This has been quite the festive Halloween season for Emma. She has really been spoiled having Grandma off track and done with her Master's. And with Nunn working only until Noon, they all have lots of time to play. Thank goodness for wonderful Grandma's.
Maggie and Emma at the pumpkin patch with Nunn.







Emma at her school Halloween Party in her Cheerleader costume.







Emma at the Witches of Gardner Village display with Grandma. They are two peas in a pod, don't you think?

Seriously?

This morning my wonderful, beautifully behaved children did something amazing. They were fighting over a half-eaten pop tart. Seriously. What's next? Two day old room temperature pizza?

24 Gallons of Moab

I like this name better than 24 hours of Moab. Moab is a beautiful desert oasis. I thought deserts were supposed to be relatively dry. I should have rethought that as we came into town in the middle of the night to washed out roads and puddles the size of small lakes. I knew last week had been bad rain-wise, 4 to 5 inches in 5 days, but we thought the worst was over. We were wrong.

The road in to the race site is bumpy and hilly, but we managed to get the trailer in just fine. Aside from getting our $20 worth of impact fee by making our own turn around, we found the camp site with no problem. This was Friday. Saturday, the rains came down and the floods came up. It was pouring. And that beautiful red sand turns in to mucky, sticky, clay in a matter of seconds. But our riders are troopers. They rode anyway. All four got in a good lap. But then poor Mark had to head out for his second lap, in the dark, and in the thick of the rain. The average of 1 hour and 25 minutes per lap was ruined. 2 hours and something later, he rode in to the finish. He looked beat, literally. It was then that we hear the only road in and out was closed. Not a good thing. If there had been an emergency, no one would have been able to get out. Scary. I guess that's when they decided to call the race for the night and resume in the morning. In the famous words of my brother, Troy, "Gimme that cheeseburger!" Suddenly the mood went from serious to jovial in seconds. It rained through most of the night, but by morning the rain had stopped, even though the clouds remained. After hours of debating by officials, they decided to continue the race. Our riders only had time to get in one more lap before the Noon cutoff time, so they all went out together. Aww. What team unity.

I think fun was had by all, and it brought our trailering season to a spectacular end. Now comes the task of getting all the linens washed and returned to the trailer, the winterizing, and the storing. I hate this time of the year just for that reason. Although the next time we use it, we'll have little baby Gretta with us! That's definitely something to look forward to.

In which I open up about the nether-regions and LCD TV's

It's true, we have gradiated (yes, I meant to spell it that way) to the 21st century. We are now the proud owners of an LCD TV. HD, mind you. And it has a story. Oh, what a story. How many people do you know that have incurred serious injury due to their television? Me, none. Well, one now. You'd think a TV would be fairly harmless, but alas, in this house nothing can be labeled harmless. Ask Sean how to balance a 30 pound, $1000 TV on a flimsy aluminum ladder without dropping it and sacrificing yourself to save it. He wouldn't know. You see, that is exactly what happened. And I swear it happened in slow-mo. Here I was sitting on the couch watching, due to the nether-region problem, and I saw his eyes get as big as saucers. Then the TV went falling. And falling. Holy crap, it's happening. Suddenly Sean is on the floor, ladder atop him, and TV is upside down on the wood floor. I was under the ladder too, but I have no idea how I ended up there, since I can barely walk, let alone pounce like a cat. The first thing he says: "I broke the TV!" Who cares? You just fell off a ladder. Duh. Well, the TV survived somehow, and Sean is now limping around with a bruised heel and a bunch of bumps and bruises. Note to self, accept help when it's offered as you dangle precariously above the fireplace on a flimsy aluminum ladder. And don't expect your wife and her aching nether-regions to pounce like a cat to help you. Even though I did. What can I say, I'm a sucker for falling spouse.

Happy Birthday Maggie!

Well, my baby is 3. I can't believe it. She had a good birthday and scored lots of presents. We're so blessed to have her in our family.

She loves Belle, so she got a Belle doll, and a Belle dress, a new outfit, and shoes, and of course a Belle cake. She also got a new Cabbage Patch Doll from Grandma, and she loves it so much, she slept with her last night. And the dolls name just happens to be Maggie as well. Too funny.