End of September

Anna at Homecoming Game
 The end of September is upon us, and we are closing out the month with a harvest moon (and the last super moon of 2023).  It has been a busy few weeks since Anna's birthday, especially for her.  Here are some of the highlights.

September 29 was the homecoming game and Anna's choir sang the national anthem.  You can check out the National Anthem Performance.  Note Anna is in the front row on the right side.

  • Anna joined the National Arts Honor Society, which requires her to do service hours each quarter.  Apparently, community groups frequently contact the school art department with projects.  Her first event was face-painting on Friday at a local elementary school fair.  Stay tuned for more art adventures.
  • In between school activities, Anna started a new job at Crepe Amour after the concert season at Wolf Trap ended.  She is learning to make coffees and crepes.  She was thrilled to have her parents stop by and take pictures while she made their coffee.  So far, she is enjoying it.
  • There are lots of fall festivals and gatherings in September and Theresa got to enjoy to the annual neighborhood Shrimp & Crab feast.  This was followed a couple of weeks later by men's meat night (apparently this involves lots of meat and beer) with the rival ladies' night out across the street.  Even though there was a tropical storm for meat night, the celebration went on (rumor has it the wife of the meat night host, who herself was recovering from pneumonia, was not to thrilled about meat night moving indoors).
  • Despite efforts to save it, Joe had the large red maple tree in the front yard taken down.  It was half dead and clearly not going to come back.  He replaced it with a silver maple tree, which is also supposed to be deer proof.  Apparently, the deer were unaware of this and proceeded to munch on some of the small branches.  In the meantime, Anna now awakens to even brighter sun coming in her window as the shade is gone.
  • Theresa made a trip back to Ohio to visit her parents and got to enjoy two major events.  First, the Pancake House at last re-opened at a new location after a fire (this is the most popular restaurant in the area.  Second, it was the Flatrock Creek Festival weekend.  Grandma made it out for the event and enjoyed all of the good food and crafts (we skipped the tractor pull).  Grandma also got good news on her shoulder and is scheduled to have her next repair surgery in October.
  • Joe & Theresa celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary on September 25 with a quiet dinner at home.  Maybe next year they will go big for the 20th! 
    The end of the Red Maple Tree

October is shaping up to be a busy month as well, particularly as Anna starts completing college applications.  Stay tuned for more updates!


Grandpa & Grandma at the Festival


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