Free Hugs

Caught these guys walking down South Temple. I asked to take their photo for this project... got the photo plus three free hugs. Nice!

Chick-fil-a Bliss

We were four very happy former Southerners when Dan brought us back Chick-Fil-A sandwiches from his LA trip! Not having a chick-fil-a has been a hard WA adjustment. I know it may sound strange but food memories are strong for me! We spent many Thursday evenings together at Chick family nights with $1 kids meals, a clown who knew our kids by name and did awesome face painting. Many of our friends would meet us there for good food and adult conversation. While our kids took over a section of the restaurant, we adults solved(or at least vented about) life's trickiest problems, schools, neighbors, car problems, kid problems and lots of other stuff. In the first part of this pregnancy, I couldn't hold down much but every couple days the world's best chicken sandwich would call to me and I (or Dan) would go on a run. So needless to say, we didn't care this night that we had already made dinner, we had squished sandwiches instead and loved every buttery delicious crumb! Thanks Danny!

Trials and Travels in Fort Lauderdale

US Paralympic academy

Matthew was invited to attend this today. They let the kids try out some of the events they did at the Olympics. He got to try rugby, javelin, disces, shot put. If you ever have the chance to see someone play rugby or basket ball in a wheelchair you should watch it. It is unbelievable how hard and how fast they play. The also had some of the members of the 2008 Paralympic team there one of them Jim Bob Bizzel http://usparalympics.org/athlete/athlete/2192 had a his gold and silver metals with him he let us hold them they are very cool, larger and heavier than I thought. Matthew is hoping to start working out with the local team St Luke's when they start swimming again.

Happy Birthday Katie!!

 

Katie had her first double birthday this year.  It is hard to believe that she is 11 years old!  Katie has a wonderful sense of humor and we are happy she is part of our family.  Katie has been a real trooper about moving and we are glad that she didn't decide to stay behind in GA when we left.  Katie requested chocolate raspberry cake which was very yummy!

This year we had the added bonus of having Mom and Dad and Kristie with us on the birthday.  We carved pumpkins (it was great to have a couple of extra helpers) and played a couple of hands of Mexican train.  Katie won a hand and so did Dad of course!

 

6 wet pigs

The day we went to the rain forest appropriately enough it rained and rained and rained and rained.  David's warning about not wearing cotton was very appropriate!  It was a very gloomy day but the hiking pigs had fun.  (Mom and the sisters in law were smart and dry at the beach house)  It was a great hike that took us through the beautiful forest.  The trees were unbelievably tall and there were lots of pockets of fall colors amongst the evergreens.  The rain gave the whole place an otherworldly feel the day we were there.

After our hike we were told by the lady at the visitors center that some of the biggest trees in the world were nearby.  We drove out and saw a couple.  The coolest one was the cedar tree.  It was almost completely hollow inside.  We were all able to stand it it quite comfortably.

On the way home Dad offered to buy  us all a drink.  We all got our drinks then dad remember he didn't have his wallet.  (He did pay back though!)  It was a great first day of the reunion.

FUN FUN FUN!!

 

It was a great few days at the Beach.  David and Lana did a great job putting this together and having lots of fun activities.  We missed having Deb there though!  I thought the funnest thing we did was dig clams on the beach.  Kristie and I saw this sign on the day we left and thought it was funny.  She reluctantly agreed to pose for the picture.  You know how shy she can be...

I hope people take time to post their pictures and their thoughts.  I will do more later!

Trick or Treat

Every year we put out candy at Amcor for trick or treaters, but we buy the .02 per piece kind. There is one business in town that is a little more generous......Me and the 8 kids are planning on stopping by there, we might even change our costumes a few times like the good old days!!

Homecoming 2008

Here's Clay and his lovely girlfriend Anastasia at her home before homecoming dinner. They went to the Bugaboo Steakhouse for dinner and then went to the dance at Watkins Mill High School. Clay, Anastasia, and some of their friends came back to the house to watch a movie and hang out.

Here's Eliott and his lovely girlfriend Maira at our home after he made her, with my help, a tuna salad sandwhich waiting for her brother-in-law to pick them up to take them to the high school. After the dance they went to her cousin's son's birthday party until they went home that evening.

Happy 4....th birthday Deborah

I am not sure this is the last of your October birthdays, but its the one that you should not have to do any work for other then opening presents.

I have had a lot of fun over the years being your little brother, it was great having a older sister that would protect me and to take care of me and help me along the way of life.

I Love these next two pictures, it reminded me a lot of you and David as kids most of the time you were great palls, but sometimes one of you needed to make sure that the other one knew that you were in charge.

There is still some debate if David is helping you to stay in your chair or helping you to get out of your chair. It looks to me like he was concerned that his little sister was going to fall.

Here you are reading a book, I am sure that you read a lot to me and Charlie, I can remember you doing it. This picture makes me miss my frog pillow, how about you?


Rather funny looking back on this, but this was about the time of one of our few fights, you with Jayson causing problems and me being a moody teenager....looking back I am not sure how none of you killed me. I would guess you would not have had a hard time convincing a jury that it was justifiable homicide when your brother tells his 8 month pregnant sister to walk to Skidmores. We really always got along very well, and considering that we were so close in age we really got along very very well!!!!









I love this picture of you and Mom, the two happy little girls laying in bed.

I really appreciate having you for a big sister and look forward to many years of you watching out for me!!

Bring your sweaters (and your rain gear)

It is going to be a cold weekend at the beach! If you don't have any gear for the rain let me know. I have a couple of jackets that are windproof and should hold out the water pretty well. It is going to get cold at night as well! It will almost feel like winter up here.

I can't wait to see everyone!