Thanksgiving Holiday

For the Thanksgiving holidays, we had all the kids back home. Alex was home for most of November and December since he wanted to spend a little extra time with Tessa before she left. He works remotely, so he can work from almost anywhere. Jesikah brought her boyfriend, Matt, home to spend Thanksgiving with us too. Jesikah and Matt arrived on the Monday before Thanksgiving and Matt was able to stay until the following weekend. It was fun having a full house. Jesikah stayed until after Christmas since all her classes went online after Thanksgiving. Then she went to Matt's house for about 10 days after Christmas.

The night before Thanksgiving, we had our pie making contest. We started this tradition last year. We split everyone into teams: Micah and Mom, Jes and Matt, Alex and Tessa, and Jarem and Dad. Each team made a pie and then the next day, we voted on the best looking and the best tasting pie. I won't tell you the results yet. Micah and I made an apple pie with caramel drizzle and vanilla ice cream. Jes and Matt made a chocolate silk pie. Alex and Tessa made an Oreo ice cream pie and Eric and Jarem made a pumpkin pie.

Jesikah and Matt's won the best looking. They took a lot of time melting chocolate and creating their design. :) I'm proud to say that Micah and I's won the best taste. I was a little proud of this because this is one of the first time's we have had apple pie for Thanksgiving. (We had it when I was a kid, but not since Eric and I have been married). Usually the kids don't want apple, so the fact that I won meant a lot. :)

One of the other days we decorated sugar cookies! They were yummy!

Jesikah and Matt had a date night to a fancy dinner while here. Jes was pretty sure he was going to propose that night, but he didn't. :) He kept her on the edge of her seat. Haha!

Jes, Matt, and I went to Boone Hall Plantation on one of the days after the boys went back to school and Eric was at work! It has become of of my favorite places to visit this year. It's so beautiful and I love the wagon ride through the property. I think this was the 4th time that I visited it this year. Below is a picture of them on the wagon ride.

Creek next to Boone Hall Plantation

Girl's Night at Lewis BBQ

One of the gals from church has been planning these "Supp Club" nights for ladies who want to get together and try new restaurants. Pre-Covid, it was once a month and we would try a new restaurant each time. There are so many great restaurants in the Charleston area of all different types of food. So much so, that the chain restaurants are not even popular here (except maybe Chick-Fil-A). :) When we lived here before, I used to go to the Supp Club nights and really enjoyed them, so I was excited to go.

Anyway, Valerie has been trying to get Supp Club started again and she is being really careful about finding restaurants where we can dine outside and social distance as much as possible. It's tricky, but I think she has done a great job. Lewis BBQ was a win! I thoroughly enjoyed my night out with these ladies.  The beef brisket was so amazingly tender. Yum!! The food was delicious and the company even better!

I liked it so much, that I took Eric and the boys out a week later and they loved it as well! I loved these luminaries that were hanging down from the Live Oak tree. It made a very nice ambience.

Morning Bike Rides

One thing that I've really enjoyed since moving here is riding my bike. Eric got me a bike for my birthday in April and I've ridden it a lot since then. One blessing of the coronavirus quarantine is that I've had lots of time to ride my bike. I also decided at the beginning of the pandemic that Micah was going to learn to ride a bike too, so Micah and I have gone on lots of bike rides together. We also ride our bikes to Micah's school most mornings. We've had a lot of good times together.

But sometimes, I like to ride alone early in the morning after I drop Micah off for school. I like to ride around the neighborhood and near the lake. It just feels me with peace and gratitude and gives me clarity of thought. On these mornings, as the sun is rising, sometimes I get off my bike and just ponder or pray for a little bit right here on this bench if no one is around. I'm so grateful for the beautiful world that we live in.

 

Flag Retakes

I took a few more picture of Tessa with her missionary tag and the German flag (the correct way) with the black stripe on top. It was fun to use my nice camera and feel like a real photographer for a few minutes. Haha!

Alex's 25th Birthday!

 We decided to celebrate Alex's 25th birthday at the Mellow Mushroom pizza place. He loves pizza and especially the unlimited refills on soda! Even Tessa got a break from her missionary training to come along. After dinner, we played his favorite game, Smash-Up, with the new expansion pack he got for his birthday. It was a fun night.

Home MTC with Tessa

 A few days before Tessa started her home MTC, we went around our neighborhood and took a few pictures of her. We posted a few on Facebook and someone commented that she was holding the German flag upside down (yikes). So we went back out a few days later and tried again. 

On the evening of November 10, President Powell came over to our house and set Tessa apart as a missionary. November 11, at 6:30am, she started her missionary training. I enjoyed having a friend in the morning while I was getting Micah ready for school. It was truly a joy having her home during her MTC. I know it was a little hard for her at times when Micah danced in front of the glass office doors during her Zoom classes and the whole class saw him or when Alex begged her to play "Smash-Up" (his new card game) when she had studying to do or classes to complete.

Other sisters in her mission on Zoom.

A Blessing for Munroe!

 After going to the temple with Tessa on Thursday, we spent the day on Friday with James and RaTray and took them to the Boone Hall Plantation. I let Micah skip school so he could spend time with his cousin, Kaleb. They had a good time at the plantation. They especially loved collecting pecans under the pecan trees and trying to crack them open. We had fun playing games together on Friday night with our kids and James and RaTray.

I guess I only got one picture at Boone Hall. This is a picture of the ripe cotton that used to be one of their main crops on the plantation.

Saturday morning, we got up bright and early and headed to Alabama for the blessing of Kyle and Jessica's new baby, Munroe. Our older kids didn't want to go on the long road trip (9 hours each way) so we only took Micah. He was excited to see his cousins.

We enjoyed driving through the Smoky Mountains and seeing the fall colors. Even though it was a very long drive for such a short time with them, it was worth it. They will be moving back to Germany in a few months, so it was great to see them. We got there Saturday evening and stayed until Sunday around 1pm. We enjoyed a nice church service at home with their family and got to be there for cute Munroe's blessing. I especially enjoyed cuddling and holding Munroe every chance I got. He is a sweet and cuddly little guy! Kyle and Jess definitely have their hands full with these 5 boys!!

Going to the Temple with Tessa

On November 5, Tessa went through the temple for the first time in Columbia, SC! Due to Covid, the numbers were very limited of people for who could attend. But also due to Covid, she got her very own personal temple session with only friends and family. It was pretty special. Alex came down from DC to share this time with her. My brother and his wife (James and RaTray) came up from Orlando to spend the day with us also. Also, Bishop Smith and Kristy Smith came. It was a beautiful sunny day and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Afterwards, we ate lunch at Cracker Barrel. 

Tessa would be starting the online MTC on November 11 (which was also Alex's birthday). Since Alex works remotely anyway, he decided to come and spend all of November and December here with us and spend a little more time with Tessa before she left and his birthday and the holidays.