HALLOWEEN 2020

 Though most things look different this year, my love of themed costumes remains constant.  I had actually relinquished a family costume concept, but through a turn of events, we ended up heading to Wichita to be with my family.  One of the things they used to rope me in (though it didn't take much) was that all the cousins would be dressed in Star Wars theme.  Because that universe is so large, there were plenty of options for us to join in that fun!  Plus, John and I could borrow costumes, which helped a lot.

The 13 cousins in matching costumes was really epic, even if baby BB8 wanted to roll out of the pic, and baby Yoda had to be held aloft by his hiding mother.

Lily glowed as golden C3PO.

Bella rocked as R2D2. 

William loved being a "bad guy" Storm Trooper, though he certainly looks charming here.

On Halloween night, Violet was an adorable Ewok.  However, her's was the one costume that we had fully nailed down before this new plan, so she went as Hamilton's Angelica Schyuler to school on Friday.  Work!

William went as Charmander to school that day, so they fully enjoyed double costuming this year.

Our trip to Wichita was fast and furious.  We drove up on Saturday and got changed to head to my brother's house for dinner and candy hunting.  Having all the cousins together is always a special brand of chaos.  It's also special and precious and worth it, so I was glad we made the trip, even if it was short.

Even looking back through these pictures totally fills my heart, because being with family can truly be such a joy.  After the candy hunt, which resembled a half baked Easter Egg hunt where we adults threw candy willy nilly throughout the yard, there was crazy cousin candy trading.

We spent the rest of the evening laughing and talking while the kiddos ate candy to their heart's content and watched a movie as they hit sugar comas.

I missed our normal Halloween with all our friends and spooky punch and Trick-or-Treating in our neighborhood, but I wouldn't have traded this particular Halloween for anything.  

And mad props to this guy, my amazing husband who is up for matching family costumes because he knows how much I love it, even if it isn't his schtick.  

"Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi.  You're my only hope."

Because our nuclear family brings certain complications, we actually drove up in two cars.  This felt like overkill, but ultimately, it made the whole thing possible.  Here's to learning how to work with what we've got and making the best of where we are.  That's definitely a motto for our family, but it also applies to life in 2020.  

DODGER WORLD SERIES WIN

October, for the Spensts, has held some pretty wonderful surprises that we had thought were off the table. For many months this year, it looked as if baseball would be canceled.  But, MLB got it together and played a 60 game season, culminating in a longer than usual playoff season this October, mostly in a bubble.  The Dodgers had looked promising going into the year, but when everything shut down, it looked like it might not come to fruition.  Lo and behold, it all did.  And they were crowned the World Series champions after a 32 year drought.  And we were swept up in the joyous (albeit tense at times) experience!

As a bit of back story, John lived his elementary school years in Central California cheering for the Dodgers during their World Series days in the late 80s.  Eight years ago, he realized that he needed a hobby that didn't take him away from home but provided a helpful distraction.  Enter baseball.  Specifically Dodger baseball.  Did you know there are 162 games in the regular season?  We have the MLB subscription (because of course we do) so that we can see every one.  Which really just translates to having baseball on in the background through most of the spring and summer.  

And it is a lovely, simple distraction and has been a lot of fun for John.  I realized quickly that I could go all in and enjoy it or resent often having baseball on.  You can probably guess where I landed, as I know all of their names and positions and much of the history now.  In 2017, we got to go to Game 4 of the Dodgers/Astros series that the Dodgers eventually lost in what we now know was a cheating scandal.  It really didn't occur to us that we might get to see another Dodger World Series game in person any other time.

When they made the announcement that the last rounds of the playoffs would be in Arlington, John preemptively booked a hotel room so that he could go down and possibly loiter in the parking lot if the Dodgers made it.  Then, they announced that fans would be allowed, with tickets sold in pods of 4, at 25% capacity, going on sale at 10 a.m. on Oct. 6th.  In basically what amounted to a ticket lottery, we secured World Series tickets at face value well before we even knew who would be playing.  We cheered the Dodgers through the playoff season, with all of our kiddos getting in on the action as well.

Our tickets were for Game 5, and since the Dodgers had lost twice, it was guaranteed, but would not be an ultimate win night.  Still, we drove down to Dallas for a quick trip on Sunday and made our way to Globe Life Field.  It totally felt like a Dodger home game, with almost everyone decked out in Dodger gear.  I missed the electricity of a full crowd, but having a row to ourselves and no one directly near us had many advantages.  The whole experience felt surreal and like an unexpected gift this year.

