Early Halloween Photos

Avery is going to be a fish for her first Halloween.

She tried to eat the candy.

Creepy.

Trying to take it off.

Just Another Picture With A Little (or lot of) Text

A sentimental post. Well, Avery is almost nine months and she is becoming quite the handful. Crawling really well, pulling up on everything, and trying to stand. Today, I picked her up at daycare and after she saw me until we got in the car she was more excited and happy than I have ever seen her. She just looked at me the whole time and laughed loudly and bounced up and down. Its a really good feeling knowing that you mean that much to somebody. With all her growing up, she is becoming a lot more fun than the fragile little infant that she used to be (even though I do miss that stage) and I am becoming her number one playmate.

I bought her Christmas present today. Its a Live Elmo doll and its not quite as cool as I thought it would be. When it moves it makes a loud robot sound that I find a little scary. But, still, its pretty cool. You can see a video of it here: YouTube - Elmo Live — New Elmo Robotic Toy, NY Toy Fair. The "mad scientist" helper was a tad bit creepy, wasn't he? 

This past weekend Utility Al, Utility Katie, Mother Allison and me almost got trampled leaving the Mississippi State Fair. Well, not really ALMOST but it was scary at first but it mainly made me mad that it kept us from getting to our car sooner so I could go to bed. Thanks Matt for making us go to the fair late so we almost got killed. I'll still get you a cookie cake eventually just because I'm a great friend.

The answer to the last trivia: "This rifle can shoot a flea off a dog's back at five hundred yards, Tannen! And its aimed straight for your head!"

This week's trivia: On average, how long does it take a fingernail or toenail to grow from base to tip?

I think I'm about out of daily fight memories so I'll come up with another less violent one. Since this is kind of sentimental post then I will post about the first time I met Smokey. I was in the fourth grade and had been bugging my parents for a dog of my own for at least two years. They said I could get one for my 10th birthday (which was three months away). And then one day in May when my dad got home, he asked me to come look in the passenger window of the car. I looked down and there was a 2 month old border collie puppy looking up at me with her tail wagging. One night in the middle of a thunderstorm at the camp my dad works at she had come up to the door of a worker's home and barked at the door. Someone must have thrown her out. Since they don't allow dogs down there, my dad decided to take her to see me to see if I wanted her. Of course, I immediately fell in love with her and when I took her out of the car, she was so excited that she peed all over me and the concrete. That night (even though I really didn't want to) my dad made me leave her at home while we went to wednesday night church. On the way to church I decided on a name. Smokey. When we FINALLY got home I called out for her and couldn't find her. I looked everywhere. She was gone. We went around the entire neighborhood door to door and looked all through the woods behind my house but couldn't find her. I didn't sleep that night and I'm pretty sure my dad didn't either. I had to sit through school the entire next day thinking that I would never see my dog again but when I got home my mom told me that she got a call from a woman who thinks she found her. We walked across a busy road behind my house to a small white house and in the yard I saw her. I called out to her and she ran to me, jumped up on me, and licked me all over my face. From that point on, for the next fourteen years, she was my best friend.

Just A Picture