear friends’ son daily for a

few hours, I found myself busy as a foster parent mentor and

also informally mentoring several folks who were in their first

placement, often through Marco Polo.  I also reached out to

connect with other folks who have fostered unaccompanied

minors before.  I coordinated a drop through Azure Standard,

and helped to sort the monthly orders for neighbors at our

home.  I was able to do some volunteer work through Holla

Mentors, by delivering groceries to folks, and as a family, we

packed lunches for folks who live outside. 

We remained connected with our friends and community

through weekly Zoom calls after bedtime, and garage hangouts. 

We also both got more involved in the small groups through our

church community, Access.  Luke enjoyed many Timbers soccer

games with some friends as they split a season ticket.  We

shared weekly meals with the Kings, as well as ate more regularly

at the Yellow House, grateful to at least have a small circle of

folks we were connecting with regularly face to face during this

phase of the pandemic. 

We continued to get outside a lot, whether through monthly work

days at the neighborhood orchard, or park playdates with friends

or camping or spending weekends out at Zephyr Farm.  We are

so lucky to have family closeby and the kids enjoyed many

playdates and sleepovers with grandparents and cousins. 

We were also immensely grateful for the break and breath of

fresh air.  Many sweet babies were born- Emerson, Noah,

Zella, Levi and Anastasia, as well as several of our friends were

adopted after waiting for so long- Audrey, Eli, and Lovia. 

I wore the same wool dress for 100 days in a row and took a

picture every day of the challenge.  I painted the kids’

bedroom with colorful polka dots, a project I had been

wanting to do for a while.  We finally managed to grow dahlia

flowers for months in the summer and were delighted with

the variety of tubers we had.  We were excited to find out that

Dahlia would be attending a closeby Spanish Immersion

program at Lent Elementary and in the same class as a dear

friend.  Access moved into a new building, so much time was

spent on work projects to prepare the space for folks to gather

when it was safe to do so.  Micah played with remote control

cars everywhere he went, and was obsessed with monster

trucks.  Five years too late, we upgraded to a king sized bed,

which is so helpful because Micah still believes that our bed is

his and joins us every night, taking up twice the space a

person his size should.  

January:

-Snowshoeing with Anne/Andrew at Frog Lake

-Beach house with Bonham/Eads

-Started potty training for Micah!

February:

-Edgefield night by myself

March:

-Rainy family photos at the Sandy River

April:

-First dose of vaccine!

-Eloheh work day

May:

-Yurt trip with Sandors to Nehalem Bay

-Second Dose

-TImothy Lake bandit camping

June:

-Jesse/Catherine visit

-Solstice party at Buxton’s

-“In the Heights!” date with Luke

-Heatwave- camping by Sandy River, Lost Lake float day, 

swimming at Creston Pool and Oxbow

July:

-Eads (and 4000+ trees)  move to Zephyr Farm in

Gales Creek

-Tried to float the Lewis River with Bumbaloughs

but the water was too shallow

-Karen and Christian co-ed baby shower

-Friends Camping at Cape Lookout

-Cathedral Park Jazz Festival

-Pick Blueberries

-Family River Float where John got separated

-Aunt Margaret/Holly/Andrew came to visit

-Karen’s baby shower

-Camp at Oxbow with Rogers Family

-Bought my new bike!

-Dahlia did her first ballet class at CBA

-Hagg Lake with Vogels and then hung out at farm

August:

-Erin/kids visit

-Celebrated my birthday with a pool party with friends,

river day, hike with Erin in the gorge

-Swim lessons at Creston Pool 

-Swim at Sellwood Pool with K and C, Erin/kids,

make sushi, listen to live music in Happy Valley

-Concert at Happy Valley Library

-Trillium Lake Day with Erin/K and C

-Camping in Bellingham, paddling the Bay at sunset

-Luke/Dahlia backpacking Salmon River with Ensz

September:

-Dahlia started kinder at Lent!

-Labor Day camping at Zephyr/Treehouse work

-Started watching Alder

-Noah born!

-Backpacking with friends to Indian Heaven

-Dahlia turned 6- unicorn cake

October:

-GIrls weekend at Edgefield

-Friends Camp

-Micah turned 3- the year of the monster truck

-Halloween- Dahlia unicorn, Micah parrot bird

November:

-Apple Cider from Reverend Nat’s instead of apple

pressing party

-Bend with Karen/Christian

-Dahlia vaccinated

-Thanksgiving meal in Vancouver

-Sleepover at the farm/turkey enchiladas

December:

-Puerto Rico with Luke, while kids stayed with family

-Tattoo

-Busy winter break/snow

-Christmas with Eads/Bonhams

 

2020: an unprecendented year

2020. What a year.  It's not surprising that the most common word used to describe the year was UNPRECEDENTED.  We truly haven't ever had a year like this one.   There are much fewer big events when I look back over the calendar, but rather a much longer list of small moments and simple things that helped us through the year.  No aspect of our life was left untouched or unchanged.  

