Thanksgiving 2007

WE were fortunate to spend Thanksgiving with both the Dunning and Harris families. The weekend prior to Thanksgiving, Harold, Kathy, Andrea, & Brenden came to our house for yummy food & hangout time. I've posted pictures from that weekend.
Also posted are photos from our trip to Megan and Stephen's home in Champaign, IL. My parents tagged along for the lengthy car ride. They kept Shawn entertained while I slept, as I was fighting a sore throat. While in Champaign, we ate delicious food, went shopping, toured the University of Illinois campus, played with our darling nephew, Max, and relaxed. I even had time to finish reading Patty Jane's House of Curl by Lorna Landvik. I know it's been a rewarding holiday when I have time to read a novel!
Hope you all had special moments with your loved ones this holiday. We have so much for which to be grateful!

Bienvenito a Miami

Ah, the joy of all-expense paid trips!
I was given the opportunity to travel to South Beach, Miami, Florida, for a business trip last week. Shawn was unable to attend due to work obligations, so I made the trek to the lower east coast all by myself (coworkers attended, but we traveled separately)!! I LOVE seeing new places and people, and Miami was definitely an eye-opener! I attended sessions to improve my skills in utilizing our grant-making database, but also had time for the beach, shopping, and visiting friends in West Palm Beach. I was grateful for the time away and the seemingly royal commodities (um, you don't need to turn back my bedsheets, but thank you for asking, and thanks for the mints & flower?), but was very delighted to be back home with "my boys", Shawn and Marley. It's a different feeling in Miami--not the wholesome goodness I'm proud to know in Kansas.

Public beach behind the hotel

Poolside at Loews Miami Beach Hotel

At the client appreciation party

Halloween 2007

WE may never tire of dressing up and going out for Halloween. There's something so liberating about masquerading as something we're not--being someone or something else for a few hours. We represented the ethereal by dressing up as a gnome and a faerie. We saw lots of pirates, superheroes, Sponge Bob & Patrick, flapper girls, etc. Shawn won second place (and $25!) at work for his costume. On a side note, anyone have a yard gnome sitting in your garage that you don't want anymore?? My grandparents had one, and it weathered many years of Kansas climate. I was so sad when he at last crumbled. He was a cute little guy. I wonder what all he saw in his life--on the street before him, sky above him, home beside him?
Not sure who these peeps are but they smiled for us anyway!

Sponge Bob & Patrick posed for us. I told them that's how they'd be spending their entire evening..