he might not be the bravest of boys...
but when it comes to handling snakes,
he knocked the socks off of these daredevils!!!

"trying" to get a good picture...
(for no real reason before church)












good thing there was no real reason to have a picture taken!!!

after supper entertainment...


if we only had a wireless mic you would be able to see some actions too!

more from our walk...


yes, that's my husband with our daughter on his back.
i love both of them dearly!




daring daddy with delighted daughter!




everyone else joining in the on fun of the tree growing sideways!

a walk in the woods....




exploring with friends...




thirsty boy...

more trick or treating...

first we went to a church that had walking tacos (yum), crafts and a petting zoo for the kids. this same petting zoo has been popping up all around parkersburg. evan especially likes the smaller animals. the larger animals chase you around until they eat all the food in your little bucket. it was a bit much for me. i was glad grandma and dad were there to each take a kid. i was happy taking pictures!!!

a puppy and a grandma...



the fireman giving out treats!


because phillip is curious about these odd sorts of animals, he struck up a conversation with the owner--talking about the different breeds, friendliness of the animals, etc.
the owner of the petting zoo then took it upon himself to catch the largest llama, make it sit down and motioned for grandma laurie and anabel to sit on it. yes, sit on it. i could see a disaster coming from a mile away! i knew anabel would hate it.

do i know my daughter?!?!?
what a sad puppy!



i then rescued anabel. honestly, i'm not sure what happened next. i don't know if the owner made grandma laurie stay on the llama OR if she wanted to OR if i just thought she should stay there for a picture. whatever the reason, we have this picture to prove grandma laurie's true love for llamas. it will always make me laugh. i think we laughed about it for an hour after the kids went to bed on saturday night!

ride em' cowgirl!



back to trick or treating...
i like to take the kids to the nursing homes to trick or treat.
it's fun to see the residents' faces light up when they see the kids.

now it's my turn to tell a story on phillip. while we were at the nursing home. one of the elderly residents looked at the kids in their costumes and asked, "how do you think of these things?" phillip had no idea what she was talking about. the resident proceeds to explain how cute the matching costumes were--the fireman and the dalmatian puppy. phillip chuckled and walked away. it then hit him for the FIRST time that the kids' costumes went together!!! seriously, do i need to explain these things?!?! thanks elderly nursing home resident!!!
the real thanks goes to my friend lindsay who provided the awesome costumes!!! the kids absolutely loved them. your creativity made our night!!! THANK YOU!!!








evan was pretty excited to find his friends ricky stanzi and leonardo
(i mean caleb and micah)




by the end of the night evan just wanted to go to a house "and stay a little bit."
we had more houses to visit...but it was time to be done!
thanks for coming with us grandma laurie!


as long as i'm typing up a storm, i'm going to give a shout out to my dalmatian loving little sister. yes, my sister who is now a nurse in denver, colorado had (and maybe still has) an undying love for dalmatians. her whole room was (and maybe still is) covered in 101 dalmatians. we even painted black spots on the lower half of her walls. mandy, i'll send you a blown up picture of anabel to match your bedroom!!! we love you!

carving time!

cleaning out with daddy...




carving with grandma laurie...



finished products...



jensens...



the fireman and his "fire puppy."



evan wanted a "mean face" on his pumpkin...
anabel didn't care, so she got a happy pumpkin!