Halloween's for the kids

This year Berkeley wanted to go as a Star Wars Clone Trooper. He went as "Captain Rex". Brooke wanted to be "Naughty & Nice". She saw a costume at the store and it was a little bit more naughty than nice so I opted to make one of our own. It was so much cuter than the oneat the store. On Thursday the 30th, we test drove the kids costumes at the Vista Ridge High School's trunk-or-treat. I love seeing the older kids having fun with the little ones. One of the highlights was running into our friend Stefany Charpentier. The kids just love her. They left with so much candy I wondered if we would really need to trick-or-treat the next night. But of course they just dumped out their candy from the night before and headed around the neighborhood on Halloween. Jeremy and Tim took the kids trick-or-treating, while Kellie and I held down the fort from their driveway. The kids had carved their pumpkins earlier that day and we lined the driveway with the spooky and cooky jack-o'-lanterns. And Jeremy lit a fire in their portable firepit and we handed out candy while enjoying the pleasant, almost cool, night. What a perfect Halloween!

Europe, Summer 2007

Everything's Bigger in Texas

Kellie and I were shopping the other day and we passed by this kiosk. Belt buckles of this magnitude are common among our fellow Texans. I know some of you are watering at the mouth because you want one of these bodacious buckles, but you'll just have to come and visit us in Texas to get one.

Halloween Party!!!

Our friends, Sonya and Georgio Nallira, hosted a Halloween Party. Not as many people showed up as were expected, but it was tons of fun with the small group of 10 of us that were there. Everyone had a great time playing Pictionary, a Newleywed type game, and eating lots of great food. It was fun to see our friends out of character, all dressed up. Of course, this post is more for the pictures than anything. Enjoy...
Kellie and Jeremy Bryson
Sonya Nallira
Jay & Shakindra Vansickle
Me and Tim
Kit and Creshel Allowitz

Sweet Berry Farm Corn Maze

Fall is in the air, even in Texas. Today it was a cool 70 degrees. Perfect for taking a trip to Marble Falls and the the Sweet Berry Farm, about an hour west of Cedar Park. Kellie and I picked the kids up from school and surprised them by saying we were going to Marble Falls. They didn't know we were going to the maze until we arrived. It's cool when these kind of surprises work out (which is rarely). When we got there we took a tractor pulled hay ride to the Texas shaped maze. The kids got a kick out of all the hay on our bums and Dani made sure we all knew it was a bumpy ride.
Once we got to the maze, we checked out the map of Texas and noted where all 10 of the cities that we were supposed to find were located. Then we set off. We started in pairs, each with a mom, but after about 15 minutes we found it to be more fun going around in a big group. After about an hours worth of searching, we found all 10 cities. Surprisingly, we didn't happen across the same city more than twice, unless we were trying to because someone missed it.

When we were all done, because we found all the cities, we were each rewarded with a soda. The maze is on about 4 acres and seems to go on forever. The kids all had a great time. It's was a super alternative to going to the haunted house, especially for the "little" faint of heart. I can now pat myself on the back for doing something "cool" for Halloween with the kids, especially since this is a first.

Next we were off to the pumpkin patch. Each of the kids picked out their own pumpkin. For a minute we weren't sure if Berkeley was going to pick one out. A bee flew onto his can of Sprite and he flipped out! He has a strong aversion to the sweet little pests. After being stung twice this summer, at Nana's bee hives, he doesn't like them at all. After calming him down a little, he picked out a perfectly sized (small) pumpkin, while Brooke kept lugging around this huge one. She was determined to have a big pumpkin. The one she got turned out to be around 15 lbs as it was.

"Red"neck Date!

I have to give credit to Kellie for writing most of this. I just edited it a bit.

Last Friday night we went on a double date with our friends Kellie and Jeremy Bryson. The date ended up being guys' choice and I have to give Tim props for originality. He wanted to take us to the SHOOTING RANGE! Yeah, I know, Jeremy with a gun - I was scared too (J/K)!

So anyway, we headed over to Pflugerville to the first part of our "red"neck evening: at RED's Indoor Shooting Range. I've only fired a gun once and it wasn't at a range. I was attempting to shoot a jackrabbit in the foothills of Provo. This was all a new experience for me - from the incredibly LOUD sound a fired gun makes in an indoor range to the real rednecks yuckin' it up behind Red's counter.

Tim and Jeremy did a great job showing Kellie and me how to safely load, handle and fire Tim's three different handguns. I tried all three: a 9mm, a 40 caliber and a 380. I first fired the 40 caliber. It took me a while to carefully go through all the steps in my head that the guys showed us: how to pick up the gun, how to correctly hold it, where to look when firing and how to position my body and arms for the kick from the actual gun discharging. Kellie said "I think the kick had me scared the most. From all the stories I heard in general about the "kick" in a gun, I guess I expected it to be a lot harder and more painful than it actually was. But it wasn't so bad, Thank Goodness!" The actual sound vibrations of the other guns firing in the range bothered me the most. I have to admit that I was nervous about handling a firearm. I didn't want to make any mistakes.

I next tried the 9mm. I liked shooting it and the 380 better. I had better aim with both of them. I made the mistake while shooting the 9mm of putting my thumb on the top of my right hand instead of on my left hand. This brought my thumb just under the barrel so when it shot the barrel scraped the knuckle. I felt like such a beginner!!! The whole event made me nervous. I am grateful that Tim taught me how to use the guns, so that I will be prepared to use it if I need to.

So I guess my weapon of choice for the evening was the 40 caliber, but I don't think the shooting range will be my next hobby. I'm glad for the experience, but it was one of those moments for me when I realized how we take life so easily for granted. A gun is a powerful instrument that we see so much of in the movies and on TV that I'd lost that perspective of what it can do. Holding and firing one gave me a lot more respect for its capabilities.

Okay, I got a little deep there for what was supposed to be a funny blog of a redneck date. So after we "blew away" a wad of moola on range fees and ammo, and tossed around a few more one-liners with the "Red's"neck employees, we climbed back into our car and drove around looking for some dinner.

Now if you were looking to continue on the "red"neck theme where would you suggest for dinner? RED Robin, of course!!! We all four got cozy in a booth, gawked over a girl's wicked-outrageous eyeglasses a couples tables away (wish I'd gotten a pic of those - they were indescribable!), and pounded down some dee-lish burgers and fries. I also introduced Jer and Kellie to Red Robin's Campfire Sauce. I highly recommend it - Utah fry sauce pales in comparison.

Overall, it was an original evening! But then again we don't get out much, so I guess the fact that we actually went out was original. I know - LAME! Enjoy the pics, though!

A Rockin' Dog!

So the other day The Brysons we're over and Dani is playing with our dog, Dixie. While she's lying on the floor with Dixie she turns to Kellie and asks, "Mom, can I be Dixie?"She responds to her, "Now if you're Dixie, who is Dixie going to be?"
She quickly replies: "A Rock Star!"