Thanksgiving 2020

For Thanksgiving this year we headed south to the Connors’. The weather was awesome and they had a beautiful setup in their driveway.

Travelers
Winner of best Thanksgiving driveway.
Luke playing with Rose
Socially-distanced prayer
Dining pods
The Connors
Whipped Cream Accident
The Lieslands

Weekend Wrap-Up

Nutella Bread with Hope
Mari made the bread.
I was in Cincinnati for my Uncle Tom’s funeral.
It was really warm in Des Moines and we don’t have great leaves in our yard, so Susan, Lucia, and Rose made a nice leaf pile at the park.
Lunch after the funeral.
My dad, Chuck, Ken, Ruth Ann, Nancy, and Janet.
Rose and Lucia playing with rocks at the creek.
Their creations. I imagine Susan helped a little with these.
They are their mother’s daughters.
Elliot and Hope enjoying some funeral lunch leftovers.

Beggars Night 2020

They Potato and a French Mime

This evening we celebrated Beggars Night, which is basically Des Moines’ version of trick-or-treating – a night early. We do it this way every year. This year was a little different because of the pandemic, but it worked! There were still plenty of trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood and plenty of people passing out candy – social-distanced, of course. Most people had a treat station in their driveway and were either sitting behind it or just in their house.

Lucia and Rose were our only trick-or-treaters this year. Mari, Andrew, and Elliot stayed home to pass out candy and by the end of the evening we were joined by Mimi, Mary, Casey, Erin, and Nate to hang-out around the fire in our driveway.

First Cross Country Race

Today was the first Cross Country race for Andrew and Mari. Cross Country and Soccer have been lifesavers during the pandemic because they are all outside and it gives the kids a chance to exercise and see their friends. Mari, Andrew, and Elliot are all running this year. Elliot’s first meet isn’t for a couple of weeks.

Mari making her way up the gradual uphill.
The start of the boys’ race.
Andrew on a downhill.

High School Football

No fans at high school football games this year, so we bought season pass to stream the Valley games online. This evening we set up the TV on the deck to enjoy their season opener against Roosevelt.

I am not sure where everyone is at this point.

Cincinnati Fun

We haven’t been to Cincinnati in a year and we have been working hard this summer to find a time to go. A good window presented itself and we made the trip, staying just a few days in Cincinnati. We mostly hung out with my family, except for visiting with the Herrels.

  • Friday Lunch
  • Hair Styling
  • Graeters
  • Susan and Andrew
  • Alex, Miles, and Van

Lucia’s Dance Recital

Lucia took dance this past winter and spring, with everything online during the spring. There was no dance recital, so this evening the Reagens and the Liesses came over for her solo recital. Rose also got in on the action, as well as Mari and Hope, who requested that their video not be added to the blog.