'tis the season ...

This year I had to have surgery the day before our 9th Pumpkin Cutting Party.  This meant that I was only there for a brief hello before heading back to my recovery bed.  Thankfully Karli, Ollie, and Ella kept the tradition alive and we cut pumpkins like we love to do:

---

Of course the cutting of pumpkins is really just preparation for one of our favorite nights of the year!  We had dinner with friends and then trick or treated until our bags were overflowing!!

a huge thank you to Hans and Leia and their brood for hosting us again.

In a mad rush before leaving SF for a two week sprint through Killarney and Ontario - i promised my daughter that her video would be up before she was done summer camp, so with ten days to spare:

arrrgh blocked due to music ....

Prince seems to protect his stuff which is fine (although I had given him credit) ... oh well, take two.  The White Stripes Edit ....

It makes some of the cuts a little rougher than I would like but ... i likely wasn't going to get the Oscar nod anyway.

So I used my recent flight home from New Orleans to get some footage from Ollie's ninth birthday together.  We celebrated in style on the big day by heading down to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk to hang out with Landon, Craig, & Gretchen - always an amazing time.

We then had some amigos over for a sleepover which was highlighted with Air Hockey Tournaments, Star Wars viewing ... and of course MineCraft.  We had a breakfast piñata before sending everyone on their way.  It was a ton of fun!

Here's what I got:

And we can't forget the annual trip down memory lane:

• eight
• seven
• six
• five
• four 
• three 
• two 
• one
• and the beginning