Sent: 02/26/2017 From
Alicia
Subject: Westra Family Update
2/26/17
Hola Familia!
We (or I) survived mid winter
break (aka ski week)! The kids were out of school all week long, so we did a
few more things than we normally do. Here's a wrap up of the week:
Monday: Presidents' Day, so
Shane had the day off from work. We slept in a little bit (yay!) and I was able
to go to an earlier exercise class at the YMCA. It was a full class...there was
a line to get in so the people who had waited the longest were able to get
their equipment first (I made it in, if you were wondering.) I'm enjoying the
BodyPump classes...they are a good workout! Adria and Rella had a birthday
party to go to in the afternoon. It was Harry Potter themed. They did a lot of
"potions" (slime, the coke and mentos experiment, etc). Adria had her
mandolin lesson, then a FaceTime with her friend Lilly in Utah. Our neighbors
had invited us over to dinner that evening, so Shane and I worked together to
make a batch of chocolate chip cookies to share with them. These are our
Egyptian friends. They made fattah (a dish of layered rice, chicken, and bread
covered with a yogurt sauce), stuffed grape leaves, soup, and a salad.
Everything was delicious and we all had a great time visiting.
Tuesday: the girls watched
Calder so I could go to cycling class. My visiting teachers came over. The
girls have really been wanting to make slime, so while Rella was at dance class
I went to Office Depot and picked up glue and glitter. I wanted to get some
glitter glue, but they were all out. Then I went to a grocery store to pick up
borax. Shane had a work dinner, so the rest of us ate early, then invited Alia
and Nour over to make slime. If you haven't been introduced to the current
craze of slime, count yourself lucky. It's an easy enough craft, but can be
kind of messy. The kids had a great time, though! I had to laugh...the cashier
at Office Depot commented that people have been buying a lot of glue. "Is
there a project at the school?" I told him no...the kids are all out of
school and they all want to make slime!
Wednesday: Shane took the day
off so we could do some things as a family. We went out to breakfast at the Sky
Kitchen, which is a little diner located at the San Carlos airport. The San
Carlos airport is a small airport for private planes, helicopters, and stuff
like that. The Sky Kitchen has a bunch of windows looking out at the runway, so
you can watch the planes take off and land as you eat. It was fun. After lunch
we went home for a bit, then went and saw the Lego Batman movie. It was
enjoyable. Calder thought some parts were scary. I don't think it's quite as
good as the original Lego movie, but it was fun. Shane took Calder to his
swimming lesson while I went to a parent meeting with our new speech therapist
(Shamim). We went over his test results. Cognitively he is doing very well,
which is always nice to hear. He does have a lot going on with his speech
though, so there is no shortage of things to work on! He'll start his sessions
next Monday. Shamim is really sharp. She also knows the ins and outs of the
school system and who to call for private services in OT and Developmental
Pediatrics. I have a feeling she will be a good resource. Her son is in the 5th
grade at Redwood Shores with Rella, though they are in different classes, so
it's nice to connect with another mom! Adria and I went to YW in the evening.
It was a career panel put together by our YSA rep from the Stanford ward. She
enlisted 4 of her friends to come and talk about their jobs, what their
education was like, etc. There was a VP from an Investment Firm, a front end
web developer/designer from Apple, a data analyst from Pinterest (who also
happens to live in our ward now that she is married), and a video editor from
FitBit. It was interesting to hear about their work...I almost wanted to go
back to school afterwards! Hopefully the girls got as much out of it as the
leaders did. We had invited another ward to join us, so there were several
girls that I did not know.
Thursday: the BIG day...we took our
new Toyota into the detailers to remove the stench. Shane and I went and
dropped it off at 8 am, then I took Shane to work. I had a hair appointment at
noon, then took Rella to dance. She and I went to pick up Shane from work, then
Rella and I went to ukulele. Thursdays are always our busiest days. We watched
the "Angry Birds" movie on Netflix as a family. It was okay. Sure
glad we didn't have to buy it, though.
Friday: I took Shane into work.
Calder had a well child visit scheduled, so I took him there and patted myself
on the back that we were actually on time! It turned out we were ridiculously
on time...I thought the appointment was at 9:30 when it was actually at 10:30!
