Time with the live-in Laws

Kelvin's parents came up a little over a week ago for a 2-week stint up at our place, which they usually do once or twice a year. They are taking one of our vehicles back to OC as the Prius we passed on to them previously, which I drove throughout residency and our first few years here, is essentially dead.

We don't have a ton of pictures of the kids with them, as they fit in so seamlessly to our lives here that we forget that they're "special visitors" deserving photo documentation.  Kelvin's mom stayed with us for about three months after Niall's birth taking care of him when I went back to work (and, in our old house, stayed with us until Iver was a year old!). Kelvin's Dad gets hard to work on house maintenance tasks (he apparently enjoys this, although it seems to me that he's overworking. I think he has a similar inability to sit still, thriving on "being busy/productive" like Kelvin!), and his mom loves cooking for the whole family, leaving me off the hook for meals!  They are hugely helpful, feel very at home here, and love hanging out with their son and grandkids.

To church at St. Mary's

Sunny Sunday walk/blade/run along the Arcata-Eureka corridor

Goofy grandkids 

They'll probably depart to drive home this weekend, but the kids and we sure have enjoyed the extra help and their visit. 

Pickleball: a sport for all ages!

Kelvin and I have been hearing about "Pickleball" for a few years now. I think our local Activity center has pickleball lessons and a court, but we'd never tried it out, despite being pretty good with most racquet sports.

Kelvin's friend Josh invited him to play (outdoor) pickleball a couple of weeks ago, and Kelvin was hooked (even prompting him to purchase his own paddles!). 

Kelvin and I have both been tennis players and Kelvin still occasionally plays tennis with Sean when the weather is good, but I've pretty much fallen off the tennis-playing wagon as an adult (even though I'm still obsessed with watching the major tournaments). I don't actually know the precise rules of pickleball, including regulations around bounces, the zone of "the kitchen," etc. but I feel like I could learn quickly. Kelvin introduced Iver (racquet-sport- naive) to the paddles about a week ago, and now he wants to play every night in the garage!  We have a net which can be used for badminton, but, when lowered, also makes for a good pickleball court!  With more rain upon us, it's a great indoor activity for the winter.

Pickleball seems like an excellent, middle-aged replacement for full-court tennis, and a great activity for competitive, energetic eight-year-olds, too (even thought we have to work on the backhand!)!

The best month

I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. 

- Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

October is my absolute favorite month of the year. I love the crisp mornings and often sunny (with occasional rainy) days. I love being warm and toasty in cozy socks, slippers, a robe, by a lot candle, holding a warm drink. I love seeing the leaves and feeling the seasons change before us.  

Mushrooms in the Arcata forest (I'm not a forager) on a recent walk with Karen.

Pumpkin carving (here’s the robe)

I love the ending of "fall" soccer and the conclusion of the first part of the school year, as well as the calm-before-the-holiday storm of holidays and "festive stress," which I feel and tend to blog about every year. 

I wish October could last forever!   

Cross Country Finish Line

 Both Iver and Niall have enjoyed running cross-country this fall!

Trusty (flat) Hammond trail

Iver apparently had an awesome race in Fortuna when we were gone, coming second amidst third-grade boys in a 1.4-mile race.

This past Thursday were the county-wide Championships, in which you could compete if you'd participated in at least two other meets this fall.  It was a warm, sunny afternoon in Arcata, and the course(s) had some hills, but it was so fun to cheer on our and other local kids we knew. 

Niall ran a mile in 9:31 (as did I, running alongside him :))

Iver ran two miles in 14:46 with good pacing and finished just behind friend Jon, but was unfortunately puking as he finished (he said the nausea only came on at the very end, thankfully).  

Kinder boys (top 10 finishers got awards) 

Niall got sixth place in the county!

Third grade boys

Iver (fifth place), Xander (second place), Jon (fourth place). I bet we'll watch these boys and friends racing for many years to come!

I'm sure Iver will return for another XC season. Niall says he's "retiring" after his first year. We'll see come next fall! 

New Sink Joy!

We bought and moved into our current house in 2016, and it's pretty perfect-- one level, 4 bedrooms (including one master), ~2100 square feet, with a fenced-in small yard, and spacious garage. 

However, the things I like least about our house have had to do with the kitchen-- way over-sensitive fire alarms (or a poor hood), and a divided sink, which was non-functional for pan-soaking and challenging for washing the million dishes our household generates (including many lunch/snack tupperwares). 

