Happy Halloween

We had some guests over to our house for pumpkin carving last week. Here are some pictures:

Melanie and Milu carving away

Melanie showing off her proud pumpkin

Sara and Milu displaying their great gourds

Melanie's spooky haunted house

My homage to the Dark Lord (Voldemort if you couldn't tell)

The two on our porch. Sorry it's kinda blurry.

But anyway, Happy Halloween to all.

O Shenandoah

Last weekend, Mel and I decided to go out to look at the fall foliage in Shenandoah National Park. We went to the Skyline Drive, which we didn't realize would cost 15 bones to get in and drive up a road. So, wanting to get our money's worth, we took advantage of the week pass that accompanies the $15 entry fee. We drove there both on Saturday and Sunday to hike on a trail or two, to breath the crisp autumn air, and to take some pictures. As seen below.






On Sunday, we did a small hike to some cool cliffs. The view was amazing.







On Saturday, on our way home, we found a pumpkin patch where we picked out the pumpkins we're going to carve this Saturday.
and here's me looking really lame with the pumpkin I picked.

Summer 09 (Second Half)

It's true that my blogging has been very sparse lately. I know I need to change that. I want to keep the goings on of my life up to date, because that way, I don't have to call people and tell them what I've been up to. I just type for 20 minutes or so, and then no calls are necessary, except to my mom, who wouldn't have the foggiest idea of how to turn on a PC, let alone be able to navigate her way to find my obscurely-titled blog--if she even knows what a blog is.
So since Mel and I have done a few things over this summer since my last post, I think I'll share. Then, I plan on updating more frequently and get back to sharing my "Humble Opinions" (I've got a wicked rant on crazy children's names waiting in the wings).
Last post, discussed the 4th of July, my birthday, and such...
Since then, we went to Niagara Falls:


We took a last minute trip with Adam and Megan to go to the Palmyra Pageant (a landmark moment for any Mormon's life). Since it's so close to the Falls, we took a day trip there.

Waiting for the Pageant to start

We also went to see the mid-night opening of Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince. Good times were had by all. We waited for about four hours for the movie to start. So there was trivia and board games and refillable popcorn to pass the time.

Then, Sara and Tony Got married. So, a belated congratulations is in order. And, an apology for not uploading pics sooner.

My car hit a kinda fun land mark, 77,777 miles. We watched Senator Kennedy's funeral procession (and you can too).

Then, in September, we went to Utah for a whole slew of reasons: My high-school reunion, Peach Days, and the fact that we could only make it out there one time this year. None of which alone are reason enough to fly across the country (maybe the last of the three), but when they all converged on one weekend, we decided to go.


The reunion was fun and less awkward than I thought it would be. Except for a few moments which I'll have to talk about in a later post.

We were, obviously, the best-dressed table.
Mel and I did our traditional "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" stop, visiting Ruth's Diner, which was absolutely delicious. Anyone in Utah must go there.
After Ruth's, we got caught in the worst rain storm I've ever seen in Utah, so we went an looked at the newly-renovated state capitol building.
And finally, last weekend, we went to Florida with Melanie's parents for a long weekend. It was a lot of fun. On Sunday morning, I got up early enough to catch the sunrise.
Later, we went on to Lion County Safari before leaving, and we saw a whole heap of cool animals right by the car. It was pretty fun, and only a little bit of cheesiness for the children.


So, that's a quick recap of my summer. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.