Thanksgiving Weekend

The Thanksgiving Weekend was full, very full.  Friday we bought our Christmas tree.  As we told the tree salesman ... we brought our smallest car to buy your biggest tree. We somehow got it home.

Jonas, Moritz and Leticia decorated it.

Later, I learned that my camera had been commandeered.  Here is Moritz and but one of the fun photos I discovered later.

We celebrated with a steak dinner and a bottle of sparkling grape juice.

Saturday morning brought many neighbors from the 400 block to decorate the circle.  We were treated to hot chocolate delivered by a horse-drawn wagon.  Here Claudia and Jonas enjoy their hot chocolate.

And here are some of the happy decorators.

Afterwards, Jonas and Moritz helped me decorate the house.  We installed our traditional wreaths ...

and plugged in Tommy. 

After a brief shopping trip, we then all went to the Potwin Players performance of The Elves and the Shoemaker.  Mark and Meg were fantastic as Mr. and Mrs. Shoemaker but the neighborhood kids stole the show.  Here is the entire cast: 

As we delivered Moritz to the bus in Kansas City Saturday night for his trip back to St. Louis, Jonas and his buddies attended the Miracle on Kansas Avenue Parade.  In fact, they were IN the parade.  Sorry, no photos.

At the end of the weekend, we had full tummies, special memories and a decorated circle and house.

We hope your Thanksgiving was full of love.

Thanksgiving Day

While Samantha and Jake were enjoying their Thanksgiving in California with Beth ....

we hosted Thanksgiving here.  Family and friends joined us to be thankful.   We had Crows from Kansas and Missouri.  Jonas and Moritz experienced their first Thanksgiving in the USA.  Jorge represented Paraguay.  Oma, Nancy, Heidi and Carolyn joined us too.  Here are some random shots:

and the group ...

Oma and Jorge joined us after the group photo so they are included here:

After dinner we sat by the fire, played Trivial Pursuit, listened to music and laughed.  

This morning we received a rock ... 

delivered to our kitchen through our dining room plate glass windows.

 I am very thankful it missed the stained glass windows.  

Happy Thanksgiving 2010.

Jonas earns his Rugby shirt

After a lot of hard work, some bruised ribs and a black eye, Jonas earns his Topeka rugby shirt.

 Congratulations Jonas!

Happy Birthday - The World of Crow

The World of Crow is 5 years old today.  Started on November 15, 2005, it was designed to keep the family in touch by allowing members to share activities, events and photos ... no matter where they were.  The first post can be found here.  Thank you Google and Blogger for allowing us to share 5 years and 232 blog posts. 

 Happy Birthday The World of Crow.

Helen Friday ...

Yesterday was a big day for Helen.  The morning newspaper featured an article about the Kansan Grill and how they had named menu items after some local celebrities.  The Helen Crow Plate got top billing.

By lunchtime, Helen was addressing 300 people at a luncheon meeting for the Junior League of Topeka.  Helen served as the Honorary Chair for the JLT annual Merry Market event.

By nighttime, Helen was on the local TV news.

Yep, Friday was Helen Crow day.

Congratulations Helen.

Arkansas golf, Colorado visit and Kansas Fall

Last weekend I took a 3 day trip to Arkansas for my first ever Fall Golf trip.  Only 6 of us were able to go.

Even though the golf was ugly, the trees were beautiful.

The same weekend, Helen took Jonas and Nick to visit Samantha and Jake in Colorado.  Here are all the pictures Helen brought back to share:

Upon my return, I found that the trees around our house had exploded with color.

Fall is beautiful.

Halloween 2010

Last week Potwin neighbors were asking each other.... Do you think Halloween falling on a Sunday will discourage Trick or Treaters?  I don't think so.  In fact, we may have set a new record.  One neighbor counted 1,501 by 8:00 PM.  Another reported 1,709 by 8:40 PM.  We stayed open later.  

Mega thanks to Bobby who served hundreds of kids.

Honest Jonas had some friends over too.

And many were pleased to see Tommy the Terrible.

I wonder what Tommy will do for Thanksgiving?

Happy Halloween 2010.

Playing hookie with Jonas and Nick

We took Jonas and his friend Nick (from Bergen, Norway) out of school on Thursday and Friday to provide them with a different kind of education.  On Thursday, Helen showed them the Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass windows at the First Presbyterian Church where subtle light seemed to make the art come alive .... 

and we showed them the Kansas State Capitol Building which has been undergoing major renovation since 1999 (no kidding) ...

but which featured a different kind of art ...

then off to the Zoo to visit the Tropical Rain Forest ...

and then for a vigorous hike along the Kansas River where we witnessed nature's art ...

and then to tour the building (designed by renowned architect Michael Graves) and the art gallery in the Topeka & Shawnee County Library followed by the culinary art of a chef at a local Japanese steakhouse.

Friday, we took Jonas and Nick to Kansas City to explore the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

With the recent Bloch Building addition ...

the two museum buildings are amazing pieces of art themselves.

 Next was cultural art ... the art of dining and shopping on the Country Club Plaza.  

But, when all was said and done, I think Helen most enjoyed the musical art of the Kansas City Symphony hosting Spectrum ... A Tribute to Motown.

Yep, it was an artsy couple of days.  Worth playing hookie for.

Potwin Halloween Party

Today was the Potwin Halloween Party ... the party for the neighborhood kids.  The weather was perfect and the kids (and Charles) had a blast!

Some were scary ...

But most were not.

Cowboys, Arty Party and Wedding #11

Flashback .... Shortly after Jonas arrived from Germany in August, he announced that he wanted to buy some beautiful cowboy boots, a ten gallon cowboy hat and some Levi jeans.   Since there is nobody in our family more qualified than Granddad to shop for western wear, I gathered him, SACII (who was in town so Cheryl could host SRC's wedding shower) and Phil to accompany Jonas as he shopped.  While at the western wear store, Phil suggested that we all try on some boots and hats for a cowboy photo.  Here is the result ...

SACII never took his off.  You might have seen him wearing them during the wedding weekend.

Earlier this month, Helen and I attended an interesting party hosted at the new Downtown Lofts.  Known as the Arty Party, it focused on art and was mostly attended by young people.  Helen and I fit right in.

Last weekend I performed my 11th wedding ceremony.  It was extra special because it was my assistant's son.  I made the Bride and Groom pose with me as my fee.

The weather was perfect, the little kids were cute ...

and the wedding dress was amazing.

Oh yes, we have also attended two West Side Folk concerts so far this month.  Lucy Kaplansky and Patty Larkin were the featured performers.  

More later.