Month: November 2025

It’s always interesting having in-laws: one side effect is the need to juggle holidays every year. This year happens to be the year Alex and Kaitlyn will be spending time with her family in southern Utah. We love her parents– they’re great people and we make efforts to visit them when we can. So, knowing we’d only be with Kyra and Zack this year, we made plans to head south and hang out at the Villa. Hannah is living there as well, which makes it even more of a party.

We had a few days and enjoyed time together. Zack introduced us to his clay. Let me explain: on a date a few weeks ago, he and his friend bought some modeling clay and made little figurines. Afterward he ordered a whole set of multi-colored clay, and broke it out when we were there. We spent hours making little things, joking and laughing and admiring each others’ work. Here’s Kyra working on her teeny pumpkin:

She later made Shaun the Sheep from the Wallace and Gromit series, which inspired Hannah to make Feathers McGraw. Both were outstanding.

In other news, Kaitlyn had given birth to our second grandchild, William, a few days earlier. We figured she’d want to rest, and so did she, so she and Alex had made plans to basically stay home during Thanksgiving. But the urge to be with family triumphed, and she headed down to visit her parents and siblings for a few days. On her way through town, she dropped in with little William. Here he is, watching his grandma.

Pepper kept exclaiming “Isn’t he the cutest thing ever?”

To our surprise and delight, Alex decided to hang out with us while Kaitlyn continued south to be with her family. That meant we were all together after all. And of course that meant plenty of board games and card games. Hannah even agreed to learn Sheephead:

I’m pretty sure she wanted to cry afterward. That’s just how Sheephead is. Strangely, my kids absolutely love the game, which continues the Schroeder family tradition and makes their grandparents very proud.

Kyra and Hannah planned and prepared the big feast (with help from the rest of us) and we really enjoyed the opportunity to be together and reflect on all our blessings. A Happy Thanksgiving indeed.

Things became a bit too busy this fall, and Thom and I didn’t have an opportunity to meet up for our annual fall backpacking trip. One of the big factors was his new job, which actually requires him to– gasp!— be in an office five days a week. Instead of a trip, we agreed it would be fun to get our families together over a weekend. Pepper and I loaded up the car and headed west.

We haven’t seen the kids in a couple of years and at their young ages, it always feels like a lifetime has elapsed. Hadley is almost a grown-up now– or at least she talks like one. She was a hoot, and talked a lot about her favorite subject: unicorns. She even showed us how to draw a proper unicorn, and when Pepper started following her instructions she grabbed the marker because Pepper was doing it all wrong.

We went on a hike through the hills during a beautiful day. It was several miles, and Hadley managed to charm each of us into taking turns carrying her.

The view at the top was amazing, of course. It’s obvious why Thom and Katie love living here.

We had a grand time playing games (ahh, Candyland), watching movies (oh, that Garfield), learning about hydroelectric power (I didn’t know using a dishwasher was so evil), and having a delicious dinner at the same restaurant where the happy couple had their wedding reception many years ago.

At one point Sefton got a hold of my camera. This sort of sums up our weekend with him.

Yep, they’re an awesome family and a ton of fun.

Dad is always good about telling me when the space weather forecast calls for a high-intensity geomagnetic storm. Inevitably I get excited to see the aurora (because the forecast always says it’ll be visible in northern Montana!) and then disappointed when it’s overcast.

Tonight, however, it wasn’t overcast and reality exceeded the forecast. The Northern Lights were absolutely spectacular. We were teaching class, and someone came in and said “I hate to interrupt class, but you all should see the aurora!” We dutifully took a break and left the building to admire the sky’s colors from the parking lot. Later, when we finished class, I told Pepper I’d love to take a drive around Flathead Lake to capture some more shots from outside of town. Although it was pretty cold, she agreed to come along.

I didn’t have my “good” camera with me for class, so on the way home I stopped to snap this with my cell phone:

Yep, it was going to be a beautiful night.

About an hour later, the colors had shifted (and I had my good camera).

We spent almost two hours driving along the lake shore, stopping at points to capture the sky in different directions. The aurora streaked overhead, basically encompassing the entire sky. It was amazing. Looking south, there was a deeper shade of red:

By midnight the colors were fading. And they’d shifted to green.

Nature can be so beautiful.

It’s been a while since we were in Missouri, and we figured it would be fun to spend Thanksgiving with Mom and Dad. When I started planning the trip, however, I discovered that the airfare was crazy expensive. Of course Thanksgiving is always a popular time to travel, but when I realized we could make the same trip a few weeks earlier for less than a fourth of the price, it seemed like an easy choice. After all, Thanksgiving is just a day on the calendar… I can be thankful any day! Why not visit at the beginning of the month instead of the end?

So we hopped aboard our flights, a little nervous about the ongoing government shutdown and steady increase in airline delays. Things worked out, though, and we made it to St Louis without incident. We enjoyed five days with Mom, Dad, Kari, and Theo. The weather was nice enough that we could take a bike ride and go on a few walks.

I also managed to grab lunch with a few yahoos I’ve known for almost forty years…

Yep, even though it wasn’t Thanksgiving proper, it was still an opportunity to reflect on how thankful I am for my family and friends.