A Sort of Homecoming

Some images from the MI trip

Happy Birthday Ashley!!!!

No more denying it. 30 has arrived. Actually the 30s were pretty fun. Enjoy your day!
Love,
Deb/Mom/Grandma and Randy/Dad/Grandpa

So Very Tired

We're home. Not as quickly this time. 18.5 hours. Too many meal stops I guess. We'll post our Christmas lists and some pictures soon.

Gift lists

Hi everyone, hope you've having a great week! I'm actually done with school for the week and ready to get some Christmas shopping done BUT I need some ideas for my secret person, so maybe if we can all post ideas on the blog it will guide our gift buying. My list is in progress, so I'll post when I've got some ideas:)

Creative Pumpkin Contest

Even though I'm not teaching geography anymore, I couldn't resist doing another pumpkin this year. I also helped a couple of kids in the babysitting co-op paint theirs. So I'm entering my "global" pumpkin in the blog contest :)

In other news, Avery is preparing stories to entertain all of you in MI and Adeline cut her 5th tooth - she's gotten 3 in the last week! Adeline started walking a couple of weeks ago and she's really getting around now. Here are some pictures of the kids in their Halloween costumes. See you all in a week!

Perfect Angels

Wanted you to see the cute faces we enjoyed this weekend. It was fun to take them to the grocery store and Wendy's. Everyone ooo-ed and aaah-ed (how do you spell that?).
Anyway, we'll miss them. Glad it won't be long until they visit again.

We Have a Shot of Ben Just Like This...

Friday night and Saturday all day I had the worst Migraine/Mountain sickness I ever experienced. Ben and Ashley left around noon and that meant Dad was in charge the rest of the day. In one afternoon/evening he experienced 2 dirty baby pants, and Avery helping to transfer his own poop into the big toilet...with his hands!
Avery was all charged up and not interested in an afternoon nap, so this was the scene at the supper table....


These are from Adeline's Birthday party. Why is it that we always want to serve chocolate cake for first birthdays? I guess beause its so fun to watch them eat it!



...and just a quick scenic from the deck. Can't get out of scenic mode. We are enjoying the sun today. We saw the forecast for Michigan. It could be awhile before we see it again.

30 is Just a Number

Our trip in the world's most famous desert oasis is almost over. I thought I would put up some pictures of our adventures.

Here is Ashley at dinner with her tasty 30th birthday cake. We took a limo ride through the strip to celebrate as well, but i don't have that picture yet.

Here's Ashley poolside.

We took a picture by a Sphinx for Avery.

As you can tell I really enjoyed the hummus I found at the buffet.

Paying the rent

Hey all- This is how I pay the rent: scrape over 4 large trash bags of pine needles off of the roof. If you look closely, I tried to create a scraper long enough so that I didn't have to get on the roof. I duct-taped a mop to a rake, but even standing on the top of the ladder I couldn't reach all of the needles. Kate trimmed the flowers and bushes so that they will be there again next year. She also held the 80 year old ladder and raked up all four bags of needles and clippings. Also, looking at our apartment from the outside makes it look really small. The three windows you see are the entire side of the apartment. The window on the far right is the porch, but the other three are the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom from the left to right. It really is bigger than it seems.

The second bit of the post is a poll: What kind of soup do you want in two weeks? I believe we are doing the moving meal, or ravenously roaming, on the 18th. Mattie has appetizers, we have soups and salads, R and R have a main dish, and the parental unit has dessert... which reminds me that someone lost the NCAA family bracket but never made good on the pie. So, without further ado, here are the choices

1. Cheese broccoli
2. Chili
3. Chicken Noodle

Kate is finishing up her last week of teaching 5th grade...and those kids are really gonna miss her when she leaves. But before she leaves for good, she has to go to camp with them. 3 days and 2 nights of pure 5th grade awesomeness

Sam and kate