Christmas traditions in quarantine

 Distance learning started Thanksgiving week, so we spent a lot more time at home during the Christmas season.  We visited Santa outside and picked out our Christmas tree at Cedar Brook Garden Center:

We made cinnamon and caramel rolls, since we weren't traveling to Iowa for Christmas:

Norah did Sunday school from home, and even recorded her songs for the Christmas program at home for the virtual program:

We made Christmas cookies to share with neighbors:

We still made gingerbread houses, but since we weren't getting together with Dave's parents in person, we had to do it virtually:

The Elf on the Shelf came, and Norah was very excited to write it notes:

Thanksgiving

 We had a low-key Thanksgiving at my parents' house.  Norah learned how to play chess with my dad, the girls discovered my dad's stash of extra post-it chart paper and played school, Abby did some baking with my sister, and Norah helped set up my mom's Christmas village.  We also enjoyed a feast of delicious foods!

Connor

 On November 16th on my way to work in the morning, I stopped to get gas and noticed my mom was calling.  I was devastated to hear from her that my cousin Connor had been killed in a car accident.  We were able to celebrate his life with family and his friends in Iowa the next week, and it was a beautiful service, but felt so unfair that we had to be doing this for someone who had only lived 21 years.  We will always treasure the memories that we have of spending time with Connor, especially when he would come up and stay with us for a week during the summers when he was younger.  He was so sweet with the girls, and really like an older brother to them.  Connor will be forever missed.  

Halloween 2020

 This year, the girls and I took a trip down to Iowa to visit my grandmas and pick out pumpkins from my uncle's pumpkin patch.

It was the first Halloween where Abby was invited to trick or treat with her friend Kira, instead of walking around our neighborhood.  They had a blast dressing up as Stitch and hitting up neighborhoods in New Prague. 

My parents were able to spend the evening with us, and Norah and my dad had fun dressing up together.  Norah had fun trick-or-treating, but also wanted to make it home in time to answer the door for trick-or-treaters at our house.