Brett's Mantel

Brett did an INCREDIBLE job on the mantel remodel in our family room. And it only took him one whole year to finish! We decided to take out the gross green marble surround stone and replace it with the black granite to match our countertops. Plus the old wood mantel was so tacky with the frilly molding. Brett did absolutely everything by himself, including all the custom molding and design on the legs. Evan and I are so lucky to have Brett. He's amazing!!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

At the Pumpkin Patch

I know I'm really late posting these, but better late than never. We went to a pumpkin patch, and Evan did great on all the giant slides. It scared me a little bit to have him go by himself, but he loved it. And he even got to drive a tractor!

Central Coast Camping Trip

We took an extended weekend and went camping for four days. We had a nice time, and now Lee and I are ready for a long, long nap. Here are some highlights.

Pismo Beach is famous for its Monarch Butterfiles which come spend part of the year in a grove of trees next to the State Park. When you look up you see them everywhere. The trailer worked like a champ. Thanks to our generator, we had no battery woes, and a nice cozy heater, which led to bathtime in the sink! Is it me or does he look like a giant baby in a tiny sink?

Grayson was a great "help" in the trailer. He helped take everything out of the cupboards, several times.
Carissa and Derek loved playing trailer- and so did we!!

On the dunes right behind the campground. What could be more fun than rolling down sand dunes?

And then eating the sand?
It was starting to get a little chilly as the sun went down, but that didn't stop all three from frolicking in the ocean to pick up the purple sand dollars.

This is at Piedras Blancas, north of San Simeon (Hearst Castle..."Rosebud!"...) where the Elephant seals come to mate. The wind nearly blew us off the trail, but we went down a half mile or so to get a closer look at these gigantic creatures. Lee offered me $100 to run down and poke one. I did not take that offer.
ON our way back down the coast we stopped at this point where Lee and I took an identical picture on our Honeymoon. (Please note Derek's pose)

Here is Derek heading out on the Bluff Trail at Montana De Oro, just south of Morro Bay. I do believe he cannot take a picture without posing. We loved the tide pools down a little ways off the Bluff Trail. Lots of fun stuff!

Grayson really loved the rocks. Apparently they tasted good, or felt nice in his mouth, because he ate handfulls.

Did I mention that bringing the DVD player was a great move??

This is the Pier at Pismo Beach, where they were holding yet another surfing contest. (They've had one all three times we've been there.) The kids were mesmerized watching the surfers, and I wondered, again, why I have not taken that sport up.

Demons on the Loose

Backing up my files to my external hard drive yesterday, I started going through my photo library, and noticed that my old digital camera (or 'pack of gum' as some as you prefer to call it) had a special way of giving people scary demon eyes if captured in the wrong light.

Here's a prime example. It looks like Kev is about to shoot a laser through his eyes at tyler:
I think Brett and Mireille were literally bored to their deaths at the Long Lost Reunion:

You've probably wondered why MLK has had so many problems. Employing freaks like this certainly doesn't help... And that's all I'm going to say.

This is my personal favorite. Check out Jeremiah - or shall I say Evil Jeremiah - at kirk's elbow...

Don't give her the baby, Sara!
Check out Tyler's horns.
I apologize for this weird post - I'm just really bored I think.

Zoo - Depressing or Fun?

Paige had her first experience with the Sacramento Zoo on Wednesday. It is a relatively small zoo, so we were able to easily see all of the animals.
Paige was ver intersted as to whose jeans were in the monkey enclosure, and how they got there. You can see the two sad monkeys sitting on the ground eating their onions and lettuce.

That thing that looks like a ball of dredlocked hair sitting on the rock is actually a HUGE orangutan. The hair/fur/locks on that thing were really long, and its face was probably 3 feet wide. No joke.

Sleeping Ben, Mom and Paige on the train. That is the way to see the park! We got driven around by our "engineer" and enjoyed the coziness of the small train cars. It was the highlight of Paige's day!

Gramma Shanna came with us and got to push the stroller! It was a great, tiring, educational, and fun day!

Halloween El Do Co Style

We had a wonderful Halloween! We have actually had a prolonged holiday with a Trunk-or-Treat on Saturday in Kelsey, party at preschool on Tuesday and trick -or-treating on Wednesday in Placerville. Wow!

I made Ben a costume (Pea In A Pod) but it was so warm all 3 days that he never got to wear it. And this is the only picture we got of it. Yes, Jeremiah took a picture of him in the mirror. He got to wear a pair of light green jammies with some homemade "peas" sewn on. I also made him a hat (too warm to wear) and a fleece "pod" (also too warm to wear). So this is the best we could do!

Paige went as...can you guess? What does every 2-4 year old girl want to be? A PRINCESS!! We borrowed the dress from Carissa, and Paige was in heaven. Actually, this is the 3rd time she has worn it.

This picture is from Saturday at the trunk or treat - on the way up Princess Paige was a little tuckered out.

Trick or treating on Main Street in Placerville - check out that spooky lady in the window!

For those of you without a TV, you may not recognize Grampa Mike's costume. He is the Wendy's guy from their latest commercials. Pretty clever, eh? Oh, and the vampire in the back is Jesse.

Halloween!

After countless mintues working on Derek's "Boy Bat" costume (well it was only a good portion of one day, really) he chose the $9.95 blue power ranger costume from Target, complete with velcro closure and airbrushed tool belt. His mind would not be changed. And trust me- he WAS a blue power ranger. Carissa chose to be a veterinarian. Obviously here, she is a "crazy vet". Scrubs courtesy of Tyler. Ready to go Trick-or-treating!

Yes- the mask even has the annoying rubber band.
Grayson pretty much slept through the entire evening; he's been a little under the weather.
Carissa and friends Katelyn( Mexican Snow White), Katie (dead Snow White) and Scout (Zoro).
Derek and Noah took all the decorations pretty literally. Several times they informed us, "Let's go home. This is too scary!" They pretty much freaked out when a lady opened the door dressed as a witch, acting out the part in a witch voice. But when coaxed with candy, they crept trepidatiously to the door. And yes, this Power Ranger wears black cowboy boots.

Sofa Salesman

We bought a sectional shortly after Evan was born. We love this sectional. It's seriously the most comfortable thing ever. Plus it's beautiful. (Any takers?) Anyway, I was trying to take pictures of it to post it on Craigslist, since we couldn't get it down to our basement. But everytime I'd go to shoot a picture, Evan would come running to smile for the camera. I really hope this doesn't mean he'll grow up to be one of those annoying furniture salesmen.

Evan's First Haircut

We decided it was about time to cut Evan's crazy curls. So we bribed him with an ice cream 3 muskateer and Brett went for it. I was too chicken, since I tried to cut his bangs, and that just ended in disaster.

BEFORE: Curly baby hair... I miss his curls.

Brett tried scissors...
...but ultimately the clippers worked best.
AFTER: Now Evan looks like a little boy!