San Diego

Lots of horseback riders along Border Field State Beach.

I love Jon's face here!! I cut myself off in this self-portrait.

Self Portrait at the beach.

Some little islands out in the ocean, Mexican side.

Mexico

Mexico

Jon and I  had a good time in San Diego! It was much cooler than I was expecting--a storm was moving in. We stayed downtown, a block from the harbor. On Friday night, after dinner, we walked along the harbor and looked at the big ships. On Saturday, we went to La Jolla Cove and Beach. There was a beach (Children's Pool) with harbor seals. We had lunch there and then went south. We hit Coronado and went to Border Field State Beach. We could see the Mexican border--border patrol, fence, towers, etc. I LOVE the beach!!! There are some Factory Outlet stores in San Ysidiro, so we went there, but it was soooo crazy/busy!! It was the last USA exit!! When we got back on the freeway, we drove right along the checkpoint and then came to a sign that said "WELCOME TO CALIFORNIA." Does that mean we were in Mexico?! We drove back north for dinner and then relaxed, since we had to get up at 4:30 am to make our flight. It was a fast, quick, FUN weekend!!!

R.I.P. Jasper

Kristen's pet hamster of 5.5 months passed away. She is absolutely devastated!!! And I feel like a monster because I refused to track down a small animal vet and pay the $40 to have him looked at. These critters live up to 2 years. This little guy was soooo active. He was always running and climbing. He would climb the walls of the cage and run all over the place. He also drank a TON!!! About 2-3 weeks ago, he started losing his fur. I made her clean the cage more often. Last night, he was barely breathing. She just sat and held him and cried and then put him in his cage, where he died. From what we were reading about, it sounds like it was probably either diabetes (which is hereditary) or skin cancer. His skin was all crusty and he had a big sore-like thing on his belly. But who knows? It could have been some other kind of disease and I feel bad that I didn't get him in because maybe he'd still be alive.

These pictures were taken over Fall Break--a month ago. By yesterday, his back, stomach, and legs had big patches of no fur. Ah---I feel sooo bad!!!

Lesson: Don't let your kids get a pet---it's too heartbreaking. I'm STILL dreading the day our dog dies. That will the the worst day ever!!

First *Sticky* Snow

The first snow storm that actually accumulated was on November 4-5. It started snowing that night and we woke up to a bit of the white stuff. Of course, the kids had to go out and play in it for a few minutes....

Life

Kendall had a court of honor last week and he earned his Life! That means he's able to start working on his Eagle Scout. I'm so proud of him! He works so hard and tries his hardest to be the best he can be. I have to smile sometimes because he's so willing to help others and neighbors that sometimes we come last (think: raking leaves--ha ha). He's got a great scout leader and an awesome dad to help him along. GOOD JOB, KENDALL!!!

Golden, Crystal, Whatever!

Jon and I celebrated our anniversary yesterday!! It was our 15th. I call it our golden because it was 15 on the 15th, but technically it's the crystal anniversary. We didn't do much to celebrate--went to pack meeting, got the boys' hair cut, homework, leaves (leaves and more leaves), but we're going to San Diego this weekend!!! Jon has to go there for work tomorrow, so I'll fly out on Friday and we'll be home early on Sunday. I'm soooo excited!

Flashback Fridays All Month Long!!

About this time of year, I flash back to the year before...and the year before...and the year before. To quote an old Primary song: "It's autumn time, it's autumn time, the leaves are falling down. It's autumn time, it's autumn time, it's all around the town." Yes, I LOVE autumn, but by this time of the season, I'm more than a little tired of raking leaves. :) We raked up about 20 bags of leaves and still have 2 trees that having dropped yet and 2 that aren't done yet. As Jon pointed out, each year, the trees get bigger and have more leaves. Ai-yi-yi!! The positive--they smell soooo good, they're soooo pretty, and it feels good to get a job done!

WEAR GLOVES!!!

A couple of days before Halloween, I had the kids outside pulling up dead plants, finishing off the garden, raking leaves, etc. I was working alongside them and since we weren't out for too long, and I wasn't planning on really getting dirty, I didn't wear gardening gloves. BIG MISTAKE!!!! About midnight, I was up in so much pain. I thought my thumb would pound right off my hand. I couldn't for the life of me think of what happened. And then I remembered--a stick had poked me underneath my thumbnail. That whole weekend was misery--it kept getting more and more swollen and sore and hot. I couldn't bend it either. On Halloween, I went to the doctor and found out I had a very nasty infection. He put me on a very strong antibiotic. I found out that tetanus is found in contaminated dirt, so luckily I was up on my shot. It's been 2.5 weeks and my thumb still isn't normal--it's tender, peeling, and a little sore. Note to self--ALWAYS wear gardening gloves!!

Halloween 2011

The kids' costumes were all pretty easy this year!! Kristen finally got into the Harry Potter books earlier this year and is obsessed with all things British. She's been slowly gathering pieces for a Hermione costume for months! Doesn't she look oh so happy! We keep getting glimpses of a teenager. Yikes!

Hermione (Kristen)

Kendall decided last minute to go as an 80s rocker. A neighbor had a wig; a friend had jeans and a leather jacket. We rolled his jeans up 80s style and added a bit of black eyeliner. He was good to go.

Ozzy Osbourne--or some other rocker (Kendall)

Jarren got an Aragorn (Lord of the Rings) costume for his birthday and wanted to wear that. We put off a haircut so he could have longer hair for the costume.

Aragorn (Jarren)

Jenna decided to be a snowy owl. I could not find a pattern so we bought one for cheap online. It's officially a Hedwig (Harry Potter) costume, but Kristen did NOT want to have a theme going. :)

Hedwig (Jenna)

Pumpkins

 

This year, we went to a local pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins. Kendall had homework and wasn't that excited about going, so he and Jon stayed home. Of course, we ran out the door without the camera. :) They have a little corn maze and rows and rows of pumpkins to choose from--white, orange, green, big, small, etc. Last year, after Halloween, I grabbed a bunch of pumpkin carving kits (complete with patterns), so we tried a few new designs this year. As always, the kids loved every minute of it!! The Saturday before Halloween, my parents hosted a Halloween party for the grandkids that was a lot of fun. The kids painted pumpkins. Kendall was so excited to do an Angry Bird. Haha. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures.

Kendall's barfing pumpkin

Kristen's funny lady

Jarren's spooky pattern

Jenna's owl pumpkin

The porch

Finished products

 

 

Cornbelly's

 

Pumpkin Tether Ball

Horse Riding

We've been trying to adjust to having Jon work from home. Since the kids were out of school for 4 days for Fall Break, back in October, I used one of those days to take them to Cornbelly's--a fun Halloween activity place. We went there once about 2 years ago at night, and it was much different going in the day. For one thing, it was sooo super crowded. For another, it was HOT! The kids thought they were melting. :) There were so many fun things--

Corn Maze

Driving Range--Jarren

Driving Range--Kendall

Driving Range--Kristen

Driving Range--Jenna

Swings

Slides

Spider Webs

 

We had a blast!!!