Merry Christmas!!!

okay, so I know I REALLY need to update my blog, I have many entries that I keep meaning to write and I promise I will once we are on vacation! We leave tomorrow for Utah and are way excited to see all of the family. I just wanted to write and let anyone who might be interested know that I'm having a quick sale in my shop until tomorrow at 1pm eastern. After that things won't be available (except for my pettiskirt pattern) until after Christmas. Just wanted to let you all know!

Halloween 2008:

Daniel's first real jack-o-lantern, Grandpa helped Daniel carve his pumpkin and Daniel named him "Silver Streak." (he'd just gotten a transformer with the same name from his grandparents)

Daniel needed a practice run in his "Curious George" costume. (Mommy needed to see if it fit!) So we had a fashion show for the grandparents.

Scenes around the house. I have a real weakness for gourds, I could have spent a small fortune on a quadrillion of them, but I stopped myself. Still I always struggle with where to put them all!

This little desk was a garage sale find, someone had put it in their driveway with a Free sign on it so I grabbed it! It's by our front door right now, but will eventually make its way into our office so that Daniel can do his artwork while I sew.

The leaves here are always gorgeous in the fall! I can't ever get enough of them. I kind of felt like they were over almost as soon as they started turning colors, so next year I'll have to get out early for photos.

Bryan had most of the day off of school, so we took Daniel to the zoo. It was a warm day and not crowded at all.

We take Daniel's picture by this statue every time we go to the zoo so we can keep track of his growth, I'll have to pull up a few old ones to show you that boy has he grown!

Bryan was playing a game with Daniel where he would tickle him or touch him from behind and then claim that there was a sneaky Monkey doing it. Daniel LOVED it and we had to search for an appropriate monkey to blame, this guy was pegged. So here he is, Daniel's friend, the Sneaky Monkey.

Daniel was pretty impressed with the size of the Orangutan's hands and feet.

We came home and quickly changed him into his costume so that we could go trick or treating with our neighbors. He was pretty darn excited, he remembers how fun it was last year and can't wait for all of his loot.

This is Daniel and his little friend Kyrie, (she was a princess witch) I think she's only 6 months younger than him, it's pretty crazy how much bigger he is than her though.

Also, two photobooks online:
www.snapfish.com (free, you just pay shipping, about 7.95) until tonight (friday) at midnight
http://www.artscow.com/ (6.99 with free shipping)

Just thought I'd share. :)

If any of you are interested in digital scrapbooking here is an AWESOME deal:

http://divinedigital.com/boutique/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=37

The owner of the store has to move unexpectedly and needs to come up with some money quickly, so she's offering a download of everything in her store for $29. (it usually would cost a few thousand)

Our trip to the pumpkin patch:

The medical school had a "Family Friendly Activity" at a pumpkin patch near our house. It was soooo incredibly cold that day, but Daniel was really excited to get to those pumpkins.
We ran into a few of our friends there and one of their little boys was wearing this OSU hat, who could resist that?

Daniel was a little confused as to the purpose of the corn maze, but was willing to do anything to get at those pumpkins. (they're so easy to please when they're 3!)

I'm really not hiding behind Bryan in this next one, we were sitting on the Hay Ride and the person next to us took the pic. (thanks Heather!)

We got to pet a cow....

Jump in a ...... jumpy thing.... I have no clue what it's called, but little boys sure like it!.....

and go down a slide with a friend.

We got three great pumpkins and narrowly escaped the frost bite ;) We love the pumpkin patches out here.

In honor of the upcoming holiday I thought I'd share a quote that I just love :

"[The fact is] most putts don't drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise....
Life is like an old-time rail journey--delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed.
The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."
- Gordon B. Hinckley, quoting Jenkin Lloyd Jones

Despite the discouragements and trials we all face, our lives are still so much better than we ever could have hoped for. The Lord watches over us and blesses us. I'm so grateful for this time of year in between the highly commercialized holidays where our hearts and minds are turned to our blessings instead of our needs.

