Uncle Bubba's Crash

We got a call the other night from Rick's brother Travis. He and his friend had been hit by a drunk driver...SCARY!! Apparently they were turning left and the drunk driver accelerated and tried to pass them on the left hand side. As you can see he hit the front left fender of their car.

Travis is front of the car - looking rather AmishWhere Grant is standing represents the spot where they were hit.

Where his car is parked is where their card ended up.

Travis had to climb over the driver's side seat to get out of the car

Their car landed only feet from this light pole.
It's a miracle that Travis was not injured. Both Travis and his friend were released from the hospital with minor injuries. We praise God for his safety. Truly this could have been much worse.

Thanks for the pics, Bubba!

Child of Africa

About three years ago my Mom went to Benin, Africa. She brought back this crazy little outfit for Caroline. At the time it was waaaay too big. It has been one of her favorite outfits since then. My sister was kind enough to email me this pic of Caroline wearing for the first time. It still fits!!

Carving Pumpkins

Tonight we began a family tradition of pumpkin carving. In 8 years of marriage I have only carved one or two pumpkins and Rick has carved none. To my surprise, tonight was the first time he has EVER carved one.

Here are our unsuspecting subjects... Pumpkin guts
Here is Rick

He is totally into carving his pumpkin

Time to light our creations
Ta-Da!!!
From the left:

Caroline's happy pumpkin, my weeping willow, and Rick's one toothed cat.

You will notice there are only 3 pumpkins carved. The reason is that our pumpkin knives broke! Both of them! Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't those things used to last for years??? In fact, I think my parents still have the one I used as a kid! I don't know what they are making them out of now but they don't seem to work so well anymore. What is going on????

My little bike ridin' cow-girl

We have a fairly small front yard. It's great because Caroline can go outside and ride her tricycle while I am in the kitchen and I can see her the whole time. This outing has become somewhat of a fashion show for her. Everyday she gets all dressed up to "go somewhere". Today was no exception when she decided she could wait no longer to try out part of her costume for Halloween. Here is a couple of her favorite bike riding outfits...

Once she realized I was taking her picture her personality came out in full force.
Check out the faces she is making:

I have no clue where all of this personality comes from!!

generations

My cousin and my aunt came up this week and we thought it was the perfect time for some generational pictures. The only thing I regret is that my sister and niece were not here. So we headed to Empire Mine for some pictures. It was beautiful. The fall colors were glowing and everywhere we looked we found perfect backdrop.

My Mom, Grandmother and AuntGrandmother, daughter, granddaughter and great-grands. Grandma, Aunt Jeannie, Kari & Kayden Kayden- all boy and so photogenicCaroline in the leaves
Jack- my one-year-old big boy. Leah and Lexi, we will have to get some of you guys too when you are in town again. We sure miss you!

Lexi-poo

I just needed to share with all my adorable little niece. Lexi is 6 months old now and I can hardly believe how the time has passed! I had the privilege to spend some time with her a couple of weeks ago. She is such a happy little girl. And she reeeeeaaaalllly loves her Mom. Perfect fingers and toes
She looks so serious in this picture but I love it!
Lexi and her Mom and Dad live in southern California along with several other of my family members. One of my cousins is actually on the fire line down there. I would like to request that all of my buddies out there lift my family up in prayer, especially Mike, his wife Keri and two little kiddos. My brother is also down there at school and my aunt and uncle were not more than 2 miles away from some of the fires. Thanks in advance, love to you all!

June Lake

On the way home from Bodie we made a stop at June Lake for some family pictures...
Caroline & Papa worked hard to bury a rock.

The view across the lake.
I am pretty sure that I am not going to be ready to face the real world on Sunday.

Bodie

Today we went to an actual "ghost town". Bodie was established in the 1870's as a gold mining town. It quickly became the second largest city in California at the time. When the mines stopped producing gold the town quickly died. It really only lasted about 5 years. People just left their homes the way they were. It was soooo fascinating.A view from the cemeteryEveryone had a turn packing Jack around the town This was one of two churches in town.
The cemetery was really a sad place. There were many children 3yrs and under who were buried here. Because of the harsh conditions people died every day in this town.
Caroline and Grammy

The saloon and the bank.

The kitchen inside one home
One of the many mining parts that were abandoned.
Bodie in it's day had about 10,000 people. It survived 2 fires and now only about 5% of the homes are still standing. In the cemetery family members of Bodie residents are still being buried there.

Happy First Birhday Jack!!

Wednesday was my little Jack's first birthday *sniff-sniff*! It was a day of firsts for my little boy. We started the day off with Henderson tradition for birthdays; chocolate chip pancakes.Then it was time for a nap on Daddy's lap.

An then it was time to turn his car seat around.

He loved it!
That evening the real festivities began....

Before...
After...
"What is this chocolaty goodness??"

And then a bath in the sink.
Jack had sooo much sugar in his system that he had such a hard time going to sleep. Not to mention that since we have been on vacation he has been completely spoiled by his Grammy and Papa.

Convict Lake

On day one of our family vacation in Mammouth we went to Convict Lake. It was absolutly breath-taking. Apparently some years back some convicts had escaped from the prison in Carson City and there was a big shoot out here.

The town on Convict Lake

Daddy & Caroline
A view from the shore
Papa & Caroline looking at fish
A view of the mountain