Happy anniversary to Barb and Dave - 5 years of marriage, 6+ years in love - now blessed with Sean

November Update

Late November has been very busy. We finally closed on our old house on 11/18/08. We went right out and bought a real dining room table to fit our new dining room.

Old dining table

New Mango Wood Dining Table that seats up to 12

Sean is very serious while coloring

Sean shows off his elephant slippers

Sean with Abagails sun glasses

Sean finds something fun to do at the bounce play place. He still hates blow-up bounce toys.

Sean and Daddy try to warm Sean up to bounce toys

Earlham Visit

Abagail, Mackenzie, Morgan, Todd, Jewels, Angela, Madeline, Nick, Elissa and Sean enjoy Clear Creek

A couple of weeks ago our old Bible Study friends came to visit with the bonus addition of Nick, Heather and Elissa. What continuously amazes me is the shear number of kids. Of the 4 Bible Study couples present we have gone from 2 kids originally to 8 kids with 1 on the way.

We must have looked like an invading army as we walked the two blocks from our house to Clear Creek. The kids had a great time throwing sticks in.

Daddy "tortures" Sean

Sean and Daddy on the front doorstep

Sul Ross Pics

Our tradition is to take one picture a year in front of the Sul Ross statue, former Governor of Texas and Chancellor of Texas A&M University.

Sean at 4 months in the womb

Sean at 6-months old (A&M beat ULM)

Sean at 22 months old

A&M v. OU

Courtesy of KT we had tickets for the A&M OU game today.

It was a longer trip from Friendswood to College Station than from Willowbend. Sean took advantage of the drive for a nap.

Unfortunately, we did not have seats near KT or the Cooks. Sean became a popcorn fanatic during the game.

After 1.5 quarters Sean had had enough. Sean and Dad went to the endzone to watch the game on the Jumbotron and play on deconstructed stairways.

Then, on the other end of the stadium, we found a golf cart to play on.

Sean and Mom imbibe at the Dixie Chicken after the game

Friendswood Halloween

Sean the Lion plays with his Halloween countdown calendar

Friendswood's Chamber of Commerce held its 8th annual Halloween party Thursday at Stevenson Park in downtown Friendswood. Grandma, Dziadziu and Joanne came with us, as well as Rhonda and her 3 kids. I drove through the crowds on the way home and so new it was better to walk (downtown is 2 blocks away :-) )

We expected 3 or 4 booths with a couple of hundred kids. Instead, it was HUGE. There were probably 35-40 booths with at least 1,000 kids. The booths were run by area organizations and businesses that handed out candy and flashy trinkets. The kids loved it.

Sean walks towards the festivities

Sean and the parrot (?) size each other up

Sean and the Parrot (?) decide to be friends. Sean was awestruck by the giant bird.

Rhonda with her brood

Abby's 5th Birthday

Princess Abagail Turns 5!

Abby tries to help Sean smile

It took a lot of work but Abby got all the candles to go out

Sean and Morgan investigate

Wrapping Up Our CO/WY Vacation

Friday we headed out from Lander back to Denver. We took a scenic detour through the Snowy Mountains in southwest Wyoming.

Partly frozen lake in Snowy Mountains

Anida, Daniel and Rachel in the cold

Rachel and Sean in the double stroller

Daniel, Sean and Rachel contemplate all the leaves

Sean and Rachel help clean up leaves

Thursday in Wyoming

Thursday morning we woke up in Thermopolis, ate breakfast and then went to the Dinosaur Museum. It was surprisingly well stocked with fossils and bones, however it still only took 40 minutes to see it. Daniel, Sean and Dave had the most fun.

We then headed south to Dave's Uncle Phil and Aunt Bonnie's ranch. The kids had a blast riding around on Phil and Bonnie's horse drawn wagon on their property, seeing the scenery, cows and horses.

We had dinner there and feasted on homegrown steaks. The kids all fell deep asleep on the ride back to our hotel in Lander.

Sean and Daniel "read" about Anklosauras dinosaurs - Dave's favorite

After getting rather lost, our traveling party arrived at Dave's Uncle Phil and Aunt Bonnie's ranch. Here they are driving their horse drawn wagon to meet us at the gate.

Barb, Sean and Daniel ride to the house with Phil and Bonnie

After we got everybody to the house we all went for a 2 hour ride on the horse drawn carriage. Here is Bonnie holding Daniel at the front of the carriage while Phil drives.

Here Bonnie sits with Barb, Anida, Daniel, Sean and Rachel on the back of the wagon.

Sean takes a turn up front in his snow/mud boots.

Rachel reaches out to pet a horse while Anida, Bonnie and Daniel look on.

Daniel and Sean look like they are doing something they should not be doing...

Sean admires the mounted moose heads in the living room. I think moose is now one of his favorite words.

Pastas and Wheatleys in Wyoming

A people photo focused blog update for Grandparents, etc. Nature photos to be posted later.

We left Denver for Wyoming Tuesday morning.  A brief stop at the Cheyenne public library was great fun for the kids.  They have a great children's section with wonderful interactives for kids.  We then traveled relatively uneventfully through eastern Wyoming.  We  stopped at Ayer's Natural Bridge State Park. The most fun there was the playground with TWO merry-go-rounds (which have been banned from most playgrounds for 15+ years!) No injuries were to be had, except for Sean who fell backwards down the stairs on the MODERN play structure.



We got into Thermopolis late on Tuesday and ordered pizza in. We had a pizza party in the Wheatley motel room and then a bounce party.


Tuesday morning we went to the Hot Springs Park. The kids had a blast in the many pools, inside and out, and the outdoor slide. The indoor slide scared Dave, but Barb and Anida liked it.

After the first visit to the Hot Springs we took a "Driving Nap" for the kids. Ah, bliss.

In the afternoon we made a second visit to the hot springs, again the kids loved it.