Flashback to 2018 -- Schrieve Style

January 2019- OLYMPIA, WA

Dear friends and family,

We hope this New Years blog finds you in good health!  Thought you may not have noticed, The Schrieve Standard has been on a holiday hiatus since we moved a couple years ago. For posterity's sake (and family records) we decided to revive ye 'ole tradition, but with a new twist -- we will revisit 2018 backwards:

The Balls of Dallas 

We'll start with a festive "down South" Christmas with Court's family in Dallas. It was finally sister Sara's turn to host. Our flights and the weather cooperated as we shared cooking duties, played Banagrams, walked her dog Gumbo and laughed a ton! It was great to have everyone together -- Court's parents from Oklahoma, Hal from New York and the Washington Schrieves including Anna from Bellingham.

A little more about our progeny. Hal, 22, recently converted to Judaism and was offered a full-time job as a children's librarian with the New York Public Library. He will complete his master's in library science from Queens College come May and his first young adult novel, Out of Salem, comes out March 5 (preorder you copy today!). Anna, 19, is loving her major of human services at Western Washington University and learning how to coexist with 5 roommates and two bunnies. She has found her voice through social justice and helped lead a march against campus racism. We are proud of both "kids" who are compassionate yet passionate and are committed to making positive change.

Moving on to Thanksgiving: Garin's peeps from California made the annual Turkey Trek to our

Schrieve Siblings

Olympia abode. Charlie was spoiled with lots of walks and cuddles by Uncle Bill. We completed yet another 1,000 piece puzzle, watched the annual Dog Show and made lots of mashed potatoes for the two family vegetarians, Anna and Aunt Keri.

Skip to August. Several of Court's high school buddies flew out for a long girls' weekend of laughs, hugs and Seattle tourism.  Alas, the day after they left, Garin got hit on his bike by a truck! He sustained a major break to his tibial plateau and had reconstructive surgery to his left leg and hand, but thankfully his head was saved by the helmet when he hit pavement. After 5 days in the hospital, we came home with a wheelchair, walker and leg bending machine. While it took two months before he could bear weight on the leg, it was two months of togetherness and appreciation for ADA, independence and life. He's got months of physical therapy and a couple more surgeries ahead, but is really thankful to be up and walking around again. PLEASE drivers of all ages -- keep your eyes on the road and yield to  pedestrians and bikers!

Craven clan Alaska cruise

While G was recuperating, Courtney was enjoying an ill-timed, pre-planned cruise to Alaska with her parents and sister. Thankfully Nurse Anna came to the rescue to take care of G. This was all in place of a father/daughter trip to Greece they had planned for September before the accident-- hopefully 2019 will be the year!

Before the accident we managed to get a few summer trips in, incuding a trek down I-5 to Kneeland, Calif., where Uncle Carlon (Garin's bro) lives. Picture The Hobbit and have a good visual of this unique homestead, complete with a hammock, wood carvings and many a campfire. Good times! Court also went to Disneyland (aka Anaheim) for a national conference where she gave a presentation to her school PR peers about her district's compassion campaign. Mickey Mouse would have approved!

Schrieves x 4

Springtime took Court on a visit to Oklahoma to see her folks, along with a short visit to Dallas to surprise her sister for her bday! Garin took some R&R on a camping/hiking trip to Arizona finding his zen in nature; and he and Court took in the Big Apple on a annual spring break visit to Hal. It's clear now that their son is a true New Yorker, navigating the subway and trains like a pro, and knowing where to order the best Indian food takeout.

The early winter months are a blur of concerts (check out Wailin Jenny's and Cry! Cry! Cry!), PFLAG meetings and yoga for Court, and a visit to Anna in Bellingham.

Charlie dog 

Now here we are at January 2019. Nobody could have predicted all that happened above and we are just SO grateful be here to write about it and tell our friends and family how much we love them. If you made it this far you are either really bored or you care about us so deeply that you had to know every teeny detail about the Schrieves. Tune in next year as we explore 2019. We hope it brings good health, happiness and hope to our country!

Peace through Ethnic Cooking! (ode to you Beth McGreevy!)

Courtney, Garin and Charlie