November 2020

There are just a few photos from November. I think we were busy with just the usual work and school. Kids continue to do virtual school in AM and in-person school in PM. Jordon made the  Pleasant Hill middle school basketball team and has had practice most days after school. Don is the assistant coach again this year for Belton middle school, and he also has practices every day after school. We had signed Tristan up for indoor soccer, but then decided to cancel as we learned they were going to require masks while playing; Tristan didn't want to play with a mask and I got to thinking about how the place where they play is not that big, as Jordon did a season of indoor soccer at the same place. So with COVID-19 cases rising, we just cancelled out of Tristan's indoor soccer. We didn't sign him up for basketball this year, because we thought it would be too much to manage with everyone's other sport schedules. But later we kind of wish we would have, as he enjoys playing and now does not have a sport to play since we cancelled soccer. It's hard to know the right thing to do. We like to let the boys play because they enjoy it and it's good for their health to stay active and limit time on electronics, but this stupid COVID pandemic has really thrown a wrench in everything. 

We did not get together with Mom and the Kirchhoff family in an attempt to limit risk of COVID spreading in our family, especially with Mom. Everyone is concerned about her getting it and we  haven't seen her in person for some time, trying to keep her safe. But it's a change for sure and everyone misses the family celebrations. We did Thanksgiving at home with just our immediate family. It was still very nice. Love that our church sent the kids some "thankful" cards so we can draw a few at a time and talk about things we are thankful for. Also glad to be a part of a church that delivers Thanksgiving dinners to people in need. We did that again this year and enjoyed it; I think we will make it an annual tradition. Good way to teach the kids about giving to others. Last year we only got 3 boxes to give out, and the kids said "we need more boxes" so this year we asked for more, and got 5 to deliver. Two of the families were not home, but we were able to find 2 others in Pleasant Hill to be able to bless with the groceries. 

Jordon playing an end of fall season tournament with 643 KC

Tristan had an opportunity to join with some kids from other Pleasant Hill teams to play a soccer tournament at the Overland Park complexes.

Table set for Thanksgiving dinner, including Grandma's bowl for mashed potatoes

Tristan and Jordon joined together with gift cards from Aunt Sharon and Uncle Dale and Megan and bought a hoverboard. There have been a few crashes with learning to adapt but they enjoy riding it.

Got our tree up early, at the end of November this year! Very cozy and pretty.

Tristan and I went to the back of the property to dump old pumpkins and leave them for the wildlife. He went out exploring around the creek for a bit while we were there.