Deck the Halls

 It was such a fun time decorating the house/tree today! Doug does an amazing job outside and Evelyn and Matthew are such great helpers to me inside. 

There was lots of silliness from these cuties for sure!

This Little People Nativity STILL brings joy to the kids. They set it up, play with it, and laugh and tell stories. 13 years strong. I love it!

Quick break to watch the Ducks play!

They love putting ornaments on the tree (and Evelyn is so great helping me with lights). And they actually are really good at spacing out the ornaments and mixing it up. 

It turned out so pretty!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

EDIT:

 My sister sent the kids special ornaments this year (they came the day after we decorated) with a sweet note and new tradition. The kids were excited. They are so fortunate to have their Aunt Michelle!!

Christmas Tree Hunt 2020

 Last year we struggled to find our Christmas Tree. During that process we found our new favorite tree farm, Schmidlin Tree Farm. We were excited to go back there today and we found the perfect tree! Tree hunting day is one of my favorite days of the year, and today was no exception.

These cuties are ready to head out!

Our yearly "on the tailgate putting boots on" photo, a little different this year as masks were required at the entry to the tree farm.

We love this silly photo op!

My three favorites....

The first tree we saw was the tree we got! Seriously.. that never happens! It was just perfect!

Evelyn practicing her pole vaulting skills while the boys cut down the tree...haha!

I supervised...haha!

Matthew was a big help this year!

Getting baled and ready to load!

We grabbed McMenamins take out for lunch and enjoyed yummy burgers and tots when we got home.

A very successful tree hunt... and probably the quickest one we have ever had..haha!

Thanksgiving 2020

Happy Thanksgiving!

Due to COVID, we know the holidays are going to look different and we are trying to embrace them with joy nonetheless. Thanksgiving was a little different but we still enjoyed our day. 

We have spent time with my mom and her husband during the past 8 months, as we both have been taking similar precautions and COVID safely measures. But due the the uptick in new cases and the fact that we would be indoors (we were thankful for a lovely summer and early fall that we could spend time with them mostly outdoors) I still was concerned, mostly for their safely. Evelyn and Matthew REALLY wanted to spend Thanksgiving with more than just us four. So much so that they gave up seeing our "bubble friends" and doing other things for two weeks so we could be as safe as possible spending the holiday with them. We all pretty much self quarantined at home other than doing essential errands for two weeks just to be safe. I am thankful we are in a position to do that with the kids doing online school and Doug working from home. 

We ended up having a lovely time with my mom and Doug. Here is a few photos from the day...

Morning walk with Matthew... good for both of us!

The kids headed to the garage to get in the car when it was time to go to my mom's. Doug and I came out a few moments later and found this... haha!! It's crazy to think that in five years BOTH kids will have their driver's license!!

A bad "us-ie"...one day I will learn how to do better at this!

Doug making cosmo's..

...they were delish!

One of several desserts for the evening. We ate VERY well today!

Playing chess while dinner was finishing up...

Mom's pretty table

These two... such great and gracious hosts. They both worked hard to make an amazing meal. 

Sadly I didn't take more photos.. but we thoroughly enjoyed our time with my mom and are thankful for time with them... and thankful for all that the Lord has blessed us with. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Go-Kart Fun

Our church did a middle school youth group Go-Kart event today. It was super fun and done very safely. Evelyn enjoyed time with her friends and racing around the church parking lot. 

So thankful for these friends!

..and for Nick, the girls' youth group leader. He's fantastic. 

Also... if you notice, that's Matthew on a go-kart in the background of this photo. We had actually brought HIS helmet along just in case Evelyn maybe needed something more substantial than her bike helmet. Nick asked he if wanted to take a few laps.. and of course Matthew said YES! 

It was a fun afternoon until the rain came and we had to end about 15 minutes early Still fun, tho, and I am thankful for activities to keep the kids busy during this time. 

Halloween 2020

 Another Holiday.. still in quarantine due to the COVID pandemic. Doug and I felt strongly that trick-or-treating was not in the cards for safety concerns. Even tho the kids are old enough to understand, it still was hard for them, Matthew especially. We still wanted to make Halloween fun for them, even in this time (and even tho I am not a huge halloween fan). We ended up teaming up with our dear friends the Stenehjem's (who are in our COVID bubble) and gave the kids what we hope will be a Hallween to remember!

One thing I talked to the kids about is besides making it a fun day for them, I wanted them to think of helping to make it special for others, too. My BFF Jody suggested a "trick or tree" on our tree on the corner of our front yard. It was a perfect start to get the juices flowing for Evelyn and Matthew and they created a fun and safe Halloween for our neighborhood. 

Creating and filling bags with candy to hang on the tree

My artist Evelyn starting her amazing creation, with the help of Matthew and Cannon 

Evelyn wasn't into carving a pumpkin this year, but Matthew was..

I think this is the first year I didn't have to get the guts out of the kids' pumpkins!! YAY!!

Evelyn's AMAZING sign coming to life. She is so talented!

Our evening started with me taking all the kids to Rocket Fizz... a local candy store. It is full of fun candy and soda. The kids each picked some treats and we headed home.

When we got home, I put pizza in the oven and we all went out to get the tree ready. 

The final product.. SO good!

We weren't sure how much people would be out trick or treating, so we made as many bags as we thought we would need. When we returned home from the Stenehjem's (keep reading for more on that) there were NO bags left! SO happy we got to bless so many kiddos tonight!

After dinner we headed back over the Jenn's (The Stenehjem momma) and she had big fire in her drivelway fire pit and had created an elaborate story/scavenger hunt/adventure outside that was amazing and creative. The kids had to work together and do silly things in order to find their way to the treasure. They all had so much fun!

The TREASURE!! It was full of candy and they all got a large bag of it to take home. 

It may not have been "normal" but I'd say it was one of the best Halloween's the kids have had. So thankful for creative and thoughtful kids and creative friends!

Happy Halloween!