Hello Out There!

Here comes the monster blog that a (very) few of you have been waiting for! I will start with our cruise and try to quickly make it to Halloween!

• Our cruise to Mexico was great. It was relaxing and fun and we had some awesome dinner companions. We really did read alot, sleep alot and just enjoyed not being responsible for anyone but ourselves! One crazy story... we were planning to cruise out of New Orleans - it's about a 5 hour drive from Beaumont where we were leaving the kids. We were going to spend a day or so there when we got back from the cruise. Less than a week before our cruise we got a call from our travel agent telling us that we would actually be cruising out of Mobile, AL - it's about 7 hours from Beaumont! No big deal...we just drove a few extra hours and didn't get to enjoy NO when we returned. However, some of our dinner friends didn't find out until they were at the port of New Orleans trying to park and check-in for the cruise!!! Anyway, it all worked out for most everyone we talked to, but it was a little crazy! (No pictures because I don't know where Mike put them on the computer!)

• School for the kids started soon after our return. They are loving their new classes and their teachers. No pictures for this either...I know I'm a bad mommy for not getting first day of school pix.

• Hurricane Ike was our next big calendar event. Even though this natural disaster occurred 400 miles away from us, it has impacted our family greatly. My mother-in-law, Janet, lost all her possessions in Ike. Her home flooded with 4 feet of water from the tidal surge. She lived 2 blocks from the marsh; the marsh feeds into the Sabine Lake, which feeds into the Gulf of Mexico. Anyway, she has been living with us for the past 7 weeks or so and has decided to permanently relocate to Abilene. So, we are in the process of selling her house (it is gutted down to the studs) and settling all the insurance stuff. Her presence has been a real blessing in so many ways and we are thankful to have "Mimi" in our everyday life. I hope she is also thankful!

• Jacob turned 4 in October and we had a great party at Fire Station #5! It was so much fun. Here are a few pictures from our day at the station.

Here are a couple of Jacob's favorite gifts: a stuffed chicken that he hasn't put down and a Batman suit that a wonderful friend made for us!





We had a great time and the firefighters were awesome! Thanks Station #5!!!!

• Halloween came next and we went Trick or Treating for the first time! The kids had a great week at school with a Pumpkin Festival and a Costume Parade. Our Halloween week was great! Jacob was a firefighter, of course, and Sydney was a bumblebee.

Well, that's it for now! If I think of anything else that has happened in the last few months, I'll let you know!