Today is my most wonderful husband's birthday.... he is a wise 36! I sent a hilarious picture of him to our local news channel- they play birthday messages in the morning- pretty funny! His presents were a pair of tickets to a concert that is coming up, a bag of gourmet candy corns from Teagyn, and an awesome remote control helicopter from Calli and Teags. We love you Mistopher Christopher and hope you have a great birthday!!! We're having a party tonight for him, by the way.... too bad you all can't be here!
I thought I would show some pics of our hard work last night also- the girls and Chris did some great pumpkins- and I made two gallons of applesauce!
Yay!!! Today was a very special day for our family. We went to court and Callista was officially adopted to me. Here's our pic with Judge Watson- he has also been Alyx's judge, so it was nice to see him on a "fun and good" basis. He asked Calli what she thought about all this, and she said she was just fine with it, and very happy to be my daughter (phew!). He asked her about school and her hobbies, and then he asked us some basic questions, and that was that! So, we are celebrating tonight by going to her favorite restaurant, Red Lobster, for all you can eat shrimp. Let me tell you, this girl can eat some shrimp! I love you Calli, and this does not make me feel any differently towards you, but I am so happy to call you mine legally. 
Here's some pics of the girls having fun with Marmee- making cookies and being silly. I also put in the picture of Dad, because he likes to assume the position in our favorite chair.... it has become his favorite chair too! Thanks for coming Mom and Dad- this was a really fun visit, and I love it when you come stay with us.
OH wow- Oktoberfest was quite the whirlwind!!! A couple of months ago, our friend Chad and I decided to surprise Chris for an early birthday present by taking him to Leavenworth, WA for their annual Oktoberfest. This is a little bavarian town in the middle of Washington- it feels like you were dropped into the middle of Germany though! All the townspeople wear German clothing, all the buildings are German style- even McDonalds... and everyone is there to have a good time- apparently another tradition is crazy hats- there are hat booths everywhere and I hardly ever saw the same hat twice on all those people. All in all, a great weekend getaway with friends, and I think Chris had a wonderful time!! The pictures are of the Maipole- yes, that's how it is spelled- then there was an awesome Christmas store called Kris Kringl- amazing stuff!, and we also took pics of the dancers, yodelers, and Cowbell girls... they were from Munich- very entertaining! 
Ah, the first day of school has arrived!!! Teagyn and Calli are now both in school- Calli started third grade (can't believe it) and Teags started preschool..... Calli would like you to notice her very cool black boots and new dress, and Teags had a great first day. I picked her up and took her out to lunch today and she said she didn't want to go back because she couldn't remember all the kids names, but we talked it out! She is in the Bluebirds class, and Calli's teacher is Mrs. Gutz. So, all in all a great first day so far- Calli is due home anytime and we will hear all about it. Love you all- it was a very nice day for me too- got more work done in the fastest time ever without any little ones here! 
