An Outdoor Thanksgiving

We most certainly give thanks for a mild November, allowing us to do lots of outdoor activities, not the least of which was an outdoor Thanksgiving!  It was very hard to be without our extended family, but we set things up in the backyard and even had our neighbors Ernie and Tricia come over for a bit.

The holiday weekend included several outdoor projects.  Carson put his newly acquired landscaping skills to work and built a brick walkway in the side yard.

And Conner put his newly acquired automechanical skills to work and painted the final wheel on the Suzuki.  Inherited from his great-grandfather, this car really belies its age and has been a great car for Conner's many fishing excursions.

Dad had a very quiet 51st birthday, although he still ventured to Leavenworth to play Taps for their Veteran's Day parade.  To prove he still had it, he chose to climb the Catalpa and snap this pic.

Among so many cool things within walking distance is the Kansas River bridge.  Conner chose a warm morning to check out the work being done on the dam.  They built a dirt road in the middle of the river!

The new firepit is a nice amenity during the fall evenings.  Not sure this practice can continue into the winter, but we can certainly hope.

Conner got completed buried in leaves in the Mulhurn's front yard.  Our little neighborhood continues to be a wonderful resource for safe human interaction.  The Marsh family is doing pretty well during this difficult time, but we really need to see other people once in a while!

Or other animals.  Here is Carson taking care of the neighbor's cats.  The Chaney's left us in charge of Gordy and Nala for most of November, and we enjoyed a change of scenery twice a day.  It helped that the kittens were very pleased to see us when we visited.