Kiwi Bits and Bites: 2011 Nyers Family Happenings

Our first big news for 2011 was that we got a new kitty: Pearl. We rescued her from the shelter. She was just a year old, but had just finished weening five kittens.

Our other cat, Neo, who is now 12 years old, hasn't quite forgiven us.

So we got a kitty condo to soften the blow. Penelope helped Alex build it.

Now the kitties tolerate each other at least.

We finally gave in and conceded that, seeing as how we are in fact parents, it was high time to buy a minivan. It was an immediate hit with the kids, who decided that it was basically a portable play area.

In February, Alex took Alexandra fishing, and she caught several suicidal trout.

In April, we took a family vacation to the Redwoods in Northern California. It rained buckets, and Penelope hated hiking, but we managed to have fun anyway. On the way back, we visited the Prehistoric Gardens.

In May, we went to Portland to see the Trailer Park Boys show for our anniversary. They were even funnier live, but the best entertainment was all the Portland hippies in the audience. :)

We stayed at the super-fun Jupiter Hotel, where you can decorate your hotel room door with chalk. Cookie Monster!

Alex kept busy all year writing his thesis and doing other work for the anthropology department. In May, he gave a "tan sack" presentation on his work.

June was a busy month. Alex spent 10 days in Akureyri, Iceland, and gave a talk at the Arctic Peoples anthropology conference about the King Island Placename website project and electronic data curation in general. Iceland was beautiful, and Alex had a great trip.

Penelope's 2nd birthday party in July was a big affair. Everyone was able to make it, which was fabulous! For weeks afterwards, Penelope was saying: "I love birthdays!"

Alex spent July and August at another dig in Idaho, this time at the Cooper's Ferry site. He found some more chert sources for his thesis, and successfully piloted his new Archie artifact entry system (the cute little Dell notebooks).

For the last week of the dig, Alexandra flew out (by herself!) to meet up with her daddy in Idaho and help out on the dig.

Kirsten kept busy all Summer with the girls and with family. We ate a lot of lovely salads made from the contents of our harvest boxes - locally grown organic food, yum!

Penelope discovered that she loves hummus with fresh veggies.

And we had good company to keep us busy.

Penelope and Alexandra kept us on our toes all year, but got along amazingly well.

Despite the difference in their ages, the girls often work together as a team.

Alexandra spent most of this last year with her nose in a book, but she also became more outgoing and adventurous, too.

Penelope really came into her own. She talked non-stop, bossed us all around, and posed for a lot of cute pictures.

In October, Kirsten went to Boston for a work conference and got to check out her parents' old stomping grounds in Cambridge.

Alexandra's seventh birthday in October was a busy time, so we didn't have a party, but we were lucky to have Great Grandma Frances visiting from New Jersey. We all went to OMSI to see BodyWorks and everyone had a great time.

In November, Kirsten and Alexandra went to Vancouver, Canada for Great Grandma Grethe's funeral. Alexandra got to meet her cousins - Sara, Grace and Matteo - for the first time.