Before we had any idea what was coming for us, January and February cruised along in their typical fashion.  In January, another young person N (17 years old) moved into our home from Honduras. I picked up our dear friends' son from preschool several days a week.  We blissfully enjoyed meals with family and friends, Luke commuted to work downtown (one year celebrated at Neighborhood Partnerships), we participated in the Access Covenant Church Community meeting at the community center down the street, library storytimes, Foster Parents' Night Out, birthday parties, and nights out with friends.  

In February, we enjoyed an annual Portland tradition- the Winter Light Festival.  We rock climbed with our niece and nephew for our belated Christmas gift.  We frolicked in the snow that came to our house.  We got to see our brother-in-law Quilen for a quick visit who was in town. We even got to meet one of my favorite NW artists, Nikki McClure at Powells.

Our last hurrah in March was a chance to see the Frozen live show with Nana.  We also were visited by Oma Lisa and Opa Ray, who cut their trip short, as the country began to shut down.  Luke promptly started to work from home or rather the shed in our yard, and the kids were delighted to have him eat lunch with us, as well as pop in for coffee break and afternoon snack time.  

In April, our foster daughter moved out as our home and family were not a good fit for her.  This is when the days and months really all start to blend into one another...

The summer passed in a flurry of outdoor adventures, which helped us all keep our sanity and offered us some incredible moments of beauty.  We camped more than we ever have with both family and friends to Takhlakh Lake, Mt. Adams, Timothy Lake, Camp Creek, Cape Lookout, Shellrock Lake, and by Austin Hot Springs.  Our little family spotted a bear up a tree, we paddled with fish just under the surface of the water at Harriet Lake, we kayaked at sunset on an empty Lake Merwin, and saw salmon playfully chasing one another up by Lucia Falls.  We spent Sunday mornings at the neighborhood farmer's market.  We became frequent customers at Sugarpine on the Sandy River as we soaked up the sun with friends and their kids.  We floated the Clackamas River for my birthday, and picked blackberries any chance we could find (to make another batch of blackberry wine that is aging in my closet as we speak).  We joined as many marches and protests as we could to add our voices to the chorus proclaiming that Black lives matter.  

In August, another young person, F, moved in.  We were delighted to have him stay with us for a month as he prepared to move into his first apartment.  We also got a new flock of five hens, transported to our house by bike of course.  

As fall began to set in, I began to watch Mateo again, playtime with him quickly becoming the highlight of the afternoon for Dahlia and Micah.  We harvested apples from an abandoned tree in the neighborhood and pressed cider with only our family- a sad departure from the bustling block party that typically ensues as we work through pounds of apples with our neighbors.  The wildfires that ravaged the country kept us inside for weeks and caused us to have renewed gratefulness for the outdoor spaces that we had relied so heavily on to get through the previous months. One of the most sad moments for me being that much of our beloved Breitenbush Hot Springs was burned to the ground four days before Luke and I were scheduled to go there to celebrate our tenth anniversary.  Instead, we spent the weekend installing a new sink in the bathroom.  That's pretty much been the name of the game this year- holding expectations loosely and finding the goodness where we can.  We celebrated Dahlia's fifth birthday with a rainbow cake and so many cards from dear ones.  Micah's second birthday passed with a candle to blow out and a garbage truck toy.  After much deliberation, we walked around on Halloween night to collect candy from bowls on neighbors' porches and to check out all the creative socially distant ways of celebrating.  

In November, I began a role as a mentor with Every Child for a foster parent who is walking through their first placement.  We also opened up our home again for another young person, I, who is 17 and from Mexico.  Thanksgiving came and had us all eating in our homes, separately.  December was rather uneventful, other than spending extra time with our niece and nephew as their parents had to travel out of town.  We also went out the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and cut down a tree which was just as fun as we hoped it would be.  Instead of my annual Christmas cookie swap party, I baked a few batches and dropped them off to friends.  Christmas came and went with Zoom calls with family members and opening stockings at home by ourselves.  We spent Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve with our beloved friends, the Kings, who we've been delighted to be stuck with in this pandemic.  Their company has really made it a heck of a lot more tolerable for all of us. 

Outside of the events above, I think this time will more realistically be characterized in my mind as one full of driveway happy hours with friends, meals to families with new babies and meeting them from a distance, picking up book bundles from the library, backyard socially distant fires, Zoom calls for everything- church, Zumba, pictionary with family, and weekly check ins with dear friends, pancakes each Sunday morning, Yoga with Adriene, so many walks around the block, drive-by birthday celebrations, the excitement of garbage trucks on Tuesdays, pizza night, masks, trips to the grocery store, fancy dinners (which means we pulled out placemats and candles for the table) and wondering when I'll get to hug all my dear friends again.  I'll remember the projects that we got to do around the house like build a bunk bed for the kids, replace our kitchen counter, install the bathroom sink, redo the porch roof.  My kids have grown so much this year and I lament the life that I've missed out on because of this distance, especially in the lives of dear ones with kids.  It's hard for me to remember that this year, I weaned Micah, cut off his incredible curly locks, and he moved out of our room to share with Dahlia.  He also moved into a bunk bed, we took away his binkies and is currently on his way out of diapers.  Long gone is the wordless toddler that we started the year with.  Dahlia has also grown and matured so much.  She learned how to ride a bike, dabbled in hair cutting (when she tried to give herself a new 'do), and is getting closer to being able to read.  She will start kindergarten this year, so we counted our lucky stars so many times that we did not have to navigate virtual school with a new kinder student.  

