Three Thanksgiving Turkey Cookies and One Goofy Cael

For Family Home Evening,

we decorated sugar cookies to look like turkeys.

From left to right: Cael's, Mom's, and Dad's
(Dad said his different colored feather is his gray hair.)

After decorating our cookies,

Cael wanted to pose for pictures making silly faces.

"Charge!"

Ever since watching the Charlie Brown Halloween special this year, and reading it over and over on Mom's Kindle, Cael has been wanting to jump in a pile of leaves. He had to wait for awhile because the leaves didn't fall off our tree until later than usual this fall.

This past week, we went outside, Mom raked up a nice pile for jumping, and off he went. He yelled "Charge!" like Linus does, jumped into the leaves, and then, also quoting Linus, exclaimed, "Never jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker!" A couple of times, he even pretended to be licking a sucker prior to running and jumping into the leaves. What a ham he is!

My first wood-getting trip.

I watched Dad sharpen his see-saw.

I helped stack some wood in the back of Grandpa's truck.

I rode with Mom in the back of the truck while Dad looked for more dead Juniper to cut.

I watched Mom cut down a tree with her chain saw.

I helped Mom cut for a second, but I didn't like all the corn (Mom told me it was sawdust.) that flew into my face, so I went back to the safety of the pickup bed.



"But I want to stay 100 nights."

Staying warm

Matching suspenders with Great-grandpa

At Jalen's birthday party, helping him open his presents

For Cael's November weekend in Holbrook, he got to stay three nights due to the Veterans' Day holiday weekend. He loves it there so much that, when he returned home to his mom and dad, he told them he wanted to stay in Holbrook for 100 nights. We just can't compete with them.

Cael was so excited to see Jalen, who has been away at college. When we told him Jalen was coming home for his birthday, Cael's face lit up as he asked, "He is?"

The Tale of the First Lie

One November night,

Cael was eating a tortilla for dinner.

When his mom and dad asked him

if he finished eating it,

he said yes.

"You ate it all?" Mom questioned, to make sure.

"Yes!"

"Good job, buddy," congratulated his parents.

We thought he had downed it rather quickly,

but we had no reason to doubt him

when he told us he had eaten it all.

The following day, Mom walked by the table

and saw something near Cael's place mat.

She went to get the small piece of trash

to throw it away, but when she tried to pick

it up, a partial tortilla appeared from

beneath the innocent Mickey Mouse mat.

Mom could not believe her eyes.

Her trustworthy four-year-old son

had deceived them.

When Mom asked Cael,

"What is that?"

he proceeded to pick it up and eat the stale treat.

That's a Hancock for you.

A Handyween

 Cael was Handy Manny for Halloween this year,

and we were his tools,

Pat (the hammer)

and Felipe (the Phillips screwdriver).

We had a grand time dressing up

and attending the Halloween Costume parade

and trick-or-treating.

 

Nice eyebrows

R.E.D.N.E.C.K.

Dad got into the Halloween spirit

by dressing up for work.

What a hottie!

Jack-o-Lantern

A House (or a Cael) Divided

You say "cheese" with your whole body.

For the second time in our

six years of wedded bliss,

Mom's team (Redskins)

and Dad's team (Steelers)

played each other.

The first time they played

was actually on our anniversary.

The Steelers won,

and Dad spent the night on the couch.

This time, they played

close to our anniversary date,

but not on it.

Mom decked out the

living room in all things 'Skins,

which you loved.

You played with everything,

pretending most of them

were monsters in disguise,

ala Scooby Doo.

I'm glad you were able to

add levity to the situation,

as Mom's team lost, again.

This time, I took the loss a little better.

Dad got to sleep in the bed,

and I even put on your Steelers' shirt

(although I think you look much better in the Redskins' outfit).

Maybe next time...

Trying to Capture a Picture of a Constantly Moving Boy

Exploring Bisbee

While Paul attended meetings,

Cael and I took to the streets of Bisbee.

Another train to conduct

We perused the shops along the Europeanesque streets.

Cael wanted to explore the library. It was one of his favorite places.

One of the many picturesque doors we saw.

All decked out for the Queen Mine Tour

On another train (but this one moved)

In the dark tunnels of the mine

Just like I always say...

The Haunted Hotel

We stayed at the Copper Queen Hotel,

seen in the above picture.

It is allegedly haunted by three ghosts:

one young boy,

one woman of the night,

and one top-hatted, cigar-smoking man.

We were not visited by any of the spirited ones

during our stay, but Cael loved being able to lodge

at the haunted hotel,

which was enhanced

by the Halloween decorations in the lobby.