So one of the benefits of a longer Christmas vacation for my school aged kiddos is that we had a full week of “home” time after our holiday trip to Utah. This time allowed us to pack up all of the decorations, do some deep cleaning, grocery shop, get ready for school and work and just relax at home as a family and spend time with our California friends. I am in favor of a long Christmas break just in case anyone at the school district is listening to me :). January, like every single other month in this house, was packed but it was filled with good stuff. The high schoolers enjoyed slightly more mild training sessions but after that first week of January their track training began in earnest. The little kids are becoming stronger readers and are both starting to make some solid strides in fourth grade. Sam and I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary without much fanfare: lunch at our neighborhood Thai restaurant followed by Cokes at McDonalds…but don’t feel bad for us. Our big splurge is our upcoming trip to Sri Lanka (with a short detour in Dubai) in April. We will for sure be celebrating in a new-to-us-country and can’t wait! I worked on a few house projects and collaborations and generally tried to keep the family on track. Here are a few glimpses of January in Small Squares!

We started off 2019 with Simon and Sophie going to a fun NYE dance with their friends. Sam and I hung out with the Clawsons and were so tired that we were barely awake when the teenagers got home. We are officially getting old.

We had some time with Emma before she went back to BYU and the time went by too quickly 🙂

I got a fresh cut and color from my genius hair goddess Jaime. Seriously, she is the most talented stylist and I am so lucky that my hair is in her capable hands. I always feel better after a trip to Jaime.

Weekly juicing and taco eating remained in place…

Seb went on his first night run with Sam, headlamps and all. I think they did four miles.

Sam and I celebrated 21 years of marriage. TWENTY ONE YEARS! What the heck? How have we seriously been married this long and I for SURE must have been a baby (I was actually 22) when we got married. We look so young in this photo; I love it. Sometimes it feels like time has gone by so incredibly fast when I think about how long we have been married but sometimes it seems like a VERY full 21 years. We have done a lot, lived a lot, experienced a lot and we are still going strong. I’m thankful for our marriage.

Impromptu photo with this beauty of a 14 year old. Also, braces are the best thing ever because her teeth are getting SO straight. We are both thrilled about that. Also, we have decided that we really do not look a like at all but have VERY similar personalities. So there’s that 🙂

We celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day by watching the entire “I Have A Dream” speech and it was transformative. I’m not sure I have ever watched the entire speech but it brought me to tears. What a masterful speaker MLK was; as a nation we were truly blessed to have him among us. And then I look at my family and we are literally the embodiment of the quote on this photo! I could have never imagined such an incredible reality for our family.

I bought and framed this beautiful print of our beloved Suisun Valley. The artist is so talented and I am thrilled to have this in our house!

Sam and his trail running sister Sandra ran their first 50K of the year and came in 2nd place!!!! They were total rockstars. This race is in preparation for their huge 100 miler in Zions National Park this April. I am both excited and terrified to watch them accomplish this…

Green Valley has been living up to its name with all of the rain. My heart gets this little twinge every time I look at these hills and vineyards. We truly live in the most beautiful slice of the Bay Area.

Simon did his first behind-the-wheel driving lesson and survived! Also, I cannot remember EVER doing a driving lesson back in the day? I know we had drivers ed through the high school but as far as going out with an actual instructor, I don’t think that ever happened?! He has two more lessons and then will hopefully get his license right before school ends. The thought of him driving on the freeway makes me break out into a sweat and my heart starts racing and I imagine all of the horrible things that will surely happen and so I have to make a very concerted effort NOT to let my mind go to the scary teen-driver places. Ugh. Being a parent is sometimes the worst…

Sophie learned how to wash, condition and detangle Sadie’s hair. This is no small feat. If you are white, you really have no idea how involved a simple wash/condition/detangle can be. She volunteered to take it on one night with Sadie coaching her on the steps and they both had a great experience. Black hair is a really big deal in this house and sometimes it is all hands on deck to make it happen.

Simon did a crazy hard training run at Gates Canyon and right after I dropped him off I snapped these photos. This is beautiful country…

One of the best things about January was we finally finished our patio addition! It was constructed right before Christmas and then the roofing tilers came in mid January. Towards the end of the month we got our patio furniture and after adding a few lanterns, textiles and plants it is basically done! I’m planning a larger post on the whole construction process soon so stay tuned!

I’m SO happy with how this space turned out and can’t wait to show you more! And that concludes Small Squares for January!