Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving! We celebrated Thanksgiving in our own home this year...a first for us. It was a fun day with my parents and our friends, the Penlands. You can see EJ with his grandparents, us and "helping" Eric carve the turkey.
We are so thankful for all our friends and family and wish you a wonderful holiday season!

Dedicating E.J.

When we were in Colorado, our pastor and long-time friend, Keita, conducted E.J.'s baby dedication. Even though EJ is more of a toddler than a baby, we still felt it was important to ask for God's blessing on his life and our family. A baby dedication ceremony is similiar to a christening but less formal. It was a touching ceremony and a fun celebration with friends and family.

After the dedication, Chris and Terri brought the new addition to their family over (puppy Chloe) and E.J. instantly fell in love! Pictures above include shots from the ceremony and EJ with my parents, Trish, Chris, Terri and pup. A special day for our family!!

Colorado Friends

We took a trip to Colorado recently and EJ got reaquainted with his friend, Imani. They we so "aquainted" that they exchanged kisses when we were leaving!

It was great seeing friends and many thanks to Nziza and Imani for hosting brunch!

Fall Leaves

The leaves are falling in massive quantities so EJ and I went to Lowe's to get a rake this afternoon. They had several sizes and I saw one that was perfect for EJ, except the handle was too long. We treked over to the lumber department where I had a nice gentleman make a simple cut to reduce the size of the handle. Then we headed home and had a fun time playing in the leaves. I'm not sure how much we actually accomplished but we had fun!

Happy Halloween!

Little Nemo had a fun day! We went to a party at our church and then EJ went Trick-or-Treating for the first time. We kept handing him his pumpkin bucket but he would set it down and run away. Oh well.

You can see Nemo going down the slide at the party, meeting Elmo, and spinning the prize wheel at the church party.

Then there is Nemo with his pumpkin bucket, Nemo and the candy bowl and exhausted Nemo after all the excitment.

As we were leaving the church someone said, "Glad to see you 'found' Nemo." Good one.

Happy Halloween from your favorite fish!

Trunk or Treat

Our neighbors invited us to their church for "Trunk or Treat." Church members decorate the trunk of their cars and hand out candy. It was a really neat idea. EJ, aka "Nemo," didn't understand the taking candy part of the evening, but he loved the atmosphere, especially the minivan with clowns and balloons.

His Nemo costume was a hit. Several of the kids (and some parents too) yelled, "There's Nemo!!!" It was really sweet. And, as you can imagine, EJ was clueless to the attention. :-)

The pictures include "Nemo" and me at the clown/balloon minivan, Nemo and Eric next to the larger-than-life spider truck, Eric showing Nemo how to take candy from the Wizard of Oz crew, Nemo and his new pirate girlfriend, and our sweet neighbors who invited us.

It was a fun night for all and by the way...Eric and I ate the candy on the way home...thanks NEMO!!! :-)

Our Little Pumpkin

I know this will sound strange, but I took this picture today at the grocery store. When I saw the pumpkins and hay I grabbed my camera and let EJ loose. I felt dumb at first but everyone who walked by said what a good idea it was....and how cute he is. :-) Someday he won't be willing to participate in these little adventures of mine so I better do it while I can.

Nemo Newman

This year E.J. is going to be Nemo for Halloween. He loves the movie so it's quite appropriate. We have a fun week of activities ahead!

Tricia's Weekend Visit

Tricia came for the weekend and we had a great time. We took a wonderful walk to see the fall leaves, played hide and seek while in Halloween costume, and played with ALL the toys possible!!

It was hard to say goodbye at the airport...literally! E.J. kept running back to the security checkpoint to see her off as she made her way through security. I finally had to pick him up and carry him away. It was obvious he didn't want her to leave!

We miss you already, T!!!

Kari's Wedding

A couple weeks ago, EJ and I attended Kari's wedding. She was a beautiful bride and the celebration was really fun!

You can see the family shot, EJ with Eric's uncle Tim (who Eric was adamant that EJ meet, as he has looked up to him his entire life), the bride and groom, and EJ, Grandma and me looking at the wildlife at the reception.