Pepper Update

I would be remiss if I didn’t include some of the best of Pepper for this month.  Here are some of his best looks…

The “stare down and follow every bite you take” look

    

The “you finally wore me out with that hike” look

The “I’m right here, just reach down and pet me” look

The “I am just as tired as you” look

The “I stole this towel, but no one seems to care, so here I lay” look

The “thanks for petting me” look

He is never far from people – at this exact moment, he is licking the bottom of my slipper for reasons unknown to me.  He is usually fairly well-behaved, except when he isn’t… then he is stealing a kitchen towel, climbing on the back of a couch to reach an out-of-reach thing, climbing on a table, getting on an office chair to get a pen, or discovering a misplaced sock.  He is desperate for attention.  He is always up for a ride or a walk.  He definitely doesn’t like when someone disturbs him from his nap; he grumbles and groans.  He is what he is.  We describe him as a moody teenager.

Thanksgiving Break

This was unlike other Thanksgiving breaks.  Not in the length – it was still 5 days long.  Not in the food – still had turkey, mashed potatoes, and the fixin’s.  But in the activity.

There was no in person Thanksgiving Day Auction at Salem.  The first time in probably more than 100 years.  (Although I should check with the church historians about that!)

There was no gathering of the Edigers.  The first time in as long as I can remember. 

There was no Bricker get together for the leftover ham.  Man, I love Marianne’s ham!

But it was good.  And I still had a lot to be thankful for. 

We had a meal with Gloria purchased from Village Catering in Smithville.  Their Easter meal was so delicious, we decided to do it again.  We went over to her place on Wednesday evening for the meal.  The girls had worked all day on a short Thanksgiving skit for us to perform for her.  It was a great memory.  Here is a video of it.

    

Thursday, my mom and dad dropped off turkey, sweet potato casserole, homemade bread, and pb pie and pumpkin dessert.  We feasted at lunch.

Ellie, Jeremy, and I went on a walk in the afternoon while Madison chose to stay home and read a book. 

We watched the movie Free Birds to end the night.

On Friday, we drove south to Blackhand Gorge.  It was a longer drive than I remembered, but the area is beautiful.  We hiked for about 4 miles and had a great time.

            

We stopped at the Great Circle Earthworks, which were built by Native American moundbuilders.  It was pretty cool when you think of the expanse of the whole thing.  It wasn’t really captured well on camera.  But also the fact they have been around for centuries.  History.

    

Saturday and Sunday were pretty chill days.  And I did not complain.  I kinda enjoyed the slow, laid-back feel of the break, even while missing the people. 

Birthday and Fun Days

Grandma Yoh celebrated her birthday this month.  Ellie and Madison made it special by decorating and gathering some gifts for her.

         

We had her over for Million Dollar Chicken with mashed potatoes.  We had fresh baked cookie sundaes with ice cream, chocolate or caramel syrup, and homemade whipped cream.  It was a gift for all of us!  We were even joined by the Minnesota Yohs for awhile!

We had a couple other fun days mixed in this month.  It started with a short spa day…

Then, a cousin sleepover – talking, playing, reading The Book with No Pictures, sleeping in the same room, making breakfast (coffee cake and eggs), and having fun.  But the only picture I got was the “put makeup on a friend while blindfolded” challenge.  (I think they added to the results because their faces are simply terrifying!)

While they woke up from their sleepover, I took off for the annual Girls Christmas Shopping Trip.  It is a highlight every year.  I am sure knocking out some Christmas gifts helps, but mostly it is nice to just hang out together, laugh, and talk.  We need to get together just to be together at other times throughout the year.  We found a $600 llama and got a little bit cramped with all our purchases in the van.

         

Madison and Ellie are both in Jr. Missionaries at church.  They were able to gather outside to decorate some pumpkins during this month. 

    

Random October Photos

Ellie had to take her first round of state tests this month.  In the third grade they do things to help the kids feel encouraged each year.  In the fall testing, they have the 2nd graders work on writing letters of encouragement.  Ellie got one from one of her friends from church!

