Familia Shaha Reunion 2014

Here are some of our pics from the reunion, in a weird order. I could probably do a whole blog post just with pictures of kids (and Ben) sleeping. I didn't get any of the whole group and all the grandkids in their green shirts, so please share. :) 

Happy Halloween!

This is Natalie at her School Halloween Parade. She is a Vampire Fairy.

This is her and some of the neighbors.

We went to this big Halloween festival thing. This is Jack trying to milk the enormous metal cow there. He was saying in this picture, "It not working!"

Grandpa Enniss gave Jack this lollypop. It met it's hairy demise in the dead grass shortly after this photo.

Shea was stuck in traffic so he had to catch us later. I borrowed the Mr. Incredible suit from Pat and Linda. Jack was so excited! I'm trying to use it for a potty-training reward now, but he's not buying. I tried to dress up as the Vampire Fairy's mother. One neighbor joked that I was the vampire (I was wearing teeth for a while) and Shea was the fairy. Ha Ha!

Natalie did her own face paint and picked out every aspect of her costume - the pink hair, vampire wings, clothes, boots. If you're wondering what the faint picture is on her forehead, she had her face painted the day before at the festival thing. She said she wanted to be a unicorn vampire fairy.

Steve took this when we got home from trick-or-treating

This is after trick-or treating. Natalie's pumpkin is the big white one. Jack's is the small one with arms and legs. He made a Shrek pumpkin. (the pumpkin pieces cut out for the eyes doubled as Shrek's ears.

Steve - after passing out candy all night. Isn't this Sumo suit awesome?! I was so glad he wore it. You should check out his facebook page. He posted some hilarious pics. I'll try to show you the video I took of him bending over in it when we're at the reunion.

Dave and Wendy Report!

Hey guys!

We're back! I wanted to post some long overdue pictures on the blog. First off, Dad's posts are awesome. Thanks for keeping it real Colonel! (It's Dave masquerading under the auspices of Wendy.)

So I couldn't restrain myself and have included entirely too many pictures. Here goes.

This is Oakley channeling her inner Joe and trying to make the Jack-o-lantern grilled cheese face. 

Here is Peter at Oktoberfest... enjoying the scenery. You might not be able to tell but he's holding onto an enormous hay beer stein.

Oakley has this elf face smile she pulls now. 

I couldn't believe this one. They sleep the exact same way!

Peter holds onto things and will not let them go. Case in point: sippy cup and random sandwich bag. 

Shenandoah national park. So awesome. Less awesome when hiking with a child on your back for several hours. :)

Peter has some epic pouty faces. 

Elf face!

Wendy got the kids spiffed up for Peter's birthday.

This is a little more true to form. :)

Peter was extremely excited about the fire on his candle but once it got blown out he freaked out. I wish we had video taped it. 

Oakley typically falls asleep singing in the hallway outside her room. 

This is probably the proudest moment of my life. Oakley spontaneously did this funny face. Super awesome.

Wendy won a 5k! She's awesome. It actually turned out to be a 4k... they weren't too picky on the measuring I guess. 

We made haunted house gingerbread (graham cracker) houses and made spooky faces. 

Oakley's was the best. 

Scary teepees. 

Peter naps hard. 

One day Wendy took a shower and everything got quiet downstairs. Turns out Peter was happily munching on a black crayon that ended up spread generously on carpets, walls, clothing, etc. 

His shirt says little hug monster. So cute!

We had a Halloween party at work and brought Elmo and Cookie Monster. They were a hit. I was Richard Simmons but people thought I was supposed to be Valderama. 

Maybe if I had a mustache...

The new Sunday look. Working it. 

Very busy. 

Love you guys! Can't wait to see everyone in sunny Florida. 

Dave and Wendy and Oakley and Peter

Sweet Georgia Trip

OK, gang, once again the old Geek can't figure out how to add text so you're stuck with this method. Nancy and I had a GREAT visit with Joe, Bethany, Lucy, Hailey and Ryan. Joe and Bethany took our offer to head off to the Temple when we got there and their car proceeded to die on them--they did get to the Temple (via taxi) and then spent the rest of Saturday fixing their car. Gramma and I had a wonderful time with the children--we felt very badly for Joe and Bethany, but we were having a fine time ourselves.

One earlry assignment was to set up 'the tent' and we put up some 'starlight' and had a midnight tea party (above)--the shot below was with flash so you could see how well Ryan was adding to the atmosphere.

Don't know how many of you have been able to meet Ryan--so you know he's not yet walking (very close) but he's got to have the fastest low crawl outside of the active Rangers. And as noted, he's always equipped to add some color to the walls, upholstery, sister's arms, etc.

While mom and dad were at the car shop, Gramma made sugar cookies and we all had a fine time decorating and eating cookies. Ryan and I were particularly adept at the eating events.

We celebrated Ryan's birthday a little early so Gramma and Grampa could get some cake. Note Bethany's safety candle setup--lesson learned from Emily's first birthday. Also note Ryan's primary focus on the keyboard--actually very focused on whatever opportunity for mayhem is closest at hand.

Their family is very recycle conscious and we did head off to the local recycle site where the girls showed off their stuff heaving the various cans/bottles/other items into the right recycle bins. We have some budding pitchers in the Joe clan.

Evening bedtime ritual always includes 'scripture' study where we read the picture Book of Mormon together. It appears the girls were a little less enthralled than Gramma.

And Ryan was mostly enthralled with stealing the show and smiling. Only time he was cranky when when his pants were filled or he was hungry or he was tired--when he'd go right to bed without complaint. I think the children in our clan are going to get along just fine in November.



Well, a few of the pictures I tried to add disappeared somewhere--maybe they'll show up later on, who knows. But we got home safely and the flowers were still alive and doing fine. Autumn is such a great time of year and the leaves on our trees are really doing well--we wish we could be spending more time with all of you. We are so looking forward to seeing you all in a couple weeks in Orlando. Be careful as you travel and we'll see you soon.
Love, Gramma and Grampa