Hope Blooms Bright

 

Every year, my family and I trek into the city to spend a few moments walking in the sea of white blossoms at the Tidal Basin in Washington DC.  After 9 years, it’s an experience filled with family traditions to celebrate the coming of spring.  With ongoing restrictions, I knew this year was going to be different so I had to get creative.

In February, I saw an advertisement for the Petal Porch Parade.  The National Cherry Blossom Festival was encouraging residents to decorate their porches to celebrate the season.  Even with a busy life, including supporting virtual learning, I knew I wanted to participate.  I could not find any options online to purchase so I looked for materials and designed the pattern myself.  The idea started small with a couple of flowers and kept growing.  Each petal was made by hand out of vinyl tablecloths.  With a little ingenuity, the flowers took shape and grew from a couple to over fifty.  It was joyful to do something completely unnecessary and create an over the top display. 

The display is called “Hope Blooms Bright,” and that’s exactly what I hope our community will feel when they see it.  People have been stopping by all week to talk about the colorful flowers.  Our home is on the official Petal Porch Parade map, joining other cherry blossom enthusiasts in the region.  

It has not been the easiest year but despite it all, spring comes again and the blossoms bloom.  Traditions may look different, but hope continues if we get creative. 

2020 Christmas Letter

 

Hello Friends and Family,

I send you warm holiday greetings and a hug from afar.  Well, 2020 is coming to a close.  We’ve faced hard things and learned to seek out hope in the darkest of times. 

This was the year of staying home, all the cancelled plans and social distancing.  It led us to appreciating the little things like a trip to the library for new books or picking up popcorn for movie night.  We became masters of wearing masks and washing our hands, even little Austin. 

The highlights of our year have been family bike rides, tent camping in the backyard and hanging out with the families in our bubble.  We planted flowers, decorated for all the holidays and tried to stay sane.  It has not been the year we expected but we made it through.  I was more grateful for our home and tree filled yard than ever before.  We have worked hard these past six years to make it a comfortable space and it has been a refuge.  Heber and I celebrated our 15^th anniversary.    

Gentri became a virtual learning supporter.  Really, what else did I have time for? I did my best to make our home a safe and comfortable place.  I cooked the meals, put together the crafts and tried to keep everyone entertained.  I got contacts for the first time so I didn’t have to have foggy glasses.  In July, I taught two online marketing webinars.  My glass jewelry Etsy shop, GentriCreates, had its best year yet.  Working on the torch helped me to manage all the hard things.

Heber continues to work for a small engineering startup.  He got a fancy letter from the Navy allowing him to go to work every day throughout the pandemic.  He volunteered as a poll worker to give himself something to look forward to for the election.  He fixed all sorts of things on the house and created a “Pringles tree” to make sure we would survive in the wild.  On the weekends, he plays Minecraft with the kids and has taken up playing Dungeons and Dragons with his friends.  I got him a special dragon t-shirt to wear. 

Leo turned 9 in November.  He is a self motivated third grader who has managed his own virtual learning.  He reads too much and likes to play the piano.  He received a Gravitrax set for his birthday and has built the coolest marble mazes.  He continued to participate in Cub Scouts and learned how to carve using a pocket knife. 

Amy at 6 decided that she was going to learn how to ride her bike and she did it.  She pedals like the wind and loves fiercely.  Virtual first grade was a happy development for Amy who likes to stay home.  She developed an interest in gems and rocks.  She is very creative, loves to paint and constantly creates art to give to those she loves.  The highlight of her life is going to the dollar store or hanging out with her best friend, Doug. 

Austin turned 3 in November.  He is still the most loving joyful little person who gives the tightest hugs to those he knows, otherwise it’s a growl.  Most often he can be found building blocks, playing with monster trucks or digging in the sandbox.  He often asks to go back to the beach.  His language has exploded this year but my favorite is that he calls all bugs “spidermans and ladybugs.”