K, so after my last post I decided I'd better research this a little....

Looks like it's true, there is a Darth Vader Gargoyl (also called a grotesque) atop the National Cathedral, crazy, huh?
http://www.fraudwasteabuse.com/2007/03/darth-vader-is-watching-you-from-the-washington-national-cathedral.html
http://www.nationalcathedral.org/pdfs/darth.pdf

Menacing Darth Vader and Squirrel Gargoyles on DC's National Cathedral
Originally uploaded by expatmonkey

So it's about time I updated this blog, huh? Fall can be such a crazy time with school starting up and holidays to prepare for and the wonderful weather and season to enjoy. I wanted to share some pictures of our fun-filled trip to Washington DC a few weeks ago. Bryan and I love DC, it's the city we officially met in and where we got to know each other and even ::blush:: held hands for the first time. So we will always hold DC fondly in our hearts even if it wasn't filled with art and culture and history. If you haven't made it out to DC it's a must see destination for all Americans.

On our way to Grand Central Station from the hotel we passed a fire station and the fire fighters were kind enough to let Daniel sit in the truck and play for a bit. We would have gotten a tour of the station, but the alarm sounded and they were outta there. They invited us to come back later to spend more time and get a better look around, but it never worked out. (there's way too much to see in DC for one weekend)

Our hotel was really close to Grand Central Station so we were able to walk there and take the subway everywhere. I think it is so beautiful and love the history behind this building. We ate at this really good bakery inside, I think it was called the Corner Bakery. ( a week or two later one of the shows we were watching was filmed at that little restaurant and we felt pretty important, lol)

Walking the mall.... if you haven't been to DC, the national Mall is just a HUGE stretch of lawn between the national monuments, capitol building and the Smithsonian museums. Not really a place for shopping unless you count the food vendors all over and the gift shops in the museums. :)

We were there on opening day of a new exhibition in the Museum of Natural History. It was the new ocean exhibit and it was BUSY. We even saw a news anchor from CNN toting his son around.

There's a fun, but way overpriced carousel on the mall, it was a great chance for Carol and I to rest our feet while keeping Daniel occupied.

It was soooo hot and muggy. (some type of tropical storm) so we grabbed water whenever we could. Daniel was drenched by the end of the day.

We stopped in at the Air and Space Museum and really enjoyed our time there. They have all sorts of planes and jets and space capsules hanging from the ceiling. It's heaven for a little boy.

They had a plane that the kids could sit in and steer, etc. The tail piece moved when the steered and Daniel was excited to be flying high.

We spent some time in the National Gallery of Art. It's amazing how much harder it is to enjoy a museum with a three year old running around. When Bryan and I met we spent a long time looking at this piece by Vincent Van Gogh. We both loved the heavy streaks of paint he used and how alive this piece is. We have a copy of it hanging above our couch, but it really is soooo much more beautiful in person.

We also stopped into see this one by DaVinci, which I heard people saying was worth $200 million. Who knows, regardless it was still gorgeous.

Daniel was stylin' his Diego glasses all weekend long.

We spent a while at the Lincoln Memorial, Bryan's always loved the monument and it was a beautiful day for it.

I love this shot of Daniel and his Grandmother with the monuments in the background.

I really loved the World War II monument. There were a ton of veterans there. I loved seeing them all pose for their pictures and talk about the war. It was a fascinating sight, where they could come to remember and we can come to learn. I loved it. This first picture is of the west wall of the memorial, the stars represent those lost in the war.

The memorial sits between the Lincoln Memorial/Reflecting Pool and the Washington Monument.

The North and South entrances to the memorial are covered by these sculptures of birds carrying a wreath.

Walking between the sights was so nice. (even though we got rained on quite a few times) It is all just so scenic.

One of our last stops in town was to peek at the National Cathedral, it's incredible. I've heard rumor that one of the gargoyles is sculpted after Darth Vader. (gotta find out if that one is true!)