Dinner in New Orleans

Brett and I went to Pêche Restaurant. We shared a whole fish.

Punkins

We (they) carved punkins. 😉

May The Force Be With You

Happy Halloween.

Claire decided she wanted to be an Ewok this year, Em wanted to be Rey, and I had purchased the other costumes last year when they were 90% off!

Brett wasn't able to make it to our trunk-or-treat, so one of Eli's friends wore the Vader costume.

First Day of School

This was two weeks ago.

Bats & Brooms

Here is a funny story:

My sister, Amber, and her family came to visit last weekend.  They came up to watch Claire's musical.

After the musical on Saturday, it was late, and we were all getting ready to head to bed.  Brett was up in the bathroom brushing his teeth; the dogs had been let out one last time before bed; we were making a plan for showering for church; all of a sudden there was a BAT flying through our house.  We have no idea where it came from; it was suddenly just there.  The ceiling fan was probably on, so as the bat swooped through the living room, it would be low.  There were nine of us in the living room, plus two dogs.  Most of us hit the ground and would scream in fear and panic every time the bat swooped by.  LuLu, our black lab, was ready to get the bat.  We had to get her downstairs.  

I think Eli called out to get the doors open, so Claire ran out the front door, and held it open, standing with the glass between her and the bat, and I crawled to the back door and propped that open.  My sister's son threw a blanket at the bat to try to catch it, and the blanket landed on Amber's back.  She about jumped out of her skin thinking the bat was on her back and going down her pants.

Amber and I, even in our panic, are trying to get our phone's cameras on so we can get a recording of what is happening, because among the panic, we know it is hilarious.  Brett is standing at the top of the stairs watching it all happen (I'm not sure what he really did besides watch - and keep track of the bat).

Eli, decided to grab the broom.  The bat was flying by, and he swung at it.  DIRECT HIT.  The bat went down, and it was by the front door.  He pushed it out of the door, shuffle board style, as Claire was standing there, and then he closed the door.  He left Claire out on the doorstep with the bat.

Claire came running in, practically in tears, because Eli had shut her out.  Evidently the bat wasn't hurt too much because when we finally opened the door to get a good look at the poor thing, it was gone.

Now, this whole adventure was probably less than a minute long, but the adrenaline rush we all felt effected us long after the bat was removed from our house. 

Florida

Drove to Florida with these lovely people to spend a week in the sun!

First Ride of the Season

Brett took his motorcycle out for a spin. Today he is unemployed. He starts a new job on Monday.