October to December 2023

October 2023

Lincoln Sunken Gardens

Carol went over to the Sunken Gardens in Lincoln to do some walking and enjoyed looking at the beautiful flowers and koi ponds.

Dad’s Pottery Sale

Nate’s Dad is a former Art teacher and in his retirement continues to make pottery for sales. His Dad hadn’t had a sale in quite some time due to Covid and other things going on, but eventually had a pottery sale in October. Nate and Carol and the kids went down to take a look and spend some time visiting. As it turns out, one of Nate’s Aunt and Uncles and Cousins showed up too. And soon after, Nate’s brother and his family stopped by as well, so it was a miniature family reunion. Nate made friends with his Aunt and Uncle’s dog, Beau.

RV Trip to Lawrence, KS

The family made a trip over to a State Park in Lawrence, KS and just a five minute drive from Carol’s Mom’s house. It was coordinated so that both Carol’s sister that lives in Lawrence and her sister that lives in Colorado were able to visit the campsite. It was a nice lake with some good hiking opportunities. We saw that we didn’t have the oldest camper at the campsite.

Halloween at Horse Lessons

The teachers at horse lessons encouraged the kids to dress up for their lesson that was close to Halloween. Grant borrowed Nate’s police costume, while Jenna wore a space alien costume from the Zombies 3 Disney movie. The kids each got to help their horses, Molly and Koby, make a painting. The helpers put a canvas inside a plastic bag with some paint and, after sealing up the bag, the horses “painted” by spreading the paint around on the canvas with their noses (the helpers had put some food on top of the bags to encourage the horses to “paint”).

Halloween

Jenna wore her space alien costume on Halloween and Grant used his blow-up dinosaur again. Carol took the kids around the neighborhood to get candy and Sasquatch gave out candy at our house.

Random & Silly Pictures of the Month

Nap with puppies, Carol’s haircut, Carol choir concert dress, RV in need of repair and Nate hot tubbing in winter.

November 2023

Pictures of the Dogs

We apparently didn’t really take many pictures in November 2023, so here are some cute pictures of the dogs. Nate’s parents came to our house to celebrate Thanksgiving together. A delicious meal was had, but no photos were taken.

Random & Silly Pictures of the Month

Hibiscus blooms like crazy in November!

December 2023

Christmas Lights: Home and Around Town

Nate was going to not go as crazy with Christmas lights on the house for 2023, but with a little encouragement from Grant, we were once again one of the crazy houses on the block. We also enjoyed seeing lights around town, like at a drive-thru display and at the Children’s Zoo.

Jenna’s Birthday

Jenna turned 11 in December 2023. Unbelievable. She wanted to dress as Rapunzel for when her Gramma and Pa came to celebrate with her. She also wanted a Barbie cake and decorations.

Christmas

We had a good Christmas in 2023. Christmas Eve was spent with Nate’s parents. Cookie decorating, watching church online, eating dinner and driving through a Christmas light display, made for a nice Christmas Eve. And then Christmas Day was enjoyed together as a family. Everyone enjoyed the holiday season!

Carol’s Trip to the FL Keys

Since Nate’s work is closed between Christmas and New Year’s, it worked out for Carol to travel to see her Mom down in the Florida Keys. Carol finally got to do something she has always wanted to do, swim with a dolphin. It was cold, but she really enjoyed it! It was a great trip, and Nate survived his week of taking care of the kids.