(borrowed sign, but still true)

We had a fantastic time, and the Dodgers won the game we were at, which felt amazing.  Even though it was a super quick trip, it was nice to be away and do something fun with friends!  We came home and Game 6 was last night.  And after 32 years, the Dodgers were World Champions once again.  We screamed so loud that we woke up our kids who all wandered out blearily.

In a year with so much sadness and loss, this whole thing felt like its own little miracle.  Obviously, it is just baseball, and there are far more important things in life.  But, we were so thankful to experience this ride with a team that we really like.  And now, we need to catch up on sleep, because playoff season includes a lot of late nights. 🤪

FAMILY CAMP 2020

Obviously, this year has been upended, and nothing has looked the way we thought it would.  When we were canceling things off our summer calendar, it felt super depressing.  We were in a dark place in May as a family, and we knew we needed something to look forward to.  We realized that Kanakuk was still opening their doors, and we made the decision to head up to Branson in June.



We went last year to K-Kauai and had a great time but hadn't planned to be back until 2021.  But once we saw that it was open and saw the precautions they were taking, it seemed like a risk we needed to take.  And I am so glad that we did.  Everything right now is a risk/reward proposition, and for us, the reward outweighed the risks.

The week's theme was Mahalo, which felt super appropriate.  It turned out to be a wonderful week where Covid obviously played a role but was not on center stage.  There were fewer families than normal, and they adjusted the schedule, spaced everything out and moved even more things outside.  Our kiddos had the time of their lives - especially after having been mostly cooped up for the months before.

There were treats by the pool everyday, excellent counselors pouring into our kids every morning and even a couple of date nights, which had been such a rarity in our world at that point.  Basically, we had a lot of freedom to enjoy being together in a new environment.

There were still themed party nights, though I didn't have the time or energy to go as all out on costuming this year.

All in all, it was a great week, though we did go ahead and upgrade for next year to the larger/more room option, because we do not thrive all in one room together.  I'm so thankful for camp being open and the ways they ministered to our family during a difficult season.

CFA NEXT 2020

Last year, CFA set our new vision to be "The World's Most Caring Company."  Let's just say, they definitely start with us, which I never take for granted.  For our annual meeting this year, they chartered the world's two largest cruise ships, and we set sail from Florida to spend some time at sea.



February is always when I start to full-blown hate winter.  It is bleak, and this year it's been extra dreary and rainy and ick.  Escaping to a tropical wonderland came at just the right time.  It has unexpectedly already been a hard year, and this was like balm to our souls.  We spent a full day at Royal Caribbean's Island, CoCo Cay, which was a highlight.  The weather was perfection, and we spent much of the day wandering the ocean or swinging in a hammock.  Amazing.

Even though the company was split in half between the two ships, almost all of our friends ended up on ours, so we got to spend time eating and chatting and laughing and crying in some cases.  Many of these relationships are over ten years old, and we've been able to stay up on a lot of life, which I treasure.  We also made a few new friends in our very own market, and it's always nice to connect with people who will become part of our local CFA circle.

As a side note, I did not think that this was an overdone amount of jewelry for four days, but apparently, it is more than most people pack. 😂🤣😜



The last two days of the trip were at sea, and one of the days was perfect for spending time by the pool.  The other day was gray, and ended up being perfect for napping in our room.  We basically ate constantly, which is typical cruise life and then typical CFA event life.  I am not complaining, though I could not keep up the habit of six desserts a day once I got home.  There were excellent speakers and sessions to attend, and we chose the ones that were most relevant to what we needed.

Last year, we realized that we need a lot more rest than we had been getting, and it is encouraging to get to this year and be in a slightly better place on that front.  We have actually practiced going to bed consistently and being more well-rested overall.  What we continue to learn is that we have to be the best versions of ourselves to be able to show up in our lives in any meaningful ways for the people around us.  When I am sapped dry, I am an angry parent and rather sullen wife.  When John is sapped dry, everything is overwhelming.

Our lives continue to be high intensity.  I think we've mostly given up the notion that this is short term.  This is just our life for the foreseeable future, and if we don't take that seriously and take care of ourselves, we will burn out.  And then the things that depend on us will also fall apart.  Obviously, that's dramatic, but it's our reality.

Spending time with our greater CFA family is always an encouragement.  It's work too - there were conversations that need to be had and dynamics that had to be taken into account.  It's not exactly a "vacation," but, it was an excellent break from some of our pressures.

Here are CFA Seminars of the past!
{2019} {2018} {2017} {2016} {2015} {2014} {2013} {2012} {2011}