Rivers Ripple (ok, rock throw) from 2021 as we enter 2022

It's been a full 2021. We started with much anticipation in 2021 for a new year and...sadly lost much of that in January 2021. We lost Appa, Dan tested positive for COVID, as did Olivia and Kinley. Somehow we made it 21 days in quarantine without Sarah and Emily testing positive. (I'm happy to report this year has started much better.) Just before the COVID quarantine of 2021, Nora Jane joined our family. She has proved to be a spunky puppy with plenty of energy and quite the bark. 

In other Rivers pet news from 2021, Olivia's two gerbils, Ginger and Snowflake, passed away in the fall. We adopted Delta, a guinea pig, from cousin Kyle in Dec. and she is fitting right in. Bob, Grandma's fish, is still swimming strong.

Dan transitioned back to in person work for some days of the week in June 2021. He has enjoyed the opportunity to chat with people and get out of his basement office. He was working from home since Feb 2016, long before March 2020. He has continued to do some leisure running and played a LOT of band gigs this summer. Everyone was ready for some normalcy. 

Sarah finished up remote school with Olivia and Kinley in May and Emily in March 2021. Whew! Thanks especially to Grammy for her extra help on Wednesdays. We would not have made it without her. The return of the girls to in person school in the fall of 2021 has been a big adjustment. Sarah did add half a day at TheraPlay Spot when just the right kiddo came along for a spot on that day. So on Mondays and Wednesdays she works. And that is plenty for now. She has not tackled as many home projects (mostly organization and cleaning) as she had hoped, but there are more days and weeks ahead for those types of projects. Managing doctor appointments, snags in education for Emily, the day to day house things, mount laundry, etc etc. keeps her plenty busy. She did participate in the school board election campaigning some this fall, after declining running for a position. Sarah has continued to do some outreach for the Down Syndrome Society of Wichita and is helping with PTOs at the girls' schools. Sunday mornings find our family attending Sunday school, where Sarah often helps with managing bodies. A visit to Hannah in Texas to meet Spencer was fun this summer and a girls trip to Kansas City with Susan Reazin for our 40th birthday were highlights.

Olivia finished 4th grade remote and transitioned to Maize Intermediate School as a 5th grader in fall of 2021. She has loved it. They have house "nests" (think Harry Potter, but nests since they are Eagles) and rotate between 4 classes. She tried flute, didn't love it and switched to clarinet which she loves. She also tried out for swim team in October 2021 and made the team. And loves swimming too. She got to spend her birthday at DisneyWorld seeing her other favorite--StarWars. She also continues to take piano lessons.

Kinley finished 2nd grade remote and transitioned back to in person school. She has days where it is not her favorite activity, but her teacher reports that she does fine. Kinley will talk your ear off and has a fun sense of humor, which her teacher has also appreciated. Kinley asked to return to dance and did so in Fall 2021. She did her Christmas recital and did well for a quick prep time. Kinley takes piano lessons. Slothy, Kinley's sloth, continues to be an important fixture in our family. 

Emily did part of preschool remote in 2021 and returned for the 4th quarter in March 2021 to preschool. She did very well with the transition back. Summer school was not good, but we learned. Emily did private PT and speech therapy in 2021 and in fall of 2021 with the start of Kindergarten, reduced to just speech. Emily loves school and has the same Kindergarten teacher Olivia and Kinley did. She has a fantastic para and a great team. It was a tough transition to KG, but everyone was patient and I just laughed because what else can you do when one of the biggest problems is Emily knowing which is the girls bathroom? Most school days are smooth, although sometimes she has days where she does her own thing. Emily's favorites are music (especially Frozen, Moana, Encanto, etc), Disney TOTS, and Grammy. She has a favorite Barbie which Nora ate the hand off of. 

We had the opportunity to travel several places in 2021...which was so good for us! 

In June 2021 we went to South Dakota with Dan's family on a camping trip to see the Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Rapid City sites, and Devil's Tower. It was a lot of fun to see all of the national parks and we survived tent camping (Dan's parents have an RV). Dan does not recommend tent camping. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it. 

In August 2021 we went to Kansas City for a few days since we could not go to Minnesota due to the fires. We even joined Dave's family for a day at Worlds of Fun since our trips overlapped. Olivia and Dan rode lots of roller coasters. Sarah enjoyed watching and hanging out with the less adventurous crew. 

In November 2021 we replaced our Disney Cruise with a trip to Disney World with Dave's family and had such a fun trip. We made many good memories. 

We wrapped up 2021 with good Christmas celebrations and rang in the New Year together (Dan did not have a gig). And here we are on day 15--back to school, try to avoid all of the COVID germs, and just enjoying each day. 

Photos below(blogger makes photos tricky, so these are just a few from the past year): Emily and Nora Jane-Jan 2021, Olivia and Kinley-March 2021 at the Easter program for church, Halloween 2021-Harry Potter Death Eater, Disney with Johnstons-Nov 2021, Christmas 2021, Delta the Guinea Pig-Dec 2021, the girls at the Badlands (so hot!)-June 2021