The elves at Santa Express are learning new ways to bring Christmas joy this year – and keep fundraising for the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery. The annual pop-up shop is a spot where kids can find gifts for the special people on their list. In a more typical year, children would go to a physical store with a list of people and a budget.

As vice president in 2012, Joe Biden endeared himself to many LGBTQ Americans by endorsing same-sex marriage even before his boss, President Barack Obama.

Chances are wherever the extended McHugh family and friends are gathering today, they’ll be tucking into matriarch Barbara McHugh’s turkey dressing. While the group may be smaller than usual, Barbara, 92, hasn’t retired from the kitchen. “I’ll be making my dressing,” she said.

It may be tough, when sitting down to a less crowded table after a year of living apart, to county your blessings on this Thanksgiving Day. But they are out there, and experts say focusing on the positive can help build resiliency for the next time things get tough. 

Something to remember is negativity doesn’t just take the joy out of life, it can take over our lives and even our physical health as stress and anxiety build up like it has this year. It also can leave us drained and wondering how we can celebrate a season of giving when we feel we don’t have anything left to give.

This is a year for many firsts, and add to the list a high number of inaugural encounters in cooking a turkey along with other holiday staples. You know – those traditional dishes enjoyed over at the house of family or friends, and perhaps you bring the rolls. Except this year. Many Americans will stay home because of pandemic concerns.

Yes, it's around Thanksgiving that Hallmark and Lifetime start to release holiday movie after holiday movie, but don't skip out on the dozens of Thanksgiving big-screen and TV movies available to watch. A quick search will bring up movies for children, those looking to laugh and those who don't mind a little drama alongside their big meal.

This year, while the pandemic keeps families at home, the Kiddomatic Film Festival is aiming to give children a glimpse of what life is like in other cultures and countries. "It's kind of like traveling, even though we're in this virtual land," said Carrie Richer, director of film festivals at the Roxy Theater in Missoula.

Most of the conversations I have with my kids these days are about the WiFi. Why is it so laggy? Why does it keep cutting out? I think they see me only as the family’s IT guy. To them, a father figure is just a fix-it-up handyman who should always maintain the mechanical serenity of the homestead.

Dr. Universe: Why do mushrooms grow in rings? We have a lot of giant ones in our yard right now! – Layne, 8, Spokane Dear Layne, When you see a ring of mushrooms, it’s likely they are exploring for food under the ground. Giant mushrooms in your backyard are not animals or plants. They are part of another class of living organisms called fungi.

I received a text from my friend Julie this morning. It was a screen shot of the sobriety tracker she keeps on her smartphone. It showed that, as of 9:22 this morning, she had been sober for exactly 4 years, 6 hours and 22 minutes. “It’s a miracle to see this,” she texted.

Thanksgiving is usually an oversized holiday – big meal, big groups, big everything. This year, for many of us, that won’t be the case. The spread of the coronavirus, leaner budgets and the relentless stress of a roller-coaster year are causing a lot of home cooks to rethink their approach to the holiday feast.

I didn't recognize the boy curled up in a ball underneath layers of blankets on this unseasonably warm winter morning. School had started an hour ago, and my son Eddie was tethered to his bed. After unpeeling the covers like the skin of an onion, I recoiled at the sight of my son's beautiful face, which was distorted in agony.

For many, it starts with the discovery of a painted rock. Alla Cornwell, who lives in the Shadle neighborhood, found her first rock on a gas pump while filling her car more than a year ago. "I thought, 'This is so cool,' " she said. "From there, it just sucked me in." She now paints rocks with her daughter, grandchildren and friends.

We can make cider with juice from apples. There are many kinds of apples and a few ways to squeeze out the juice. My friend Bri Ewing Valliere told me all about it. She’s a food scientist at Washington State University who knows a lot about cider. The first step is to pick out the apples.

We have a very clear division in the Ditto family: the big kids and the little kids. The big kids consist of Lucy, George and Jane, who are all teenagers. The little kids are Henry, Emmett and Hyrum, who rule our household with a sticky fist and range in age from 5 to 10.

Before the pandemic hit, Dee Lorenz, 87, had a busy life. Bridge groups, coffee with neighbors and going out to dinner filled her days. “I’m never caught up on anything,” she said. “I’m a very social person.” But when COVID-19 halted many of those activities, Lorenz began thinking about her legacy.

With the recent and continuing spikes in COVID-19 cases across the Greater Spokane Area and warnings from state health officials about the fall surge in cases running parallel to flu season, we’re suddenly faced with a bigger question this year: How can we have healthy and happy holidays?

A safe Thanksgiving during a pandemic is possible, but health experts know their advice is as tough to swallow as dry turkey: Stay home. Don’t travel. If you must gather, do it outdoors.