Every fall we have a Kindness Week where we dress up to themes of kindness.  On Friday of the week, it was Character Day.  Ellie had a book character project she needed to present, so she was Fern from Charlotte’s Web with her pig, Wilbur.  I went as Napoleon Dynamite (a character from the movie of the same name).  This outfit was recognized by only a handful of kids, so I had the privilege of showing them clips from the movie.  (This is probably the best, and most accurate, costume of my life.)  Madison went as Little Red Riding Hood and Pepper was the Wolf.  (He was only a prop and was not allowed to go to school with her…)

     

One Friday night, I brought pizza home after helping my parents with the leaves.  Madison and Ellie surprised Jeremy and I with a movie theatre experience to go with the pizza.  We had to buy our tickets, check in, and proceed to the theatre downstairs to watch Over the Moon on Netflix.  (This is a really cute movie, by the way.)  It was a nice surprise.

Pepper continues to be a part of our life – pampered with petting and begging to be petted are his main to modes.  And sometimes the begging for attention takes a much more passive aggressive approach where he steals anything not nailed down – socks, kitchen towels, recycled paper, etc – and then taunts you with it.  It is great… (please hear the sarcasm in that last statement)  He does have more good moments than annoying ones, so that’s good.

    

The world around us is always worth noting.  The faint double rainbow brought us a reminder of God’s promises one day when it rained while it was sunny.  So fun.  The moon was full and bright on Halloween.  Jeremy spent some time gazing at it with his spotting scope.  God is amazing.

    

Happy Halloween

Every time I type the word Halloween, I sing the song I learned in elementary school “H-A-double L-O-W-double E-N spells Halloween!”

Anyway.

We weren’t sure what was going to happen with Halloween this year.  We wanted to let the girls trick-or-treat if that was an option and was a safe environment.  Typically, we would head to trunk or treat at Living Water near us.  It is a fun time, but usually pretty crowded.  So, I wasn’t sure about that option.  However, I saw they were still hosting it, and they said they were going to socially distance, so I thought, Let’s give it a try and see what it’s like. 

It was perfect.  The weather was nice, which definitely helped.  They had the decorated trunks spaced apart from one another.  Then, they let families in one by one to allow distance.  I thought it went really well.

Ellie had wanted to be a unicorn.  We stumbled on this unicorn blanket when we were shopping for winter clothes and decided we could make that her costume. 

Madison was going to be a person from the medieval times, but when I came upstairs to help out, she was a bunny rabbit.  It was a cute and creative outfit. 

We invited Grandma Yoh to join us, and the candy collecting began. 

    

The candy sorting happened after we got home.  It should last us awhile!

It was a good night.  I so much enjoy the effort people put into decorating their trunk into themes.  They are always unique and creative.  I don’t think I’ve seen the same group repeat the idea yet.  So, a shout out to those folks at Living Water willing to do this!

Ramseyer Farms

We weren’t planning on going.  We had a lot of busy weekends, and it just felt like one more thing.  So, we didn’t even look into it.

Then, on the last day of the season, we got a text from friends of ours.  They said they had prepurchased tickets and wouldn’t be able to use it.  They wondered if we would be able to use them. 

And while there are always things that you need to get done on a Saturday – one of your only free days – you set that aside, and you say “Yes.” 

And your kids cheer!

We invited Grandma Yoh to join us, as is tradition, and she was able to come, too. 

It was not too crowded, and it was as fun as it is always is for both the kids and adults. 

We played tic-tac-toe, brain game with pegs, and the wall game.  We visited the goats and the rabbits.  We did the corn slide, the hamster wheel, and the rat races.

      

And we did the small corn maze … I think in the next year or two we would like to try the big maze.  They estimate it takes about 45 minutes, and the girls just weren’t that into it this year.  We looked for clues in the small maze before finding our way out.

There was a great picture spot that we took advantage of

        

And then the fun really began with the corn barn!  Oh, man.  I love this.  It is is like a leg workout combined with a foot massage.  It is amazing. 

        

We headed out of the barn to the tire playground.  This was an addition in the last two or so years, and the girls really enjoy scampering around. 

              

We did the tire swings, the big slides, the tractor pull (a new feature this year), the pedal races (look at that photo finish!), the potato slingshot, wrangling cattle, and made our way back to the start to grab something to eat.

         

It was a gorgeous day – full of sunshine, but still a crisp, fall day.  And we are so thankful to our friends for thinking of us.