At least I had the day right. There would have been plenty of time to go home,
but Calder wanted to play in the waiting room, so we just waited it out. They
ended up calling us back on the early side (around 10), so it worked out
overall. He had a good appointment and talked the doctor's ear off. Calder is
super healthy...now if we can just get his speech and eye contact up to speed!
In the afternoon, Adria went to a party at a friend's house and Rella invited a
friend to go to the art center in San Carlos with us. It's a "Color Me
Mine" type of place with ceramics to paint and glass mosaic projects.
Rella and Charlotte each painted an animal. Calder chose a motorcycle bank.
After we finished there, I dropped the two girls off at Charlotte's so they
could play longer while I went to pick up Shane and the Toyota. We were pretty
nervous...what if the ozone treatment hadn't worked or hadn't been enough?
Shane dropped me off, then headed home with Calder. Marcos the detail guy
showed me the process he had used on our car (he had another car that he was
doing the same thing to in the shop). It will still be a few days before we
know exactly how effective the treatment was, but for now it's looking (or
smelling) good! I told Shane that the next time we buy a used car, I will just
test drive enough to know which type I like, then leave the rest up to him!
Hopefully that will be a ways down the road (pun totally intended). Adria
watched the younger two kids while Shane and I went to Blue Line Pizza for our
date night.
Saturday: started way too early with
Adria and food poisoning at 4 am. She and I ended up hanging out on the couch
and watching "Dr Strange" in between bouts. Shane and Calder got up
around 7, so I got a little more sleep. I woke up just in time to take Rella to
help at the Girl Scout cookie booth. It was more fun than I expected. There
were a lot of people who said they had already bought their cookies, but there
were also a good number of buyers as well. My favorite customers were the dad
and little girl who came to pick out her first ever boxes of girl scout cookies
(they totally reminded me of Derek and Ani) and the lady who had just flown in
from Israel to visit her mother and sister. She said one of the items on her
to-do list during the visit was to buy samoas and thin mints! Rella had a good
time and it was a beautiful day for it! She and I stopped at the grocery store
on the way home, then had lunch with Shane and Calder at home. Adria spent the
whole day on the couch. She tried to eat a little later in the day, but
regretted it soon after. Shane and I worked together all afternoon to make
dinner for a family in our ward who has a new baby at their house. We made
apple pie, chicken pot pie, and put together a salad. Rella helped me deliver
the meal to the family and we got to see their new baby boy. This is number 5
for them. You don't see a lot of big families out here...2 or 3 kids is the
norm, some families have 4, but that's usually where it tops out. There are a
few families with 5 kids in our ward and one with 7 or 8 kids (one of the
Polynesian families). I think there's a family in the stake with 9. Rella and I
came home and the 4 eating people had dinner. Adria had sprite. We got everyone
to bed early...even our girls, who are notorious for their "hobo
bedtime" were in bed by nine! We liked that so much we did it again
tonight!
Sunday: Shane had early meetings at
the church, so he headed out before 7. The kids and I joined him at church for
Sacrament meeting. It was a mission farewell. It reminded me of the
"old" mission farewells where the family arranges the program and the
whole family (or at least part of it) speaks. You remember those? I really
prefer the new format. Adria is feeling significantly better today, but is
still not all the way up to normal. She is really not looking forward to the
coming week because Rella is going to Outdoor Ed and Adria says she will be so
bored! I think she is a little jealous, too. She loved Outdoor Ed last year.
Rella is feeling nervous, but got all packed (with Adria's help) and is ready
for tomorrow. Adria had a fun time video chatting with Jaiden and Janelle (and
the other Jensens). We love and miss all our cousins.
I've been making a sample of phrases
that Calder says for Shamim to include in her assessment report. here are some
of our favorites (translated by me for ease and convenience):
"The point was, their tails
were all together, that's why they're upside down."
"My ears is good
listeners."
"The grown ups are bigger and
have sharp teeth, so they can't jump as high as the babies."
"Don't break any Adria's
muscles!"
"When I go from a dark place to
a light place, I sneeze!"
"I'm stronger than you, for
sure."
He also says things like "Yes
indeed" and "Of course". We're all pretty enamored with his
increasing vocabulary, so he gets no shortage of attention around here.
Love you all! Have a great week!
Shane, Alicia, Adria the puker,
Rella the camper, and Calder (of course!)
P.S. This is the last week to order
Girl Scout cookies from Rella. No pressure at all...but here is the link, just
in case:
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