Thanksgiving. We had big plans to visit family. To see people from both mine and Rachel's side. To be in the car for over 24 hours- though not all at the same time. To eat, drink, and be merry. 

And then we got sick. Not like, super sick. But sick enough that between the driving and the potential for us to spread the bug, we started second guessing our plans. But seriously- what are family gatherings for, if not to spread disease? That has always been the case, right? 

It was a tough decision. In the end, however, we canceled our arrangements, feeling a little bit guilty about doing so, but also feeling a little bit excited about the prospects for a holiday on our own. Thinking back, I do not think I have ever, in my life, spent a Thanksgiving without extended family (with the exception of my time in Brazil). It would be a new thing, and we weren't going to let a little sickness get us down. Just pack a couple of boxes of Sudafed and we're good to go.

As is usual with posts like these, picture captions seem the best format for telling the small stories that follow.

This picture has very little to do with Thanksgiving, but the moment was too good to pass up. Ev has become quite the music buff- especially in relation to the early underground punk scene. I will sometimes try to find obscure songs just to see if she can identify the band. That was the context of the photo.

That night over dinner I mentioned a song that came up on my playlist. I had never before heard it, and I listen to a lot of the same music that she does (or is it vice versa?). Anyway- Ev just looked at me and rolled her eyes. She then digs into her pocket, pulls out a sticker that she just happened to have in her pocket, and throws it down on the table.

Mic drop.

The sticker, of course, was for the band that played my song.

Okay- on to more festive things. This is a day of gingerbread house building with kids and their friends.

The weather has been really nice around here, and we had to take advantage of it with a little bit of hiking. We actually have started doing the  geocache thing. They provide nice destination points and it's kind of fun looking for them.

More hiking

Thanksgiving dinner was super easy. Less than an hour of prep- plenty of food for everyone, and just enough leftovers for lunch the next day. 

We made all the things- though many of them stretch the meaning of home-cooked dinner. I don't think I will ever do Thanksgiving the same again.

Hair dye party

There are a few things going on in this picture that I just don't understand. Let's start with Lindsey's glasses. She doesn't wear glasses. She doesn't need glasses. I have no idea where she got these glasses. But lately she has decided that they are a thing. Second- the crutches. Like with the glasses, nobody in our family needs crutches. In fact, I'm pretty sure that we all did a three mile hike/trail run earlier on this same day. That doesn't stop the crutches from being used constantly though. So weird. And then finally- what is going on with Jackson's feet and the hair ties? Kids are weird. That is all.

We spent a day at the water park at Silver Mountain Resort. Fun times.

The first of many ski pictures this year. We were all so excited to be going up on this day. This season sort of has a soft opening: Technically the resort is open, but for now it's just the beginner run. We are still waiting on more snow for any real skiing to happen. It was also a good chance for us to go up and test our systems and gear.

Gotta' love the magic carpet

Even though the angle was pretty low we managed to find a few side hits to play around on.

Yes, he landed it. Not the prettiest little shifty, but not bad I guess for his first day out.

Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the resort. We spent most of the time gathered around the fire as a family, telling stories and just looking forward to a wonderful winter season.

After church on Sunday we went to Higgens Point to watch the eagles. On a good day you can spot dozens of bald eagles fishing or eating in this area and it is fun to just sit and watch the show. I don't think I'll ever get tired of living here.

Have a good week!

We woke up yesterday morning to a blanket of new snow on the ground. Though it had all melted by the end of the day, it caused me to reflect a little bit on changing seasons. How each one is beautiful, and difficult to say goodbye to, but how exciting it is to look to the future. I love the fall. I love the colors and the chill and the smells and the ideal weather for outdoor activity. I love the flavors, and the sound of crisp leaves underfoot. I love how the whole world looks like someone dialed up the saturation knob by a few degrees, and how my body feels fresh and ready and energized just by breathing in the air. Fall is beautiful, and remains my favorite season.

But so is winter. Our family is all so, SO excited for ski season to start. Seriously, it can't come soon enough. I love quiet mornings, made reverent by darkness and new snow and hot drinks. I love the bite of cold air on my face when it is the only part of me left exposed. I love watching football or listening to a live band in a cozy restaurant while heavy flakes drop from the sky. I love the sound of wind and ice hitting the windows during a storm, and the smell of woodsmoke in the air. 

