Fall and Winter Stories

 Another year is drawing to an end and here I am, completely behind on the family updates! This year Laszlo started kindergarten (pictured here on his first day):

Paul and Laszlo have both been doing great in school. Laszlo likes kindergarten and Paul got to have the same teacher this year as last, and she rocks.

We spent this fall going to Laszlo's soccer games and finishing up landscaping our front yard. We ripped out the grass and did some desert style landscaping. It should need next to no water, it's awesome.

We stayed home for fall break, just doing some fun activities close to home.

Paul would probably choose an arcade over vacation anyway, so I think this was a break tailor made for him.

My favorite was having a picnic at Mueller Park, the autumn leaves were beautiful, and the kids loved playing in the creek.

We celebrated my mom's 70th birthday this October, all my siblings came to town so we could take her to dinner and have a big family get together. 

I got to go on a field trip with Paul's class to the natural history museum and they had a great exhibit from Ankor Wat. I think I was way more into than the kids were.

We did quite a few Halloween activities and the kids went trick or treating, trunk or treating, and just generally ate a bunch of goodies.

Here we are: Paul as Aragorn, Laszlo as a Ninja, Arthur as a Viking, and me as Rosie the Riveter. Not pictured: Lee won a prize at the office costume party for dressing as a "Bloodsucking Lawyer." The lesson there is to always play to the judges.

Paul and Laszlo had a wild birthday weekend. They had a party with friends, visits with grandparents, and all their favorite foods. Lee got to volunteer at Dragonsteel Con that week as well, which sounded like a fun time. Maybe I'll sign up to volunteer too next year!

The boy's party was Mario themed and good times were had by most (maybe all, sometimes it's hard to tell with kids). Lee made cupcakes and a piñata, and I got Mario and Luigi hats/mustaches for everyone.

The boys got more Legos than you can shake a stick at, and Arthur learned how to sing happy birthday and blow out candles.

And here is a little snapshot from a date night we did in November:

Unfortunately, we lost my Uncle Gary this November. There's not much you can say when a loved one passes, it is just hard. To my aunt and my cousins: you guys are all wonderful and I know that this holiday season, and life more generally, sucks right now. I love you guys. 

I'll wrap this up with a little bit of a cute baby playing in the snow and saying 'snowball' over and over again as a way to draw our attention to something bright, because I don't know how to properly focus on grief.

The 2022 Phillips Family Holiday Card

The end of one year, the beginning of another! Here's a quick review of 2022:

As a family, we visited 2 countries, 4 states, and 1 US Territory. We also visited 6 National Parks and Monuments This Year.

Arthur (2) has progressed from barely walking and baby babbling to confidently climbing ladders and speaking in short sentences. 

Laszlo (6) finished pre-school and started kindergarten, where he's been learning some French on top of all the usual stuff.

Paul (9) started 3rd grade, he's been making lots of friends and devouring the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books.

I decided to keep track of what books I read this year, my final count ended up at 40! I also started a very part time job just recently substitute teaching at the elementary school.

Lee got a promotion and did quite a bit of traveling for work this year. He even got to visit his old missionary stomping grounds in Dayton, Ohio. I'd tell you more specifics but then I'd have to kill you, or at the very least you'd get bored to death.

From our family to yours: Merry Christmas! Joyous Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah, and have the happiest, bestest, brightest New Year.