With Gratefulness – Thanksgiving 2022

We enjoyed seeing many family members for Thanksgiving this year! The week began with our Thankful Tree. "Gratitude shifts the attitude" as I frequently tell my children (and myself, if I'm being honest). And we wrapped up the week hosting family from my mom and stepdad's side at our house. Here are some pictures of the festivities.

It looks a bit like Charlie Brown's might have looked, but it reminded us of how blessed we are even when things feel hard or we don't have something we really want. 

I was happy to join Mary-Michael and her school for their annual "Giving Thanks" Day. The students went out into the community and spent time with more than 30 organization. I stayed at the school baking with groups of middle schoolers and high schoolers. 

Frazier joined in on "Giving Thanks" Day by spending the day with our dear friends who run RVA Hope Center. They delivered bedroom furniture to several families in low-income housing developments, which was a real blessing since many of these families do not have beds or any real furniture. 

Once the school break began we headed to Northern VA to connect with our cousins! We started off with a trip to the recently renovated Air & Space Museum. 

It was a beautiful outside, so we enjoyed the National Mall. 

Benaiah and Aunt Melissa taking a walk to the DC Wharf. 

After lots of exploring and walking, we were tired as we waited for the Metro. 

With 18 to feed for Thanksgiving, this is a glimpse of "too many cooks in the kitchen," but we still have fun!

A beautiful table ready for a feast. 

We enjoyed a delicious meal hosted by Grandma and Grandpa. 

As we do each year, we have a time of taking family pictures outside. 

This is what the boys prefer to do over taking pictures. 

We hosted my mom, stepdad and step-siblings for a Sunday afternoon gathering, and it was a real treat. Some of us hadn't seen one another since before COVID. 

Love you, momma!

All the girls plus Benaiah headed to explore the trails. 


Very thankful for these guys!

Arlington Honor

My beautiful and one-of-a-kind Nana was finally laid to rest with the love of her life at Arlington Cemetery. Our family joined together for a special and hard day remembering her legacy and the way she impacted each of our lives. It was also a reminder that family, though sometimes challenging, is worth the fight, the forgiveness and the attention. There’s nothing like family, and I know the way we came together honored the woman who was the matriarch for so many years. We love you, Nana.

Homeschool Beginning

When we knew we were moving from King William to Hanover and Frazier only had one more year of elementary school, he threw out the idea that I should homeschool him. I think he pictured easy days with lots of LEGO building. He forgot who his mother was! Once he understood expectations, and I had a good feel for his abilities, strengths and growth areas, we have had quite a ball (most days). I'm learning and re-learning so much right along with him, we are taking so many fun field trips, and getting to know some new friends through a weekly homeschool group. 

Our Friday group meets weekly with rotating focuses on a monthly book, a service project, a field trip and a nature lesson. One of the families has a missional cut flower garden she offers to the community, so we were able to make lovely flower arrangements and cards for someone who needed it in our lives. 

We made a cake, and Frazier drew the continents in icing. Throughout the year we're studying cultures and geography of the world. (after this lovely cake was made Amos jumped on the counter and ate half of it)

This was just funny. No lesson here. 

We took a trip to Henricus Historical Park to learn how the early settlers and Indians lived. Frazier is taking a turn using a hoe as most boys his age would have been doing back then. 

We took a trip to a local pumpkin patch, and the owner/farmer shared a lesson on crop rotation and how farming has changed over the generations in his family. 

Hay ride!

Another baking lesson as we wrapped up our study on the United States. We baked a Pennsylvania Dutch apple pie from scratch, and it was delicious! (Amos made another appearance and ate the first homemade crust dough, so we had to do that over again.)

We took our silent reading time to the rooftop of the workshop on our new property. 


Another service project Friday had the children packing 50 boxes for Operation Christmas Child. 

The Virginia Museum of History and Culture had a Homeschool Day, so we took Poppy along (he worked here for 20+ years), and enjoyed a tour of the Story of Virginia, the history of democracy and more. 

So far, I can see the appeal and benefits of homeschooling though I don't plan to make it our way of educating forever!

Fall Flurry

So much fun and family moments have been had this fall. We have settled into a rhythm with new school routines, expectations and influences (the good and the bad, which makes for important and necessary conversations!). Here are some highlights in pictures. 

The girls started That Dance Thing (aka TDT), which is a Christian etiquette/dance event that takes place 2 Friday evenings a month. The oldest couldn't wait to go, and the youngest shed some real tears about us making her do the worst thing ever. After 3 evenings, they both really like it, talk the entire ride home and are learning enough to teach mom and dad. 

It's always fun to sleepover with the Senters!

The fall is my busy work season as we launch small groups for the season. This was our best year yet with more than 70% of our congregation joining and participating in a small group! This is a picture from one of our leader trainings. 

Mary-Michael has found her new favorite sport playing on the middle school volleyball team at her school this year. She has grown tremendously and finished the season as a starter. We are so proud of her!

Benaiah took his first stab at rock climbing at a birthday party and surprised us both with his bravery. 

Let's go Lady Kings!

We enjoyed hearing Dr. Ben Carson speak this fall at the Family Foundation's annual gala. What a resounding message of hope and truth he gave!

We took a quick trip to the Virginia State Fair mostly to see Jacey (our business partners' daughter) run and win the barrel race. We had to sneak in a visit to the tractors, of course. 

Leila's first year in public high school has had it's ups and downs, but when we received notice she was receiving a character award in that first month, it was such a bright spot.

Great job, Leila! 


Frazier enjoyed fishing on a cool, fall morning with some friends. 

The girls and I took an evening trip to the mall to find a homecoming dress for Leila's first homecoming dance. After weeding through dresses the length of a t-shirt (seriously, I don't know how the girls could dance in them), we found just the right one.

At our church's Fall Festival, Frazier won the pie-eating contest. 

Daddy took the kids on an overnight tent camping trip combined with a few hikes. They all did really well, even Daddy!

Leila was so happy to be able to take her best bud, Emma, (also from Niger) to her homecoming dance. They had a lot of fun, and we had so much fun getting them ready. 

Mimi and Poppy came to see the lovely ladies off. 

Philip and Erica's little one, Emery, was dedicated at church this fall. Though Philip is now taller than Geoff, he's still like a little brother. We are thankful for our 15+ years of friendship.

"Punkin Day" was all Benaiah talked about for a week leading up to the event. Here's his prized possession. 

We hosted 8 of Mary-Michael's 7th grade friends for an evening of fall fun - riding on the trails, hot dog roasting, s'mores and kickball. It was so fun to get to know some of them better and see how much they enjoy each other.