Hanging around "Daddy Style"

I can fly "Daddy Style"

Killing two birds with one stone "Daddy Style"

Feeding the kids Daddy style

Carrie's Newest Sleeping Position

Carrie never seems to be bothered by her strange sleeping positions. We put her in the chair asleep and she stretched out to this position and slept for a while longer. We put the blanket on to keep her warm!!

Grampa's Visit

It was nice to have Grampa come and play for Thanksgiving. The kids really enjoyed having him her to play with full time! I think he had a good time to but if he NEVER has to play sorry or hangman again I am sure it would be too soon!!Here they are playing sorry.

Our local mall has a two story carousel, Grampa paid for the girls to go on it. I was free because I had to ride with Carrie... it was fun!

Sammy only wanted to sit on a bench... Carrie rode on the Turkey (don't tell her it was really an ostrich!!)

Grampa and Nelson and Deric (taking pictures) stood and watched and waved!

James Nelson holding James Nelson!!



The ZOO

Here Sarah is getting a ride through the Zoo

We went to the Zoo with Grampa and invited some of the Everitt cousins along. Here he paid for the kids to look through the scope... what were they looking at? An empty cage, but they didn't care. They all lined up over and over. Even a little girl we didn't know lined up and Grampa put in a new quarter so that she could see too!!

We love you Grampa... Thanks for visiting, come again soon!!! (or maybe we should come visit you)

Winter In California!

Yeah! It is finally winter in California. We got our first real rainstorm of the season (11/26). The kids were so excited that they went and grabbed their umbrellas and rain boots and went outside to enjoy it!! Carrie even wore gardening gloves to keep her hands warm!
All of the girls

I just love the way the rain drops look on the rose petals!

OK so Nelson doesn't have an umbrella or rain boots but he didn't let that stop him! If you look closely at his feet you can tell how cold it is!

Deric took this picture of this furry guy in our back yard. He doesn't seem to mind the rain. (We feed him and he comes around every day)

OK So this post is really a comeback to my friends in NH writing all about the first snow. Honestly we wish it were snow but we will take what ever precipitation comes our way!!

Caged like an animal!!

Nelson was captured by his older sisters the other day. He, like his friend Mollie (see the Pat and Liz blog) wasn't too unhappy with his cage! Jessica took this picture with her new camera.

COOKIES!!!

Deric is famous for his trash can cookies. Today he made a bunch of them. While he was out of the kitchen Nelson snuck in to get a cookie for himself. He is actually tall enough that he was able to reach the cooling rack and pull it down with a couple dozen cookies. Deric came into the kitchen to find him shoveling cookies into his mouth..... mmmm chocolate!!! Hi Dad... want a cookie!

Bike Riding Along The Beach

On Saturday we went to Santa Monica to go bike riding along the beach. It sure is an adventure to load and unload five children and all the gear to go bike riding but it was worth the effort... we had a really great time!

We rode a few miles up the coast, past the pier and had lunch on this bench.

Then we turned around and rode back down the coast to a little park. The kids had fun playing on the playground... As always Nelson loved the swings.

So did the girls. Here is Sammy jumping off, Jess was doing this as well. You can see Sarah waiting as patiently as she can...

And then she got her turn... Carrie mostly played on the slides!

After a long day on bikes in the sun the entire gang relaxed in our big spa bathtub... this was the first time we have filled it up. Needless to say it was a big hit!!

Northern California

Deric occasionally works with his brother in Northern California. These are some pics from his last trip...

Horseshoe Bay

A bridge... he has been inside the supports and had to climb scaffolding to reach the top before it touched the land on either side.

Wine country... you can only slightly tell by the pic but all of the leaves are changing colors!

Napping

Carrie will nap just about anywhere except in her bed. When I found her she was laying with Maggie but as soon as I got the camera Maggie got up.

Hide N Seek

We had a family party for Andrew and it was so much fun. The girls all enjoyed holding the newest cousin Grant....

Carrie was especially taken by him!

After dinner the kids all played Hide n Seek. I looked into the living room to see a child up in the upper windows of our living room... it seems that some dad's were helping with the hiding!!


Hmmm.... the blanket looks suspicious!

Could that be a child?

Yep!!

Later in the kitchen a little girl had some fun with the whipped cream while no one was looking!! Or at least until she got caught!

Brad

Our friend Brad came to visit from Louisanna. We had a yummy crab boil while he was here. The kids really enjoyed their "Uncle Brad"

The Loot!!

The girls used pillow cases for trick or treating... here they are going through the bags
Carrie enjoying some tv with all her candy

Nelson must be the 5th, what mom gives their 10 month old a lolly pop!! But boy did he enjoy it!!

Trick or Treat

This was the first time trick or treating with these cousins!!
Everybody is ready to go!

Santa Barbara Half Marathon

November 1st was a good day to run. Five years after our car accident- it feels good to be this alive. I am not a natural runner, nor do I really like running. But setting my mind to this goal and actually finishing felt really good. Running a half marathon was hard but I loved the rush of being out there with thousands of people running together. It was a very over cast day but the ocean was beautiful... at one point during the race I could even see dolphins swimming along the coast!

This link is a picture just before I crossed the finish line!

http://www.photocrazy.com/perl/additem.pl?pid=1692124&ev=821&sd=2008-11-01&st=09:40:48&lfn=&d=f&bibno=&nts=0302


Deric barley made it to the race... he arrived just a few minutes before I finished. He forgot the camera but was able to get a few seconds of video...the finish line! (I am the one in the blue shirt!)

Happy Halloween!

The Crew!And here he is Nelson the Tiger!

Our Rock Star Jessica

Our Princess Sarah
Carrie our little flower fairy

And Sammy our Beautiful Butterfly