The Shafferland Shuffle

 

Well! This has not been a boring week AT ALL. So without further ado...

* Last Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent, but it was also the WillowBridge Thanksgiving meal! Most of the churches around here are meeting only online right now, so we had church in the Community Room with the tenants and then got busy preparing Thanksgiving dinner. Ryan actually did most of the cooking for it, and he did a great job!

* We left bright and early Monday morning for our anniversary trip! We drove in (very mild) snow all the way to our destination in Richmond, where we checked into that amazing Airbnb I showed you. We also enjoyed a stop on the chocolate trail and dinner at a BBQ restaurant! It was a great first day!

* Tuesday was the first day of December, and we packed it full of adventures on our trip. In addition to hitting some spots on the chocolate trail I told you about, we also worked on a county-wide scavenger hunt I haven't told you about yet. (But I will.) It was so much fun! We also enjoyed our free breakfast and coffee at the coffee shop attached to our Airbnb. Seriously some of the best lattes I've had.

* Wednesday was our 8th anniversary, and we had the best day together! More chocolate treats, more scavenger hunt finds...and all our annual traditions. Gifts, wedding video, sparkling grape juice, letters, pictures...and we had the PERFECCT day for it all. It was the only day out of our whole trip when we saw the sun!

* Thursday was our last day of vacation - always a sad day, right?? We packed up and moved out of our Airbnb and then enjoyed a few more stops on our way home. We also squeezed in a little history: toured the Levi Coffin house in Fountain City, which is just outside of Richmond. It was a stop on the Underground Railroad and we found it fascinating to see history right in front of us. And then...we came home. We had to jump back into working as soon as we walked in the door, which was a little sooner than we planned, but we were grateful for the time away!

* Friday was the Gateway Woods Christmas party, which I will have to tell you more about later, because it was seriously TOP NOTCH. They moved the entire thing to a virtual party with a party kit delivered in advance, and I was so impressed with all the creativity and work that went into it. We watched here in WillowBridge, along with Tim and Justine, and we had the best time! 

* We began the week with the WillowBridge Thanksgiving and ended it with decking WillowBridge's halls yesterday! We had SUCH a fun day together. We decorated the entry and tree - and even made ugly sweater Christmas cookies! (Saw them on an endcap in the store and bought them on a whim - and they ended up being a hit!) We thought the tree turned out pretty great! Nice job, team!