HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2007!

It's probably a good thing Shannon is "Pro" Halloween because I am very much "Con", so our boys get the benefit of at least one of us caring. The boys set a new record in houses knocked and candy received this year, but it was not without prodding. I was the fortunate one that got to walk with them this year. After finishing a couple of neighborhood cul-de-sacs, Drew's "yegs" were tired and ready to go home. We were with a group of neighbors and Cole was several houses ahead of us. I told Drew I would call Mom to come and get him, but that Cole was going to have ALOT more candy than him if he quit. He decided to stick it out.

Shannon went the extra mile to allow the kids to make their own Jack o' Lantern pizzas. Cole with his best buddy Ryan.

Cole carved his pumpkin all by himself for the first time this year. I taped the pattern on and he did the rest.

Drew had mom's help, but he will still take the credit if you ask him.

Ok, so I mentioned I don't care too much for Halloween. I still figure if I'm going to be pressured into carving a pumpkin I'm going to try to do something cool with it. I would like to dedicate this year's product to the biggest Jazz fan I have ever known... the late Ima Rose. I would have loved to see G.G.'s reaction to seeing this.

This "Jazz O' Lantern" actually even found it's way onto the KJZZ opening before the Jazz/Rockets game tonight. The Bear held it up between Bolerjack and Booner before tip off.

Drew was a Ninja for the second year in a row. I think he likes it because he can swing the nunchucks and hit everything around him.

Cole was a rapper with the jersey and the 'Bling'. We call him "5 Cent".

Here are a few of our carved pumpkins from years past.

To Disneyland and Beyond!!!!

We recently returned from a great trip to California and our boys' first Disneyland experience. The trip found a few hiccups and a lot of time on the road, but was still a complete success!

The following is a list of things we learned while on our trip:

• Breaking up the drive from Riverton to Bakersfield by staying a night in St. George was a great idea. Especially when you have a home teacher offering up a vacant family vacation home for free! Yes, we are freeloaders!

• A trip CAN be delayed by 'high winds'.

• Buying Slurpees for Cole and Drew on a long road trip is a bad idea. They drink them very quickly and their bladders fill at a similar pace. Nothing like pulling off a major highway for a potty break only to find there is NO ON-RAMP to get back on the same highway! Nothing like being in B.F.E. California praying you can find the way onto the highway.

• Jacob is doing well playing football in Bakersfield, even with a painful injury (separated shoulder) in his non-throwing shoulder. One of his main receivers went down with an injury, but they were still able to win easily and remain atop the National Junior College Football rankings. We all enjoyed seeing Jacob again.

• When you are at the beach, the tide moves faster than a 7 and 4 year old may think.



• The first part of the week in the middle of October is a perfect time to go to Disneyland. The lines for the rides were extremely short which allowed the boys to go on everything they wanted x 4. We seldom waited more than 10-15 minutes in line before getting on a ride.


• Cole's favorites were Space Mountain, Soaring Over California, and California Screamin'.


• Drew's favorites included The Materhorn, Soaring Over California, and Thunder Mountain Railroad. He also liked Splash Mountain, until the second time when he fell off the railing while in line landing on his head and putting a goose egg on his forehead.




• "It's a Small World After All!" Not referring to the attaction (which was closed during our stay) but to the fact we ran into our neighbors from 3 houses down The Abseys and spent some time with them and helped taxi them back and forth to their Mobile Home park.



• Go on the Grizzly River Rapids when it is warm and the sun can dry you out. Everyone in our boat got soaked! Fortunatley for us the weather in So Cal was very WARM!



• Both boys are a little more brave than we thought they would be.


• In N Out Burger seems to always hit the spot!

We were so fortunate and greatful to Dave, Caryn, and kids for letting us stay with them, feeding us, and being such great hosts. We were also glad they could join us, along with Lindsey and kids during day #2 at the parks. Somehow, Drew was able to get the Trumbo boys to take turns 'piggybacking' him through the park most of the day. Joe and Ryan were good souls and can now find themselves on the top of Drew's favorite cousin list!

The only problem now is that we have officially opened the boys' eyes to Disneyland and California Adventure which means we will have to deal with the begging and pleading to return that has already started. In fact on the drive home Drew's comment was "I want to have my next birthday party at Disneyland and invite my cousins and friends." Word to the wise... don't hold your breath waiting for that invitation to come!

Dan

Cole's Highlight Clip

To keep Cole busy, and his mind off of wanting to play soccer, we let him play Flag Football last year. HE LOVED IT, and begged us to play again this year. This season started in the middle of September and goes until next week. Eight games in 4 weeks with no weekends involved... It's a good deal!

Anyway, I agreed to coach his team with a friend we made from this past baseball season. It's been a lot of fun for all of us. Even Drew who loves to go and pretend he is on the team.

Of course I am bias, but Cole is one of the best players on his team. At this age group (1st and 2nd graders), most of the kids still struggle with catching passes and throwing the football. Not Cole! He has also improved quite a bit from last season in the art of "flag pulling" and has had a couple of interceptions.

We took the video camera with us to the last two games, so I decided to make a little highlight video of Cole in action.

-Dan

And So It Begins!

Due to my interest in keeping up with technology and the ability to let people know stuff about us that they probably don't really care about, I have decided to start a blog for my family.

I can't commit to frequent posts, and Shannon will need to go to blog school before you hear from her, so bear with us.

I know, this picture is a couple years old. We're pretty pathetic parents not having something more recent. I guess we can work on that for a post in the near future.

- Dan

Jacob's Highlight Video

For anyone who is interested in seeing Jacob's first couple of games as a Bakersfield College Renegade.