We made a trip out to Utah and Idaho in July due to the unexpected passing of our brother in law, Steve.  It was a completely devastating time for all of us.  I was able to sing at the funeral which was a very special gift for me.  We broke up the monotony of staying home with a couple of fun social distanced trips.  We rented a cabin in Massanutten, a mountain ski town in the summer.  We also spent a week down at our beloved Outer Banks in October.  The calm of the ocean cheered us all up.    

It was quite the year, 2020.  We hope for a brighter, happier new year.  Merry Christmas to you all.

Love, Gentri, Heber, Leo, Amy and Austin Green

Life Lately in October

  October has come and gone and I'm always reminded of the Anne of Green Gables quote where she says that "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."It's funny because I really believe that this year.  

October has brought beautiful change to my life, just what I needed.  I've always loved the change of seasons with the brightly colored leaves.  Change can be a beautiful thing if I let it be.   

The Kudin's offically made their move out west.  They have been good friends out here.  We have all been very sad to see them go.  They've lived on the East coast with us for nearly as long as we have.  It was comforting to know that someone else was doing what we are doing.  But now we are alone and moving forward as best we can.

The kids are still home and they just finished up their first quarter of school virtually. For months, I've been contemplating homeschool.  I've researched and even purchased some curriculum but I just couldn't do it.  I think it shifted when I could see how hard the teachers were working, the principal, the guidance counselors.  I couldn't let go of the community because I needed someone to be supporting me.  I'm in charge of so much in our life and at our house, I realized that I couldn't do it all.  The kids are self-motivated and get their work done on their own.  They focus well and do a good job.  I'm proud of them for adjusting and thriving in this very new situation.

 I got contacts.  This sounds like a small deal, but it was a huge hassle including multiple visits to the eye doctor.  I'm looking forward to not having my glasses fog up when I'm wearing masks.  

Right at the beginning of the month, we went to Outer Banks with some friends.  The break was much needed.  We went to the beach every day and it was joyful to watch how happy everyone was to be there.  I was able to have some time alone to think.  One of the great sacrifices in this whole pandemic is time to myself.  I'm one of those people who needs to be alone to recharge but those moments have been very few over the last eight months.   

Halloween was different this year.  With the pandemic numbers rising, we chose to do the holiday differently.  Leo was complaining to me that it was the worst Halloween ever.  It might possibly be but we are going to do our best to make it a good one.  I've fallen into the victim mindset far too much this year and it's time for a change.  I'm going to make my life what I want it to be.  

We woke up on Halloween morning to a surprise on our doorstep and a large "we've been boo'ed" sign in our yard.  I don't know who did that but it made me feel so special that someone would go out of their way to be kind to us.  During this year where connections have been distanced and lonelinefss has been high, it meant a lot to me that someone would do that. Little bits of kindness go a long way and they really lifted my spirits. 

We cheered on our neighbors

as they completed a 5K and we did the socially distanced and mask manditory Cub Scout trunk or treat.  I actually decorated our car and I felt incredibly proud of myself.  So yes, it was very different but I felt loved.  There wasn't the huge piles of candy but maybe that's ok.  

October has been good to me.  I saw goodness and friendship and I needed that.  I've faced hard things and moved forward.  I am glad to live in a world where there are Octobers. 

2020

 I learned about grief this year.

I know, I know, 2020 has been hard for everybody but it's much deeper than that.  

This is us, just a couple of days into the shut down in March.  Every year, I go in to see the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin.  It's a rite of spring for me and one of my most favorite, anticipated days of the year.  I felt very nervous going but I purposefully went when the bloom wasn't at it's peak and on a weekday. How little we knew of what this year would bring.  

This summer, I got a middle of the night phone call from my sister.  She was frantic because her husband was missing.  He was eventually found but it would never been the same again.  She called in the early morning hours with the news that he had been found dead.  I can't even type it now without crying.  He is dead and it's all broken.  

Heber and I cried at what was lost and what now remained ahead. I have watched my sister, my closest friend, as she has navigated widowhood while raising her five children.  It's like nothing I ever expected could be.  It's been like watching my absolute worst nightmare come to life.  

