If you party with Nana...

You might wind up asleep in your underpants under a pile of fabric! We went down to Sedona this weekend to wish my (Alissa's) mom a happy birthday. We made a dinner and I baked a carrot cake for dessert.

Mom and Her Mother

Mark and Zoe Alissa and James

Scott and Elizabeth

Joan (Scott's wife) had to work, and Michael was on a motorcycle trip with friends. They rode down to Bisbee. As Michael put it- they bit off more than they could chew. So he was a bit sore Sunday when he got home, but says Bisbee is neat and we need to go there and explore.

Halloween Album

Click the photo to go to our Halloween Album Online

Cousins in Costume

The Pumpkin, The Butterfly, And the James Boy

Zerbino Says Happy Halloween

Working on getting the other photos online.

Pumpkin Carving

We spent the evening of the 30th carving pumpkins- pumpkins we actaully grew in our garden. Please forgive me fooling around with Picasa's software to create this collage- I just downloaded the program and it has some fun features.

Nekid Baby

Just swimming along to my bathtub....

The Bruiser

James tried to get out of the van by himself and landed on his head. Not a fun call to get at work from Alissa. We spent about four and a half hours at the pediatrician and then the ER for a grand total of four stitches. James feels pretty good today and is telling everyone how he got hurt getting out of the bus and it was scary and that he is healing now.

Coffee and Snuggles

The best part of the morning, now that it is cold, is coffee by the wood stove. James is now a part of this and demands snuggles (just ask Alissa). So, here we are having coffee and snuggles.

The Aspens

The season has begun to change and our first indication of Autumn is the tinge of yellow appearing on the Peaks. Like all families tired of working on their house, we escaped to investigate. On Sunday afternoon we trekked up to the usual spot on FS794 and hiked around with the dogs. James was especially fond of climbing on the stumps and fallen trees and then jumping off again, and again, and again.... The color is just beginning and it was magnificent at sundown. On the way home, several elk and deer attempted to become hood ornaments. As the VW has no hood, this was inappropriate and we honked at them instead, much to Jame's delight.

Nap time equipment

He NEEDED all those things on the bed in order to take a nap. And, yes, that is a wooden car he's chosen to snuggle.

Silly jacket

Oh, the indignaty!

Recent Pics

Brothers

Marco Polo brought this flashlight for James which he has taken to calling "Little Flashlight." The first day he had it he fell asleep with it at nap time.

Dueling rocking chairs for Nana and Squeak.

James decorates

I only escaped because I was in the shower!

Favorite outfit

We're on our way out to first friday art walk. James should fit right in with the art, no?

Pond Picnic

Now this is my idea of heaven- picnic at the pond after feeding fish and stomping in puddles. The only thing that could have made it better is if Michael could have been there too.

And I know the picture above is blurry, but I couldn't resist that smile. He's grinning like that because I'm blowing on a dandelion that he's holding.

Thunder Over the Coconino

Yesterday we drove over to the Valle Airport (about 45 minutes away) and went to an antique car and airplane show. Heaven for a couple boys in this family.

The joys of kitchen remodeling

Exciting work going on here. If we survive the mess, the new kitchen will be wonderful. We're using the parts from our former barn set up. More pics after the camera is recharged!

Smiley Boy

Walking Around the Pond

We had a walk-around-the-pond exploration yesterday. After the monsoon rain lately the water is way up. Our family loves nature, but still find we are not going out as often as we'd like.




































Recently we've been given a subscription to Your Big Backyard magazine (thank you Grammy!) And they promote children going outside for at least an hour a day. http://www.greenhour.org/. The idea is simple, but not always easy to do.



















On that vein I decided to start taking James out to the same spot in nature each week to see how it changes over the seasons. The pond is our spot. I created a little web page too, because I thought James would like to go look at his pond pictures. You can go visit it at www.smallexplorer.blogspot.com.

Holding Leland

Uncle Scott

Scott came over the other morning and we cooked pancakes. As soon as Scott got into the kitchen James declared that he needed this apron on. What do you think- Looks good huh? Below that is a photo of Leland happy (and funny) in the flying baby hold.