2016 Books

Due in part to my 40 min each way commute, reading has become a major hobby of mine.  I do audio books on my way to/from work and then I read at night to relax and wind down from the day.  I've also belonged to a book club for several years and we meet monthly.  I log everything onto Goodreads just for fun and to keep track of the books I've read and the ones I want to read.  At the end of every year, Goodreads send you a synopsis of your year.  So, according to Goodreads, I read 101 books this year, but many of those were kid books I read to/with my kids.  I totaled 17,355 pages and the longest book I read was John Wayne American at 752 pages.  Here is a list of the 36 "non-little kid" books I read with an * next to the books that I gave at least 4 stars to:

• The Lake House by Kate Morton*
• A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving*
• The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah*
• Wonder by RJ Palacio*
• The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd*
• Dead Wake by Erik Larsen*
• The Light Between Oceans by ML Stedman*
• Carry on and Ditch the Excess Baggage by Tiffany Allen*
• Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose*
• Enemies: A History of the FBI by Tim Weiner*
• The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte*
• Me Before You by Jojo Moyes*
• The Paris Wife by Paula McLain*
• The Year of Living Biblically by AJ Jacobs*
• Boston Girl by Anita Diamant*
• Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper
• The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• Yes Please by Amy Poehler
• Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
• Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
• Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin
• Troublemaker by Leah Remini
• The Rent Collector by Camron Wright
• Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain
• Little Pink House by Jeff Benedict
• Escaping the Giant Wave by Peg Kehret
• The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel
• A Winter Dream by Richard Paul Evans
• The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds by Alexander McCall Smith
• Living with No Excuses by Noah Galloway
• Colossus by Michael A Hiltzik
• Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty
• The 3-year Swim Club by Julie Checkoway
• Run by Ann Patchett

So This is Christmas

Lacey has a great piano teacher, but unfortunately, she doesn't put on recitals.  Lacey's been wanting to perform, so I got the idea from my good friend, Stephanie, to put on our own recital for family.  So, we set up the chairs in the Music Room....

And Lacey made the program

StroMusic

Notice the Warning at the bottom.  Haha!!

Riley played Frosty the Snowman on the piano and had the audience join in singing.  She did great!  Here she is bowing at the end.

Then Tanner played Jingle Bells on the viola.

Then Lacey played Santa Claus is coming to town and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

After the recital, we headed to the movies with the entire Strom clan, a family tradition.

After the movie, we were going to go out to a pizza dinner and then drive around town seeing the lights, a longstanding Mitchell tradition, but Riley got a stomach ache and begged to go home, so we took the scenic route home to at least see some lights, then came home, got her to bed and ordered pizza in!

After getting all the kids in bed, we put the finishing touches on Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all

And to all, a Good Night.

Thankfully, our prayers were answered and Riley felt okay when she woke up.  So, all the kids lined up on the stairs ~7:15am from youngest to oldest.

And then we went downstairs and opened stockings!

And then went into the Christmas Room to start opening gifts.

Lacey and her loot

After we were done opening gifts, we had a nice breakfast with Dave's homemade cinnamon rolls and my homemade christmas sausage casserole.  Then we got ready for church and went to church.  Dave sang in the church choir, I played my violin in a What Child is This duet and all the kids sang a song with the other Primary kids and I directed them.  It was a beautiful Christmas program filled with beautiful music and narration.  It was a wonderful reminder of why we celebrate Christmas, remembering the birth of the Savior.

And then we went straight to Nana and Grandpa's house for Christmas dinner with the Strom Clan.

All 9 of the Strom cousins.  With Tyler in college in Virginia, times we get all the cousins together are few and far between.

Grandpa and his girlfriend, Cinderella

And then we came home and lo and behold, a Christmas Miracle!  All four kids had on their Christmas lists that they wanted a new kitten.  But Christmas morning came and went and no kitten.

But then, when we got home tonight, there was a note from our elves Jingle and Teeny saying to go downstairs because Santa had forgotten something!  So, we raced downstairs and this little guy was tucked into a stocking!

We're all in love

The only thing not perfect about this Christmas was not being able to spend it with my parents or siblings.  But most of us (Lindsay had plans and wasn't able to join) hopped onto Google hangout tonight and chatted.  

Maret, Peter and boys in California....

Ricky, Heather and Manny in Texas...

And my parents and Ryan and family in Utah.

Grateful this Christmas season to be surrounded by family and friends.  

Strings

I grew up playing the violin; I started when I was 5.  So it is so fun to see my kids start to learn string instruments as well.  In our school, you can start Orchestra in 3rd grade, so Tanner was very excited he was old enough to play this year!  He decided he wanted to play the Viola "because I wanted to do something different."

Lacey, however, is a chip off the ole' block and is in her 2nd year of playing the violin.

Siblings on Strings

They put on a great Winter Concert Wednesday night and I loved hearing them play!

Christmas at the Governor's

The Governor hosted an Open House yesterday, so we decided to attend.

Here we are in front of the Governor's mansion.

Unfortunately, Governor Hogan wasn't home at the time, but we were able to meet his lovely wife, Yumi, who is the first Asian First Lady in Maryland history and the first Korean-American First Lady in United States history.

After we met the First Lady, we were treated to this spread in this gorgeous dining room.

And then got to explore the mansion a bit.

Eating our goodies.

And we got to see their beautiful Christmas tree.

And hang out in his man cave.

Notice the "Hogan Strong."  That became a saying here in Maryland for those supporting Gov. Hogan after he was diagnosed with cancer.   Just 90 days after becoming Governor, he had to call in the National Guard to deal with the riots that took over Baltimore and then 60 days later, he was diagnosed with Stage 3 non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  So, needless to say, he got off to a rough start.  But Dave and I are big fans. As soon as he got into office, he cut tolls at every single toll facility across the state for the first time in more than 50 years.  He's not a career politician.  He was a small business owner for the past 25 years and just got frustrated with the out-of-touch Maryland leadership.  Clearly we all were because, against all odds, he won in a landslide, becoming only the 2nd Republican governor in Maryland in nearly 50 years!

Before leaving, they presented us with a commemorative ornament in the shape of this fountain, behind Tanner.

And then to top off the day, we got a sitter and headed out to our neighborhood Ugly Sweater Christmas Party.

Tis the Season!