Happy New Year/Reflections on 2021

Happy New Year! Hopefully. I still miss precedented times. I saw this meme last month, and I think it says it all.

Here are some of the things we did this year, with photos, which may or may not go along with the text.

TL;DR: Pandemic school, hybrid school, masked in-person school; vaccines; trip to Utah; DC adventures; I deadlifted 100 lbs.; Kevin ordained a deacon; Ann Marie is reading chapter books; everyone reads a lot; last year of Ryan's postdoc at NASA Goddard

We started off the year with virtual school for everyone. In February Heidi and Ann Marie were able to start going to in-person school for two days a week, and Kevin was able to go back soon after that.

First day back at in-person school

Once the kids were in school I decided to potty train Ruby. It went much better than my attempts with the other kids. She figured it out pretty quickly, and we were so proud of her achievement.

In Spring we joined a study called SEARCH that was trying to analyze how COVID spreads in families with small children. We had weekly COVID tests, monthly mouth swabs, and three blood draws. The tests and swabs were done at home and mailed to the lab. It was a bit of extra work, but we were glad to be able to contribute towards science. I'm very proud of the kids for cooperating with all the swabbing and getting their blood drawn even though it's scary. I guess we were the control group, because none of us got COVID.

Azalea gardens at the National Arboretum

All of us except Ruby (too young) have been able to get our COVID vaccines this year, a blessing for which we are so grateful.

Second dose

We were finally able to sell our house in Georgia this past summer after renting it to some friends for two years. The market was much more in our favor this time, so we got an offer pretty quickly. It was a big relief to have that taken care of.

In the summer we took a two week trip to Utah to visit our families. We attended the Derald Glenn family reunion (first time I've been able to attend since high school), spent time with our parents, siblings, and nieces/nephews, and attended the Kevin Glenn family reunion (my parents and their children and grandchildren). Unfortunately several of us came down with colds (not COVID--we got tested), so that put a bit of a damper on some of the visit. We don't get to visit our family out West very often, so we treasure whatever time we can have with them.

Birthday at Grandma Tanner's house

All my kids with their Great Grandma Lois

Minute to Win It games

I got a gym membership this year because my fifteen pound dumbbells aren't enough anymore. At first the gym seemed huge and overwhelming, but now I love it and I've discovered it's one of the few times when nobody is demanding my attention or help, so it's a nice break. I've made some huge strides in building strength. In November I deadlifted 100 pounds and squatted 75 pounds, which is amazing considering I was only doing bodyweight squats at the beginning of the year. I think getting stronger has helped with my back pain more than all the chiropractic and physical therapy I've tried. I'm not 100% back to normal, but it's been several months since I had one of my bad episodes where I can't walk. It's been so cool to see how strong I've gotten and experience how it helps everyday things too like picking up a laundry basket, lifting Ruby, or getting the groceries out of the car.

Right after I deadlifted 100 lbs

Kevin was ordained a deacon in our church this year. He gets to pass the sacrament at church and does a great job. He also got to do baptisms for the dead for the first time at the Philadelphia Temple. I was so glad to be able to go with him.

Over the summer Ann Marie's reading skills blossomed rapidly. All of a sudden she's devouring chapter books. It's been pretty amazing. Seeing them reach the point where they're reading confidently is one of my favorite things about being a mother.

The Lotus flowers at the New Kenilworth Gardens are one of my favorite things to see in summer in DC

This fall the kids have gone back to school full time with masks, which has been so much better than virtual learning. They learn and socialize so much better in person. I think going back in public to do normal things was a strange adjustment for all of us at first. We had only lived here half a year when things shut down due to the pandemic, so we haven't had as much social interaction as we normally would have.

Ruby is doing a little bit of preschool at home with me and she absolutely loves going to Music Makers most weeks with friends at church.

Heidi and Kevin are really progressing on the piano. Kevin is playing Fur Elise. Kevin is also playing the clarinet in band, and Heidi joined the fifth grade chorus. Ann Marie has recently started taking piano lessons as well, and she's excited.

Visiting the site of the Battle of Antietam (top: Dunker Church; bottom: Burnside Bridge)

Heidi probably reads at least three books a week. She's a child after my own heart. She's proud that she's been able to make a couple of friends.

Thanksgiving

Ryan just submitted the final draft of another paper to be published. He's starting to be able to go back to his office at NASA Goddard after spending the pandemic working from home. He is working with with a group that has observing time on the telescope XMM Newton sometime next year. He enjoys his research about galactic outflows, AGN wind modeling, and evolution of stellar clouds. He also taught a fantastic temple prep class in our ward this year.

This next year brings some big changes. Ryan's postdoc at NASA is coming to an end, so he is busy applying for jobs at various universities and trying to publish another paper. That means we'll almost certainly be moving this summer, and we don't know where. Of course packing, moving, finding housing, deep cleaning the house you're moving out of, finding your way around a new place, starting at a new school, and making new friends is a big effort, so it will be a busy year. Cross your fingers and say a prayer for us!