6 months

18 1/2 lbs

28 1/2 in

4 teeth

Camping Trip

No, I did not go camping. I was not invited, but I wouldn't have gone even if I was. I love my bed. And my shower. And my flushy toilet. And being warm. Ryan, however, lives for that nature stuff. His 11 yr old scouts have been SOO excited for this trip because he promised to take them SHOOTING as long as their dads came too. I got the scoop from Ryan and it sounded like they had so much fun. There were fire building competitions, smores, dinner by campfire, and I'm sure lots of other rugged stuff.

This is how Ryan spent the night. I might remind you the November is not warm here.

The boys AND their dads were in seventh heaven playing with Ryan's toys. He is such a good teacher and can turn the most staunch critic into a seasoned target shooter in one lesson. Mom and Dad, am I right? Ryan also got to take his new truck off roading to get to the camp site. He was adamant that he would not be a "poser" and only drive his tough truck on the pavement. It even got its first little scratch on the trip, but Ryan didn't shed a tear.

I also got a new car. I will post pictures of the new Mom Mobile soon. Can anybody picture me driving a mini van?

Halloween

This was our first Halloween in our new house and neighborhood. There are lots of little kids on our street, so we were hoping for big numbers of trick or treaters. We set up the fog machine on the front porch along with skull strobe lights, a witch sitting in the rocking chair, and a fiber optic pumpkin. It looked very festive and got great reactions from our neighbors.The main event, however, was the trunk or treat at the church on Wednesday night. It wasn't the best night. It was a rainy, yucky day and I had a very cranky little boy due to teething. We were determined to make the best of it and headed to the church. Christian was a hit in his dragon costume and was passed around by my young women all night.
We usually go all out, with Ry dressing up in his now famous gorilla costume hiding in the trunk with the fog machine going and halloween lights flashing and scary music playing, but since it was raining we were forced inside. Luckily I had a backup plan. The decorations weren't as lavish, but still fun. It might not have been our best showing, but still a very fun night.

Fall Happenings

One of the best things about living in New England is the fall. The other great thing is that lots of people want to see our beautiful colors, and that means visitors! If you want to come visit, get your October lodging request in early because rooms go quickly at the Thomas Bed and Breakfast. This year we were lucky enough to have California Grandma and Grandpa come for the first week of October followed by the first annual Girls Weekend with long time friends April and Beka. I love having company because it is such a great excuse to get out and explore all of the great things to see around this area. Ryan loves it because I clean the house really well for company and cook yummy dinners.

We did lots of fun things when Mom and Dad were here. Since it was the first time Dad has been here since we bought our house, we did lots of driving around the neighborhood to show him our new digs. We also went to the coast to tour Strawbery Banke (yes, that's strawbery with 1 r and banke with an e, those crazy Brits,) which is a super old town that has been restored to teach the youngins about the way it used to be back in the late 1600's. We also had outings to Lake Winnipesaukee and Wolfeboro, Lull Fruit Farm for fresh produce and apple pies, and a trip to the shooting range with Ryan. Ry brought a bunch of fun .22s to shoot with. Mom and Dad had a great time and killed lots of water bottles, various fruits and vegetables, an aerosol can of sunscreen, and a few other inanimate objects that deserved to die. Dad had an especially fun time. I think I have a great idea for a Christmas present, I just have to make sure its legal in California.

There was also lots of play time with Christian. It was cute to see how Christian took to Grandpa. My son has never been a cuddler. He prefers to wiggle. However, when we put Christian in Grandpa's lap and he was perfectly content to sit and chill for a while. He even fell asleep once. He NEVER does this. Pretty adorable.

April and Beka came the day after Mom and Dad left for a short, but very fun girls' weekend. It is hard to believe, but we haven't all been together for over 10 years. Way too long. But with old friends, it seemed like no time had passed. It was so fun catching up on our families, talking about the good old days, and seeing where life has taken us. Life has been good to us and we are all very blessed. I know that where we ended up is largely due to the fact that we had such good, healthy, strong examples in our friends. I am so grateful to the many outstanding friends I had both in childhood and young adulthood. You guys rule.

There are lot of great pictures on Beka's blog, which you can access from my blog. I figured I wouldn't bother taking pictures when I had a master photographer there. Beka's pictures are so cool. She captures scenes I would probably overlook. Very cool. I also convinced her to take a family picture of Christian, Ry, and I since we hardly have any all together. I think we might even use it for our first Christmas card. That's right, I will attempt to send out Christmas cards for the first time ever this year. We have a child now, I think you have to do things like that.

After everyone left, we remembered that we hadn't had our fall harvest yet. We have a bunch of new fruit trees, and some have even given us fruit the first season they were planted. Here is our fuji apple.

That's right, one apple. It wasn't exactly a bountiful harvest, but we're working on or farming skills for next year. Our little apple was delicious, though. I made a little apple tartlet that we ate with whipped cream. Yummy.