I've had bad things happen in my life.  I've faced sadness and deep darkness.  Somehow that all seemed fixable.  A shift here or there, a new medicine or a change could make significant improvement but this is one of those that is unfixable.  

Now, it's mid-September.  The kids are entering their third week of distance learning.  Death statistics, fear, masks are just part of our lives now.  Normalcy is a long past memory now.  My hopes are significantly smaller now.  

I've gone about my life.  I've been trying to be a loving mom, to face these new COVID challenges with as much positivity as I could muster.  But when I sit down to talk to someone, I can't contain the sadness.  

It's sad.  I'm sad.  

We all talk about life going back to normal after COVID.  When the vaccine comes or a cure magically comes together.  The thing is, that it's already broken.  The kids going back to school or being able to eat in a restaurant doesn't really fix this.  

What is broken here can't be fixed.  

This is what is in my heart.  I long to write a happy post about carefree adventures but all I see is heaviness. 

Christmas Letter 2019

Dear family and friends,

Merry Christmas to you all!  This week, I hung up all of our family Christmas cards from years past.  It was so fun to read those snippets about our life and was reminded how important our stories are.  Here is bit of our story from 2019.    

Heber is in his second year of working for Anvil, a small startup engineering firm.  He’s been working long hours but is excited at the possibilities.  When he’s home, he’s usually helping out around the house or playing video games with Leo and Amy.   He finished up the playhouse by installing a suspended rope tunnel.  He’s also been working on a laundry room and bathroom renovation.  Our favorite date together was a dumpling making class at the Workhouse.      

I, Gentri, am the resident playdate organizer, activities planner, home organizer and packer of snacks.  I started taking a tap class and even agreed to do the recital in the spring.  I want to be an example of being a beginner and continually learning new things.  I spent a lot of time organizing and working on our house.  I was hired to teach a workshop on marketing and am looking forward to doing more.   I'm volunteering on the steering team for my Mothers of Preschoolers group and continued to serve in the Relief Society Presidency at church overseeing activities.  I work with glass on the torch as often as I can.

Leo turned 8 last month and is in the 2^nd grade.  He is an avid reader and read the whole Harry Potter series last spring.  He got glasses this fall.  In November, he committed to follow Jesus Christ and was baptized.  He is a Wolf in his Cub Scout pack and got to go to a week long day camp.  While selling Scout popcorn, he really got out of his shell and approached people with a new confidence.  He still loves Pokemon and Roblox.   This summer, he water skied for the first time.

Amy started kindergarten this year.  At 5, she is a colorful and loving girl.  She can most often be found playing with Hatchimals or asking to play with a friend.  She is really creative in her creations, usually including rainbows, unicorns and hearts.  This summer she attended a week long rainbow art camp.  She has been so proud of all she is learning at school.  She joined Girl Scouts this fall and has loved being part of her new troop. 

Austin turned 2 in November.  He runs, jumps, throws and climbs.  Monster trucks, cars and building train tracks are his most favorite pastimes.  He is still the best hugger around.  He most enjoyed helping Heber around the house with his home renovation projects.  When Heb  needed to use the drill, to hammer or to saw wood, Austin was right there.  He is a keen observer and picks right up on how to do things.  This fall we started taking a toddler music class.

We joined the minivan club with our Honda Odyssey back in April.  I love it excessively.  Life has been much busier with two kids in elementary school but we still try to have adventures, intentionally teach and spend time together.   We loved visiting family in sunny San Diego for Christmas last year and then spending a couple of weeks out in Utah visiting family this summer.  The highlight of the summer was going to a legit demotion derby and swimming at the Massanutten water park. 

It’s been a year of personal growth around here, while not always comfortable, we’re thankful we can continue to grow.  We are thankful for all of your love and support throughout the year.  Merry Christmas!

 

Love, Gentri, Heber, Leo, Amy, and Austin