tales from a far-land

Hanukkah began very early this year -- the Sunday following Thanksgiving.  It kind of caught me by surprise, but we were blessed to spend many of our Hanukkah evenings with family and friends.   Night One was spent introducing the Farrell side of the family to Hanukkah.  We ate latkes, educated them briefly about the meaning of the holiday and then lit the candles. Night Four was spent with the Briggs-Calhoun family.  We ate doughnuts, had a latke bar and lighted the candles. On Night Five, Josh hosted his fellow Gesher board members at our home.  We catered the event through Chompies and traditional sufganiyots (doughnuts) from Milk+Honey.  It was a fun way to interact with board members that we had not really been able to see in person for over a year. And we spent the last night of Hanukkah, just the four of us, at home watching the Broncos Sunday Night Football game (not a win like the previous week), lighting the menorahs and chilling after a craz...

We enjoyed a very family-focus Thanksgiving weekend this year. We spent Thursday afternoon with Josh's family at their home in Mesa. We all enjoyed playing Catan, consuming traditional holiday foods, and discussing of the latest newsworthy conversation topics. On the Sunday following Thanksgiving, we hosted my parents' side of the family for an afternoon of football, outdoor games, food and fun. It was so nice to see family from out of town. Thankfully, both the Broncos and the Cardinals won their games that weekend, too. Thanksgiving Day Madilyn and Aiden with Finn Sunday Afternoon/Evening Aunties and Cousins Moms, Daughters and Aunts Johnson Sisters Moms and Daughters FaceTiming with Mina Dad and Daughter Siblings Cousins! Family Photo Bourbon Tasting The boys!

Halloween/my birthday fell on a Sunday this year, however, we started celebrating a couple days earlier on Shabbat.  Josh sent me a beautiful flower bouquet and shaped the challah to look like a pumpkin.  On Sunday, while the kids were at religious school in the morning, Josh and I enjoyed brunch at the Scottsdale Quarter followed by a Thai Body Massage.  What a fabulous way to get a little spoiled on my birthday. Aiden chose to be Deadpool this year.  Madilyn wanted to have a costume that matched Aiden.  Aiden wasn't too thrilled with that option.  So, after many, many hours, we reached a compromise.  Madilyn would be Storm from the X-Men series, so that Aiden could still select Deadpool.  However, the connection between the two characters is very remote, so Aiden agreed that it wasn't really matching his sister, but luckily Madilyn still felt like the connection made them match.  Goodness!  That evening, the kids went trick or treating...

On the weekend before Halloween, we invited the Raetz family over for dinner and pumpkin carving on Saturday night.  The kids spent the entire evening playing outside while the adults played pinochle inside.  It was a marvelous evening, however, the goal of pumpkin carving did not happen.  Not to worry.  The Raetz family just came back over on Sunday afternoon to accomplish the mission of pumpkin carving.  The kids did a majority of the work this year with minimal tears.  The dads helped out a little bit, but the kids scooped out their own pumpkins, drew their designs and carved a huge portion of the shell.  They did such a good job.  Now let's hope the pumpkin last until Halloween! Saturday Night Sunday Afternoon