The New Ornaments

After setting up the tree, we opened the new ornaments:

Claire: Apron

Jacob - Sushi

Kate - Art Palette

Liam - Frying Pan

Torin - Crayons

Family: Biltmore, Captain's hat, Masked Santa

John and Vicki come for Thanksgiving

 John and Vicki came to join us for Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving program by our youngest 3

Nana and Papa also joined us - we had a great crowd!

Jared did a great job carving and plating the turkey.

Claire, who had recently had a youth activity where she learned to make a pumpkin pie, decided she needed to give instructions here and there to Vicki. There was not a unanimous winner between Claire's and Vicki's pies - both were good!

 

Thanksgiving dinner was TIRING!

for EVERYONE young

and old!

One day, it was just warm enough to be worth going out to play some disk golf at Winton Woods (Jared's idea, of course!). Everyone participated.

After playing disc golf, we went over to Winton Lake and took a little walk around the lake.

Torin connecting with his Grandpa

 Torin's conversation with Grandpa:

Torin: Grandpa, what do you like?

John: I like you.

Torin: What else do you like? Do you like building?

John: Sure.

So Torin proceeds to search in his Dick and Jane anthology to find the story that involves Dick and Jane building and reads it to John.

Liam's dreams come true

At the beginning of the year, Liam set a goal to start to play the cello by the end of the year. In order to do that, he needed to show that he was willing to practice the piano. He's become a good little pianist and practices regularly (and willingly some of the time!). Now that teachers are taking in person students, we decided it was time to have him start.

We was thrilled and got started practicing right away. Dani just hopes practicing doesn't become a battle! Liam has a good ear for music and can tell when he is and isn't in tune and makes adjustments well. It will be fun to hear how he progresses.

Goal accomplished

At the beginning of the year, the kids all made goals with the primary program. Kate made a goal to make kits for homeless. Throughout the year, we gathered supplies. Kate wrote notes to friends and families to request donations to purchase more supplies.

She ended up making 24 kits, which included water, snacks, socks, a tooth brush, a mask, and other needed supplies. She delivered them to the Stevens' neighbors, who serve in a charitable organization downtown. We were proud of her organization and initiative, and she was thrilled at the result.

 

Red River Gorge hike and rock climb

We had a beautiful, warm November Saturday, and we decided to take advantage by taking a trip to Red River Gorge for a family hike. We decided to do the double arch trail (more on that... we unknowingly got onto a different trail!).

Torin was an awesome hiker! He loved having his own backpack and carrying his own water and treats.

 

Everyone was in great spirits. There were great vistas all over the place. The sky was completely cloudless and bright blue.

It seemed like every quarter mile, there was another rock outcropping to explore that gave an expansive vista.

As we were going further into the hike, Jared started to realize that, perhaps we didn't end up on the double arch trail, but on the Courthouse Rock trail instead! Not to worry, we were still enjoying it.

As we approached it, the trail ended and there were a few scrambles to get to the base. We heard a voice from on top of the rock encouraging us to keep going. Eventually, we got to a place where it was more of a rock climb.

The guy behind the voice, Shawn, was waiting for us to invite us to join him up top. He had been camping there for a few days, and he was happy to have company.

Jared headed up first, and once he had done it, more and more of the family started to join. Jacob was first up

and Jacob and Jared hung out up there for a little while. Jacob was very proud of himself. He kept talking about how happy he was that he had done it.

Claire then followed us up, and it was a big accomplishment for her. The climb started getting up to a crack and then using pressure on both sides to go up.

 

Liam, of course, knew he could do it (he can do anything in his mind!). Shawn accompanied him up and showed him where to go and how to get himself up, and Liam kept talking the entire time up. He kept saying how he was just barely tall enough to do it - that someone shorter wouldn't be able to.

We spent a few minutes up there, basking in the glorious views and how excited and memorable it was.

Jared and Dani swapped places and she got to hang out with the kids up top.

 

Kate did a little climbing as well, getting up to the crack.

We didn't end up on the trail we planned on hiking, but as we headed back to the car, the kids kept talking about how glad they were about going on the wrong trail and that they were so proud of themselves for doing the big hike and climbing to the top of Courthouse Rock.