Kicking it out and kicking it up

Well, 2020 has been...

an adventure.

However, despite all the bumps,

we here in the Reed Household

have chosen over and over

to embrace our COVID Silver Linings.

So here is a brief list of positive things that have 

come out of 2020:

Flew to Mexico with the whole Reed fam;

Reeled in (and ate) Austin's mega redfish;

Swam with a barracuda;

Sang like Michael Jackson at a karaoke bar;

Learned to ski at Yellowstone Club in Montana;

Visited Yellowstone in the snow;

Switched around our rooms (Smalls in 1, Jack in another);

Reorganized our kitchen;

Made a real plan to renovate our kitchen;

Donated a TON of stuff we didn't use or need;

Spent a ton of time at the lake;

Drank the waters at Hot Springs National Park;

Entertained the Keims on the boat;

Learned how to cook dinner for our parents and hot chocolate for our brothers;

Learned to ride a two-wheeler;

Wake surfed...for REAL!;

Took our first epic RV road trip to Colorado;

Scrambled the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park top to bottom;

Traversed the Royal Gorge;

Dodged the lightening at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs;

Rode the dunes and took in the stars at Great Sand Dunes National Park;

Hiked in the beauty of Rocky Mountain National Park;

Made LOTS of s'mores;

Nearly bought a camper (maybe in 2021...);

Found that a home-grown Nerf birthday party is better than any other;

Biked the city, including trips to get ice cream;

Explored every park in Lee's Summit;

Killed a lot of grass with our slip-n-slide;

Listened to every Harry Potter book and then watched the movie;

Fished Pappo's pond;

Slept on the deck;

Discovered the rush of mountain biking;

Tromped the hills of Arkansas and the Buffalo River;

Joined a "cheesecake of the month" club from Mom's friend Katherine;

Ate LOTS of Dad's amazing cooking;

Discovered our love of Dad's cold brew coffee on tap;

Rode the ups and downs of virtual school;

Enjoyed a lot of "Pajama Days";

Had more fun at a Halloween Party than trick-or-treating;

Watched more old-school movies than we knew existed

(all the Back to the Futures, Karate Kid, 3 Amigos...);

Binged A LOT of Netflix and YouTube;

Grew an awesome garden and ate everything we harvested;

Found the joy in smaller, quieter holidays;

Drew a lot of Art Hub pictures;

Saw so many lights from our own private limo...

Whew.

Got that out there.

And did we mention spend a TON of time together,

just the 6 of us?

It wasn't always sunshine,

but it usually ended in a rainbow.

Now, let's move past this weird year

and move on to 2021!

We've got the drinks

(rose cider anyone?)

and the gang's

all here!

Happy New Year!

Here's to a healthy, happy,

less stressful 2021!

Time to fill

It's been really nice to be out of school.

We needed a break from all that screen time.

We took advantage of the awesome weather

to put our new bows to use

Wes and I got into a serious competition.

We were both hitting target after target

with a lot of bullseyes thrown in.

Tuck got pretty good too

Hey Uncle Kurt,

can we come bow hunting next year?

Aunt Mandy and Uncle Kurt

gave us this crazy game called Watcha' Mouth--

and there is a lot of mouth to watch!

I took off on my new bike!

The gears are so cool!

Tuck is up to halfway down the street by himself.

We have high hopes for spring.

And what would be vacation

without a bath in the jacuzzi?

Holiday break--

time well spent!

How we've missed this! Oh, and there were presents...

 It has been a long time since we gathered as a family

Our isolation for the last few weeks

(no soccer games, no playing with the neighbors, virtual school)

was all worth it

when we got to get together for Christmas!

Last night was awesome,

but today...

More awesome.

We got to watch Cooper open all his gifts

(and then we "helped" him play with them too)

We got loaded up for fun at the Cabin--

Pappo and Mama gave us our own boat

complete with oars, an anchor, 

and hopefully some luck catching fish

At my suggestion,

we all got bow and arrows too.

Ready for the Cabin!

We even managed to get a full cousins picture

But wait!

The awesomeness doesn't stop there.

We also got together with the Reed side!

We haven't hung out since...March??!?!

A party like this calls for hot chocolate bombs

Oh the excitement...

There were LOTS of awesome presents here too!

But this.

This is what we missed.

Awesome.

It was nice to feel COVID-free

for just a bit.

Hope you all had COVID-free holiday too!

Merry Everything

We are SO EXCITED Christmas is here!

We're waiting...

sort of patiently

Lights on.

Music on.

Coffee poured.

We're coming down!

Santa brought tabletop air hockey

and shuffleboard.

The "something you wants" were awesome:

there were activity trackers

and bike lights...

with bikes hidden in the garage

and watches

the Apple kind

and REI packs as our "something we need."

What do we need them for?

Arches and Canyonland--

see you in March!

That makes for a very merry Christmas!

COVID can't stop Christmas Eve!

We all isolated for 2 weeks--

even COVID couldn't stop

our Christmas Eve tradition!

We were so excited to get together

with Kurt

and Mandy

and Mema and Pappo

It was amazing to share a meal

and a table

and feel a bit normal

We missed playing with Coop!

We were just a few days late

but we got to celebrate Pappo's 71st

Definitely calls for a Pappo and

grandkids picture

There was cheesecake

and French silk

and cookies

and lots of handing out

and wine.

Lots of wine.

We even played some games

on Houseparty with the Woods family!

And Thea?

Slept right though it.

World's best baby.

Ah!  This is the holiday we've been needing!!!

Christmas cookies

It's the last day of school!

That calls for special drinks and Christmas hats

and Christmas cookies!

We baked them in the morning

and decorated them in the evening.

Well worth the wait.

The finished product was nothing short of masterpieces

And now,

we EAT!

More lights!!

We discovered the Powell Gardens

Festival of Lights a few years ago

and although last year didn't go very well

(remember--lots of fighting, silent ride home,

DEER totalling the van...)

we decided to brave it again

to set some new, better memories.

Admittedly, Mom and Dad had a little PTSD

going into it.

So here's hoping...

Our first stop was the craft room.

How about our snowmen:

Note Weston's, third from the left--

he's holding his own head!

Mom thought that was hilarious.

With that under our belts,

we headed out to see the main event--all those lights!

Coincidentally,

tonight was the best viewing of

The Grand Conjunction--

the kissing of Saturn and Jupiter.

It only happens every couple hundred years.

Some people think this is the Christmas Star

around Jesus' birth

In all honesty,

we thought it would be bigger and brighter.

Still kinda cool.

Let's walk!

Love the light tunnel

and the apple

The greenhouses were nice and warm.

Kinda creepy

but I really wanted a picture with this guy.

I even took off my mask to be sure

it was a good picture!

The best part of the whole walk--

the view from the top of the silo

Definitely calls for a family selfie

The view from the stairwell was cool too

We warmed up with some amazing cookies

and hot chocolate

(spiked for Mom and Dad!)

before we ran through the maze-like garden

We're really starting to fill out this chair!

It was a MUCH better trip than last year.

Minimal fighting,

Christmas music and movie on the ride home,

AND we made it home without hitting a deer!

See, 2020's not so bad!