November

 Our November slowed us down a bit - October was wildly busy and full - and we really welcomed  more days at home, less travel, and more time together.  We eased our way into the holidays and we are grateful!

 

The gentleman in the black is our neighbor, Ivan.  His son is one of Luke's best buddies and who has graced this blog many times.  Ivan is an artist.  Ivan is from Mexico.  Ivan created these massive masterpieces for a El Dia de los Muertos event downtown.  We were lucky enough to be there and to see him and his creations in action.  Luke said he and the neighborhood boys were guinea pigs in wearing these figures around the backyard so that Ivan could tweak things if necessary before the big event!  So cool!  So talented! 

 

We got our tree up and lit.  It stayed undecorated for a bit and I was totally fine with that, it adds some extra coziness to our living space.

When your kids' friends are some of your favorite people too! Daniel and Luke have been buddies since they were three years old! 

This picture was taken on a random gray Tuesday November morning.  I found 30 minutes to just sit and read and this scene right here is my happy place. 

These two are the cutest! 

Speaking of the cutest....this guy!  

And this guy!  Tree decorating night!  I love it so much.  The three of us lay out all the ornaments before we hang them up - making a fuss over the new and old...every single one attached to a trip or a memory or a person.  Grateful 

 

 And as always we headed to WV for Thanksgiving.  Beautiful West Virginia, even on the gray days.  It was a chilly trip but it was full of love and laughter. 

 

I requested this photo - please mark the date - this is the very first time I have EVER won Monopoly!  L instructed Luke to "make a sad face" because I beat him (and L) big time!  Luke was trash talking me the whole game but I stayed true to my "plan" (in reality I had no idea what I was doing).  Kenny with the photo bomb/moral support!

I do not play this game.  Monopoly is about the longest game I can play before my attention span runs out.  This one, Axis and Allies, is a favorite for this crew.  I went to bed.  Pretty sure Kenny and Pete (the Allies) won though.  Lots of laughter!

G and P on "Christmas morning".  We got PaPaw a West Virginia history book that he just loved. 

 

 And we are always so thankful for PaPaw and his willingness to do an oil change for us!  Granny makes all of our favorite foods and PaPaw tunes up the car!  Such generous and wonderful people.

And we had snow.  It snowed more than once and that was extra special!  Luke's creation. 

The morning we left there was a beautiful blanket of white that stayed with us well into Virginia on the way home and it was just gorgeous!  What a wonderful way to end a wonderful visit to wonderful West Virginia!