Christmas Ball

This is Jessica all ready for the Christmas Ball. She is just waiting for her coach to arrive.

Christmas Pictures

Brigham's picture came out a little blurry, but these are the kids I had available for picture taking. The other three were outside. We're having a big nasty snowstorm today that is supposed to change to ice by tonight. The three older boys don't like to smile for the camera. They think it looks dorky.

Thomas is 1!

Thomas doesn't seem to care one way or the other about today being his birthday. However, he is dressed festively in his Santa suit. The slipper boots don't stay on very well, and he really doesn't like to keep the hat on. This may have been my only opportunity to capture him in it on camera.

Trick or Treat

Luckily we did trunk-or-treating last night, so I was able to get some pictures then and not have to worry about doing that tonight. The kids had fun, although the teenagers were told that they were not allowed to participate in the trunk-or-treating. I gave them all some treats anyway, as did a couple of others. I think tonight Thomas and I will stay home while the others go amass some more sugar.

Halloween Skit

This is the skit that the Dover Branch put on for Halloween. Spencer was Frankenstein's monster and Felix Blinn was Dr. Frankenstein. Gram, Sandra Harmon, Alyssa Gosselin, and Autumn Dow were witches. Kent Ellis was Dracula, Elizabeth Walsh was the bride of Frankenstein, and Roger Clukey was Igor (with the green hair). It was pretty silly, and I know Spencer was glad when it was over. You can see Logan and Adam in the foreground here.

Stand For Marriage Maine

I am doing my part to get the word out on this most important issue. I have been asked to be the headquarters for this area for yard signs, bumper stickers, and cards. I'm keeping them all in the back of my big van. I've had quite a number of people come to pick some up, but not nearly enough. The good news is I haven't really seen any signs from the other side in Dover, at least. Bangor is peppered with both sides. The headquarters person from Bangor called me up yesterday to ask if we still had plenty of signs. She asked for 200 of them because she was out and has been getting requests just about every hour for more. There are some who don't yet understand which vote means what. They think that a yes vote means yes to gays. They need to know that yes means yes to repeal gay marriage, which our governor so boldly took upon himself to sign into law earlier this year. If marriage is to mean anything anymore, we must win.

Can You Tell I Have a Paper to Write?

Since this is the last week of this term for me, and I have a 15 page paper to write, I decided it was the perfect time to update my blog. As you can see, I've pretty much caught everyone up on what we've been up to this summer. Have a look!

Jugglers

Our boys are quite amazing with their juggling skills. Everyone is bowled over by their ability, and they've done a couple of gigs already. They want to get street performer's licenses. Here's a video of David juggling rings. He's up to six now, and is hoping to get clubs next.

Santiago

This is Santiago, our donkey. We got him a couple of weeks ago, and everyone likes him. He is very mild-mannered, and loves kids. He'll play just like a dog. He doesn't run, unlike a horse. He doesn't eat much, either. We told Jessica that he's her ride to seminary, but I don't think she's going for that. All the kids have had turns riding on him. We're hoping to eventually get a cart that he can pull around. We don't have the sheep anymore, so this is a more low-maintenance alternative.

Camping at Mount Blue

Reunions

These first two pictures are at the Atwater reunion. The first one is of most of the youth age kids having a paper airplane throwing contest. The second one is of the tent that we used. You can't really get a sense of how big it was from the picture, but it was about 60 feet long. The floor was made of pallets, boards, and rugs. There were several tables set up during the day, and people laid sleeping bags out at night. It kept the mosquitoes out and let the cool air in. These last three pictures are of the Dow reunion. Uncle Lew will celebrate his 80th birthday in October. Aunt Helen and Aunt Alice are 95 and 98, respectively. The last one here shows Zack and Ruth's garage, which is pretty darn nice inside.

Thomas at 8 Months

Although you can't tell from these pictures, Thomas now has three teeth, with a fourth on its way. He has recently learned to stand up to things. If I remember right, that's a little younger than most of our other kids. He actually learned to sit himself up and pull himself up to standing in about a 10-day period. Whenever there's an open door, he makes a bee-line for it. He's in the process of teaching himself how to climb stairs, but we try to discourage it at this point. He's never gotten past the first stair so far. Daddy is his favorite person, it seems, because he crawls to him with a vengeance when he gets home and cries when he leaves.

Laura kept doing this thing to get Thomas to laugh, and it worked until someone would distract him.

Ethan

Ethan always insists that I take his picture whenever the camera is out. In this second one, he's eating a sandwich at the picnic table and both Major and Rusty were sitting there waiting for him to drop a piece. When I went out, however, Rusty walked away. Major is still interested, though.

From Sad to Happy

My Giant Baby

Thomas is our biggest baby at this age. He just went to the doctor for his six month check up, and he weighs 20 lbs. and is 29 1/4 inches tall. I've had babies that weighed that much, but his height is well off the chart. The doctor says he continues to be really tall. Jessica was only 30 inches at one year. He is very good-natured and lots of fun. I always recite to him the nursery rhyme that says, "Tom, Tom, the piper's son, stole a pig and away he run. The pig was eat, and Tom was beat, and Tom went crying down the street." Then I decided that it sounded pretty harsh, and didn't particularly apply to Thomas, so Laura and I made up a new one. "Tom, Tom, the Schwan man's son, is a pig and he weighs a ton. He is so sweet, he sucks his feet, and when Daddy comes home he brings a treat."

Memorial Day Observed

On Memorial Day, we went to the cemeterys where our grandparents and other relatives are buried. Since it is especially a day to remember those who served our country, I thought I'd take pictures of Grampy Sloat's and Uncle Greg's gravestones. Most family members don't live close enough to see these for themselves, so you'll have to settle for a virtual visit. The picture with flags shows their proximity to each other.