All Saints Day

This year we celebrated Halloween a little different than ever before. We started out our day by baking cookies for the church staff as a token of our appreciation. It was our own little way of honoring the saints. Later that evening the kids dressed up and we went to Marius & Ami's house to party and go trick or treating. Beau dressed up as a golfer and Bella as a tootsie roll. The two of them looked adorable, as did all the kids and some adults. Sorry in advance for the picture overload.

Marius and Bella
The guys and Bella at the end of the night. (Skater Trevor, Mario Marius, Chris, Joel and Giants Fans Bob and Jon)
Shrek Kate and Golfer Beau
See all my candy...
Oooh check out the scary decorations...
Owen and Beau plopped down in a random driveway for a picture, without even being asked.
The kiddos (minus Deegan): Beau, Kate, Leah, Owen and Ethan
Ami and Marius go all out. They had a huge haunted house complete with a fog machine and scary music.
We ended the night with a dance party. Kylie joined in on the fun (minus her kangaroo costume).

Brinnan's Baby Shower

Last weekend we had a baby shower for Joel's cousin's wife, Brinnan. Brinnan and Justin are expecting their first baby, a boy they are naming Hoven, in early December. So us ladies partied while the men folk watched the giants play. It was great catching up with that side of the family as we only get to see each other at Christmas or a special event like this. Congrats Justin and Brinnan, we can't wait to meet baby Hoven.

Mommy to be...

We placed our bets on the arrival date, weight, etc.
Whitney and cousin Jasmine
Cousin Carrie and Kylie
Later that night Beau found a pair of red sunglasses.
What up yo?

Pumpkins, Bouncing, Tires and Trains

About a week ago we took a family trip to Dell' Osso Farms for some fall harvest fun. We took a ton of pictures, but here are a few. Well, okay, maybe more than a few. :)

Joel and Bella watched from the bottom of the tire pile while Beau jumped from tire to tire, with my help of course.

Pretty Bella enjoyed all the activities around her.
Beau jumped and jumped on the big blow up "pillows".
We took a ride on the train.
Beau posed as a pumpkin.
Where's Bella?

Beau loved all the pumpkins. He kept running from one to the next trying to pick them up and sit on them.

Go Dolphins

Our family of Dolphin fans likes to watch the games in style. These pics were taken with my phone which is why they aren't very good. Sorry.

Where Bella hangs out during meal times. Yes, she does take a few blows to the face when Beau's feet start kicking. Poor Bella.

The Amazing Birthday

For my 30th birthday, my family and friends surprised me with The Amazing Race adventure. We had 8 teams of two, a mandatory rest stop (aka lunch) and an undisputed winner. JOEL and I!!! It was so much fun and probably the best birthday I've ever had, and I've had some great birthdays. We had challenges ranging from finding certain price tags in a huge furniture store (needle in a haystack), to a scavenger hunt all over Lodi. We even had a golf challenge which Joel nailed, pushing us into the lead - sorry Josh and Amy. I wish I had more pictures, but I was too busy winning the Amazing Race!

The entire gang: Pink Team - Aunt Melody, Cousins Rachel and Janelle; Dark Blue Team - Courtland and Melissa; Red Team - Christa and Chris; Winning Team - Joel and I; Dark Green Team - Steve and Barbie; Turquoise Team - Mom (Darla) and Jim Chuck; Yellow Team - Joey and Lisa; Green Team - Josh and Amy.
Kimi made me one Amazing cake!
Yes... I think I may have spit a little on it. We didn't eat the fondant.
The challenge that caused Melissa the most grief. Move the cookie from your forehead to mouth and eat it without using your hands. Jim Chuck and mom were the 2nd to last team to finish.
Melissa and Court were the last team to finish. Hey, there's always next year.

Bella's 7 Months

Bella turned 7 months on October 18, but it feels like she's 10 months. As you know, she discovered how to crawl at 6.5 months, but now she's standing and walking along the furniture. She weighs about the same, 17 lb range, and is wearing 9 month clothing. She's starting to babble more and more, maybe soon her speech will catch up with her movement. She's a bit of a tongue thruster, so eating finger food (puffs) is a bit difficult. She can get them into her mouth, but struggles to keep them in. Still no teeth, but tons of drooling.

I took tons of pictures, but some how they were all erased. This is the only remaining 7 month picture.Earlier in the day, she sat in the back of the car while I unloaded a few items.The first day I caught her standing in her crib, also the last day the side was down. It's now permanently in the up position.How Bella likes to play the keyboard.Bella loves her bouncer. I think she's getting too tall for this setting. I may need to move it up a bit.

Run Mel Run

A few weeks ago Melissa ran in the Nike Womens Marathon in San Francisco. She was paranoid she wouldn't finish and end up being picked up by the slow bus. Well, she couldn't have been more wrong. She did an amazing job, in the rain. She not only finished, but she wasn't even at the back of the pack, she was somewhere in the middle. My mom, Christa, Joel, the kids and I all went to cheer her on. We met her at mile 8 and then attempted to meet her again at the finish line, but we couldn't make it through all the crowds. We ended up finding her in the stretching tent. We couldn't be more proud. Great job Mel!

Kristin also ran, she finished so quickly we didn't even have a chance to see her. BUT Contrats Kristin, you are amazing!

Melissa looking great at mile 8.
Mel's running buddies showing off their Tiffany boxes.
The Tiffany necklace up close.