Sam's Birthday

Lucky boy gets a huge party every birthday. We did a little trick or treating on Halloween and celebrated Sam's birthday on Sunday. Instead of a cake, we did sugar cookies that we cut out, baked and decorated. Sam got a big boy toilet for his birthday but is a long way away from figuring it out. In case you can't figure it out, Mark is a pirate, Em a 50's girl, Sam is Diego (from the cartoon...friend to Dora who is actually his favorite but didn't think Dora was an appropriate costume for a little boy) and Hannah...though not in full costume here was a mime. I tried to find a shirt with a big M on it for Super Mom but had no luck!

Luau

The YW did a "luau" evening a little bit ago. We have a family with Tongan heritage and one of the YW leaders studied at BYU Hawaii so they learned dances from several islands. They had tables set up for each of the islands with some food to sample at the end. They did a great job. The pictures aren't the best because they turned down the lights but you get an idea.

Tired little man

Happily, Sam has not outgrown his afternoon naps. If I don't get to him in time...he does it on his own...sometimes right in the middle of something. Yesterday, it was with a bag of cheetos in one hand...a cheetoh in the other trying desperately to get to his mouth. When I had put him in the car to pick up kids, he slightly woke up trying to get the cheetoh into his mouth but I had taken it after he fell asleep so he just kept putting his hand to his mouth and trying to bite but there was nothing there. I think today he was trying to get the back door open to ride his little motorcycle in the backyard. Anyway, need to take advantage of him asleep and get something done...just wanted to share.

Kristy for School Board

Well...it is official...I am running for school board. I am finishing my website today...visit it at kristynielsen.com. I opened my bank account last week and have my sign designed. I was even offered use of one of those programs that automatically calls and plays a recording. So I just have to create a brief message and it will call all the voters in Antioch telling them who I am and that they should vote for me. I will be ordering signs next week and have window signs for cars that I have to print up next week. Had my first interview by the teacher's union last week and a meeting with Dr Simms, superindendent. They have a round-table set up for Oct 1st that will be taped and broadcast throughout the month on the contra costa tv channel. They did a write up in the Antioch Press about all the candidates and quoted me in it. Not sure what my chances of winning are but it will definately be an interesting experience just running. Hannah took several pictures of me for me to use on my website. This is one I really liked although didn't use it for my website. I rarely have descent photos of myself because I am usually behind the camera. Many of you will be getting emails next week with all my info to forward on to others that you know that live in Antioch. It is all about name recognition...how many people have heard your name mentioned...kind of crazy that it is not so much about what you will do for the school board.

Mark's birthday and baptism

Mark turned eight in July. He was then baptized the first week of August. It was nice to be able to have Grandma Knight there. It was a very special day that we got to share with family and friends.

Last Summer Fling

The weekend before school started, we went to the beach with some friends. We arrived Sunday afternoon and camped out...returning home Tuesday afternoon. The kids then started school on Wed. We had a great time. We camped at Manressa Beach in Santa Cruz. I had never been beach camping before this so it was a new experience. Sunday night was very wet...not raining the mist in the air was almost rain. The kids' tents worked great. Musetta's and mine...not so much. We woke up with a big puddle on the floor of our tent. Luckily, nothing major got wet and we dried out by evening. We walked to the beach Monday morning and the kids spent pretty much the entire day boogie boarding. We had some half wet suits that Uncle Jared had given us years ago that came in very handy. Mark's was a little big so he still got cold and had to get out every hour or so in the morning to warm up but by afternoon, there was no stopping them. Of course, they were exhausted and sore come Tuesday. Sam had a great time although he doesn't like the ocean. But, Mom is ok with that since she doesn't have to worry about him wondering into the water alone. We saw some dolphins and sea lions...it was so awesome. Grandma Knight will be very jealous. There were about 10 dolphins that swam up and down the coast, playing for about 30 minutes. They also had fire pits on the beach so we got to have a campfire on the beach...it was awesome. The wagon Sam is pulling was used to carry our stuff to the car as it was a walk in campsite. He loved pulling it around. The bottom right picture has a dolphin in it...that is how close they were...the front of the picture is the wave breaking on the shore.

50 miler pictures

I put them together in a slideshow movie thing...for some reason my little video clips weren't working well so I will continue to work on them and get them posted. The first lake is Echo Lake (actually two lakes, upper and lower)...the more desolate lake with the sunset...Aloha Lake where we camped first night. Day 2 we left Aloha and passed Susie and Heather Lake and camped at Gilmore Lake (pictures of the group by the lake pumping water). Day 3 we peaked at Dick's Pass (kids sitting looking out) and camped at Eagle Lake. Day 4, hiked down to Eagle Falls which is by Emerald Bay then hiked down 89 to Baldwin Beach where we picked up the kayaks and kayaked back to Emerald Bay. Day 5, kayaked to Meeks Bay...day 6, kayaked to a campground by Sunnyside. Day 7, kayaked to campground at Tahoe City. Day 8, kayaked to King's Beach for a great finish!