November visitors & fun!

We've been thankful that in the midst of our move we've had a small list of things to look forward to which has helped to curb our home/friend-sickness a bit. After my parents visit, we had Jason's Mom come through (twice!) on her way to/from Minnesota, we had our own trip to Nebraska, then Halloween, plus a visit from Idaho friends and now this week looking forward to Thanksgiving.

Marilyn was here only for a short visit, but of course we managed to do a lot during out time together.  We hiked around Sylvan Lake (in the snow!) & visited Custer State Park. We tried to see Mt. Rushmore, but it was completely covered in clouds/fog...but we DID get to see some mountain goats instead :)

 

Then it was time for a neighborhood walk, a story with the kids and saying our goodbyes --

In between Marilyn's visits, we celebrated a sweet Halloween with the kids. A morning trick-or-treat at the library and an evening one in the nearby historic district -- West Blvd. We were very thankful to have hand-me-down costumes from the kids cousins!

Then just last week we had some special friends stop in for dinner on their road trip to Minnesota/Iowa. I have been thankful for Gretchen ever since she popped in on me at our Priest Lake trailer 2 1/2 years ago to say hi. Her son Connor is Luke's age and we had a great summer with them at Priest Lake. With her parents living in Moscow, we got to continue to see them on a regular basis; and lucky for us they also have family to the East, so we get to continue to see them even with our move!

This year I managed to get a "thankful tree" put up -- something my friend Rachel does every year & inspired me to do. It has been a good activity for all of us and reminder of the incredible blessings we live with every day.  Our "thankful leaves" are going up, onto the tree instead of falling off :) The tree getting fuller everyday is a nice visual reminder of all we have.