We Only Come Out at Night

Hey Family, I thought I needed to get in on the pumpkin race. So I finally got mine carved with a day to spare. I took two angles because he has a wide face. One side has a bullet hole which I like. He is bleeding from where I cut the top off his head. Oh so scary. Happy halloween.
-Reuben

White Rabbit

Man it is hard to find the perfect song for every occasion. Thought I'd end the find-the-rabbit contest. I'll admit it was rather difficult. Probably why we never saw a Jack Rabbit on our travels before.
If you look at the bottom third of the photo, in the center, you can see a darker triangle. That's him! Works better if you enlarge the photo and check it out. Not really the caliber of Uncle Steve's contests. All you really see is his head and ears, but he's there...
MOM
P.S. if Dad and I are the only ones posting song titles, how can we win the contest? Guess our own artists? ;-)

Long and Winding Road

This first image speaks of the way I felt this morning. Locked out! I was supposed to go on that special tour for photography with the Navajo guide. I was there where he told me to be...early!...and no one was there. Our wires got crossed somehow. Wasn't meant to be. Saved us some money;-) So we decided to visit Mesa Verde again instead.
Had a great day in spite of the rocky start....





Our theme for the day was road shots. They are best when taken from the center of the road. My job was to get the shot while Dad kept watch for traffic.


.... But he wasn't always paying as close attention to cars as he should have been. ;-)





Hey kids remember this? If you look closely you will see the ladder you had to climb to get to Balcony House 13 years ago. This is the view from across the way. Balcony House was closed this time. The only one we could visit was Cliff Palace which was fine because we didn't go thru that one last time.




... and another first. Our first Tarantula in the wild!! People said he was just a baby, but he was big enough for us...

We went for a short hike today. Here are more pictures of the kids.





I also took a picture of something that isn't my children. It's been awhile.

Dancin in the Moonlight

I couldn't resist one more blog entry.
We had a so-so guide for our night hike into the canyon, but what fun photographing under a full moon! I have a few things to learn about photographing at night with that camera, but I had fun trying.
This morning we ha a VERY cool jeep ride with a Navajo guide. He took us to the farm he grew up on in the Canyon. He talked about climbing the canyon wall every day to go to school. We've been invited to a ceremony in the canyon tomorrow night with full dress and dancing and stuff,(right next to that tall formation I posted yesterday, but we are supposed to be in Monument Valley. We just may have to drive back down.... Can't photograph it, but would be an experience if we could swing it. Anyway, maybe not. We'll see.
Ben and Ashley: thanks so much for posting the movie of your cutie taking steps. I love the internet!
Hope everyone is having a good week!

Cherokee People

... Maybe Cherokee ancestors....
Hello again family! Do you know how to read the language of the ancient ones?




We did a little more hiking at Painted Desert early this morning...



...and then we moved on to Canyon De Chelly. Took a hike into the canyon. People are living and farming down there.
Tomorrow we have a jeep tour in the morning and a moonlight hike scheduled at night. Hoping for more cool shots.

Get Your Kicks on Route 66

Hey Kids,
Our little adventure has begun. We have internet tonight and we wanted to let you know we are alive and kicking.
Our plane landed late last night (early this morning) in Albuquerque. This was the only car the rental place had left for us. Dad was sooo disappointed. He really wanted to drive a white Neon again!


Borrowing from Uncle Steve's bag of tricks...
We and I saw our first Jack Rabbit today. He's in this grass. Can you find him?


We spent the afternoon in the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. This is a close-up of a petrified tree. The colors are cool.....


And some random desert shots....



The moon was so cool today. Came up about an hour before sunset. I'm hoping to be able to incorporate it in some shots later in the week.

The Great Pumpkin

Hey all- We just wanted to show off our pumpkin pictures. I was happy with my non-face pumpkin being a non-artist. But, due to the warm temps, our pumpkins have rotted rather quickly and are now decaying and filled with thousands of fruit flies. I accidentally brought my pumpkin inside to throw in the trash when the top came off in the car hold and a huge swarm off them flew out. It was definitely not cool.

We get to go to the dentist again!

Well it is official, I've got a job!
I will be a full-time sub in a 4th grade class at Excel from December-end of the year. The teacher is not returning so I will be the 4th grade teacher next year too! We are very thankful how well it has worked out for me at Excel, and I am excited to actually have a class of my own next year. I will get hired as full-time staff in December, so I will be able to be paid on salary and we can have health insurance again-which is always good:) I guess I passed the sub test.

October

A press photographer spotted Adeline playing in the pumpkins and took some pictures of her. I'll let you know if she gets published.

I think these are the same exact pumpkins I carved last year and possibly the year before. I need to get a little more creative next time. Ashley did a good job with the seeds this time around, though. They are very tasty.

Footage is on youtube.

pumpkin carving ideas

Ok, so I haven't carved a pumpkin in a long time, but I am going to carve one this year. I want to do something more original than the creations we used to make as children. Does anyone have any good ideas?

1st snow

I heard you guys were knocking on 90 degrees this weekend so I thought I would post a video of our first snow on youtube.

Tasty Hot Dogs

I don't want to step on other people's posts, but I am going to put this stuff up before I forget. We went to Coney Island in Bailey today for dinner. It was pretty good food. If it is open next time you folks come out we can all take a visit. It was nice to get out and enjoy the colours also. See the video on youtube.

Kudos back to you mom

Thanks mom. That does make me feel good. I am certainly trying. I would like to pass a kudos on to you. We had Alan's wedding last night and Nate Kiser said you were much better at the interacting with clients than this other photographer. He liked the way you handled things more than this other lady. You were, and I quote "Hands and fists better." I'm not sure that is a real phrase, but it is certainly a compliment. Way to go mom. Your a pro.

Happy Birthday Mattie!!!!

Wow our baby is an adult now. 21 years ago we were.... I'll spare you the details for now. I'm sure Dad will be happy to relate the annual story of your birth for you on Sunday ;-). Have fun with your gathering today.
Love,
Mom and Dad

Kudos to Reuben

Hey all,
I just wanted to mention something that happened today. I went to the dentist and he mentioned a story about a kid who was in the other day. He said he asked the kid how he liked school. The kid said he liked it. Then the dentist asked if he liked his teacher. The kid said he did. Then he asked what the teacher's name was. ... Mr. Sportel!!
The dentist, young Dr. Garvin, said, "Hey I know him!"
Anyway, I've been hearing good things about the job you are doing at Dutton, Reuben, and I thought you needed to hear it. ...and since I'll miss Sunday dinner, I thought I'd say it here.
Have a great Day!
--MOM

Sunday Morning

Well, OK Sunday afternoon...
Dinner is on, but Dad isn't cooking. Grandma has invited all to her house for dinner. I'm envious!
--MOM

drink the water

So, I am hosting a "Wine and Cheese shindig," as I like to call it, in honor and me and my friend's 21st birthdays. (You are welcome to stop by if you wish!) However, seeing as how I am relatively new to this realm, I am wondering what my aged dairy and alcoholically educated family would recommend I get... while staying near a college budget...

Also, is there any family dinner happening on sunday despite mom's absence? Because I could come!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday, Rachel! Hope it is a great day.
Love,
Mom and Dad