Our neighborhood isn’t ideal for trick-or-treating. There are only seven houses, including ours, and they’re a bit spread out. So we opted to go to Luray and trick-or-treat on Main Street. Luray’s trick-or-treating was on Saturday, October 30, which was perfect for our family. David was a robot; Brooke a unicorn princess; Drew a skeleton. It was drizzling rain the entire time we trick-or-treated, but the kids didn’t seem to mind. Brooke fell asleep minutes after we got back to the car after trick-or-treating, which was surprising for Brooke. Clearly it tired her out haha.

We were home for Thanksgiving this year. On the years when we’re home, we like to go out to dinner on the eve of Thanksgiving. My brother Trevor, sister Melissa, and friend Keri joined us for dinner. Afterwards, we like to walk around and look at the Christmas decorations. Melissa and Keri also joined us for Thanksgiving. They made some delicious food for the meal. John did a great job with the Turkey and pecan pie. I was in charge of rolls, stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and chocolate banana cream pie. The kids and I also created the centerpieces. Sadly, I didn’t get a picture of those.

I’m playing catch-up here, so I’m doing a Halloween and Thanksgiving combo post.

Halloween 2020

David has been alive for four Halloweens but has yet to go real trick-or-treating. His first Halloween, he was only two weeks old. His second Halloween, he had just turned one and couldn’t walk. His third Halloween, there was a terrible thunderstorm. And this year there was a pandemic.

We still tried to make it a fun Halloween. The kids wore their costumes all day long. Brooke was a ghost and David was a train conductor. My brother/his fiancé (now wife), sister, and friend Keri brought candy to our house. David and Brooke rang our doorbell over and over. Each time, a different person opened the door and gave them candy.

After we put Brooke down to bed, we lit up our fire pit and roasted hot dogs and made s’mores. We let David stay up late and hang out with us. He made it to about 9 p.m. and then fell asleep sitting in John’s lap. It was a fun Halloween!

Thanksgiving 2020

We had a small but lovely Thanksgiving. Normally we like to head to Reston Town Center the night prior to Thanksgiving for dinner and to see all the Christmas decorations. Because of the pandemic, we decided to skip that tradition. Instead we drove to a rural Virginia gas station, where they sell Godfather’s Pizza (one of John’s favorite chains), and picked up a couple of pizza’s to go.

On Thanksgiving day, the weather was warmer than I expected. We spent the morning outside in the backyard with the kids. After we came back inside, John and I spent a good part of the day cooking. John ended up cooking more than I did, and I didn’t mind that one bit! After dinner, we made fleece tie blankets for children in need and then played virtual games with my family in Utah before indulging in pies.

One funny Thanksgiving note I mentioned in my last post… David thinks Thanksgiving is the turkey’s birthday. It was fun to ask him all day, “What’s today?” and he’d respond by saying, “Turkey’s birthday.”