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Monday, November 17, 2008

I'm so proud!

Of my little brother Jared! He has his private pilot's license and he can fly!! He and a friend of his rented a Cessna 182 and flew it down to our little airport here in Fallbrook. They are busy logging more hours and Jared is working on getting his Instrument certification (?). Apparently Fallbrook's airport has a very short landing strip (2000 feet) and Jared was a little nervous, but he landed it! He spent the night with us last night and then I took him to the French Valley Airport (only about 17 miles away) so that he could meet up with his friend and head home today. That airport's strip is 6000 feet long so I think he'll be flying into there next time! ;) We didn't have time to go up for a ride, but definitely will next time. The kids had fun checking out the cockpit though!

Ashlyn, Gabe, & Brian playing in the cockpit.
Jared in front of the plane.

Gabe & Jared pose for a pic in front of the plane.
Gabriel is very excited to have a pilot Uncle!
We're very proud of you Jared! Thanks for flying out to visit us and please come back again soon!



A First...

So this morning at 4:35 am, Brian and I were awakened by... an earthquake! It was so weird. I actually woke up just before the shaking by a loud noise, kind of like a buzzing. The whole thing was over before I knew it and none of my friends even knew there was a quake! I guess I am a light sleeper. It was a good shake though at 4.1. My brother had flown in yesterday and spent the night last night and I ran down right after the quake to see what he thought of the whole thing. He didn't feel the shaking, just heard the loud noise. He thought the kids were up making the noise. That was the first earthquake I've ever felt! Am I a real Californian now?

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

DisneyLand... again

Yes, we just love DisneyLand! Our passes are going to expire in December so we're trying to get more trips in while we've got them! Ashlyn had Monday and today off school for Veteran's Day so we went up yesterday morning and spent the day running around the parks. They were crowded, which surprised me a little. Usually when it starts to cool off, people don't go as much. We started at California Adventure and saw the Playhouse Disney show. We saw Mickey and his friends, Handy Manny, Little Einstein's and Tigger & Pooh and friends. Gabe really enjoyed it. We got in line for the Toy Story Mania ride (an hour line) but after only about 20 min, we found out the ride's power went out and it would be a few hours before they got it back up and running. Too bad, hope we get to see it soon! We hit up the Monsters, Inc ride and saw the Muppet 3D show before heading to DisneyLand.

Ashlyn & Gabe in front of a Christmas tree
in Toon Town
We waited in line and saw Mickey!
He signed our book and we got a pic.
Gabe wouldn't smile. :(
Ashlyn enjoyed it though and Mickey
kissed her on the hand before we left.

The kids in front of the Haunted Mansion.
This was a long line!

Between Halloween & Christmas the
Haunted Mansion is completely
redecorated inside and out with
Nightmare Before Christmas.
If you've never seen it, you really should!



Jack Skellington, as Sandy Claws

It was fun to spend the day with the kids but by the time we left (11pm), I was completely exhausted! Gabe was out and I had to carry him a lot of the way. Ashlyn was just about ready to drop! Both the kids were troopers throughout the day and we got to ride a lot of rides!




Saturday, November 8, 2008

Potty Training

We have been really focused on potty-training with Gabe for the past two weeks and finally, some progress!! We've tried so many times before but he has been so resistant. It's obvious that he just really has to do things on his own terms. We have had a few power struggles but for the most part, he is staying pretty dry and every day he seems to do a little better. I can't tell you how happy this makes me!! My diaper changing days are over!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Bella & Jasmine

I've been meaning to get some pictures of the new kitties up but just didn't do it! I took these today while they were napping together. I woke them up. :) Bella is the gray tabby and Jasmine is the siamese. We adopted them about a month ago (part of a promise to Ashlyn when we moved) and we've really been enjoying them! They are a lot of fun to watch. Bella's quite a bit bigger than Jasmine, but we were told they were from the same litter. So Jasmine is either a runt or not from the same litter and a month younger than Bella. We don't really care either way, we just love them!




Saturday, November 1, 2008

Happy Halloween!

Halloween this year was so great! We found out that we live in the BEST neighborhood for Trick-or-Treating!! I had bought 10 bags of candy and it was gone so fast. We were waiting for our sister-in-law and her friend to arrive to go TOTing and while we were waiting, Gabe's friend and his mom came over to go out with us too. Then Ashlyn's friend showed up with her family and they invited her to go along with them. So I actually didn't get a picture of the two kids together! But it all worked out and here are a couple pics of the kids in their costumes. (Please pay no attention to my messy house and the cardboard boxes!)

Here's Gabe... err, uh I mean Indiana Jones
Corpse Brides do not smile!
I just have to add that seriously, I could not believe all the cars in our neighborhood last night! They were pouring in... I think A LOT of people come to our neighborhood for Halloween. Our neighbors across the street also had an awesome Haunted House maze in their garage. It was so cool... Gabe went in 4 times!