Christmas Card | 2025

Sarah's dad has been telling us for years that "things will get easier as the kids get older," and this is the first year where that finally felt true :) We’re able to do things as a family of five that would have felt downright foolish a few years ago—like attend the state fair, ride bikes in the street, do a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle, go hiking, ride kiddie roller coasters, and see a movie in theaters. Throughout the year, we found ourselves embracing Pokémon, K-Pop Demon Hunters, and Gabby's Dollhouse while still cherishing classic childhood fun: climbing trees, coloring, reading books, and playing with a menagerie of stuffed animals. Our children enjoy our weekly trip to the pool and have honed their playdate-persuasion skills!

NLW remains an animal lover and has recently taken to sitting on our front porch with the Merlin app open, ready to record and recognize birds. The twins started Pre-K in the fall, and EDW has a deep affection for coloring unicorns and mermaids. Following in his mother's footsteps, CCW may be addicted to board games, most notably Machi Koro. Sarah still loves blogging, reading, thrifting, and regularly rearranges the furniture in our home haha! Mr. Fleece is slowly learning a new water sport (look up wing foiling) and is excited to teach the kids how to ski this winter.

Aside from daily adventures, this year took us back to some of our favorite spots: Camano Island, the farmhouse in Missouri, and Connecticut—all visits with grandparents! We also road-tripped to the peninsula and spent our 13th wedding anniversary at Olympic National Park (see family photo on front). Overall, we've had a wonderful year and hope to set up a playdate with you soon ;)

Merry Christmas!

Home for the Holidays

We’ve firmly established a tradition of visiting Christmas Creek Tree Farm, and this year we cut down our fourth tree from them! The kids love scampering through the rows of pines and surveying their options, but the highlight of the trip is always the free candy cane and seasonal treats. 

EDW and me year one (2022) and this year (2025):

Once home, and after several trips up and down the attic stairs, the decorating frenzy began. With the wonder-filled energy unique to children—and a stepladder to aid them—our Christmas tree was decorated in no time. Christmas spirit, holiday cheer, yuletide greetings — my trio has it all!

Now the house is dressed for the season with lights, handmade ornaments, chocolate advent calendars, and Casper Babypants "Winter Party" album playing on repeat. With longer darker days ahead, I'm thankful our home still feels bright, especially with the preschool artwork we saved and plan to hang year after year (my parents always did this for holidays too!) 

Snuggled in tight, 

-SJW

Life Wright Now | November 2025

November was a solid month of adulting, productive and refreshing in the best ways—
- going to the gym
- listening to a daily news podcast
- raking leaves
- hanging up artwork
- cleaning our bathroom
- attending teacher conferences
- getting a haircut
- planning out vacations for 2026

Nothing glamorous, but deeply satisfying to create some new habits, check to-dos off my list, and start thinking about the year ahead. I've been a little squirrel scurrying about, getting all my nuts in a row :) So happy to have my home all nested so I can hibernate my way into the Christmas season <3

A gratifying harvest,

-SJW

Life Wright Now | Fall 2025

This fall has been so good to us! We've had a fabulous start to pre-K and are enjoying our new schedule and weekly routines. Here are five things I'm thankful for as I reflect on this season and the start of our school year.

1. Ordinary joys

With school pick up at 2:00/2:30, we are often home by 3pm with an open 3+ hours before dinner and the bedtime routine begins. A snapshot of any given afternoon might show EDW at the craft table coloring, CCW playing a board game, and NLW reading on the couch. While the weather was still nice, I'd open up the French doors off the playroom and spread a blanket for al fresco fun. My children loved it! 

We've opted for zero extracurriculars other than a weekly family swim on Tuesday afternoons which helps us prioritize down time and play dates the rest of the week. Somehow our eldest child bamboozled us into a new Friday ritual of walking to PCC to purchase something small so the kids can each get a free piece of fruit. Does three weeks in a row count as a ritual? 

As for weekends, most were spent at a birthday party (or two!) but when we weren't enjoying pizza and cake at 11am, we stuck to our tried-and-true staples: parks and playgrounds. Some people sign up for fall soccer, our family signed up for driftwood :) 

2. Full pom pom jars and special activities

Transitions to and from school have been tough, so I've made good use of M&Ms and our pom pom jar to help provide positive reinforcement. Ideally we're filling up that jar once a week and I simply earmark Wednesday for the celebration since our elementary school has early release each Wednesday. We've enjoyed adventuring to see a movie in theaters, experiencing the State Fair, and indulging in a weekday Molly Moon's.

There's also been a flurry of unexpected "firsts"--
- CCW losing his first tooth!
- Painting my children's nails for the first time (I've been able to outsource this in the past haha!)
- Cheering on NLW at his first move-a-thon at school
- NLW's enthusiasm for using the Merlin app and listening/watching for neighborhood birds
- TFW's new hobby—Wing SUPing with the hope to one day wing foil in Puget Sound

3. The magic of October

October is a full and fabulous month for our crew. With four birthdays, a family weekend getaway, plus annual pumpkin patch and Halloween fun, there's a lot to celebrate! Every year the changing leaves surprise me and I'm reminded how fortunate we are to live in a region with vibrant autumnal vibes! We had splendid weather for the majority of the month with a grand finale of a wet and rainy Halloween. That didn't stop us from trick-or-treating and we still ended the night with a pillowcase full of candy!

4. The spice of life
By which I mean time with friends :) 
- Seeing Benson Boone in concert at Climate Pledge Arena with my friend RC

- Attending a listening party for TS12 "The Life of a Showgirl" and making friendship bracelets <3
- Cheering on my friend CL as she inches closer to becoming a family of five—welcoming twins!!!
- Celebrating my friend LW's wedding in Texas, gabbing with KO, and visiting old UT haunts
- My read-along with bookish companions :)

5. All that lies ahead
We have our lineup of traditions this week. On Thanksgiving Day we'll celebrate with our friends A&M for the third year in a row. I'm already craving their delicious air fryer turkey and butternut squash soup! We have Friday to recover before we attend Saturday brunch, cut down a Christmas Tree, and drive to our friend's cabin to attend "Misfit Thanksgiving"! Good thing that’s sandwiched between another weekend day to rest, recoup, and regroup :). 

I'm hoping we'll continue to have a few more blue sky days in December, but I suppose the good news is, if it's raining here, that probably means it's snowing in the mountains. We're attempting to tackle skiing this winter. Wish us all the luck!

When we're not working our way down the bunny slopes, I hope to check out some of these holiday festivities around town:
- 12/13 Pathway of Lights

- 12/13-12/21 Free Ice Skating
- 11/20-12/31 Sheraton Gingerbread Village

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." - George Eliot

- SJW