We've had a lovely Christmas, with much time spent with Anders' family, celebrating his mom's birthday (and her return home), Christmas Eve with her yesterday and the whole family tonight for turkey dinner. I was the first up this morning, despite threats from the kids last night to wake us at 7 a.m. this morning...they were the slugabeds, and Anders and I had to prod them awake. Everyone liked their presents: among other things, Karin got a lovely black wool coat, Martin got the games he was wishing for and they both got new iPhones. Anders got a drone with a camera and I got a beautiful ring, a new much-needed bedside alarm clock and a 2016 calendar full of family photos that Karin designed.
Family & Personal Highlights of 2015
- Anders & Karin's ski trip to France
- Martin's class trip to Berlin
- Karin's team coming in third at Gothia
- Our 2-week summer family road trip to Prague, Vienna and Croatia
- Karin's first year of high school and getting accepted to the elite NIU soccer program
- Martin becoming editor of his school IB magazine
- Visit from Liz's high school friend Debbie
- Liz's revamp of lifestyle and eating habits after her diabetes diagnosis with a weight loss so far of 10.5 kilos
- Karin starting practice driving
- Anders' first hand-built single-speed bike
Best books of 2015 (in no particular order and not including re-reads)
- All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
- Through the Language Glass by Guy Deutscher
- Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper
- Uprooted by Naomi Novik
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
- The Martian by Andy Weir
- Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon
- My Real Children by Jo Walton
- Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher
- About Grace by Anthony Doerr
Best musical discoveries of 2015
- Tuva and Mia
- Jess Penner
- Natalie Prass
- Erann DD
- Phoenix
- Future Islands
- Tristan Prettyman
- Ibadi
- Jack Savoretti
- Meiko
- KEEP walking and working on healthy eating!
- Trip to the US for the big celebration year
- Get Martin into driving school so he can get his license
- Kitchen renovation or fireplace addition
- Start singing and crafting again