Cut n Gut 2013

For years now, and by years, I mean at least 10, we have been carving pumpkins with the Hammers. Honestly since before they were "the Hammers" and we were "the Hunters"!  It has become one of our greatest, easiest, most looked forward to traditions. Every year has been different. One year it was cutting pumpkins on the floor of Chris and Kayla's apartment while pregnant with Julie. One year waiting for the kids to go to bed before bringing in the pumpkins. One year sitting around Chris and Kay's living room watching Charlie Brown.  Always with pumpkin seeds roasting in the oven, of course.

Each year is great in it's own way, and this year was no exception.

Sadie made a cameo at the very beginning. We cut her pumpkin open, she took out one seed, deemed it "yuck!" and asked for Elmo. She was occupied by Elmo and watching us the rest of the night and had no further interest in pumpkins.

Andy was so happy to finally get to cut open his big ol' pumpkin!  He really wanted to make a pumpkin with shark teeth! He spent the first 20 minutes attempting to convince Chris to copy his pumpkin design. Because all pumpkins need big scary teeth!

Julie was so excited to work on her pumpkin. She didn't have a plan like Andy did. But she was also a little more independent and did a lot of the work herself.

 "Hmmmm, now what am I going to do with this thing?????"

 Not sure if she enjoyed this part, but she did it.

Look at the concentration here! Andy even has his tongue sticking out!

 Cool shot by Uncle Monster!

The whole carved lot. It was a great year. Starting on the upper left was Julie, Andy, Kayla, Chris. Bottom left to right is mine and Johns.

 Julie and Andy holding Kayla and Chris' pumpkins. We have some talented, creative friends!

 Spooky Julie Head!

 Creepy Andy Face!

 
 It wasn't all hard work and carving. We did take some delicious pumpkin spice coffee breaks. And of course we munched on the pumpkin seeds the second they came out of the oven! I enjoy that part more than the actual carving. Mmmmm, pumpkin seeds.

Once again, a successful holiday tradition in the bag!

Colony Days 2013

While we had a blast walking in the parade last year with Julie's soccer team, we were rather excited that this year we got to just sit, watch and wave. Of course it wouldn't have been half as much fun if we didn't have friends to sit with!

We sat with Christina, Gion, Heidi and Shaw (and kids) and Auntie Audrey, Lauren and Memere. It was a fun bunch. Everett is such a ham.....Sadie and Remi were less than amused...or more likely, didn't even notice.

Mom and I hamming it up ourselves....

 My handsome boy waiting for the parade to start.

Oooooh, Sadie loves her cousin so much! She just can't wait to see her an squeeze her!

Andy and Memere!

For the first half of the parade, Lauren and Sadie snuggled with Audrey. Such sweeites.

Julie and Sadie loved dancing to the marching band....anything Julie does, Sadie loves doing too.

After the parade, it was time to find the Elk's train! This was Sadie's first time going on it! I think it was a hit!

Of course any sort of train is a hit for Andy. Our happy man.

And Julie, being a goofball, as usual. This will most likely be her last ride in the train. She is about to pass the "Too tall to ride this ride" line. I don't think it will bother her too much. I think Andy will be devastated, since he is not that far behind her.

And one last one with all three kiddos. It was a fun day at a great home town celebration. Right after this, we got to see a helicopter take off. It was breathtaking and the kids are still talking about it. What a great day!

Super Fun Weekend

This weekend, after a couple of awesome soccer games, we decided to head down to Santa Barbara for a little family time at the zoo. We have been so busy! It was nice to get away for a bit, just the 5 of us. We go to that zoo a lot, but it's still fun and special.

Sadie was obsessed with the snakes. She liked all the other animals too, even made animal noises all throughout the zoo. But the snakes won her over. Of course Julie and Andy told her everything there was to know about the creatures. By the time we left, she wanted to be a snake for Halloween!

Andy always loves the zoo. He wants to know everything about every animal. Especially the ones that were around when the dinosaurs were around.

Sadie was totally hamming it up for me. She cracks me up with her cheesy smile.

The train is always a highlight. Sadie sat so still the whole time. She wants to do everything her brother and sister are doing. I think Andy could ride the train all day long.

After the zoo we went to eat. Sadie watched Julie fill out her menu and couldn't wait to do the same. I just love what a good example Julie is and how Sadie soaks her up!

And to top the day off, we got some ice cream.

It was such a fun family outing. The zoo is always so much fun!

The next morning we picked up Memere and headed to Cambria to see the Scarecrows.  We had never been, so it was a fun adventure. For the most part, I let Julie use my camera. She got a couple good shots.  Sadie picked out her own clothes, by the way.

One of Julie's more artistic shots.

Julie and Andy with the Addam's Family. 

Julie and Andy were so excited about the "Giving Tree" scarecrow. It was John's favorite. My favorite was a little Christmas Elf.....seems wrong to talk about in October, but he was so cool!

This one was the kids favorite. They loved the water coming out of his trunk and the crow on his nose.  It was so fun wondering all over the town finding all the scarecrows. We will definitely be going back next year to see the new scarecrows.

We had such a great weekend! Now that my work has slowed down a little, I am so looking forward to all the Halloween and fall outings!

Andy is 5!!

We kicked off Andy's birthday celebration the night before his actual birthday. Grammy and Poppop were heading out of town and Daddy had to work a double on the 19th. We went out to Grammy's and had pizza (his choice) and ate cake. Memere and Uncle Sean were there too.

He blew out all his candles in one breath.

And he got to open a few gifts. He was a happy boy!

Tonight we threw him a dinosaur party at home. Complete with dino dig! This little box was full of tiny dinosaurs that the kids got to find them!

All of our great friends and family were there (minus a few key players, who were sorely missed).

Party goers all there to celebrate Andy!

John ordered the bounce house. They called and asked if it was ok if they brought a bigger one for the same price. Does anyone say no to that?  It was a huge hit!

Next year Lydia will be much more excited about the enormous bounce house.

There's the birthday boy!!! He was hard to track down. There were at least 20 kids there. All well behaved and wonderful. My kids have great friends.

Cake time! Andy picked out the cake....can you tell?

His buddies were so excited for his cake.

Again, all in one breath.

Lots of buddies to share his cake.

You can tell it was a good party by the look on this face!

Yay!! Uncle Monster made it! He had to work but was able to get some quality time in the bounce house anyway!

I don't know what I would have done without this lady. She helped me so much with this bash.

And after 2 soccer games and birthday party where 72 hot dogs were consumed (not all by us, of course), we were still able to smile for a family picture. These don't happen that often!

So happy 5th birthday Andy Jus! Our lives our enriched every day just by knowing you and your sweet love.