We have had our Valentine’s Day dinner at Panera almost every year since Andrew was born. This year was no different. A fun time was had by all. Andrew had other plans this year, so he did not attend. His chicken noodle soup breadbowl was lonely.
Today we celebrated Christmas with the Reagens. We had COVID for so long, and then some busy weekends.
By Christmas morning, we could have been COVID-free, but no luck. Susan tested positive on Thursday and I was not feel well starting on Thursday. By Christmas I was really not feeling well.
Rose – Free to roam about the world.
Lucia – Free to roam about the world.
Elliot – Free to roam about the world.
Mari – Never had it. Still on light quarantine.
Andrew – Free to roam about the world.
Rob – Day 3
Susan – Day 4
For the past couple of years Susan and Mari have tried their hands at being candle makers. They use old candle containers, odd jars, bees wax, and essential oils.
It doesn’t take long for us to transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas. We usually try to get our tree up the day after Thanksgiving. That is also when we put up the rest of the decorations and we are allowed to start listening to Christmas music.
We were planning to go to the Connors’ for Thanksgiving this year, but because of Susan’s kidney stones we decided to stay home. In the afternoon we enjoyed an online escape room and then we prepared a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
Mari always insists on doing the roof work and Lucia and Rose like to join her on the roof. Mari wants to do the high part above the driveway, but after doing it myself the first year we lived here, no more.
In Andrew’s defense, his pumpkin was rotten.
Today we celebrated Easter with ourselves and then we had the Reagens over in the afternoon for an Easter Egg hunt. Church was online with Lutheran Church of Hope – same as last year. Our traditions include Easter Bunny-hidden baskets (inside), Easter Bunny-hidden eggs (outside), and then a candy Easter egg hunt with the Reagens.
We have had Panera every year on Valentine’s Day since the time Andrew was born. Even with the pandemic we didn’t want to stray from the tradition. It wasn’t quite the same as being in the restaurant, but we manage to make it work.