I could go on- but I feel like I am talking about more than an annual cycle here. Seasons of our lives seem to be a thing as well. And as with the weather, it is good to look back with fondness at the past. To be able to say, "I'm glad it happened," while at the same time being able to say "I'm glad it's over." Or to look forward eagerly to the next thing, while still loving where you are at.

One might think that with an introduction like that I have some big, season-changing announcement to make. I don't. We are in a great "season" right now that can take as much time as it wants. It's lovely, and there is at least one day a week that I feel like I just want to hold on forever to what we have. 

I was just thinking. That is all.

As for our recent activities, we haven't been "busy" lately as much as "engaged." Rachel interpreted a play that she has spent a long time preparing for (she did a great job). I went to study club and did my thing there. Kids have been spending lots of time with friends and with school things. Rachel and I have been more engaged with our church (after 9 years the two of us became official members). We already have a few different holiday gatherings on the books with different friend groups, and we have some fun plans for ski vacations. This last couple of weekends we spent time up in Wallace making sure everything is ready at the house for when the snow comes. I imagine it will get used more in the next few months than it has lately.

This next week is Thanksgiving and I feel like we have a lot to be grateful for. Like I mentioned above, things are really lovely right now. We still aren't a hundred percent sure of our plans for the holiday, but whatever we end up doing I'm sure we will create some memories along the way.

For now, I'll just drop some pictures here and sign out with my usual salutation: 

Have a good week!

Addy played in a big "Gathering of the Bands" concert at the college. This is the best picture I could get of her.

Random picture, but I need this in here because it is a nightly event. I ask our kids to brush their teeth. I go in afterwards, and see an entire collection of unrelated objects on the counter. I have no idea what they are doing in there.

This is from a play we went and saw. A Christmas Story. Yes, it is that time of year. Rach did a great job.

Just hanging out at the Wallace place

These next few are also from Wallace. After going out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants we had a twilight "skate under the bridge." It was actually a lot of fun.

It's over a week late, but I thought I should do a quick post here about Halloween. Holidays change as a family grows up and this one is no exception. All the kids had costumes, but were out almost exclusively with friends in the evening (I never went outside all night). Rach and I stayed home and handed out candy. We had carved jack-o-lanterns the night before, but it seemed almost like a formality- a fun activity, but without the gravitas of "tradition" that normally accompanies the occasion. As for spooky house decorations, we took some boxes down from the garage shelves but never got any further than that. Nobody wanted to take the time to actually distribute the items that were in them. They are still sitting our our garage floor- ready to be put back into place until next year.

None of this is sad to me. I've always been a little resistant to doing things simply for tradition's sake, and the natural aging and growth of a family seems to necessitate such changes. But it really stood out to me on that night, as Rachel and I just sat on the couch talking, that our "little kids" aren't so little any more. Maybe that is why I like hanging out with them more now ;)

Anyway- here are some pictures. Have a good week!

We all went downtown Coeur d'Alene as a family before splitting into our different friend groups. That is where these pictures came from. Evelyn and some of her friends dressed up as sheet ghosts. She stayed in CDA for most of the night with them.

Lindsey is a character from Harry Potter. Ginny? Hermione? I'm not totally sure. Her best friend came and hung out at our house for a while, and then the two of them hit the streets on their own. I don't think candy was really the objective for this one, as she gave almost all of her haul away to either other members of our family, or trick-or-treaters that came to our door. 

Addy is dressed up as Sophie Foster. I have no idea who that is supposed to be. It's from a book that she likes. Addy's best friend had a costume from another character in the same book, and those two nerds went to a different neighborhood in Post Falls and probably brought in more candy than anyone else.

I don't know what Jackson was. I don't think he knows either. He got this electronic mask from Amazon that he controls with a phone, so the face was constantly changing. He paired that with a cape, and like, a million coats, and became a fat, caped, masked....person? At the beginning part of the night he went out by himself, and then a little later hooked up with a friend for more trick-or-treating.

Maren was a stick figure. It worked pretty well once it got dark. She had a friend from school come over and hang out at the house before and after their candy run. She didn't have as much candy as others, but somehow seemed to come away with all the good stuff- king sized candy bars and the like. Also, after the neighborhood had quieted down, she had the great idea to go out again (to different houses) where she said people were just dumping all their leftovers into her bag.