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Dear Family,
This quarter has been one of change. For the first time as a family, we didn’t travel to Utah for Christmas. It was also the first year in almost 10 years that I didn’t teach skiing. It has been a big shift in our view of the holidays. While we missed spending time with all of you for the Christmas Eve Eve party, we were able to start to build some traditions as our family. It also caused Jess and I to reflect on all the many traditions that we have been part of for so many years. Many we want to keep strong in our family going forward.
Well before I get to much into Christmas, let me take a step back to November. Sarah had a first in November. We had visited the ED for a fever a couple of times over a weekend a week before thanksgiving. On Monday midday, we got a call that Sarah had a blood infection. This caused her to be admitted to make sure they got the fever under control and to make sure the antibiotic they put her on would be one that worked on the bacteria that was in her blood. This experience also let me realize how much our sense of reality is warped. I was at work when Jess called and let me know what the hospital found in the blood cultures. It was almost lunch time. I told Jess that I would meet her at the hospital and stay with Sarah. I finished a meeting that I had scheduled before hopping on a bus. I talked with Jess to see how things were going. I stopped off and had lunch before making my way to the hospital to take over for Jess and transition Sarah from clinic to inpatient, as that is the preferred way to get her admitted. Through this whole process, Jess and I were calm. It is very different from anyone else who would go through the process. Most people would have been very concerned for a child who has an infection of the blood, but for us it was just another admit to the hospital. Luckily, we only had to spend 3 days in the hospital, but had to spend the next 5 days, heading into clinic daily for an IV dose of antibiotic.
Thanksgiving was quiet. We had dinner with some local friends. It has been fun as we have done it multiple years with them. Their tradition is that each family member gets to pick one food that they are thankful for and that becomes their dinner. We provide the traditional side of things and it makes for a great Thanksgiving. I think this year we had ribs and curry in addition to the traditional fare.
My parents and Tonya and Shannon came to visit a couple of days after Thanksgiving. It was nice to have them in town and spend some time with them. We had a crab feast at home that worked out really well. Sarah and I picked some crab up from Pike’s Market and everyone loved it. It was a fun dinner for everyone. It might be a new Thanksgiving tradition for us.
As I said, Christmas was full of new traditions for us as a family. We kept many of the staples that we had in Utah. We got the kids up and they couldn’t see what Santa brought until after breakfast and reading of the Christmas story. We got a Digital Piano as a family, and the girls are looking forward to starting lessons soon. Jess has even been able to pick out a few tunes without having any instruction. She will be a much better pianist that I ever was. I have enjoyed sitting down and playing the right hand of hymns and other things. We don’t have many piano books yet, but hope to increase our library. This was also the first year that we made the kids pick out the gifts that they gave to each other. We gave them a limit and it was good to get them thinking about others. One of our new traditions, was that we lit a fire in the fireplace before we started with the tree and presents. It was nice to have a cozy fire to help set the atmosphere. The presents didn’t take as long as happens when we are at my parents. I am sure it was because we had only had a third of the number of people.
January was a fairly quiet month for us. We are finally settling into a routine with Lilly in school and Sarah on maintenance. Gus has a new obsession. He loves fire trucks and will watch youtube videos about them responding and just listen to the sirens. He also goes crazy when he hears the sirens when he is playing. We love his enthusiasm for life, but have trouble keeping up with his energy.
Lilly is enjoying school. She loves her class and is making lots of friends. She is starting to plan her party and is having trouble cutting her list down to the 10 friends that she can have at her party.
One update for me. I just got called the end of January as the Ward mission leader. It is going to be a busy calling but is has been good to be close with the missionaries and helping to preach the Gospel in the area. There are many people who are excited about learning the Gospel. I hope that I can help the missionaries and the ward to increase missionary efforts in the Ward.
We love you all and wish we were closer, so we could spend more time with you all.
Love,
Nathan & Jessica Blackham
Dear Family,
I like to eat turkey for Thanksgiving especially with the Barlows (editors note: those are our friends). I am doing good in school. I am learning lots of math, which is my favorite subject, and recess too. I like my teachers Ms. Ng and Ms. Kim. They teach me a lot. I like Christmas a lot, especially the presents. I am learning the piano from my babysitter, April. I love you all.
Love,
Lilly
