Ben is doing much better!

Ben is starting to look like himself again! There is still a faint black eye, and a tad bit of swelling left on his cheek, but overall he is doing fantastic. The surgery went very well. He has two titanium plates in his left cheek area that will hold the bones in place until they heal. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!! We appreciate your love and support.

It's that time of year...

Decorating the tree would not be complete without some yummy hot chocolate!!
Our cat Zazzoo was fascinated with all of the Christmas decorations. As we decorated the tree, he could resist getting up on the ladder for a closer look. Then he started batting at the decorations. At one point we thought he was going to jump onto the tree, but we got him down before he could do it.

Thanksgiving Weekend fun continued

Hannah and Mickelle had so much fun playing together. After being in the jaccuzi for awhile, they decided to dry off by riding on the wiggle cars. They would go down the steps of our front walkway and laugh all the way down. Maybe these cars should be called giggle cars!!

Cousin Marcus is the official Thanksgiving weekend Wii bowling champion!!!!!
What would Thanksgiving be without a performance by the "little" girls. They chose three songs and made up dances to each of them. Allison helped them choreograph one of the numbers. They worked on this extravaganza for two days. Finally the night arrived when they could perform. There was so much excitement in the air. It was so fun to see the effort they put in to this show. We got tickets and programs, not to mention the girls had costumes and props! What a night!!!
Notice how Ben snuck in the back to dance. When he heard the High School Musical song he couldn't resist. The girls went on with the show as if he were not even there.
Our three wonderful performers Hannah, Mickelle and Haley.

Thanksgiving Weekend fun

We had a great time at the Condor's game on Sat. night. It was the annual teddy bear toss. Here are Shawna with her brothers, Brian and Casey, and her sister Bridget.
Here we are at the park on Thanksgiving day after a great game of ultimate frisbee.
The men playing Acquire. No one could beat Russ. Tyler says he won't rest until he becomes the next real estate mogul.
Ultimate frisbee. Ben caught a great pass, even with Aunt Bridget putting on the pressure.

Ben vs. golf club

I got the dreaded phone call from Ben's teacher. "Hi Shawna, you know how we took the class out to the golf course today..."

Well, it seems that Ben walked behind someone just as they brought the club back to swing and it hit him in the face. When I got to the school to pick him up, I was shocked at how he looked. I immediately took him to our family doctor, and they were so nice to fit us right in. Dr. Farr examined him and sent us to the hospital for a CT scan. The results are in...orbital blowout fracture. In plain English that means he has several broken bones around his eye. His cheekbone was severely impacted as well. He will be needing surgery after the swelling subsides. Keep him in your prayers.

Carve away!!!!

Haley had no problem digging in to clean out her pumpkin.
Grandpa and Grandma had fun with their pumpkin.
Hannah does a good impersonation!
Haley's pumpkin was SO thick Russ had to get out the power tools!
The finished product.
Hannah, Haley and Ben proudly display their pumpkins.....

You gotta love a good pumpkin patch!

The cow thought it could get some milk from Haley's finger.
Enter the corn maze at your own risk!
Ben and Hannah got hungry wandering through the maze.
Hannah cheated a little to find her way out.
The children posed with their specially picked pumpkins.

It's soccer time!!

Ben loves to play soccer, and he takes it very seriously. He is very competitive! He has played AYSO soccer on their VIP league for 5 years. He loves to score goals, and when he does, he performs some rather unique victory dances out on the field.

Go Ben!!

Emily turns 16!!!

Happy Birthday to Emily! A beautiful young woman, both inside and out!

Emily went to Shafter to take her driving test. Rumor has it that it is easier to pass out there. Well, Emily passed with flying colors, and that's all that matters. She came home very excited, and ready to wash the Excursion. Her "cool" set of wheels. What more could she ask for? A cute little convertible VW Bug, perhaps? No way. The Excursion is the coolest car around, just ask Allison. She got to drive it while she was in high school too. This whole experience has given mom a few new gray hairs, but she'll survive, and eventually it will get to the point where she is rather thankful to have another driver in the house.

Drive safe!!

Beach trip

You figure it out!!!!

Haley and Hannah couldn't get enough of the waves.

Here's proof that even old people enjoy boogie boarding!!!

Ben enjoyed digging holes with the shovel.
The girls at Moro rock in Moro Bay.
We had a great time exploring caves, hunting little crabs and playing in the water.  It was pretty cold...good thing we found a wet suit rental place.  That really saved the day.  The hotel was awesome. Lighthouse suites in Pismo.  We played alot of ping pong, badminton, and life sized checkers.

Camping in the Sequoias

If you look very carefully at the top of the rock you can see people.  This is Morro Rock, and yes, we climbed to the very top.  The path was narrow and steep.  451 stairs to the top.
The view from the top....AWESOME!!!
Now that is a big tree.  The car seems so small in comparison.
We had a great time climbing all around Grizzly Falls.
Emily found a snake and decided to have a snack.
This is an awesome fallen hollow tree that we climbed through inside and out.
Grandpa and Grandma Judd joined us for part of our trip.  The sequoias are so tall and beautiful.


There were great climbing rocks all around the campground
Haley and Hannah spent much of their time burning sticks in the campfire.
So what did you notice first, the dirt or the marshmallows?!

Ben chopped all of our wood for the campfire...Not!!! But he did have fun swinging the hatchet.

We have decided that camping in the sequoias needs to be an annual event.  We had a fabulous weekend in the mountains amongst the tall trees.  What made the weekend even better was the running water and the flush-able toilets!!!