Halloween - 2008

This year has been the best for Halloween celebrations. Shayna has really enjoyed the festivities and loved getting free candy from complete strangers. Here's a cute picture of Shayna (as Belle from Beauty & the Beast), Larissa (Ariel), and Charlotte (Snow White) tonight. We went trick or treating with our neighbors and good friends, as well as, Mark's parent's, Art and Lynn, who made it down here just in time for dinner and Halloween.

Here are the girls trick or treating... so cute!




We had a great time with good friends and Mark's parents tonight! If we all hadn't eaten so much candy, it would've been even better... BLAH!

October Videos...

October, 2008:



"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
— Ferris Bueller

The Countdown Begins...

Now that 2 out of 3 of us have been sick the past week (actually #3 is feeling a bit of a cold coming on) that's one less thing we have to worry about for next weekend. Shayna is very excited for Halloween AND her birthday party. It's really the first time in her life that she knows both are on their way. It really started last week when her Grammie and Grandad sent her an adorable spider/pumpkin candy collection bag. It makes a cute hat, too!


Today was really the first day that I felt good enough to leave the house for some time. This afternoon, we headed over to Pa's Pumpkin Patch: Farm & Fun for the whole Family... and notice how much fun Mark is having...



We had 5 tickets left over from our last visit to the pumpkin patch. We promised ourselves that we wouldn't buy anymore because it is so darn expensive. Shayna didn't mind too much. She had a blast!

Every year we take a picture at the pumpkin patch....

October, 2005

October, 2006

October, 2007

October, 2008

Now There's None...

We had 3 fish... notice how I said, three...
All of Shayna's fish died within one week of purchase. I don't know what happened???? When I was a kid, we had fish for years! Oh well, maybe next time we'll get her a fifty cent fish, rather than a twenty-five cent fish.

Nothing much new around here... Mark's back seems to be getting better every day and I'm still looking for a part-time geo job. I've got three head hunters looking, so maybe I'll be working for pay again, soon!



Last weekend, we drove down south for our friend's, Jenna & Charlie, triplets (Carolyn, Elizabeth, & William) birthday party at the pumpkin patch. It was a blast! Shayna had fun running through the hay maze and sliding down the cottonseed mound on a saucer. We also took a ride behind the tractor and saw some newborn calves! One had just been born that morning!






Here's Shayna with her wagon and pumpkins!



Next weekend we have only 1 party to attend. We have been at a birthday party every weekend this month... come on, November!

And Then There Were Two...

Last weekend, my parents bought Shayna some goldfish and a small bowl. She aptly named them Marlin, Dory, and Nemo. We haven't even had them one week and one of the fish (I think it's Marlin) died of unknown causes. Shayna was saddened for about 1 minute, until I told her we were going to have a funeral. She asked, "where?" and I told her, "in the bathroom." For some reason, she wasn't sad anymore...














Adios, our short-lived friend... adios....

Marek Fire

My good friend, Bill Johnson and his wife, Jan, lost their house early this morning in the Marek Fire. They got out just in time with only the things they could carry. I spoke with Jan this morning and she said they lost things that cannot be replaced... but they are alive and that's all what really matters!

BTW, Bill's (mrjohnson.org) website link can be found on the right hand side of this page.

Visit From an Old Friend

My friend from college, Nicole, is in town this week for a conference in San Diego. She came over on Tuesday and spent the night. We had an awesome time getting reacquainted, since it's been over 14 years since we've seen each other! Here's a funny self portrait of us!
On Tuesday afternoon, we picked Shayna up from school and headed over to our local Nature Center for a fun time of hiking and animal viewing! In all of the years we have been going to the Nature Center, we saw more animals on Tuesday than I have seen, combined, at any other time! We saw a coyote, big fluffy kitty cat, rabbits, hawks, turtles, fish, squirrels, and tons of lizards & spiders (yuck). It was awesome! After our animal adventure, we came home and then we were off for some yummy Thai food!

On Wednesday, we dropped Shayna off at school, so we could go hang out at the Aquarium of the Pacific. On our way out to the parking lot, Shayna's teacher caught up to us and informed me that Shayna was allergic to the shaving cream the kids were playing with. We ran back in and found her arms covered in yucky spots up to her biceps!
Well, Shayna's doctor is right around the corner, so we took her there, just as a precaution. The doctor just said to give her some Benedryl and it'll go away... duh, I could've just thought of that and saved myself the $20 copay! She's fine and we took her to the Aquarium with us. Joy!









We had a blast showing Nicole all the cool things at the Aquarium!










Nicole had fun, too!
















I'm so happy that Nicole came and visited with us. She is such a cool gal and I wish that we lived closer! Plus, she would make a GREAT babysitter! HA!