Anna was in rehearsals all of September & October for Take Flight & Nutcracker simultaneously. Take Flight performed at the end of October & was a beautiful show of excerpts from Swan Lake. Since the summer, Anna has been working on getting used to contacts so she can go without glasses on stage & she did it! We have so enjoyed watching Anna’s progress as a dancer. She is beautiful on stage & has the biggest smile!
Anna saved up her money for a new ballet skirt.
In October, the four families in our small group visited our friends in town who put together hundreds of shoeboxes every year – some years, thousands! – for Operation Christmas Child. We have helped them pack shoeboxes before, & it is always an incredible feeling to help in this way. During our three hours, twelve of us packed over 400 shoeboxes that will travel the world to kids who need to hear & feel the love of Jesus this Christmas.
Read more about this project & see pictures from other years we helped pack shoeboxes here & here.
We’ve had such a beautiful fall here this year. It’s lasted much longer than normal & we’ve really enjoyed the gorgeous trees. All of October I moved the pumpkins & flowers into the garage whenever we had freezing temperatures. Lots of back & forth but it sure is nice to enjoy them as long as possible!
Our dear friend, Corene, has decided to move closer to family, so we enjoyed one day of visiting, running trains one last time & saying goodbye. She & her late husband, Howard, have been like family to us for many years & we will miss her. She was so kind & gifted Kenny any trains he would like from their collection, as well as two houseplants for me that I’ve always admired.
Starting on Christmas baking for the freezer…
More indoor climbing over Fall Break…
Another day we took Anna to tour the McAllister House Museum downtown. This year, one of her roles in the Nutcracker is Mary McAllister, one of the daughters of a local family that was invited to spend Christmas with the Palmers at Glen Eyrie. Anna dances in A Colorado Nutcracker every year which adds some Colorado history to the Nutcracker story. We enjoyed hearing the history of this family & getting a glimpse into Mary’s life. We’re excited to see Anna represent her this year.
Halloween…James wore his alpaca head again. I think he’s worn this as his costume for three to four years now. Definitely getting our money’s worth out of that. I dropped James off at a percussion Halloween party where he enjoyed hanging out & trick or trick-or-treating with band friends. Kenny accompanied Anna to the annual Halloween party at her friend, Emmy’s. Anna was planning on being at Nutcracker rehearsal that night, but at the last minute, the studio canceled so the kids could enjoy Halloween. So, after school, she was scrounging to figure out a costume. She ended up being a flower – pink coat & fun pants, a flower on her headband, flower earrings, and Dad painted a pretty flower on her cheek.