I had mentioned to Kelvin years ago that (one day) I would love a wide-open sink, rather than our existing one with a divider. We're not really into "home-improvement" or reno projects and don't plan to leave or re-sell/flip this house anytime soon.  However, apparently some sinks that fit the bill were recently on sale at Costco and, having connected recently with a house- and yard- construction expert Darren, who is staying next door and recently trimmed all of our yard redwoods, K purchased one this week with the goal to replace ours. Darren was free on Monday because of an on-hold outdoor job due to pouring rain, and was able to pop over and install it over the course of an afternoon!  

Goodbye, old sink!

Here's the new-and-improved sink of the same dimensions (although it looked HUGE when out of the box, and also now in situ-- Darren even was concerned it wouldn't fit, but it sure does). It's not as deep as a farm sink but I think something called a "short-apron" (pardon my lack of HGTV- or home project terminology). In any case, whatever it's called, it is so much more functional than our old divided version, because we can now soak large pots and saucepans in it.

We had a bit of a dishwasher-leaking issue last night after the new sink was in, and I think Darren will be back later to troubleshoot a water connection, but I'm already loving the new steel!   Small adjustments to day-to-day pain points do make a big difference. I give you permission to get yourself that dream sink if it makes your dishwashing time more joyful! 

New London Nuptials

The last family wedding we attended was last summer (Jacky and Kyle), and this fall another cousin, Ryan, married Kasey in their hometown of New London, WI. 

My Dad is an only child but he has three first cousins on the Arness side, all of whom still reside in the tri-state (ND, MN, WI) area with their families (they reciprocally call my Dad one of only two first cousins!). I have been lucky in my lifetime to spend a lot of time in Minnesota on my grandparents' farm in Fisher as a child and with this side of my family over the years, particularly when I attended medical school in Minnesota. Allison (the youngest of three kids of Duane, my great-uncle) has three kids, who are about a half-generation younger than me since Duane and my Grandfather (Alton) were twelve years apart. She has always been so warm and welcoming towards me, despite not living geographically close for most of our lives, and  I spent many a weekend during medical school at her home in New London with her, Peter, and her lovely children Natalie, Ryan, and Brayden (then kids, now in their twenties!).

We arrived into town late on Thursday after a red-eye flight from California through Chicago to Appleton. We met up with my parents, who had driven from Virginia over a few days (making a road trip out of it including seeing Detroit) and also Amy/Richard, who drove from Fargo (about 10 hours).

My mom had on a sweater that she had also given me (and which I'd packed), so I put it on for dinner which we enjoyed at the Waters Supper Club on the Wolf River.

On Friday eve, we met up with other family at Allison/Peter's home in New London for pizza as the main participants of the service did their rehearsing.

Brad, Ellie, Julia, Ty, Dyno, LeAnn, mom/dad, Heather

me, Kelvin, Marilyn, Jacky, Dad, Mom, Amy, Richard

Ryan and Kasey have known each other since preschool (!) and started dating before their sophomore year in high school. They have been together ten years already and are really the cutest couple! 

The ceremony was at their hometown church, Trinity Lutheran, and featured some lovely music including a recording of the "Lord's Prayer" sung by Ryan's late Grandfather (and my Great-Uncle) Duane.

The evening reception was held at Stubborn Brothers' Brewery in Shawano.

v

Allison (the mother of the groom) was radiant and stunning in her long black sparkly gown!

First cousins

Amy and Kelvin talked a lot, over their shared enjoyment of Mules.

The Happy Groom! 

Although my small town in CA is over 2,200 miles away from New London, WI, the midwest feels more like "home" to me than many other places I've lived! The familiarity of seeing family (even if we only see each other every few years or more!) always makes me feel so happy and loved. I really wish we lived closer to some of these wonderful people, as they truly are some of the kindest and most generous souls I've ever known (Ryan, the groom, even personally texted me the morning after his wedding to thank us for making the trip out!).  What a gift is for them to grow up to have so many close relatives within driving distance and to be able to see one another for many more occasions than just special events like weddings (something which I have missed out on in my life and which I’m hoping will be a bit different for my kids).  Although the kids missed this trip, Kelvin really enjoyed getting to know some of my cousins more and had a great time in Wisconsin!  I'm sure we'll be back in not too long, for some other reason to celebrate (with hope, not a funeral)!