Ethan is 17

 This post is delayed (and last week's somehow did not post), but anyway, last weekend we celebrated Ethan's 17th birthday.

He asked if he could have some friend up to the cabin for skiing, so we said yes.  Somehow a few friends turned into 5, and suddenly we had a cabin full of 16 and 17 year old boys!

We took 2 cars up on Friday after school and made good time since the snow has not been too good.

The boys skied both days, however, and had a lot of fun.   There was a range in skiing abilities, but the seemed to all stick together and most importantly nobody got hurt!

 

After skiing, they enjoyed the hot tub, celebrated with cake, and even made some time for studying (junior year!).

 

Anyway, we are lucky to have the cabin so the could all do this together.

ASA Advance

Two weekends ago, Jason was at Las Vegas at the annual ASA Advance conference--which is about the business of anesthesia.   But this year, instead of just attending or speaking, he ran the whole thing!

He has been working tirelessly on it for the past 15 months, so was happy to have all his hard work come to fruition.   It was the most attended Advance conference ever, so he was really proud about that.   He also got a ton of great feedback from attendees about how great it was, which meant a lot to him too.  

  

I can't believe how much work he poured into it, essentially for free.   Though of course it is a great way to get involved and get his name out there.  Anyhow, I am really proud of him!

Weekend

 This picture, captured by another parent on Alaina's softball team sums up our weekend:

We spent it in Stockton and it was foggy, damp, and cold!

Alaina's team played well though, so it was fun to watch despite the inclement weather early in the morning.   They went out in the quarterfinals against a much tougher team--but played their hearts out!    They played longer than expected so Jason had to leave before the last game to make a flight to Dallas for the week.   Complicated!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Two Teenagers!

 Today, Alaina turned 13.  Now that means we have two teenagers in the house.   I can't believe it!!   When did I get so old!!

On Friday, 9 of her girlfriends came over to celebrate after school.   We made a taco bar for dinner.   

The hit of the party was Jason's traditional minute-to-win-it games.   He came up with a few new ones this year including "cookie face"--can you get a cookie from your forehead to your mouth without touching it or dropping it?--a feat I neer knew was possible--and a few older tried and true ones.   The girls seemed to really enjoy the games, and it was entertaining to watch.

      

Afterwards they had cupcakes, opened presents, and watched a movie.  The fun was over a little after 9, which was perfect for mom and dad!

 

Sunday was Alaina's actual birthday.   She had softball practice in the morning, so we brought cupckaes for the girls to enjoy after practice.   

Jason's parents are in town, so we had them and my dad over for dinner.   Alaina's dinner choice: salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, crescent rolls, and strawberry shortcake for dessert!

This year for her present, she got an ipad from mom and dad.   She was not expecting this gift (though the old one is really old and partially broken)....so she was really excited.

 

Happy birthday to our teenager!

Christmas Break

 Well, we are finishing up our holiday break.....it wasnt the best break ever, but I guess it was memorable....

It started 2 Saturdays ago when we were supposed to head to the cabin, but there was no snow!   So we decided to hang around town a bit.   Coincidentally, Ethan woke up sick and feeling quite miserable on Saturday.  So, we hung around until Tuesday, as a big storm was headed in on Wednesday.  Overnight before we left, Jason developed  cellulitis on his thumb and under his fingernail--he had hurt it when we cut down our Christmas tree a few weeks ago.   So he started some antibiotics and hoped for improvement.

Before we left for Tahoe, we opened Christmas presents.    Big gifts this year included a new softball bat for Alaina and downhill skis for Ethan.  Jason also got me a very cool family calendar, called the Skylight, which will help me with my never-ending goal of family organization!

We made it to Tahoe before the storm, and my Dad and Marilynn joined.  By mid-day on Christmas Eve, rain turned to snow, and finally it was a winter wonderland.   All the rain was a problem though, and we had some issues with standing water near that house that required some trenching and digging to keep the water flowing.

  

We had a nice Chirstmas Eve dinner and opened presents with my Dad and Marilynn.   Later that evening the power went out.

The next morning 1. we still had not power and 2.  jason's thrumb was even more swollen and red.   He decided he needeed to go to urgent care down in Truckee (our second Christmas visit to Truckee urgent care, see 2023 for when Alaina had strep throat!).   Thank goodness for that place.   Anyway, in Truckee, they lanced into his finger to help drain the infection, and started him on a new antibiotic.   Around lunchtime, the power thankfully came back on.   We enjoyed a delicious prime rib dinner, finished cleaning up, and boom, out went the power again.

 

Early morning on the 26th, the power fired back up, and I was able to bake some cinnamon rolls that had been sitting in the fridge awaiting a working oven!   We got about 4 feet of snow in total, and spent some time digging out.   My Dad and Marilynn headed home and we awaited the weather to clear up a bit and the ski resorts to open.   

The next day the kids got some skiing in, but Ethan still was feeling under the weather, and the altitutde was not helping.   I did a little cross country--the landscape was beautiful.   

The following day was another ski day, but Ethan gave up after only one tough run and Alaina got cold quickly.   On Monday, Jason's finger started swelling up again, and he reached out to a friend who is also a hand surgeon, who suggested that his fingernail needed to be removed.   So, we decied to leave the cabin that night so Jason could have the procedure done on Tuesday morning back in SF.   Jason and the kids enjoyed one good day of skiing while I packed up the cabin and we headed back late Monday night.

  

Tuesday morning, Jason's fingernail was removed as promised (gross), and we spent time organizing and cleaning the house.

For New Year's we went to a friend's house for dinner, and Ethan got a babysitting gig to make a little money.

Now, vacation is over, and quite honestly it did not feel like much of a vacation at all.   Oh well.

Hanukkah

 Last Sunday was the first night of Hanukkah.   

To celebrate, we had a small famiy dinner with Jason's Aunt Marcy, her friend Diane, Alexandra, and my dad and Marilynn.

We made some chicken and of course Latkes.   WE followed a NYT recipe for the latkes.  One of the reviews suggested that they came out as tasty if baked in the oven as fried.   We decided to give it a try and baked about half.

  

The result:  fried was 1000% better.   the baked ones were too uniformly cooked and lacked the delicatness of the freshly fried variety.   

Well, now we know.   It is worth the mess to fry!

Anyhow, it was a nice gathering and a great way to kick off the holiday.

Holiday Activities

December always feels so busy because of all the extra activities that happen during the month.   This weekend was no exception.

On Friday night, Alaina attended her first school dance, Winter Wonderland Dance for 7th and 8th graders.   She went with her extended friend group and apparently had quite a nice time.  

 

Much to Alaina's dismay, Jason signed up to chaperone the dance, and served hot chocolate to the kids.   He enjoyed a little spying!

Meanwhile, in the city, Ethan had his holiday concert.   It is always a fun one with good holiday songs.  Ethan had quite a long solo in one of the songs that he was proud about, so that was fun to watch too!