Halloween 2011

Brenna went as our little lady bug. She wasn't too sure about trick or treating at first but then she realized she got candy nothing couldn't hold her back.

The boys are obsessed with pirates right now thanks to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and Lego video game. They both thought they were Captain Jack Sparrow.

Before I took this picture I asked who wanted candy. Brenna didn't seem to care since she already had a sucker.

At school today, Dillon was able to wear his costume and was part of the Kindergarten parade. His buddy Caden went as Peter Pan.

We had a few people over to our house tonight since our neighborhood is one of the handfuls in Tuolumne County that gets trick-or-treaters. James and Bryan came as mustard and ketchup, just don't ask me why the ketchup is wearing a dollar sign necklace.

We took a picture of everyone in the group who dressed up. A fun time was had by all walking the neighborhood and passing out candy.

Maroon 7 Soccer

Video highlights from Dillon's first year of soccer on his team, Maroon 7.

GOOOOAAAALLLL

In the last game of the season, Dillon scored his first goal. Coach James drew up the perfect play on an indirect kick, allowing Dillon to sink one into the back of the net.

Dillon's 5th Birthday

This past Thursday was Dillon's 5th birthday. It's hard to believe that five years ago our lives changed forever. Grandma Sharon, Papa, and Granny Barbara came up to visit the morning of the 9th.

On Friday all of us, except for Brenna, went to Yosemite for the day. Dillon was excited when we saw the deer behind him.

It may be hard to tell from this picture, but the falls were amazing. Thanks to all the snowfall this winter and the warm weather last week, Yosemite falls was breathtaking.

On Saturday we had Dillon's birthday party at the park. Of course Grandma Sharon had to make a special cake for Dillon. He was having a super hero themed party so he picked a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle as his cake.

There was also a pinata at the party thanks to Uncle James and Aunt Michelle.

Dillon's pals from pre-school and church helped to sing happy birthday to him. Notice the awesome Spiderman cupcakes, another Grandma Sharon special.

Uncle James also provided all the kids with a Soccer Shots shirt and ball. Thank you to all who came to the party, sent presents, and/or wished Dillon a happy birthday.

Weekend Fun

Last weekend we traveled down to Oakdale to have a BBQ at Bryan's house. The Evans joined us, along with James' dad and wife. Below are the pictures.

Auntie Cho (Michelle) playing cornhole with Dillon. Bryan's backyard runs up against the Stanislaus River, making for a great place to have a BBQ.

Connor and Trent wore matching baseball outfits. Glad that they were Dodger colors and not the Giants.

These two aren't quite old enough to play together, but they are good at running around.

No, James is not taking a nap. He is just notorious for having his eyes closed in pictures.

The three little ones couldn't resist sitting on the ATVs.

The mandatory group picture. Thanks Bryan for throwing a great BBQ.


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Now playing: The Cars - Good Times Roll
via FoxyTunes

To Infinity and Beyond

Today Dillon went to his first movie at a theater. It was a special early screening of Toy Story 3, hosted at the Pixar campus. The event, a fund raiser for College Track, included the movie, a tour of Pixar, and a carnival. Michelle was able to get me, Dillon, and James tickets because her boss sits on the board of Pixar. Dillon was so excited to dress up as Woody and go see him on the big screen (in 3D)!

Before the movie, we were treated to a quick overview of College Track and some words from Estelle Harris (Mrs. Potato Head, Seinfeld), Richard Kind (Bookworm), and Jason Katz (the head story guy). Because the movie does not come out for another month, we were asked not to talk details about it, so I will say this: The movie lives up to the Pixar gold standard.

James also had some friends attend who had a little boy that was six months younger than Dillon. He was dressed as Buzz. Both he and Dillon got many comments about how cute they were together.

Dillon was smiling in this picture because he has just saw Toy Story 3. James was smiling because he just saw Steve Jobs. That's the brains behind Apple in his standard black turtleneck and blue jeans in the background.

There were two Lego models of Buzz and Woody, which made Dillon's day.

You love me, you really, really love me!

A highlight for James and I was meeting George's mom. Both of us can recall any episode of Seinfeld so talking with one of the more memorable characters was a blast.

The inside of the studio was chalk full of Pixar characters. Dillon was excited to see Guido...

...and Luigi. The prizes for the carnival games were toys from the movie. Dillon was able to win a Jessie and a Bullseye doll (seen on the hood of Luigi). Dillon already has, and sleeps with every night, Buzz and Woody toys, so these complete his collection.

Dillon was initially afraid of the larger-than-life Incredibles statues, but he warmed up enough to snap a picture.

Mike and Sully were there to wave us good bye.

I finally got to throw James out of a game. That's what he gets for being a Giants fan.

