Kyle and Jungmin’s Wedding

This day marks the second day after Kyle and Jungmin’s official wedding ceremony. The pace really picked up Thursday evening, after Ray flew in from Florida for the event. Gail and Emma (7) picked him up, and all managed to stay awake well past bedtime, especially as the Ostling clan came over to greet Papa Ray.

With renting tuxes, buying roses for the cake, delivering software and cake cutting accessories, and making apple crisp for a combined family dinner, Friday simply flew by. Saturday meant rehearsal for Emma and Papa Ray – the only ones needing our help with transportation. The Ostlings arrived very late with a broken side window in their van. Something hit the window on the last stretch of freeway on the way to rehearsal.

The wedding was unique, as the ceremony was done by a Buddhist leader of Jungmin’s church. Following was a Korean ceremony, which involved bowing to one’s elders, offering them saki, and having them throw dates, chestnuts, and money at Jungmin. Kyle also got to give his bride, mother, and mother-in-law piggy back rides. We are not sure what this insight to Korean culture tells us!

In addition to the wedding activities, we had a logging load of wood delivered, so now Jack has decided on his hobby for the season. Chainsaw workout, with splits to follow. Caleb (10) is helping by hauling billets to the red barn with the tractor. The littles and middles use the cut logs to make playhouses.

Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day! We woke to an inch of snow, but clear roads, so Jack was at the office. Played outside even before breakfast of eggs and toast. Everyone enjoyed it, although Colin needs to remember mittens! Emma rolled giant snowballs, which were the only snow left by late afternoon.

Gwen came for make-up piano lessons, after which we went to her new “house” she will be occupying for Uncle Jack in Snohomish. The kids were awesome, with only one pot of dirt being upset twice on the rug by Cian. Caleb brought in our vacuum, and the issue was resolved. Almost all the curtains were rehung by the time we left.

Dot came for dinner, which was pancakes, beet soup, and fresh tuna salad. Rather odd, but colorful – and valentine brownies for dessert. Gail got Jack good with Frank Lobb delivering a balloon sculpture to Adobe in the morning, and mostly white Oh!Chocolate in the evening. 20 years since our engagement night!! If only the gazebo swing was still intact at Bothell Landing.

Okay, so maybe we have two little female finches. Ebb and Flow keep trying to add to the family, and Gail’s egg collection is growing. It’s a regular job to tip up their nest and dump the eggs out.

All but Emma stayed with Aunt Rachel today, while Emma and Mom went for a consultation visit with Dr. Rice, who will be pulling out one of her pre-molars. Something happened to it between x-rays in October and now – which is hard to appreciate, as we have been flossing, brushing and water pik-ing faithfully. No more tooth pulling for this family – Cian and Rilla have perfectly sound teeth, as do Caleb, Emma, and Colin.

Well it’s a new year! The Brenchley’s had an exciting Christmas! We figured that we had guests or visitors from December 15th though the 1st. It was great to see so many family and friends including Jack’s sister Deb and her new husband Rich as well as Gail’s dad and his wife and mother-in-law. We also extended Christmas over a number of days by doling out presents to the kids over a long period of time. I don’t know if we actually got to the twelve days of Christmas.

Almost all of Christmas is packed up now and ready to be hoisted back into the loft.

Ebb and Flow had babies very close to Christmas! We now have a male and female named Flotsam and Jetsam!

We’ve had 27 straight days of rain (or measurable rain). No one is stir-crazy yet – at least not more than normal.

Four Christmas bulbs shattered in 10 minutes! We didn’t even put the shopvac away after the second one. There is something wrong about vacuuming an oriental rug with a shopvac (much like eating burgers at a fancy four-star restaurant).

We recently got a new zebra finch to replace the one that died and keep the female company. We finally agreed that his name should be Ebeneezer (great trivia question, “What old fashion guy’s name has either four or five e’s in it?”). This way the birds can be Ebb and Flow!

The month of September has gone already, and now Jack must really weep, for it is wet and somewhat cooler. We have even been making fires in the woodstove and making a big pile of brush for our bonfire up by the red barn. Yesterday, we bought a new peach tree, four “fall gold” raspberry plants, 18 boxwood hedge plants, and a big box of assorted spring flower bulbs. Let the planting begin! Meanwhile, our summer garden begins to look a little peaked, especially our wilting tomatoes.