Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving and the day following were both restful and relaxing for us this year.  We spent some time with friends, a lot of time playing games and doing puzzles at home, Rooke and Gretchen played in the snow a lot, we ate plenty of good food, and ventured out on Friday evening for the downtown Christmas tree lighting.  

Our Thanksgiving tree was full of thankful leaves!

Thanksgiving started out with apple spice waffles for breakfast and saying hello to family on FaceTime.

We joined with friends for a big Thanksgiving feast on Thursday afternoon.  We brought creole cornbread stuffing, a can of smooth cranberry sauce, and sweet potato pie.  There was so much food! And plenty of good conversation to go around.

On Friday, I made a smaller version of a Thanksgiving dinner (stuffing not pictured) for just the five of us to enjoy together at home (which also meant we could have leftovers!).  We pulled out the Christmas boxes, turned up the carols, and enjoyed just hanging out together. 

Most of the shops on Main Street in downtown Minot are locally owned and had open house activities for Black Friday.  We skipped out on the shopping, but headed down in time to get some free pizza and hot chocolate and then join with everyone to count down the Christmas tree lighting.  It was cold, but fun.

Embracing the Cold

It's cold in Minot.  

C.O.L.D.

And people who have been here longer are quick to remind me it will only get colder.  Winter is my least favorite season.  Truth be told, I'd probably be okay with just repeating Spring, Summer, and Fall and skipping Winter all together.  But here we are.  So I've quickly learned that on days when the wind isn't as strong and the sun is shining, playing outside is a must!  The kids were game, so we busted out all our winter gear today.

Snow pants, boots, hats, gloves, coat . . . in that order.  

(Don't worry, grandmas . . . Bridgette has a more substantial winter coat that was still drying on the rack inside)

They lasted about thirty minutes, but it was beautiful!  And once our waterproof gloves arrive next week, it's game on!  I'm ready to show this winter who's boss.  (I think.  It's me, right?)

Phone Photos from October

The girls and our fun friend, Henry, gave me a makeover. =)

My simple project for a ladies craft night.  

Rooke with his soccer medal, certificate, and great coach at the team party

Rooke and I made this delicious cake, which ended up being too good not to share.  So we took an evening walk to share cake with some neighbors.

We spent a perfect Fall day walking through Oak Park.

Someone got a hold of my phone!

The Birthday Boy

The kids' table at the local Art Fest.

Practicing their ninja moves!

The Heavens declare the Glory of God! 

It's fun to run into friends when out for a walk!

I've thought about this moment often since becoming a mom and it happened for the first time this month: quietly reading in the same room as my children (he was actually reading the words, not just looking at pictures!).  It was a wonderful twenty minutes. =)

She asked me to take her picture with the "England flag".  We haven't forgotten you over there!

A wonderful late-night conversation with my love while he was away for two weeks at a training course.

Happy faces after our stroller fit exercise class

The library is my friend.  We hang out together about once a week.

Pumpkin-shaped pizza!

We raided our dress-up box quickly and hit our neighborhood loop to trick-or-treat.  Look at that stash after only about twenty houses!

Before bed, they were still checking out the loot.  Rooke said, "Let's get containers so we can organize our candy!"  Such sweet music to my ears =)

Post-dinner Pre-bedtime shenanigans:

Sweet boy singing the last verse of our October hymn: