Halloween 2015

I have always really loved Halloween and this year it was so much fun!  The day started early with some pumpkin carving with Sean and Tashena.

Sean's pumpkin "Cyclops."

Tashena's pumpkin "Tinkerbell."

My pumpkin "Mr. Bonehead."

Marilyn's "Old School" pumpkin.

It has been a tradition for as long as I can remember to have chili on Halloween.  This year I made it and everyone came over to my house!

Sean was a mad scientist (although we all thought that his wig made him look like James Brown).

Since I didn't have very many trick-or-treaters, I told him he could have as much candy as he wanted!

Tashena was Tinkerbell.

Tashena and her friends came trick-or-treating to my house and it was an absolute riot!  They kind of took over my house for a little while.  They were all really nice, if exuberant, kids.  A really great day!

Note:  For several years Marilyn and I have had the tradition of going to a late movie on Halloween.  We saw The Martian in IMAX 3D (yes, I've now seen it four times).  It was really late when we drove home and we had to stop at UHP DUI checkpoint.  They asked us if we had been drinking and then simply let us go.  I thought that was hilarious.  However, there were some young teenage girls standing on the sidewalk who looked to be in a bit of trouble...

Tashena is Fifteen!

Yesterday was Tashena's birthday!  I simply cannot believe that she is fifteen!  Shortly after she joined our family, we celebrated her fifth birthday!  It is hard to believe that she has been a part of our lives for ten years and what an amazing ten years it has been.  She is a beautiful and talented girl and we love her so much (although both Marilyn and I wish we could still buy her Barbies like we did for her first birthday with us).

For her main present she wanted Beats headphones which made all of us jealous.  Tashena always has better technology than anyone else in our family.

Tashena got lots of gift cards (and is really excited to go shopping!), a purple umbrella, and the Pitch Perfect 2 DVD.

Tashena wanted brownies instead of a cake so our local bakery made this for her.  

2014

2013

2012

2011

2009

2008

Note:  I'm missing a few but the past ten years with Tashena have been amazing and we are so glad that she is a part of our family!

Adventures in Fillmore

All last week my parents and my sister Marilyn were camping at one of my family's favorite camping spots: the KOA in Fillmore.  I joined them on Wednesday and stayed until yesterday.  It was an incredibly relaxing five days and I had such a wonderful time!  Over the years I have really grown to enjoy the RV lifestyle.  You meet people from all over the country and everyone stops to chat and debate the merits of various types of RVs.  Most people are very intrigued by Marilyn's little trailer.  We even gave a couple of people a tour of the inside (even though it was a bit messy with a week's worth of stuff strewn about).  I like the people we meet because they are friendly, adventurous, and have great stories (and most of them have dogs).

We all really like the KOA in Fillmore.  The facilities are fabulous and the people who run it are some of the nicest people you will ever meet.  They are on a first name basis with us (and our dogs).

We were in spots right next to each other.  My parents slept in the motor home and I stayed with Marilyn in her trailer.  It was almost like one giant slumber party because we would sometimes get laughing so hard we couldn't stop.  Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep at night (which meant that naps were required during the day).

It was so relaxing because we didn't have to wake up at any particular time and we didn't have to eat at any particular time.  There wasn't anything that we had to do.  In many ways, this has been a difficult summer and it felt so great to have some down time.  We all spent a lot of time outside reading.  I finished two books and started a third.  Marilyn even brought her sewing machine and finished a quilt.

One of our favorite things to do when it got dark was to set up the TV and have an outdoor movie complete with popcorn.  I am so glad that we got to spend this time together doing what we absolutely love: camping!

Past adventures in Fillmore here, here, here, here, and here.

Memorial Day Weekend 2015

Over Memorial Day Weekend, my family went camping at Jordanelle State Park, which is one of our very favorite camping spots (see other camping trips here, here, and here).

Marilyn and I stayed at one campsite in her cute little trailer.

My parents were at another nearby campsite in the motor home.

Some views of the reservoir from our campsite.  There weren't many boats on the water this weekend.

I think the reservoir looked incredible after a rainy night. (I loved listening to the rain on the roof of the trailer while we watched movies and ate microwave popcorn).

Even though it rained a few times, we were able to have a fire every night.  I think sitting around a campfire is my favorite part of camping!

This is how we spent a lot of our time:  sitting around the campsite reading and relaxing.

Packing up!  Marilyn's trailer is seriously cool.  It took her about a minute to take it down and then the two of us were able to hitch it to the Jeep by ourselves (if you knew the backstory on this you would be amazed).   It was such a wonderful trip!  Where are we going next?