Little Snippets
The happiest Mary ever!
In the midst of all the outings and adventures all the regular parts of life are happening here. Brian had his very first violin recital and did so very well. He played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Jingle Bells beautifully and felt proud. I couldn’t ask for anything better. And I have to say it was really cool to attend a recital in a restored barn from the 1200s. We hit the jackpot with his teacher, truly. She is such a fun and phenomenal person that just so happens to live in our building, speaks French, and went to music school with one of my childhood friends. I would pay any amount of money for my kids just to get to spend time with her. I’ve been my kids’ music teacher in the past and have so much joy seeing them excel with and learn from someone else. I could teach them the exact same skill in the exact same way but because I am their mom it’s most often met with eye rolls or turns into some kind of power struggle for them 😆. At this point, I am thrilled to pay for music lessons from someone else! I’ve started lessons with Emme, and will start with Nola soon while we wait for Brian’s teacher to have more space to teach them.
Super nervous right before.
Joel is doing really well as a missionary. He loves his companion and the people he is serving. We love his emails and pictures, and love our video call with him every Monday. I think I’ve really missed him a lot in the few months he has been gone, but I am so glad he is doing well and is happy.
We’ve been building Lego all month long as we put together our Christmas village sets. The older sets are getting more brittle now and we will have to replace some broken pieces. I am trying to figure out how we can store them without needing to break them all down every year, although the magic is in building them again. Nola is now old enough to build herself and was so happy to have Matt at her side to assist.
Santa came on a special drive by through the neighborhood this week and shared candy canes with the kids.
Life is a different pace here. Busy, but things have all readjusted differently than before. We recently found an incredible art supply store for Emme and just got in with a local dentist, finally. Some of the most routine, no-brainer things in life like dentist appointments feel really difficult to figure out sometimes when you live in a foreign country. The shift of visiting the grocery store 2-3 times a week, rather than having grocery delivery or pick up like we did in the States, is huge. Our closest grocery store is a 2 minute walk outside my door so I don’t drive and have to plan the trip to be a small enough list that I can carry it all back and up two flights of stairs. Sometimes I look absolutely ridiculous with so many heavy bags hefted over my shoulders and gripped in my hands. It reminds me of my days as a missionary carrying all my groceries and water for the week…but this time it’s for a family of five!
I will start a limited teaching schedule of music students again in January and am so excited for that. I continue to serve my skincare clients with Rodan + Fields which brings me a lot of joy, but I have transitioned off of social media so much and work mainly through my email list and text messaging.
Our elf is alive and well and Brian and Nola are very much invested. Caga Tío is now part of the fun.
Life is full and good. I am endlessly thankful to be here.