Phew, I'm exhausted just taking a second to look back over the year.  Here's to a 2021 that's a little more precedented!

2019: A Year in Review

January: 

-Blackwells visited (Hannah was 7 months pregnant)

-Vasectomy

-Beautiful day at the beach to celebrate Luke’s new job,
which he began on 1/30

-PU A and M from school 2x/week

-Joined a Cookbook Club that stopped about as soon as
it began

-A and I began spending the night regularly like 1x/week

February:

-Winter Light Festival

-Access to Midwifery Care Lobby Day in Salem

-Breastfeeding Model at Birthingway

-Dahlia gymnastics class at Community Center

March:

-Night at Breitenbush with Micah while Dahlia had a
sleepover with the Eads

-A and I move in after doing weekend respite for them
for months (whirlwind of visits, appointments and folks
on their team to work with, home visits, CASA, visits with
their family)

- Liz/Joe’s wedding

-Music Together Class

-DHS Allegation

April:

-Easter in Vancouver at my parents- egg hunt in their
back yard

-Rockaway Beach for Ama and Gdaddy’s 40th
anniversary

May: 

-Wildflower Hike in Mosier

-Lots of time with Karen who wasn’t working

-Rainy Memorial Day camping by Peterson Prairie/
Mt. Adams

June:

-Girls moved back to their family

-J high school graduation

-Explore Fostering in Spanish panel

-Eat/kayak down by the river after work in nice weather

-Visit Zephyr Farm for the first time

-Portland Pride Parade

-First ever Strawberry Festival at Orchard

-Treehouse was built

-Uncle Ed died

-Raffi concert

-Luke play jazz at New Seasons

-Naked Bike Ride

-Started regularly attending Access Covenant Church

July:

-4th of July Camping at Timothy Lake with Rogers/Jake

-Church in the Park

-Roseburg for Luke’s work

-Oregon Country Fair

-Cathedral Park Jazz Festival

-Typical summer fun- concerts in the park, river days,
park playdates, splash pads, Sugarpine 

-Walk with Immigrants and Refugees

Father/Daughter Camping- with Brandon/Finley at
Siouxon Creek

-Erin here for visit

-Kat beach with siblings

August:

-Cousin Scott/Katie wedding, Seattle fun, hotel, dancing

-Erin sleepover- Bella’s pizza, Cloud City, meeting Micah,
connecting with Dahlia

-Camping at Cape Lookout with family and neighbors

-Marta moved in

-Maupin, which Luke went on to work in Warm Springs. 
I hiked Frog Lake with the kids, played in Hood River,
got ice cream, pizza and then drove home.  Luke beat
me home and had to break into the house since I had
his keys. 

September:

-Labor Day- helped Eads move, then celebrated
anniversary by going to the river and Sugarpine 

-Woody Guthrie Apartments street painting

-Started picking up Mateo daily from school, Dahlia
naps in wagon/nap bed

-Me/kids fly to chicago to be with Tati/kids for long
weekend

-Dahlia Festival

October:

-7th annual apple party the first weekend, apples from
Home Orchard Society; hard cider

-MCC sale in Albany with Ama

-Pumpkin Patch

-Gdaddy Bike Accident

-Gymnastics class at community center

-Halloween- mail carrier/lobster

November:

-Friends Camp at Rockaway

-Meal on Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad’s

-Blackwells arrive, another meal at Yellow House
on Friday

December:

-Florida trip- Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Atlantic
Ocean, pool/hot tub, treats, gum on plane, exploring the
house, both kids getting sick

-Cookie Party

-Luke- jury duty

-Christmas- mom and dad for brunch, Eads for
afternoon/supper
-My dad got his left knee re-replaced

Each month, we spent lots of time at the local library,
and Dahlia learned how to put books on hold,
as well as play games on the ipads.  We continued
working at the neighborhood orchard. Luke
continues as a monthly volunteer for Foster Parents
Night Out. Kat tries to volunteer at
Harvest Share as frequently as she can with the kids. 
We began a weekly dinner with friends. We saw friends
get married, friends get divorced, friends struggle to get
pregnant, children get adopted, children return to their
biological families, families move, friends buy their first
homes, friends go back to work after a season of being
home with their small children.  

Our calendar looks wildly different whenever we have
a foster placement.  When we do have extra kids in our
home, our days are full with appointments, school support,
meetings with attorneys, doctors, and CASAs, emails to
case workers.  Evenings are spent trying to encourage
family meal times and then keeping everyone entertained
until bedtime routine. Then, crossing fingers and hoping
everyone sleeps through the night.  Waking up and doing
it all over again! When we don’t have a placement, our
days fill up doing all the things that might be a bit more
challenging with an extra. Our family gets outside a lot
more, camping or on the river.  We spend a lot more time
doing nothing or just relaxing, in the garden, or taking
bike rides. We spend a lot more time with our family. The
balance is all needed to allow us to keep saying yes.