A group photo in front of the famous Pixar ball, the lamp was right in front of us. We had a great time at this unique movie screening. A big thank you goes out to James and Michelle for inviting us.


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Now playing: Randy Newman - You've Got A Friend In Me
via FoxyTunes

Muppet Mashup

Sesame Street has gotten some attention on the Internet this last week because of their 40th anniversary. In their honor, this site posted pictures of Sesame Street (and Muppets) celebrity doppelgangers. My favorite was Pepe and Steve Buscemi.


This made me realize I have some people in my extended family that also look like characters.


James and Captain Breakfast


Taylor and Miss Piggy


Mike and Waldorf

Connor and Scooter (minus the glasses)

Thankfully there is only one Pops.

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Now playing: Ra Ra Riot - Can You Tell
via FoxyTunes

Disneyland Video

Disneyland Update #2

Due to a long day, you will only get a few pictures of today's outing. The next update will come, at the earliest, Wednesday night.

Family Bus

I never mentioned this on the blog before, but at Christmas James' family came to Sonora. We borrowed our friend's bus to take a trip up the hill to the snow. We had a great time visiting with everyone during the trip. Afterwords, James and I talked about trying to find a vehicle that our whole family could fit in. Now that we have two kids and James and Michelle have one, it was hard to go anywhere without taking two or three cars. We joked about getting a bus like the one we had just taken to the snow.

This week I caught wind of an auction the county was having for old vehicles. On the list was a few old transit buses. I was able to prearrange a meeting to look over the buses before the auction on Saturday (my only perk of being a county employee.) Three of the buses were in excellent condition. The county was having to replace them earlier than planned because of California's emission standards. It didn't take much convincing to get James and Mike on board to the idea of splitting the purchase of one of the buses.

Saturday morning Mike and I showed up at the auction ready to start the bidding process. We staked out the one we liked the best and was hoping no one else wanted it. Turned out someone else did want it so I participated in my first auction bidding war. After a few going back and forth bids, the Cummings, Evans and Nixons became proud owners of a used 2001 transit bus.

Here's the front the bus. We have decided to keep it at the Cummings' house for storage because they have the most room.

The county painted over the logo they have on the side of their buses, leaving us space to put in something clever. If only we were clever enough to come up with slogan or logo.

The bus came with an automated wheelchair lift. We are hoping to take it out and sell it on Ebay or Craigslist to help offset the cost of the bus. Is there a market for used wheelchair lifts?

There are 13 seats on the bus, plus the driver's seat. The seat belts will allow us to properly secure the children's car seats. We also will use it to take visiting family members and friends to the lake, snow, or any other local landmarks.

The bus only has 181,000 miles on it, which is very low for this type of vehicle. Thankfully, the county keeps their fleet well maintained and had just put in a new transmission into this bus.

The Evans are visiting Sonora soon, allowing us to take our bus on it's maiden voyage. Here's to many good times to come.


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Now playing: Eddie Kendricks - Keep On Truckin' (Part 1)
via FoxyTunes

New Years Video

Christina's cousin, Laurie, and her family came to visit for New Years. Here is a little video I put together.



As you can probably tell, Dillon loved playing with Alec, Shane, and Lucas.

Congrats James and Michelle

Trent James Evans was born at 7:52 p.m., weighing 8 pounds 1 ounce, and measuring 21 inches long. Mom and baby are both doing well. Here is a picture of the babe with the nurse holding him up for all us onlookers to view.

Pictures

I know I promised to post pictures last night but by the time I got home from the hospital I was too tired. Below are pictures from yesterday and today.

One last profile before we head up to the birthing center. We had to be there by 5:30 a.m., which was early for the both of us.

One of these has an excuse. Can you guess which one? Seriously though, Christina and I were surprised to see Grandma Sharon and Papa had beaten us to the hospital.

Moments before Christina was rolled into the operating room. You can see the nervousness in our eyes.

Grandma Ginni checking out her "perfect" new grandson. At first Dillon was reserved and shy around Connor but once Grandma Ginni held him Dillon decided Connor was alright.

The first picture of all three of the "boys" together. The only one missing is Otis.

Strrrreeeeeeetch!

Papa happy that everyone is doing well.

Today Dillon was ready to hold and kiss Baby Connor. He was also very excited to see Mom again.

Uncle James and Aunt Michelle saw Connor for the first time today. On Monday, Connor will meet his Aunt Jen and Uncle Jon.

"Yeah, that's right, I'm the BIG brother."

My favorite picture.

There is a good chance Christina will be able to come home tomorrow. She was able to walk around this afternoon. She has been a trooper these past nine months and I am very lucky she was willing to go through another pregnancy. I already can't imagine life without Connor and Dillon.