Dani!

Dani cut off 12 inches to send to Locks of Love - an organization that makes wigs for children with cancer.

Dani

Dani had her first riding lesson today! She loved it. Of course she wants the pants and boots! It cracked me up because whenever you take a child to ride a pony, the people act so careful and panicky. Alex (the trainer) put her up on the pony and sent her on her way! She rode the pony all over (even trotted) and was able to take his saddle off and brush him. Alex said that she was really good and one of the best beginners ever. Do you think he says that to everyone? It was a whole new world for us! And it smelled...

Nathaniel had a baseball game at 4:30 (Robert said he played really well - 3rd base, made a few plays right off the bat - even a double play catching a line drive and throwing the runner out at first, and he pitched), he then had all-star practice from 6 - 8, Jessy had batting practice at 6, Dani lessons at 6 and Steph and Sammy hung out at the stables with me. Today was crazy. Happy it's over!

A Walk to the Horse Stables!

Not sure who is checking who out here!

Dani looks like she is walking into heaven!

Steph and Dani with their "sweet" faces!

Dani stealing Mom's coke

Painting!

Dani & Steph Painting. This actually went really well. No disasters!

Dani as a Grandma

We were going to go to Disneyland for halloween but Dani and Andrew really wanted to go trick-or-treating. We went around Big Range in Canyon Lake. At first it seemed like no one was out but then it was crazy. There were kids everywhere. It reminded me of how it was when I was a kid - a looooonnnnggg time ago.

We are still so sad about Jake. If you didn't know he had to be put to sleep, read the one under this one. He was the best dog!

Dani and the Birds - Part 1

At Wild Animal Park, there is a place where you can buy nectar and feed lorakeets. It's the coolest thing there. The birds land on you and eat the nectar from a small cup. It's the kids (Jess, Sam and Nate's) favorite thing to do there. Dani was all excited to do it. When we got in, the lady told the kids to go to the center of the cage....well they stopped too quickly and we were stuck in a smaller area. Birds starting coming from all over. I think we were their first feeding of the day. A bird landed on Dani - you can see from her face in this picture that she's trying to enjoy this but that she hated every minute of it. Actually there is one on her shoulder - not sure she noticed it yet. Birds were going crazy. One landed on Reid's shoulder and started biting his head! The birds knocked Nathaniel's cup right out of his hand.

Dani and the Birds - Part 2

Lorakeets were everywhere - landing on Dani and freaking her out. When the bird started pecking her hair right by her face, she had had enough! I didn't have a free hand to help her (but I did manage to take a picture!)

Dani and the Birds - Part 3

The whole thing ended up with Dani crying (loudly might I add). I was laughing so hard as birds were coming from all directions- I had about 5 birds on me, two cameras and I was holding a cup of nectar for Stephanie who was enthralled with the whole thing. Dani started panicking and crying louder, so of course Steph started crying not knowing why but feeling she must since Dani was! Finally Gina came and helped poor Dani!

Family News

Here's some family news:Jessy's softball team (Travel Lite) won their first tournament over the weekend in Fontana. They qualified for nationals (which are held in Oaklahoma City next July!) Jessy played well. She is in sixth grade this year and doing great. She is taking an art class and loving it.Sammy and Nathaniel are starting basketball this week. They are very excited. Nathaniel has been practicing everyday. Sammy is waiting for his new basketball shoes. They are on different teams this year as Sammy moved up a division. They hope to play flag football in December - not sure how we will work that out!Daniele is taking two dance classes - ballet and yes...hip-hop. It's through a Christian dance company called Good News Dance. It's very tasteful and a blast! She takes one class with Jenna. Dani is a great help to me during the day with Steph. She is really into card games right now. Old Maid and Rummy are her favorites.Stephanie...well what can I say. I'll just tell about today. She colored all over my entry wall (which I can't get off yet), found finger paint and painted on my tile, put toothpaste on the back of her puzzle pieces, drew on her clothes, went up to Sammy and drew on his shirt, tore off a barbie head... Sound like we don't watch her huh? Well we do. She literally accomplishes most things in a matter of seconds. She climbs on everything she can - in fact when she looks at something cool and high - she looks at me and says, "Climber?" She spent a long time climbing a chainlink fence on Sunday - climbing up and down - over and over. She is the cutest, funniest baby ever. She makes us laugh daily - has a great sense of humor. She enjoys puzzles and books. She loves jumping on the trampolene. She is very social and prefers to be playing with someone rather than on her own. Much to everyone's dismay, she loves Barney - yes he's still around. She has room time everyday (which of course she doesn't prefer to do). We found her asleep under the bed one day. Jessy went in there to check on her, couldn't find her and finally saw her feet sticking out under the bed.Bye!