Confederate States of America

For Gracie's birthday this year, we spent the weekend in Richmond, and one of our activities was to spend a few hours at the CSofA Cemetery. Let me add my disclaimer that I am NOT Southern, nor will I ever pay homage to the Confederate flag, and although the CSA had a good idea in the whole 'state law' vs. 'federal law', the entire red-neck nation has since removed any positive connotation to the main principals behind the Confederate States of America. And on that note.... the cemetery was beautiful. It was very cool to see the tombstones from the battles around here, and to see the big names immortilized. To get an idea about how 'proud' the south is of the good old confederate soldiers, there is a monument with the following inscribed on it:

"Fate denied them victory, but gave them a glorious immortality".

Hey Kris - figure out what this one is all about: there was a spot on the map that just said "Black Dog". We got there, and yep - there was a life sized black iron dog. With no marker or explanation.

Thanksgiving 2008

This was the year for our friend Jennifer to host Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania. As expected, the food and family were all wonderful. Along with the 5 of us, she also hosted her mom and dad (separated), her brother and her aunt Shelley.

During our stay there, Jen was nice enough to take a family picture of us, since all we ever seem to do is get pictures of the kids :)

All in all, it was a nice trip, and I was very thankful to have friends and family around me, and VERY thankful that I didn't have to cook or clean :)

Halloween 2008

Well, Halloween came and went, and all 3 kids were (surprisingly) very good. Doni was a little skeleton (can't you see how he's nothing but skin and bones?), Rudy was Superman again, and Gracie was a vampire princess again. I have a standing rule that since costumes are so stinkin expensive, the kids have to wear them for 2 years. Next year will be all new for the kids. Can't wait to see what they choose :)