Christmas 2012

{archived from 2010}

I really thought I was going to win the Christmas card debate this year. I figured that since so many (let's be honest, it's like 97%) of our contacts are on the computer regularly, a polished .pdf with some clever summary of our year with a photo would give a nice accounting for our year. Shows how much I know. The traditionalist in our household appreciates having a Christmas tree fresh cut (perhaps from Nova Scotia), a collection of tangible cards displayed on the coat-closet door, and associated Christmas crafting/decorating/caroling throughout the house. Farbeit for me to stymie Jen's Christmas Spirit, even though the e-Christmas greetings are so much more efficient to create, send, and re-read at the click of a mouse!

So now that I have your attention, I'll summarize my year in twelve pictures. Mostly because any fewer and I would feel silly for bringing you all the way over here, and any more, and you'll abandon reading my entry anyway. Pace yourself, my friend, and you'll make it.

{Note: After reading the Christmas Letters from Jen/Ian/Blake, I see many redundancies among us. Please forgive the repetition. I guess we are one family that does nearly everything together. Perhaps this is one more vote in favor of a consolidated, single page .pdf Christmas e-card?}

Let me first say that we have been figuring out how to fit in with the locals here in Massachusetts and after being here for nearly four years, it feels like our family is from here. Know what I mean? I am from Tennessee and Jen is from Maine, and WE weren't really from anywhere. But now I know how to cut people off in traffic when I have to, I can shovel a driveway, build snow castles, look forward to beach days (realizing that nobody really cares to swim when they go to the beach), and think that the two- and three-hundred year old homes around town are commonplace. That does feel a little bit weird, though, to think that our boys are going to introduce themselves as being from Massachusetts. They are going to be boys that know how to play in the snow and how to survive a long, dark winter.

This year my Grandpa Jackson passed away (almost 98), marking the loss of my last grandparent. I'm glad Jen gets to enjoy interaction with all of her grandparents still, and actually appreciate them taking me on as a grandson, too. We made a trip to the funeral with nearly all the Jackson clan, and it was a good time, if you can have a "good funeral." We met up with some old friends too, and visited our alma mater, and took a few field trips such as to the Museum of Natural History at BYU. Since then, Ian has since taken up a fondness of dinosaurs, archaeology, and fossils. I don't know if he mentioned it on his Christmas entry, but he has added "Dinosaur Train" to his list of favorite shows, and even made a pteranodon costume with me for Halloween. The picture below was me studying the posture of ancient animals at the museum. I think I've got it down.

Oh, so let me tell you about the other grand late-winter adventure. Of course we were thrilled to have finally experienced a pregnancy in the family, and wanted to savor every moment of the experience. Perhaps Jen has different feelings on what to savor and what to forget about. In the end, we chose to have Blake born at home. I like the satisfaction of self-sufficiency and think that home-birth is one of those things that you can train for and study about and experience with very little risk (contrary to what some professionals are obliged to indicate in a litigious and control-happy society). So Blake was born (March 19) underwater in our living room (AWESOME), and after emerging from the tub, I got to be the official baby-snuggler. It was really great, though part of me thought, "Am I qualified for this? He's only like 5 minutes old! Doesn't he need a diaper, or to eat, or to sleep, or something that I don't have?" I guess I've always been prone to those sorts of thoughts, as evidenced by the 4-year-old Joseph who just got a dog, preoccupied with where the dog was going to live and what it would eat... Turns out Blake lives with us. And he eats his mom. Kind of. Now Blake is going on 9 months old, and he says Mamamama when he's hungry and Dadadada when he wants to play. He gets it.

Blake used to be a spindly little 9 pound baby. Okay, he was never little. He's always tipped the charts. Helps to not make me as afraid of breaking him. We got a Museum of Science family pass this year so Ian and I could go do some Father/Son things while Jen took a few hours to herself. The fact of the matter is that the MOS is open every Friday until 9, and believe it or not, I enjoy myself every bit as much as Ian does when we go there. Ian's favorites are the chicken hatchery and the Virtual Fishtank. I always make sure to have a look at the traveling exhibits (Whales, George Washington Carver, MC Escher). We probably venture in to Boston on average twice a month to use our passes, and have enjoyed hosting friends to come with us, too, since the pass admits five. If anyone wants to take advantage of our friendship to get into the MOS, let me know. I'd love to take you! :)

Spring came in mid-May as usual, just in time for a baby blessing at church on Memorial Day weekend. We had lots of family come and join us, including my brothers (Ben and Spencer) and parents (Andrew and Linda). We missed our sister Shara and her family, but were happy to have SharaK (Ben's wife) come east for her first time! Blake pretty much slept through the reception in his honor at our house. And yes, I like to be the bow-tie guy on occasion. As part of that weekend, we visited Cape Ann and Maine and a patriotic day at Concord, MA. It was great.

