Halloween 2008

As you can see, Joshua was a vampire and Matthew an 80s rock star for Halloween this year. While trick or treating, a lady saw Joshua and squealed, "Oh! That's the best Frankenstein I've ever seen." He was quite disgusted! :) Another man, while putting candy in Matthew's bag said, "I used to date a girl that looked just like you." We had a great time trick or treating and then Matthew and I came home to give out candy while Joshua and Patrick hit a few more streets in the neighborhood. We finished off the evening by watching the Charlie Brown Halloween special together.

Pumpkin Carving

Patrick and the boys had a great time carving pumpkins for Halloween. They even tried to incorporate the boys' personalities and expressions into their carvings. :)

The Smith's 50th Wedding Anniversary

Patrick's parents celebrated their 5oth wedding anniversary on August 9th with family and friends at Maranatha Baptist Church. It was great to see so much of the family gathered together and watch the picture video that Patrick put together for them. Doug presented them with a lovely plaque, and they exchanged gifts in front everyone. It was a special time.

Visit with Friends

On our way to WV, we met up with our friends Mary, Sarah and Joseph. Sarah and Joshua were born six months apart and have been friends from the beginning. It was great to get to see them and catch up a little. Unfortunately, my camera battery went dead during our visit, so I didn't get any more pictures of friends during our visit. :( I'm glad that Allison took pictures when we met up with them. It's good to see how the kids have grown!!

Blue Belt Testing in July

In July, the boys tested for their blue belts. They broke boards with their feet and did a great job on their form. They graduated to their blue stripe belts in September and are looking to be green belts in November.

Matthew the Performer

Matthew getting into the act.......

80s Karaoke Night

You should have seen us scrambling to find the proper attire for our church choir 80's Karaoke night. We went to the costume shop for accessories and none of the workers had ever heard of Debbie Gibson. !!!! Wow...we are getting old. Doesn't Patrick make quite the punk rocker?! Matthew even got into the act with boas and sequined gowns.

The Toothless Wonder

Summer Camp

Remlinger Farms

We've taken a couple of trips to Remlinger this summer. One was while Joshua was at summer camp. Matthew and I took our back door neighbors for a fun day at the farm. The second time was with our friends from NC, Nancy and her daughters Ashleigh and Lacie. Joshua took a buddy with him and they took off with a cell phone and rode every single ride including the ponies which they had to sweet-talk the attendant into letting them ride since she felt like they were too big. They told her they were trying to ride every ride in the park once, and she gave in and let them ride. Matthew and I are going back one day this week with Dori and her kids Ali and Andrew while Joshua is at baseball camp. It's a fun place to go. We always get fresh corn on the cob from their market to take home with us.

July 4th

On July 4th, Patrick took the boys to our neighborhood festival where they

jumped on the inflatables, kicked footballs, ate hot dogs and generally had a blast. Both boys wore their tae kwon do t-shirts so that they could collect a dollar from their instructor for advertising for them. After the festival, our friends the Caswells joined us for some canasta, wizard (after which Joshua built a card house) and dinner and then we all gathered in the front yard to set off fireworks and watch the various shows going on in the neighborhood. July 4th is never quiet around here and we all go to bed over-stimulated from all the lights and pops.

Black Eye

Joshua is sporting his first black eye, compliments of his dear mother. We were playing a competitive game of ultimate frisbee at the Microsoft fields against Patrick and Matthew and the frisbee missed Joshua's hands and smacked him on the face instead. He's very proud of his bruise and enjoys telling people that his mom gave him a black eye.

Camping Trip

We went on a camping trip to Sun Lakes Campground along with 20 other families in our church. We had lots of fun in the sun with boat rides galore. We had our first water skiing lessons, had a blast on the inner tubes and enjoyed the breezes on three different boats. We also enjoyed staying up late and playing canasta with the Caswells. Matthew had fun traipsing from tent to tent hanging out with everyone. We spent considerable time the morning we left trying to locate his flip flops which were scattered throughout the camp in various places. :)