Pie Night

Though it wasn't March 14, we got together as a family this week on Tuesday night for Pie Night. Why? you ask?

Tuesday, the 19th, marked the first anniversary of Mom's passing. Also, the last time many of us saw her before she passed was at a Pie Night held at the rest home where she resided, which was a warm-up to all of the great pies coming up on Thanksgiving Day at that time. Ergo, Pie Night in Mom's honor was a no-brainer.

The pies (including Costco cheesecake, Mom's favorite) were plentiful and delicious:

I caught this pic of our nieces Katy and Sadie rocking around the Christmas tree:

It's honestly wonderful to do things like this to remember beloved family members who have crossed the veil into the Spirit World. For Mom's birthday this past summer, we gathered for ice cream (another favorite of hers) in her memory. For Dad's birthday each year, we have concretes at Nielsen's frozen custard (one of his favorites).

Family and food are always a winning combination.

Halloween 2024

This year's Halloween season came and went for us in a blink of an eye. JB has been working hard not only at her job but everything else she does lately, and I've been recovering from a lingering infection. My wife isn't a huge fan of Halloween festivities. However, when I can convince her to dress up or go to any kind of Halloween event with me, I consider it a huge win.

On Halloween night this year, we placed camp chairs on our driveway and passed out candy to the many neighbors and friends who stopped by. Among them were Summer and her kids (four of our niblings).

Four-year-old Sadie was dressed up as Spider-Man (Girl?), while two-year-old Sam wore a Dalmatian costume:

We might be a bit biased, but they were the four cutest Trick-or-Treaters we saw all night.

Mad props also go out to the three girls we saw, one of whom was dressed up like Lightning McQueen from Cars, while the other two were traffic cones. Easily the most creative costumes we saw.