Thanksgiving 2008

Unfortunately, my camera was MIA during Thanksgiving and so I don't even have any photos to post. It was a pretty low key Thanksgiving with a few of my siblings and their families at my parents/our house. :-) Yummy food and fun playing with cousins. I did reflect a lot on what I am thankful for this Thanksgiving and it really is pretty simple: Geoff's job, the gospel of Jesus Christ and the hope it gives, family and friends. Our family and friends have been so supportive and positive and loving to us over the past few months...we are extremely grateful!

So Long, Farewell...

In November, we moved out of our first house and in with my parents until Geoff could find a job. It just so happens that the night we loaded up the moving truck, Geoff got a job offer about midway between my parents' house and the house we were moving from. There was no turning back, though, after our house was sold, the farewells had been said and a ton of people helped pack all of our stuff into the moving truck in record time (I think they may have been excited to get rid of us!) So off to put our stuff in storage and move in with my parents. We miss many things about our old stomping ground, mainly all of the wonderful people. Maybe we will be back someday...But until then, we will cherish the memories. The photos show some of our "lasts" there: Eliza's last day of preschool, Kolby's last day of preschool, Paige's last time babysitting (she's been babysitting for us since Kolby was 8 months old) and the last night at our house with all of the awesome people who helped pack the truck!

Proposition 8 Rally

Our family had the privilege of participating heavily in the Yes for Proposition 8 campaign in California to preserve traditional marriage between a man and a woman. I know there has been a lot of controversy over the subject, but Geoff and I both agree that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. Geoff had the luck of being unemployed during this critical campaign time and so was able to put 40-60 hours/week into getting the vote out for yes on 8. We are so grateful it passed and Geoff was proud that our county had the highest Yes vote percentage of any county in CA. He tried to get us involved as much as possible so we could have some family time and one of the events we were all able to attend was a Prop 8 rally on the street corner of a major intersection in our town. The kids had a blast and were so into the election! It was fun to see them, mainly Kolby, asking questions and trying to understand different issues and the different candidates.

Halloween

Halloween is such a fun time of year! Sometimes I feel like it is always Halloween because the kids love dressing up almost every day. But Halloween is made especially great when you have neighbors who LOVE Halloween and decorate their house so much that you might think you were at Disneyland's Haunted Mansion and also throw fun Halloween parties for the kids. This year we had an Incredible Hulk, a Raggedy Ann and a little Duck. Kolby loved being the Hulk and thinks he is as strong as the Hulk. Raggedy Ann got the most stares and comments as we trick or treated cuz she was so cute and the poor little Duck was mistaken for a girl a few times.

Final Pumpkin Patch Photo Shoot

So these are some more photos I found from the pumpkin patch and I figured I'd better post them since I made us dress up in our orange and brown Halloween shirts specifically for a photo shoot. All was well until the winds started blowing at like 50mph and the dust and grime filled our eyes and forced us out! Long live the pumpkin patch! (And yes, I do realize I am posting this in January...I am hoping to get caught up with 2008 by February 2009)

The Pumpkin Patch

We love October because that means that we get to go to the Pumpkin Patch. And we not only go one time to the pumpkin patch, but we go as many times as the kids can convince me to go. It is actually a lot of fun, but sometimes I just get worn out in the 95 degree weather in October. We did go on opening day with our neighbors, Evelyn and Michelle.




Trip #2 was with our cousins to a new pumpkin patch where we went on the train ride and climbed on their big tall mountains of hay. They also had a petting zoo and lots of fun space to run around.

Trip #3 was with Kolby's pre-K class. The highlight of the trip was going on a tractor ride through the corn fields and getting a flat tire. Kolby thought that was the greatest thing ever! He has loved his Pre-K class and his teachers, Mrs. G and Mrs. Palmer have been so great for him.

Trip #5 was to see our cute friend Lindsay perform with her dance group. Kolby and Eliza loved watching her...Kolby's going to miss his little buddy.

Thank you to the Pumpkin Patch for providing so many fun memories over the past 4 years! And thanks for all of our friends who enjoyed it with us.

Happy 1st Birthday, Carson!

On October 3rd, our little bubsy Carson turned 1! I can't believe how fast the time went by. My little barfy baby has outgrown his reflux and become such a happy little boy. Grandma & Grandpa Downen came to celebrate his birthday and his favorite part was the balloons. He just wanted to chase the balloons around the house all day. That was all he needed, even though he did get some cute clothes and toys. He definitely didn't need the cake, as you can see in the last picture. I am 3/3 on making my kids cry on their first birthday by trying to force them to eat their cake/cupcake. Carson is a hilarious kid who is so fun and goes with the flow and he is adored by his big brother and sister. They take such good care of him and were so happy for him to turn 1 so he could start doing big kid things with them. Happy Birthday, Carson! We love you!