WHERE HAS THE YEAR GONE?!?
 Halloween's always fun for the kids whose excitement begins the
moment their costumes are picked out. This year Sophia was Deedee of
the Doodlebops. Bran- don was a dead pirate. |
Our community set aside two hours for
trick-or-treaters on the Sunday before Halloween. Porch lights were
turned on at the homes where the costumed kids are welcome. Some
residents even sit in lawn chairs at the street so the candy collectors
don't have to traipse over lawns or up and down driveways to get to the
sweets. We headed out promptly at 4:00 to get to as many homes as
possible. After an hour of running from house to house, Brandon and
Sophia began to wear down and long before time ran out, both were ready
to go home.
To celebrate Sophia's transition from baby to little girl,
her bedroom was redecorated. The color was changed from periwinkle to a
rich, deep rose. Before her party began, Brandon joined Sophia to have
their picture taken on Sophia's new "big girl" bed.
Sophia's birthday party included Christian and Kelsi
(and Grandma Sherry and Aunt Kellie, their mom) plus neighborhood
friends Nicholas and Genevieve who came with their parents. Once the
presents were opened and cake and ice cream eaten, the kids began
working off their energy. It's amazing how much noise six children can
make.
Brett was also born in November. A year ago we left
Brandon and Sophia in Matt's care and Dawn and I flew to San Diego to
spend several days there celebrating her birthday and Brett's. We
decided to repeat the reunion again this year, but rather than return to
San Diego, we decided to meet in Las Vegas, a new place for Dawn and
one worth revisiting for Brett and me.
We had a great time walking through some of the hotels along the
south Strip. While Brett exercised patience, Dawn and I found some
shops at the Aladdin and Venetian worth visiting more than once and we
stopped long enough to take pictures at Caesar's Palace and Bellagio.
We stayed at the Paris-Las Vegas hotel which is
across the street from the Bellagio, known for the fountains programmed
to perform to music. Don't laugh when I tell you that I had tears in
my eyes after watching the water "dance" to Time to Say Good-bye sung by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman.
 in Columbus. He is also the artist who did the ceiling in the Bellagio lobby. |
We rented a car on Friday and drove out of the city.
Our first stop was Red Rock State Park. We stopped at several turnouts
to take in the scenery, but didn't have the time to walk any of the
available trails. (That cute little red car in the background was our
day's transportation.)
 From there we drove to the other side of Las Vegas to
see Hoover Dam. We didn't spent much time there, and we didn't take
many pictures, but at least we can say we've seen it twice -- once from
the air coming into Las Vegas and once on land. |