This next photo was from the church youth group beach party Wingaersheek Beach. The day was a bit dreary, but as mentioned above, the beach in MA isn't always about the water. Ian can tell you it's all about the sand! Unfortunately for Blake, this photo was taken before his transition from dark hair to light was complete, and he has an unfortunate hairline. The family came along and shared in the calzones and some of the fun before we headed home to try to work on establishing that ole' bedtime routine thing. For the record, Blake is now (finally!) consistently getting his 10-12 hours of nightly sleep, and has given up on the goal of eating through the night to reach the 50 pound mark as a two year old... though he's pretty hefty as a 27 pound 8 month old.

Not to worry. I know just the ticket to taking the pounds off. Spend a week on a bike! I had the pleasure of spear-heading this year's High Adventure for the young men at church, and planned a 210 mile circuit ride around Cape Cod and Islands. All the boys who started the ride finished, and I got to use some home-made gear (tent, sleeping bag, bug net) and train with the boys all through the spring and early summer. Jen finally got a digital kitchen scale because of this trip... because I wanted to weigh my clothes and take the lightest ones! I am fairly laid-back with my spare time and dabble in all sorts of hobbies, so I enthusiastically took this on. Some boys used panniers, others used milk crates on a rack. I thought the baby seat did a fine job of cradling my gear. I learned a few lessons in how to motivate others that week, and would go again in a heartbeat. The Cape sure was beautiful.

I think Ian and Jen were a little jealous that I got to sleep outside and cook on a fire, so we did manage to get a family camping trip in this summer. This is in addition to the two weekends that Ian and I pitched tents in the backyard. It was these type of occasions, and others with the young men that I realized that I must be getting older, because I can't sleep anywhere at any time anymore. Too many lumps, too many sounds, and other disturbances will keep me awake. Maybe that comes with having an infant in the house, and I'll get my sleep skills back in the coming months. I guess I'll have to go camping again to test this theory out!

Ahhh! The apples. Oh, how the apples make me happy. It is now a firmly seated tradition. Sometime in late September or early October, we acquire apples. Lots of apples. Some people take joy in picking apples. Not me, I take joy in using the apples. I phone around the orchards to find the best deals on bulk apples then we make a journey into the country to pick them up. This year, I went through a bushel of Galas, a bushel of Liberty, and two bushels of Macintosh apples. That's like 160 pounds of apples, for those of you unfamiliar with the size of a bushel these days. I ran the dehydrator to make apple chips and fruit leather, we made applesauce, enough pie filling for a dozen pies... it was enough fruit sugar in our house to draw the late season ants into our kitchen and drive Jen batty. But I've gotta have my apple fix each fall.

Here we have a fall hike up Wachusett. I hadn't been on a mountain hike in a while, and this was a comprimise to hike with the family instead of ascending a more strenuous mountain (hill, to folks in the Rockies) with the Scouts. Also, this marks the first hike that Ian made his way along the whole trail without once needing picked up. In all honesty, I already had the baby bowling ball strapped to my back, and I wasn't prepared to carry a second child. We had a box of vanilla wafers to help him survive the couple of miles, and I used some of my motivation (distraction) tactics I learned while chaperoning High Adventure. For the record, I love Boston in the Fall. And the Winter. And the Spring. And the Summer. I think you get the point.

Also, I still have a fondness of Geocaching. 2010 hasn't really allowed me as much time to go out seeking "Treasure Walks" as Ian calls them, but whenever we travel somewhere, I try to visit a couple, since they normally point us to some interesting features in the area. For example, on this walk with Ian, we made our way to some old stone foundations of houses deep in the forest, along an overgrown, but still tightly packed country road. The stone walls tell of a time when the land was cleared and cultivated, and I marvel that folks had any success with the relatively short growing season and the inhospitable soil. Though the weather is very conducive to Apples and Maple Syrup! (Two of my favorite New England traditions.)

Ooh, another proud moment: Learning my baby's bowels. I take special interest in training my babies to use the potty, because that means there are less clean-up needs. This doesn't constitute potty training per se, but knowing Blake's schedule and tendencies helps keep the unpleasantries down. This preliminary step probably also helps the actual potty-training methods go more smoothly down the road. And you get to see what a 27 pound 8 month old looks like. He's cute, huh?

So that pretty much sums things up. This year I've fluctuated 20 pounds in weight between high and low. I hope to put on another 10 pounds over Christmas so I can have a reason to go on lots and lots of adventures next year, too. (You can hate me for that, if you need to.) Jen bought me a new suit for the first time so I can look sharp at church when in the public eye. (The new suit got covered in vomit last Sunday. That's what happens when men wearing suits carry their babies.) I published a daily blog post in November on mom's blog just for fun. Here's to hoping I can try some new things in 2011, continue some old traditions, and that we'll cross paths with many friends along the way.

Merry Christmas folks. Let's do something nice for somebody else this Christmas, just as Jesus did something infinite and eternal for each of us. Even giving a small effort has the potential to bring great happiness to those we serve!

~Joe.