Karin's First Baseball Game

Despite the popularity of the game in Japan, Karin had never been to a baseball game, so I took her and the girls, along with K, Z, Grandma, and Aunt Pearl to the last home game in Oct. They D-backs finished on a high note with a win, and it was a nice day at the ballpark.

Karin

Karin is learning a lot with us. Like how to love babies, whether you like them or not. She was a trooper in going on a bike ride to the pharmacy back in Sep., and in Oct. she made us her fav. Japanese dish, okonomiyaki. It wasn't too bad, actually, and contained no fish, raw or cooked. She bought a Japanese mayonnaise and other ingredients at a Japanese store on the west side of Phx.

 

 

 

Thanksgiving Weekend

Sorry, no pic's. We had a low-key day at McKinley, which was a nice break. It was relaxing not having to drive outside of Phoenix and also not having to cook or clean. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! We threw the football around, including with Karin, and watched some on TV. The food was delicious, of course.

Friday I put up the X-mas lights on the new house. It took a bit longer to figure out the new scheme, but it came together. Sure enjoy putting up the creche. Also installed a new disposal under the kitchen sink, which was a lot harder than it needed to be.

Sat. I tried to fix the Sequoia back hatch. I put in a new latch two years ago, but now the locking mechanism broke. Bobbins and I spent a good four hours out there mucking around, to no avail. She eventually took it to a shop, and they got it done (with a new part) in about 30 minutes, for only $100.

Sun. was a fun day, kind of a typical Sunday taking it easy, reading the paper. I took the three older kids and Karin to the school nearby to play basketball.

Merry Christmas!

Our annual photo outside of church after the 4pm Mass

 

San Xavier del Bac Visit

We celebrated Veterans Day by going down to Tucson to see the San Xavier del Bac mission. Bobbins had been before, but none of the rest of us had. We toured the church, then ate lunch in the plaza, joined by some stray Rez dogs. We then meandered over to a rocky hill just east of the mission, on Rez land. In 1908, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes, the Bishop of Tucson had a replica built on the north side of the hill. It is a very faithful re-creation. Bobbins and I were both awestruck and impressed. Somehow I managed to snap a providential pic with my phone. The 'Lourdes' grotto was our fav. part of the trip, even better than the Church (which was too heavy on interior decorations for my taste, plus the St. Francis/Anthony statue was too superstitious).

Bobbins bought that rake for Booch at Goodwill, and he insisted on carrying it around everywhere.

We also stopped at the northwest section of Saguaro National Park, which is a really cool, huge forest of saguaro cacti. It was free for Veterans Day.

Layin' Around

Say Uncle

 

Maggie's Place Run

Just us out this year for the Maggie's Place Run in Tempe (no Schaefers or Jacopone). I enjoyed the solo time, finishing the 10K in 51:31, which was 26th overall. Unfortunately, it started to rain heavily during the Kids Dash, so the girls didn't get to run, but they got their t-shirts. MM was a big help holding T Fish for her mom.

Horse for Friends' B-day

Our friends, who have twins, usually go all out for their b-day in Nov., and this year was no different. They rented a mini-horse for the kids to ride. MM enjoyed it once, but JoJo went about nine times.

 

Trick or Treating

There seemed to be some uncertainty, so for clarification, our family costume this year was Peter Pan, with Bobbins in the starring role, myself as Capt. Hook, JoJo as Tinker Bell, and the rest as the kids -- MM as Wendy, Owen as Michael, and T Fish as John. The Schaefers came over. We ate Costco pizza in the garage, then hit a couple streets, then came back to our house for a fire in the driveway. With a few drinks, it was a lot of fun, and our new neighborhood was good, although not great like the old one.

 

Halloween Pumpkins

Did three this year, and both girls took me up on my challenge to eat some of the 'goop' for a dollar. Karin seemed to enjoy carving her pumpkin, another American first for her.

 

All Saints Day Presentation

MM's school goes all out for All Saints Day, which to be honest was a major selling point for me and something I was looking forward to since August. Each child in grades K-4 dresses up as a saint and has to give a little speech. The other grades all did plays, with the 7th-8th graders doing an outstanding production on Sts. Francis and Clare of Assisi. MM was St. Rose of Lima, her choice. She did great, and looked fantastic in the costume her mom made. It was an all around awesome day.

Carnival Night at JoJo's School

Just JoJo and I went to the Carnival night at her school. It was fun to see her run around with her classmates without her sister. She loved the hay ride; we went twice. She wanted me to send the pic's of her on the 'horses' to Papa.

 

 

 

JoJo's First Day of School

Almost forgot to post pic's of JoJo's first day of transitional kindergarten. She chose to go by "Josie."

New Acquisitions

Bobbins' dad downsized his office and was getting rid of a lot of stuff. We picked up a few choice items, the coolest being a model of a fire station he designed in Goodyear. And we're officially a two-fridge family now. Even though it's not energy efficient, it is nice to have the second fridge stocked with some beer, soda, energy drinks, and extra bread and milk. The cabinet went into the play room to store the toys.

 

TX Pauls Visit

My dad's cousin Jeff and his wife Diane, whom we spent time with in Tennessee, came to AZ for a visit in early Oct. Uncle Jack hosted us all for a dinner at his house.

 

 

Camping 2016

We hooked up with the Schaefers as usual and Jacopone once again for our annual overnight camping trip east of Payson. There was no road construction, so we found a good spot on the south side of 260. It was Karin's first time camping. I kept telling her it'll be cold, cramped, and loud (with kids) at night, so I think she was as prepared as she could've been. I planned to sleep outside the tent but ended up hauling my bag in there. All seven of us plus The Dog squeezed in; it actually wasn't too bad. Booch managed to squirm way outside his blanket but didn't get too cold. Kevin, Jacopone, and I made a little lean-to. We did a little shooting. We had a nice hike and a good religious conversation (with some drinks) over the fire at night. Poor Booch had to borrow his sisters' old winter PJs.